A poll on Sky Sports news says 75% of viewers want to ban vuvuzelas from the football World Cup. Amen to that! Vuvuzelas are those hideous horns which the South African crowds blow ad nauseam – thus irritating anybody with half a brain (and football fans). It’s not that we’ve got anything against indigenous instruments and cultures in general. West Indian crowds have long blown conch shells throughout five days of a test match. However, somehow conch shells aren’t annoying. They add to the...
England’s worst ever test XI
Brace yourself. The following England team is a collection of the not-so-good, the bad, and in the case of Martin McCague, the ugly. It’s a compilation of misfits, one-cap-wonders, has-beens, and honest county pros that should never have played for England. In fact, you’ll barely remember some of them. So let’s take a trip down memory lane, and thank Misters Illingworth, Graveney, Miller, and Ted ‘that Martin McCaddick is a good bowler’ Dexter for giving us a few laughs over the years. 1. Tim...
How good is Tamim Iqbal?!
Hang on a sec. If Bangladesh are supposed to be so poor, why does one of their batsmen continually flay our bowling to all parts? When he did it a couple of times in his own backyard we thought ‘ok, it’s probably a flash in the pan’. But then came the hundred at Lords – which even one-eyed England fans had to admit was pretty special. And now the little blighter has gone and done it again. What cheek! Somebody ought to remind him that Bangladesh are only here to make up the numbers. Next time...
Richie in paradise
What a shame Richie Benaud isn’t in England enjoying this beautiful weather. Yesterday’s sun was perfect for topping up that brown-as-a-berry suntan (or should that be Bondi bronze?). What’s more, he would have gone absolutely off his face, Bill Lawry style, had he witnessed yesterday’s T20 fixture between Middlesex and Surrey. Of the top five Middlesex batsmen, three made scores of 22 (that’s ‘twenty chew’ in Richie language) whilst another chew made chew. Gilchrist bowled...
Once, twice, three times a no-ball
Warwickshire are about to unveil their new T20 secret weapon – the double bouncer. As The Times report today, the delivery is effectively an off-break released from the back of the hand, which pitches short of a length and then arrives in the blockhole on the second bounce. The technique has been developed by bowling coach Graeme Welch, and will be deployed by Bears allrounder Rikki Clarke. In professional cricket, the double bouncer amounts to an innovation. But for those of us who play...
