Morning all. I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was a bit of a blur really. I made the annual mistake of watching Eurovision, drinking far too much, and then getting angry when our song finished third from bottom. But before I could say “sod the lot of them” I realised that other countries actually take this competition seriously whereas we generally sneer at the event and send C or D list pop stars. Is it any wonder that nobody votes for us? Perhaps SuRie should’ve pretended...
Fun In The Sun: Championship Roundup
Afternoon all. I hope you enjoyed the bank holiday. There was sun, lots of it, and that meant lots of cricket too. What a nice change from last week’s deluges. The county championship was in full flow, with results aplenty, and lots of eye-catching performances. Indeed, a few England hopefuls really put down a marker over the extended weekend. So let’s get straight to it … We begin at The Oval, where Surrey and Worcs played out a bore draw with runs aplenty. However, although there was very...
Wet, Wet, Wet: Championship Roundup
The weather over the last few days has been wetter than Marti Pellow’s mushiest ballad. There was rain. Lots of it. And unfortunately county cricket and rain are about as compatible as the ECB and common sense. The result was a series of washouts and essentially meaningless individual performances that were never likely to influence the game’s result. The weather was always going to be the only winner in most of round 3’s fixtures. One of the few games that did produce a...
Holy Pope! Championship Roundup
Here’s your choice. You can either watch Virat Kohli, the Indian messiah, slog a few in the IPL, or get yourself down to The Oval and see a Pope in person. I’m referring, of course, to young Oliver Pope, the saviour of Surrey’s batting. Hardly anyone had heard of the lad a week ago, but now he’s just as famous (amongst Surrey supporters at least) as his namesake who resides in the Vatican. What’s more, he’s about a hundred years younger. Surrey’s...
Stone Rises But Batting Hopefuls Sink
I love the early championship fixtures. Spring has arrived, the sun is creeping out (well, occasionally), the magnolias are in bloom, and young England hopefuls get the chance to impress the selectors. What’s more, there are no domestic white ball distractions. It’s first class cricket all the way – unless you’re glued to the IPL but that’s another story. So who impressed the selectors in the first round of matches? Did Haseeb Hameed compile the perfect patient hundred or Joe Clarke dazzle with...
Erroneous Assumptions & Hopeless Predictions: County Championship Preview
Who will be crowned this year’s champions? I really have no idea. A newly promoted club tipped for relegation won the title last year whilst the reigning champions got relegated. It was just the kind of boring and predictable season you’d expect from a competition nobody likes and everyone expects to die. What a total waste of time. Jokes aside the championship has become a bit of a pundit’s nightmare. I really have no idea who will do well and who will flop like Dwayne...
