Ricky Ponting has denied claims that he’s to retire after the World Cup. The Daily Mail reported earlier overnight that Punter’s hand had been forced by Cricket Australia, and would step down if Australia lose to India tomorrow – and seek a dotage in county cricket. But he told a press conference earlier today: “I don’t see the finish line, I want to keep playing both forms of the game as long as I think I can contribute. Nothing’s changed for me in the past...
World Cup in ‘quite good’ shock
Can you believe we’re already at the quarter-final stage of the ICC World Cup? I mean, it seems that barely seven months and 439 fixtures have passed since the opening ceremony in Dhaka. How time has flown. So far it’s been a tournament of two halves. Group A became the group of sleep – a drawn-out exposition of all that’s wrong with the World Cup, and 50 over cricket in general. One dire mis-match after another – exacerbated by the presence of three grossly...
Unlikely lads keep England’s World Cup alive
England 243 (48.4 overs) beat West Indies 225 (44.4 overs) by 18 runs In what was perhaps the most surreal game of cricket since Merv Hughes took up dog wrestling in the middle of a test match, England sneaked past the West Indies this afternoon and kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup quarter finals. Strange forces were at work from the off in Chennai today. It all started when the two teams were announced. First of all, the Windies thought it would be a good idea to leave...
BBC highlights fail to satisfy
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the BBC’s nightly World Cup highlights programme. It’s great to have some cricket back on terrestrial television, but why, as ever, does it have to transmit so late in the evening – usually at 11.20pm, after Newsnight on BBC2. Much as we might deride the tournament, it’s still the biggest single event in the sport, and deserves a more prominent slot, if for no other reason than to give children who live in non-Sky Sports...
Tired of Excuses?
Since the Ashes, our boys haven’t exactly set the world on fire. To call them ‘inconsistent’ would be an understatement. Our embarrassing performance in the World Cup thus far has been attributed to ‘burn-out’. But is this fair? Player fatigue is the burning issue of the day, but can tiredness really explain embarrassing defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh? Let’s look at the two sides of the debate. The defence Apologists for our oscillating performances point out that our best players have been...
The Full Toss quiz
To help take your mind off England’s tortuous progress in the World Cup, here’s the latest edition of our occasional cricket quiz. Enter your answers below – so avoid scrolling down in advance, to prevent a spoiler – or e-mail them to maxie@thefulltoss.com Good luck! 1. Whom did Steve Waugh accuse of dropping the 1999 World Cup? 2. If Middlesex have three seaxes, and Warwickshire have a bear and a staff, who has (a) three pears, and (b) a blue shield with a yellow cross...
