CategoryTalking Points

The Future of Test Cricket – Reasons To Be Cheerful

The author Mark Twain famously declared, “rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. The same could be said for Test cricket, which, in recent months, has risen from its sickbed to stick two fingers up at the many pundits and scribes who have pronounced its days to be terminally numbered. The driving force behind this has been the country which has brought so much joy to the game of cricket, New Zealand. The Black Caps victory after following on against England at the Basin Reserve in...

A County Championship To Rival The IPL?

Today, Steve Connor has an idea that would breathe new life into the Championship and maybe, just maybe, provide an international alternative to the IPL. I’m writing this in a short lull between various T20 leagues ending and the Big One, the IPL, starting. This comes a week after learning that something called Major League Cricket will be starting in the US in the summer and attracting a surprising number of big names. If you’re a fan of short T20 tournaments you are being very well served at...

How To Win In India

Test cricket is becoming a competition between just three teams. That seems almost beyond doubt at this point. I can’t figure out how it’s good for the future of the game but the English, Indian and Australian cricket boards appear to disagree. Their actions have been promoting this outcome for years now, and the ICC future tours programme – the Test series schedule – for 2023 to 2027 certainly backs it up. In this four year window, every scheduled Test series of three or more...

North Versus South: Who Really Produces the Most England Test Players?

Today, Jack Surtees dives deep into the numbers to settle an age-old pub debate. Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments section and suggest any other statistical angles that might be interesting… It’s the eternal debate. One defined by contentious, subjective, impossible-to-answer issues such as cod vs haddock, ketchup vs gravy and the correct term for the little chunks of batter that fall off a fried fish – ‘batter bits’, ‘scraps’ or something...

Capping the Young Guns

When Rehan Ahmed was selected for the 3rd test against Pakistan in December, he became England’s youngest ever Test cricketer. At 18 years and 126 days, he beat the record set by Brian Close in 1949. It’s difficult to imagine any sporting record lasting for 73 years, but shows how cautious England have been in blooding youngsters. Test nations on the Indian subcontinent regularly cap teenagers. Ahmed took 5-50, the youngest test debutant to achieve a five wicket haul. It strengthens the adage...

England’s left-arm seamers

England’s white ball teams now have a battery of left arm seamers, and often go in with as many as three. The sudden profusion of left arm options is, however, a fairly recent development, as until recently it was a comparative rarity for England to select a left armer in their seam attack. Perhaps the best known England left armer was JK Lever, and although he predated my time as an England fan, I do have vague memories watching him late in his career for Essex. Looking at his figures, it is a...

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