The Barmy Army were singing, Romesh & Rob were watching, and England’s batsmen were laughing. I thought our lead might be approaching 300 by the end of day three, but never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate the loss of just four wickets. Today went swimmingly, and South Africa look sunk. [...]
We haven't had many good days to celebrate in Test cricket recently so today's definitely one to savour. In fact, I've just settled down at my keyboard with a nice glass of something fizzy. It's not champagne - we haven't won yet - but it will do nicely in the circumstances. England [...]
First let's start with the positives. England picked the right team, won the toss, and correctly decided to bat first. Hallelujah! In this day and age that's a triumph. It's just a shame that the rest of the day - you know, the bit that actually involves playing cricket - didn't exactly [...]
A quick update from Cape Town before I reveal the very obvious answer to the question about four-day tests above. Apparently Jofra Archer has been struggling with a sore elbow - previously diagnosed by England's management team as a sore arse - and therefore he might not be fit for the second [...]
Defeat. Another depressing defeat. And this time against a side that had lost their last 5 Tests. Basically, if you're an international team struggling for confidence, look for England on your fixture list. This loss stings because it wasn't the archetypal England defeat overseas. Normally we concede 500, get bowled out for [...]
A day of mixed emotions at Centurion. The good news is that we've still got a sniff thanks to some remarkably resilient batting in the evening session. But after what we witnessed during the morning session, which was as lamentable a performance as I've seen from an England team in the field, [...]
I didn't manage to write a report for day 1 as I've been irritatingly sick this Christmas. I've had the lurgy from hell and it just won't go away. Maybe I've come out in sympathy for Pope, Leach and the others victims of the Benochi Belly? However, had I been match fit [...]
Although the ink in the Seddon Park scorebook is barely dry, England's selectors will choose their squads for South Africa tomorrow. The games come thick and fast this winter, with the first Test commencing as soon as Boxing Day. This gives the players about 20 hours to digest their festive turkey, xmas [...]
I love a good tour of New Zealand me. The scenery is gorgeous (unless they're playing in Aukland), the people are nice, the teams are evenly matched, and the weather is good but not so good that you immediately want to emigrate. But unfortunately this wasn't your ordinary New Zealand tour. The [...]
Imagine this. You're an England bowler. You've bowled a massive 82 overs in the space of ten days. You've taken just two wickets at a cost of 105 runs each, your captain has questioned your effort in public, and you're part of an attack with the worst collective series strike-rate in the [...]