King Cricket

December 14, 2021 Australia / England

Which bowlers should England pick to cure their terrible top order batting

2 minute readThe second Ashes Test sees England arrive at the ground where a far better batting side than them was bowled out for 36 this time last year. It therefore stands to reason that the debate is about exactly which combination of tail-enders they should pick. England are not a great

December 13, 2021 Australia / England

If you’re going to win the toss and collapse in an Ashes Test then…

< 1 minute readThere is a very easy way in which England could have collapsed even more comprehensively in the first Test. They could have picked their two all time greatest duck-makers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. It was a missed opportunity, but it’s not like the two men haven’t been involved in

December 10, 2021 Australia / England

Root and Silverwood have the Jack Leach that they created

3 minute readThe England Test team run by Joe Root and Chris Silverwood is not big on picking spinners. It is even less big on picking Jack Leach. A rare appearance in the first Ashes Test saw the left-armer get walloped, so how comfortable will the two head honchos be about picking

December 8, 2021 Australia / England

Let’s start at the start. Exactly how short was Rory Burns’ innings?

2 minute readWhat is the start? Is the first ball the start? (Rory Burns bowled for 0.) Is the first session the start? (England 59-4.) The first innings? The first day? (England 147 all out.) Maybe the whole of the first Test match is the start. (Well at least there’s rain around.)

December 7, 2021 Australia / England

We’re more than happy to stump up for BT Sport for a month or two but maybe the BBC highlights will work just fine for you

2 minute readWe’ve often bemoaned the inflexible, out-of-date way broadcasters sell sport to consumers, but things have definitely improved in recent years. Obviously the ideal is that any given Test series is broadcast on a channel you already have. Failing that, all we ask is that there’s a way to see the action

December 6, 2021 Australia / England

Fifth Ashes Test + 14-day quarantine requirements could have equalled one of the all-time great England team selections

2 minute readThe fifth Ashes Test is a very important thing, even when – in fact, especially when it’s a dead rubber. We hereby retract our knee jerk suggestion that they simply abandon the match in light of the two teams’ decision not to travel to Perth because of Western Australia’s 14-day

December 2, 2021 England / Features / India

It’s time to talk about John Emburey inhaling an entire creme caramel in one go like some kind of pudding hoover

4 minute readThis article is about the time former England off-spinner John Emburey leant over a creme caramel and sucked the whole thing up without using his hands. We watched Sky Sports’ Spinwash ’93 documentary the other day. More accurately, we finished watching it. Apparently we watched the first 20-odd minutes over

November 30, 2021 Australia / England

Remember Graham Manou?

< 1 minute readGraham Manou finished his career with a first-class batting average of 25.49. He played one Test for Australia. That Test was the third of the 2009 Ashes series, a heavily rain-affected draw that never really delivered tension at any point. Maybe there was a soupcon when Australia were 52-2 in

November 29, 2021 India / New Zealand

Rachin Ravindra deserved a ball hundred

< 1 minute readWhen you’re batting for a draw, the unit of measurement switches from ‘runs’ to ‘balls faced’. This is where we get the concept of the ball hundred. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra made his Test debut against India this week. He has three first-class hundreds to his name, but we are

November 26, 2021 Australia / Features

A fast bowler can definitely be captain in an era when every player misses loads of matches anyway

6 minute readFast bowlers aren’t often captains. They’re more likely to get injured. They’re more likely to be tired and bad-tempered in the field. There’s always the temptation to over- or under-bowl themselves. But these things aren’t insurmountable. Whenever a Test captaincy vacancy opens up, the discussion begins. Who are the options?