( Getty Images) “Unfit, fat and lazy”. Kevin Pietersen’s description of Samit Patel, the Nottinghamshire allrounder who’s twice been sacked by England for his woeful fitness levels. In this isotonic, beep-test age of cricketers honed to physical perfection by computer-modelled dietary programmes and finely-calibrated workout routines, Patel rather stuck out – as a fat bloke who couldn’t be arsed. Most recently, the 26 year old was left out of England’s World Cup...
Your first test match
It’s Friday – let’s indulge in a little nostalgia. We’d like to hear about the day you fell in love with cricket. The chances are it was the first time you properly watched an England match on TV. At some point, as the overs ticked by, a pernicious little bug crept under your skin and condemned you to the lifelong psychosis of supporting the England cricket team. Who were we playing? What happened? I was an eighties child, so you’d imagine I was seduced by the...
Anybody know any decent cricket video games?
Ok I admit it. I’m thirty five years old and I still play computer games. It’s tragic. Sometimes I’m amazed that I actually found a girl willing to marry me – although I probably need to stop playing Football Manager and give her more attention if I want her to hang around. My impressive library of games is littered with sporting titles: Tiger Woods golf, Madden NFL, the FIFA football titles, EA Sports Rugby. However, the one thing I lack is a decent cricket game. I’ve tried them all, believe...
Why don’t South African golfers choke?
Charl Schwartzel’s victory in The Masters at the weekend left me scratching my head for two reasons. Firstly, why do the fates always conspire against me when I bet? I had a few quid on the Australian Jason Day, who finished second, at odds of 150-1. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Schwartzel made four birdies in four holes to steal the green jacket away from an Aussie that nobody, apart from me, had heard of. However, more relevant to cricket, I couldn’t believe it when I saw that Shwartzel’s...
The new season
You can almost feel it in the air. Spring has sprung. The scent of freshly-cut grass permeates the senses. The evenings are warmer and lighter. Yes, the new village cricket season is almost upon us. So as we prepare to dust the cobwebs off our kit, and limber our creaking joints into action, here’s our exclusive Full Toss guide to your pre-season preparations. Weather What a glorious few days it’s been. Blue skies, endless sunshine, beautifully warm. So inevitably, when the first...
Ready for the start of the County Championship? Me neither
The county championship started today and unusually crowds had glorious sunshine to enjoy rather than arctic rain. Last year Durham were unable to play on the opening day because the Riverside was under two feet of snow. This year, however, the ECB have got away with starting the season ridiculously early. I wonder if their future scheduling is dependent on accelerated global warming? I wouldn’t be surprised if Giles Clarke has ploughed all his money into Haliburton. Usually I look forward to...
