The county championship season might have finished with a damp squib, but the metaphorical sun shone brightly on English cricket in the summer of 2019. It was an important year – probably the most important year for decades – and it might have finished in disaster had events unfolded differently. Fortunately, however, on balance it was a successful six months. It wasn’t perfect by any means as Australia retained the Ashes 2-2 – a score line predicted by a smug yours truly – but off the...
Stick Or Twist? – Post Ashes Edition
The end of the English summer is a difficult time for all of us. We pack our kitbags away in the loft or garage – inevitably forgetting to unpack that pair of sweaty socks from the last match – and we start questioning the meaning of life without cricket. This is also the point at which, if you’re a Sky Sports subscriber, it’s traditional to question the value of coughing up £25 quid a month if there’s no daily cricket to look forward to. Bloody Murdoch! However...
Small Consolation?
As expected England completed their consolation victory over the Aussies at The Oval yesterday. It was never really in doubt. Parallels with Headingley were always misplaced because the pitch at Leeds seemed to improve as the game went on. This surface, on the other hand, was a good traditional cricket wicket. There was always some help for the bowlers and this only increased as the game progressed and the rough expanded. I was confident we had enough once the lead passed 320. And so it proved...
Joe Denly
I honestly thought he’d get there. He was just six runs short – that’s one top edged Pietersen hook off Brett Lee away – from scoring a maiden test hundred. It was impossible not to feel completely gutted for the bloke. I like Denly. Everyone’s warmed to Jack Leach because he’s an ordinary Joe. But Denly’s no different. And he’s actually called Joe. England’s new / old opener seems so unassuming and modest. And behind that serious demeanour...
Rare Ascendancy
Oh what could have been. That’s my overriding thought at the moment. England bowled really well today and we should win the 5th test from here. The holes in the Australian batting line up seemed wider than Kings Canyon in Northern Territory. If only we’d got our collective act together earlier in the series. A lead of 78 with all ten wickets in hand is nothing to be sniffed at. And unless there’s a Steve FFS Smith miracle I wouldn’t fancy the Aussies to chase much more...
Ham-fisted and Hamstrung (It Was Always Likely To End This Way)
So there was no miracle this time. Just inevitability. Our batsmen did their best but the mountain was insurmountable. Another team, with another batting line-up, might have saved the day. But our guys were ultimately undone by their own frailties. They showed tremendous fight, and made Australia work hard, but unfortunately they weren’t good enough. Jason Roy’s innings yesterday summed it up really. He battled hard. One can’t fault his effort. But eventually technical flaws...
