Thanks to Rob Thirlwell for this great piece on the travails of an amateur leg spinner… Every aspect of the game of cricket is challenging. Whether you play on your local village green or at test level you are going to fail far more often than you succeed. There is no harder aspect of the game to master than that of leg spin bowling. You would have to be mad to attempt it. Trying to release a ball out of the back of your hand, whilst imparting sideways movement on it is a crazy enough...
After Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley failed again in the first innings of the second Test, Rob Thirlwell argues that it’s time to talk seriously about recalling Keaton Jennings. Does he have a point? England got off to a great start in the first test of their tour of Sri Lanka. Joe Root’s imperious double hundred placed England in a commanding position and an admirable bowling performance from spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach placed the result beyond doubt. Or did it? In their pursuit of...
Today Rob Thirlwell delves into cricket’s history. I learned something from reading this … The First World War was a horror that brought devastation to millions around the World and the British Army alone lost just over 700,000 men. As Britain geared up for war young men queued up to enlist, those who could not fight were put to work producing arms and professional cricket ceased. Although some counties held out longer than others, pressure from some of the game’s most influential...
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 following tale of Percy Hardy, a cricketer and former soldier, particularly moving. Thanks go to new guest writer Rob Thirlwell for telling the story … The misunderstanding surrounding...
