It’s official. The whole world has gone bonkers. And I don’t care whether it’s politically correct to say the word ‘bonkers’ or not. Disclaimer: no bonkers people were harmed in the writing of this blog post. Sky aired a programme called ‘Burnout’ at the weekend that focused on Jonathan Trott’s battle with what the ECB, not Trott himself, called a ‘stress related illness’. In extensive interviews with Ian Ward, who set an all time record for smiling in a documentary about mental torment, Trott...
The new England test team
In ninety one days’ time England return to test cricket, against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. But who on earth will be in the team? Never before – except after a world war, perhaps – have the selectors faced such an extensive task of rebuilding and reconstruction. Luckily, we have an awesome trio in charge, in the shape of James Whitaker, Angus Fraser, and Ashley Giles. So daunting is the scale of the challenge, though, that even these three powerhouses of charisma and...
Stat of the day
There’s no great analysis or poor attempts at humour today. We just want to communicate one thing: a statistic that speaks for itself.
Since taking over as England’s limited overs coach, Ashley Giles has won just four of seventeen competitive T20 matches. This figure does not include no results (due to rain etc).
What more needs to be said?
The Full Toss quiz winter 2014 – answers
Thanks for all your entries for our latest quiz. So how did you get on? Here are the answers. 1. Which significant date do Marcus Trescothick and Alastair Cook have in common? They were both born on Christmas Day – Tres in 1975, and Cook in 1984. 2. Which of these counties did Chris Lewis not play for? Leicestershire, Surrey, Nottinghamshire, or Hampshire? Hampshire. 3. Which twentieth century UK prime minister had news-wire equipment installed in 10 Downing Street, but used it only to...
A hard slog ahead
Another day, another T20 defeat for Ashley Giles’ beleaguered squad. The days when Britannia ruled the T20 waves seem a long, long, bloody long, time ago. When I look at England’s side on paper, we have a few useful cricketers, but we just can’t seem to get our strategy right. We’re also clearly lacking confidence, and it’s hard to know how a bland character like Giles can turn things around. Having said that, the best team doesn’t always win T20 contests. There’s little ebb and flow during...
Giles, Thorpe & Collingwood: is three a crowd?
Mick Jagger was dead right when he sang “you can’t always get what you want”. England have been stuck between a rock and a hard place in recent times (which is what made me think of rolling stones) and I severely doubt that a top coach like Gary Kirsten is going to ride to our rescue. Who would want to work for the ECB anyway? They dictate (a) who the captain is going to be, (b) the precise type of team ethic and philosophy required, and (c) which star players should or should not be playing...
