3 minute readJames Anderson took two wickets in his 11th over of the first Test: Cheteshwar Pujara for 4 and Virat Kohli for 0. Both are great and significant batsmen and if our maths is correct – and no guarantees on this one, people – there is only a four-run difference between
Continue reading
5 minute read“I didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary,” said Jimmy Anderson about an over that featured one of the finest clean-bowleds you’re ever likely to see, then another one that may or may not have been better, plus an LBW shout that could legitimately have been given sandwiched in
Continue reading
3 minute readIt’s funny how people described as “ageless” are always, always, without exception, old. People age in different ways. This is a phenomenon that first becomes apparent, and is arguably at its most jarring, when you’re in your late 20s or early 30s. At some point during that period, you’ll bump
Continue reading
5 minute readIf England’s 2020 Test summer is remembered for anything, it will not be for the return of BBC highlights, Ben Stokes doing absolutely everything against the West Indies or the bizarre sights and sounds of matches played without crowds. No, if England’s 2020 Test summer is remembered for anything it
Continue reading
4 minute readThe ‘nice problem to have’ cliché klaxon is ringing out deafeningly this week. England need to take two full seam attacks and turn them into one. Three of the six pace bowlers to have appeared in this series so far will be selected for the third Test and three of
Continue reading
< 1 minute readWe’re picking an England XI comprising the players we invested in the most. Once upon a time we worked on a helpdesk for those credit card type machines you get in shops where people top up their electricity and gas and pay-as-you-go mobile phones, back when going to a shop
Continue reading4 minute readThere’s basically nothing left as an England fan other than to become a connoisseur of missed catches. Keaton Jennings failing to make meaningful use of his own hands when Virat Kohli edged the ball to him on 93 was one of the greatest misses we’ve ever seen. There are three
Continue reading4 minute readOur annual Lord Megachief of Gold award is the highest honour in cricket. The title is recognition of performance over the previous calendar year. Here are all the winners. From a personal perspective, one of the great tragedies of modern Test cricket is that we don’t draw the curtains, switch
Continue reading< 1 minute readHope never truly dies. It can however recede to the extent that it entirely loses consciousness. It’s safe to say that at around the point Australia emerged for their second innings, hope was in deep hibernation. A little while later it re-emerged after faint rays of Jimmy Anderson had warmed
Continue reading2 minute readThe Ashes, you know, it’s hard to really get up for. Hard to get up at 5am or whatever and hard to get up in the ‘come on, let’s give it everything’ sense too. Or at least that’s the way England have been painting things. James Anderson said the tourists
Continue reading