Now the dust has settled, and Darren Lehmann has gone home crying, it’s time to reflect on our players’ performance during the Ashes. Who triumphed in the crucial moments, and which players were largely passengers on the good ship HMS 3-0. We’ll try to be as fair as possible here – utilising statistics when necessary, but also looking behind the statistics too. Let us know if you agree or disagree. All Ashes player ratings are scores out of 10. Alastair Cook 4 – It’s almost blasphemous to...
Australia’s cupboard is bare, but ours is hardly stacked
Thanks to Maxie for his spoof of the Australian touring squad last week; my particular favourite was left arm spinner Xavier Hope. Looking at the Canary Yellows squad – robbed of Pat Cummins through injury – I personally don’t think they’ve got a hope (although stranger things have happened). Perhaps us England fans shouldn’t be so smug though. In case you missed it, the England Lions got well and truly massacred by Australia A this winter. Admittedly, the Aussie team was much more experienced...
The Miracle in Mumbai – day four
England 413 and 58 for 0 beat India 327 and 142 by a country mile Ok, so ‘miracle’ might be too strong a word, but be honest. How many England supporters really thought we’d have a rat’s posterior’s chance of winning this match – especially when we lost the toss on Friday morning? Test matches in India, Pakistan (or the UAE) and Sri Lanka usually end in catastrophe and embarrassment – and joy for all the millions of Asians who love the English about as much as we love Ricky Ponting. But this...
The Saturday Binge
Looking forward to seeing more of this bloke next summer? Me neither. This blog post would have been called ‘The Sunday Roast’, but it’s a day too early for that. Still, what’s twenty four hours between friends? There’s so much to discuss at the moment: There’s England’s selection dilemma – Jonny Bairstow’s century today has put the cat amongst the pigeons – Pat Cummins latest serious injury, plus The Dark Lord’s appointment as Surrey captain to chew over. We’ll start with Bairstow’s...
Lack of foresight will cost us again
‘Hmmm I must remember to pack my Lonely Planet Guide’: Nick Compton will have lots of spare time on his hands if KP goes to India Will Kevin Pietersen play in the test series against India? That’s what everyone’s talking about; that and Australia’s pathetic display in the semi finals of the T20 of course (tee hee). The logic seems to be “KP’s got a central contract now, so he must be picked – otherwise the ECB are paying him for nothing”. However, it’s not quite that simple. When is...
Hit out or get out
England’s tactical think tank has some work to do Windies 179-5. England 164-4 Once upon a time, England ruled the waves in T20 cricket. We had openers that didn’t get out in the first over, an explosive middle order, bowling options coming out of our ears, a captain with tactical nous, and the X factor of Eoin Morgan. These days we’ve got Eoin Morgan and err … that’s about it. Yesterday’s defeat to the West Indies was so depressing because it was completely avoidable. It was a...
