AuthorJames Morgan

James is a freelance copywriter, author and orthodox (some would say boring) opening batsman. He's written TV and radio scripts for noted cricketing luminaries Carol Vorderman and Caroline Quentin, and composed an academic book about the concept of US imperialism. His real area of expertise, however, is the cover drive.

Stumps

Hello all. I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the cricket season. I haven’t actually seen a lot of the action myself. Life is just so busy these days that it’s become increasingly difficult to find the time. Talking of which, I have some news… Sadly, I’ve taken the decision to call it stumps at The Full Toss. I’ve been winding the blog down for a while and, after approximately 15 years at the crease, it’s finally time to retire. I’ve managed to keep things going over the last...

A game for the ages or a defeat for the ages?

I’m flummoxed. How on earth does one summarise that? Should I go for the default reaction – that it was one of the best Test matches of all time and therefore the result doesn’t really matter – or should I point out that results, do, in fact, matter quite a lot? I understand the former argument, of course. Maybe we should simply feel grateful for playing our part in a humdinger? However, there’s an equally legitimate perspective that, actually, the team should be gutted for losing a...

Ashes Indicators

Go on. Admit it. You watched the first Test between India and Australia and couldn’t resist a smirk. Whereas England have gone from disarray to destructive under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and actually managed to win in the subcontinent recently, the Aussies looked clueless in their opener against India. They knew what was coming but still couldn’t put up the slightest resistance – despite winning the toss and having the advantage of batting first. Strangely enough, however...

Very Rehan-dy, Don’t You Think?

Yes, we shouldn’t go over the top. Our media constantly builds young sportsmen up only to knock them down. But surely it’s OK to get just a little bit excited, eh? England’s win in Karachi, which secured a 3-0 series whitewash, was pleasing in so many ways. However, the performance of 18-year old Rehan Ahmed, who became the first England bowler with parents younger than me to take a five-fer in Test cricket, was by far the biggest talking point. Of course, we’ve picked young leg-spinners hoping...

Multan Marvels

It wasn’t long ago that Gareth Southgate was giving advice and inspiration to England’s cricketers. Little did we know, at the time, that our footballers would’ve been better off listening to our cricketers. If the FA want an inspirational man-manager to lead the nation into the Euros in 18 months’ time, they could do a lot worse than hiring Brendon McCullum. They might also consider Ben Stokes on the bench to take any crucial penalties. These two can do little wrong at the moment. The result...

Astonishing

Well, I’m astounded, gobsmacked, dumbfounded, and totally stunned. I never thought I’d see a team score at seven runs per over across two innings of Test match. I just didn’t think it would be possible. And yet, here we are, struggling to comprehend a victory that turns everything I thought I knew about Test cricket on its head. Now, I’m not going to pretend that BazBall will work every time. But it’s already working a lot often more than I thought it would. And it’s also accomplishing more...

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