When Jimmy Anderson was struggling for consistency in his younger years, he developed the nickname Daisy: some ‘days-he’ does and some ‘days-he’ doesn’t. I hope the nickname doesn’t make a comeback in the twilight of his career: some ‘days-he’ plays and some ‘days-he’ doesn’t. After missing the last two Ashes tests last summer, Jimmy has now been ruled out of the first test against the Cricketboks. It’s a massive blow to England’s chances in my opinion. The experts expect it to swing when the...
Wot No Jimmy – ICC Test Team of the Year Announced
The ICC test team of the year has just been announced. It’s a decent team on the whole. But there’s one glaring omission: Jimmy Anderson has been left out. This leaves me scratching my not inconsiderable bald bonce. Let’s look at the team. It’s led by Alastair Cook and also includes Joe Root and Stuart Broad. They’re joined by David Warner (boo!), Kane Williamson, Younis Khan, Steve Smith, Sarfraz Ahmed, Trent Boult, Yasir Shah and Josh Hazlewood. Ravi Rashwin was named 12th man. As far as I’m...
The Real Challenge this Winter
For English cricket, an Ashes tour down-under conjures up all kinds of images and emotions: there’s the abuse we get from Aussie fans sitting in Sydney’s infamous Bay 13, there’s painful memories of our batsmen having their heads knocked off at Perth, and who can forget the intimidating atmosphere on Boxing Day at the MCG when 90,000 Australians in canary yellow replica shirts start baying for English blood. An Ashes tour down under is every England cricketer’s Everest: emerge victorious...
The Beard to be Revered – Day 5 at the Ageas
Bloody fantastic! It feels great to write about something positive for a change. The team has been heavily criticised over the last few months, and rightly so, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the performance at the Ageas Bowl. It was the perfect team effort. Congratulations all round. It’s important not to go over the top – we all know this side is capable of mindless cricket as well as the inspired variety – but let’s just enjoy this victory without worrying too much about the...
Same old faces for England, but there’s no more smoochie for Goochie
So there we have it: the brave new world. Looks rather like the crap old world to me, but beggars can’t be choosers I’m afraid. I suppose the decision to remove Graham Gooch from his position of batting coach is enough change for the next ten years. Or am I just being a cynical? (Yes I am) I feel a little sorry for Gooch to be honest. He was a brilliant batsman and is obviously a very good batting guru. However, all good things must come to an end. With the exception of Ian Bell, all...
After the fall
You can sympathize with England’s coaches, especially Andy Flower. He was the greatest batsman his country’s ever produced, ranked number one in the world and one of the finest batsmen of his generation. Dedicated, hard-working, diligent, the product of the graft he put in to the game. Sounds very much like his deputy Graham Gooch, although Flower is also renowned for his impeccable character: principles as rigid as his backbone, standing up to the dictator who destroyed his country and...
