Today new writer Peter Gilbert looks at England’s recent ODI series defeat to the Proteas… As the sun sets on the men’s ODI series between South Africa and England, the England players depart for their various franchises and the Test team. Before the Bangladesh series in March, and with the World Cup in India drawing ever closer, England will now be piecing together what they have learned from this 2-1 series defeat. 1: England’s middle order looks short of a batter Despite two...
Last month, Rob Stephenson wrote this interesting article on modern England seam bowlers blessed with genuine pace. It was a subject that resonated with several readers including James Walker, who sent in the following response that complements Rob’s piece by going back a little further in time. It also explores some of reasons why we’ve produced so few quick bowlers with longevity. Enjoy. Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of post-war English cricket is that John Snow and Bob...
Today we welcome new writer Sulaiman Karodia to TFT. It’s safe to say that the performances of a certain South African Kiwi have caught his eye... To be or not to be! This is what was going through the mind of Devon Conway on that faithful day in 2017 when he decided to move to pastures anew to resurrect his somewhat stagnant cricketing career. A late bloomer, Conway struggled to establish himself in South Africa before making a move that few would be brave enough to make. Selling his...
Shortly after the new year, Wisden released their rankings for top five Test innings of 2022. There were five spots but only three names – perhaps a surprise, unless you’d witnessed Jonny Bairstow’s extraordinary summer firsthand. Risabh Pant and Abdullah Shafique were the others to join the Yorkshireman in what I reckon was a pretty just adjudication. There are, of course, players who might feel somewhat aggrieved at being ignored (Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Babar Azam...
New Zealand’s Tom Latham is a very good Test cricketer. Making his debut in 2014, the left-hander has been an ever-present feature of the Kiwis top order for almost ten years. In a decade dominated by seam bowling, Tom’s textbook technique and patient approach have served him well, averaging a sturdy 41.91 in his 70 tests – not remarkable, but notably impressive considering the roll call of openers that England have deployed in the same period. Imagine, if you would, that an English bat...
After the retirement of Bob Willis, English cricket was criticised for not producing enough genuinely quick bowlers. The standard criticism was that the heavy county workload meant that potential fast bowlers had to cut down on their pace and develop into fast-medium seamers to prolong their career. As England fans, we spent too long watching our seamers struggling in the Ashes while the Australians compiled vast totals. The standard complaint was that we lacked any genuine pace. And the same...
