So what did you think? Yesterday the BBC showed their first live cricket match since 1999. It was just the second live game broadcast on terrestrial television since 2005. There was therefore quite a lot resting on this particular broadcast. How would they present the game to a new audience – one which was either returning to cricket or stumbling upon cricket for the first time? Personally I thought they did well. It wasn’t crusty and old hat; nor was it too eager to be all new and...
Crawley Ton Gives Pakistan The Creeps
Not a lot enthuses me these days. I’ve very much hit that grumpy old git stage of life. If you gave me a gift horse, the first thing I’d do is look at its teeth. And I’ve seen more young English batsman come and go than I’ve had cucumber sandwiches. Not a lot of them have got me excited. However, I’m beginning to think that England have finally found a couple of young batting starlets worth watching. The first is Ollie Pope, who sadly didn’t trouble the...
The “Jimmy Anderson’s Past It” Storyline Is The Only Thing That’s Getting Old
I have an admission to make. I haven’t been able to watch as much cricket as I usually would this summer. I’m as busy as hell at work whilst trying to juggle two young kids, a garage conversion, and some cricket blog you might have heard of. However, I have been lucky enough to watch a lot of Jimmy Anderson. Why? Because I go out of my way to see him. Watching him bowl for England has been part of my life for seventeen whole years. I don’t like the idea that he’ll soon...
Chris Woakes Should Balance The Side In Stokes’ Absence
Today Mark Cohen suggests that England should balance their side at the Ageas Bowl by giving Chris Woakes more responsibility with the bat. Yes, we might be getting carried away with the run chase heroics. Yes, Saturday’s victory against Pakistan included numerous slices of good fortune on what was a minefield of a fourth day wicket. And yes, Chris Woakes still only has a solitary test century to his name. But fate may have thrown England a chance to discover if they have a second world-class...
What Buttler and Woakes Did
I hope you’re all basking in the glory of England’s win yesterday. It was a sensational comeback. England picked an unbalanced team, collapsed horribly twice in the match, surrendered a first innings deficit of over one hundred runs, and still somehow managed to win. Pakistan must be wondering what hit them. The prime architect of the win was one of the most modest and unappreciated professional cricketers in the world. Take a bow Chris Woakes. He took 2-43 (with the best economy...
Exile, Broad, Buttler and Bess
Morning all. I’m back. Sorry about the absence. I escaped to France last week and discovered, to my horror, that there was no Wi-Fi at my resort. This meant that my contact with cricketing civilisation was limited to say the least. I missed the conclusion of the Test match, the ODIs against Ireland, plus the start of the Grumpy Bob Trophy. My only source of cricketing information was my phone. But even then I had to watch my data usage carefully. It was like being trapped in a cricket-less...
