Warning. This is a positive post. If you’ve come here to bury Caesar not to praise him, you might be disappointed. I’m astounded. The selectors have picked, man for man, the exact twelve players I would have picked. Indeed, it’s the same squad I picked in the pub last night. I can only assume that Whitaker, Fraser and Newell were hiding behind the curtain hanging off my every word (wink). I don’t want to get too carried away, as they might not pick the same XI I’d field, but the signs are good...
Ashley Giles: From The Bears into the bear pit
This aint like dustin’ crops boy. It hasn’t been the most auspicious start for Ashley Giles. England were thrashed in the first warm up game and beaten soundly by Delhi in the second. Thank heavens we weren’t playing Jaipur and Mumbai too, otherwise things might have got really ugly. It’s all the more embarrassing because England are, if the rather bizarre ICC Championship rankings are to be believed, the best ODI team in the world. Imagine what Delhi might have done to South Africa or...
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...
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...
Can England’s lions retain the World T20?
Everyone was behind Colly and the boys in 2009, but will Broad’s team cause a few surprises too? Let’s break this one down. The World T20 is being played in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is part of cricket’s subcontinent. England are rubbish at limited overs cricket in the subcontinent, so what are the chances of England winning a trophy there? As slim as Andrew Flintoff’s chances of becoming a world boxing champion I reckon. Or are they? T20 cricket is essentially what the Americans call ‘a...
