England 167 & 421-6. New Zealand 460-9. Match Drawn. Apologies for the awful headline. Watching a tailender block for almost five hours can do strange things to the brain. In the end the pitch won. It’s no coincidence that England’s hero with the bat yesterday, nighwatchman Steve Finn, managed to compile his first ever first class fifty. The word ‘featherbed’ doesn’t quite cut it. A combination of Warne, Ambrose, Marshall, Hadlee (even the mighty Jack Shantry) would’ve struggled to take...
I believe the phrase rhymes with clucking bell – day three in Dunedin
England 167. New Zealand 402-7 New Zealand scored 271-7 on day three. That’s not particularly good on a pitch that’s flatter than Jessica Alba’s stomach. The problem is it’s a damn sight better than 167 all out. England threw this game away on day one – like they’ve done on their last four overseas tours. Although the bowlers did pretty well yesterday, the damage was already done. This game was up from the moment that England’s established test match batsmen – all of whom have impressive career...
Nice weather for ducks, bad news for Swann
We’d really like to talk about the cricket. But there’s not much to say. England lost the toss and New Zealand chose to bowl. Then in rained … a lot. No play was possible on day one. If it’s blue skies and good batting conditions tomorrow, the Kiwis will be cursing their decision to field. The big news yesterday was the make-up of England’s team. Where was Graeme Swann? Had England decided to pick four seamers (they’ve done it before, remember)? Had Swann overslept? Had the selectors...
Why England will retain the Ashes – Part 1
While the relentless South Africans have been bowling out Pakistan for 49, there isn’t much for us England fans to do except twiddle our thumbs and look forward to the Ashes; we won’t get another crack at the flukey (ahem) Cricketboks until January 2016. Of course, there’s the NZ tour to look forward to, but we all know this is just a warm-up for the main event this coming summer. So why not begin the build up now? Guest writer Shaun Edwards, from www.eatsleepcricket.co.uk...
England’s Best Cricket Team (Post 1980)
This XI might have been England’s best cricket team in generations. It’s a compilation of the best players we’ve seen since we started watching in the 1980s. It’s the side that would have beaten Steve Waugh’s Australians (maybe). If only they’d been born at a similar time so they were at the peak of their powers together. Of course, if Keith Fletcher was the coach, and they were still playing for their counties the day before a test, it wouldn’t have made much difference...
Now we’re Cookin’ – day two from Kolkata
India 316. England 216-1. Stumps. If the fairy godmother (Geoff Boycott in a pink leotard and sparkly skirt?) had visited Alastair Cook in the middle of yesterday night, and asked him how he wanted day two to unfold, he might have said something like this: ‘I’d like to polish India off without conceding more than about forty runs, then put on a huge opening stand with Compton and get close to India’s score without losing more than one wicket’. Then, just as sparkly Geoff was about to disappear...
