We should have known better. I should have known better. When Sri Lanka were meandering along at 4 runs per over in the 40th over of their innings, puzzled looks were exchanged, and predictable jokes were made. Nick Hoult of the Telegraph thanked Angelo Mathews for showing him what an ODI in the 1970s would’ve looked like. And yours truly got in on the act by sarcastically claiming that the Tavare / Boycott partnership was working it’s socks off for Sri Lanka (occupation of the...
Sixy Beasts
Yesterday went pretty much as expected really. England were far too good for Afghanistan, it was always going to be thus, and the result was never in any doubt whatsoever. One could possibly argue that England’s innings started a tad slowly, but we were never really under pressure, and I doubt the opposition would have chased anything near 300 anyway. I don’t like mis-matches as a general rule, but at least this one seduced like a gala bingo offer. England hit 25 sixes in their...
Should Jason Roy Play In The Ashes?
So the news is mixed. Jason Roy’s scan has indeed revealed a hamstring tear. But it’s not a bad one. Allegedly. England are insisting he’ll miss just two games – the somewhat inconsequential match ups against Afghanistan, who England will be expected to beat in their sleep, and Sri Lanka, who England will be expected to beat half-asleep. Roy’s injury therefore shouldn’t affect England’s chances of winning the World Cup. We’ll still be worth a...
Too Easy
It was a shame in many ways. Obviously we’ll take the win – World Cup wins for England have been thinner on the ground than active follicles on Doug Bollinger’s head – but the crowd deserved a better spectacle really. Before the game I thought it could be a humdinger. The West Indies have played some aggressive and attractive cricket so far this tournament, but today they simply weren’t at the races. It’s almost like their heads dropped when they lost the...
Will The Windies Blow England Away?
All this bad weather has been terrible for the World Cup. When India beat Australia I thought the tournament was slowly beginning to heat up, but it’s been a damp squib (literally) ever since. The format doesn’t exactly help either. There’s a lack of tension in the early weeks because teams know they can lose a game or two and still progress. I asked our Twitter followers how excited they were about the World Cup and over 300 people had their say. The results suggest that a lot of people are...
The World Cup Match Day ‘Experience’
The great thing about the ICC deciding the World Cup should be held in England was the easy access to tickets. However, regardless of the spiel that the ICC gave about burgeoning ticket sales, there have been empty seats in practically all of the stadiums – perhaps a backfire of charging an arm-and-a-leg for England games. With the two gold gooses of cricket being England and India, with Pakistan and then Bangladesh probably third and fourth, I had expected the strong Asian community in...
