Schoolboy Error
If state school cricket is the neglected child of English cricket; private school cricket is the spoiled one. Both have unhealthy ramifications for our game as Cameron Ponsonby explains ... Recently, I read an article that referred to a county offering a player a three-year contract before he had even [...]
Exile, Broad, Buttler and Bess
Morning all. I’m back. Sorry about the absence. I escaped to France last week and discovered, to my horror, that there was no Wi-Fi at my resort. This meant that my contact with cricketing civilisation was limited to say the least. I missed the conclusion of the Test match, the [...]
The Third Test
Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a deciding Test match on our hands. It's all we could have hoped for pre-series. Are you looking forward to it? This final match of the series could be a good old fashioned humdinger - although I expect much will depend on the fitness and [...]
Mental Health In Cricket: The Percy Hardy Story
Cricketers often struggle with mental health issues. The long tours, the time away from loved ones, plus the relentless media spotlight can really take its toll. We all know about the problems experienced by the likes of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Yardy, Graham Thorpe, and Andrew Flintoff, but I found the [...]
England Bounce Back
Here's Cam with his gut reaction to day 5 and his feelings about the Test match in general. Many thanks to Cam for filling in for James today ... I’ll be honest. This is my first one of these. And as I sit at my kitchen table, scratching my head [...]
England Must Go For The Win
When Joe Root weighs up the timing of his declaration this morning (and we certainly hope it's this morning!) he must ask himself this one fundamental and all-important question. Is drawing at home against the West Indies an acceptable result? Because if England don't win this Test match then a [...]
If Sibley’s Slow, Then Archer’s Even Slower
Right then. Let's get the Jofra thing out of the way first otherwise it's going to reside in the corner like a huge elephantine distraction. What on earth was he thinking? I imagine the players were given strict instructions but he either didn't understand or wilfully ignored them. It's not [...]
Bodyline And The Harold Larwood Story
With the second Test bound to take centre stage later this week, I thought now would be an ideal time to take a trip down memory lane and remember an English cricketing hero from the past. Everyone knows the story of Bodyline, of course. But not everyone knows the broader [...]
Beaten By The Better Team. So Where Does That Leave England?
There's no shame in losing to the better team on the day. It's frustrating but that's life. The Windies were excellent throughout and England came up short. Kudos to them. What's worrying, however, is that England didn't play particularly badly. We certainly weren't at our best; but we weren't at [...]
Only 170 Runs Ahead – Day 4 at the Ageas Bowl
This time yesterday I asserted that the performance of England's batsmen on day four would tell us an awful lot about where we stand as a team. So what did we learn? The expression that springs to mind is 'close but no donut'. For periods it looked like we were [...]
Welcome To The Full Toss
Thanks for visiting TFT, the irreverent cricket blog with a zero percent bounce rate. If you’d like to write something for us, whether it’s about selection, governance, or the cost of a pint, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You don’t need to be a journalist or copywriter, just a fan with something to say. Email [email protected] for more info.