Who should be England’s no3 ?
The absence of Ian Bell and Joe Root’s understandable preference to remain at no4 has created a vacancy at the crucial number three position in England’s batting order. Two prolific county players, Nick Compton...
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Beefy and the Cheese
Beefy Botham is 60! Gives all of us who hero worshipped him as youngsters a reality check. I loved him. I loved his energy and enthusiasm and his never say die attitude and his...
The strange things real fast bowlers make you do
(an extract from Who Wants to be a Batsman, recounting a reality check against two of the most feared fast bowlers who ever lived.) Aged 29 I did eventually get to raise...
AB: the fearless peerless destroyer
AB de Villiers is the most complete batsman of the modern era. He is a player for all seasons and formats. He can adapt his game to any requirements. The year 2015 will be...
The day Robbo outlasted Sachin
August 5th 1992 is a date indelibly inked in my memory. The scorecard above probably gives you one indication why. But it’s not the only reason. Yes, when the Little Master (only aged 19...
The future for cricket in the United States is not Sachin v Shane
Here’s a picture of a cricket match. It could be in Sussex, Hampshire or Dorset perhaps? Or maybe Palmerston North in New Zealand, or Tasmania? All wrong. This is High Point CC playing a...
Is the Bell finally tolling for England’s no3?
What to do about Ian Bell? After his duck in the final innings of the Pakistan series his career test average (42.7) is the lowest it’s been since March 2010. In 13 tests in...
Jimmy Anderson: the surgeon with the killer instinct
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/cricket/ Jimmy Anderson is the most successful England bowler ever because he is the fittest and the most precise. He has bowled more balls for England than anyone (more than 22,000) yet has only...
How Wahab put England into reverse
Mercurial country Pakistan. Despite the exile from playing tests on their own soil, the match-fixing scandals, the constant upheaval, they keep unearthing match winning bowlers. The latest are Wahab Riaz, whose blistering spell on...
Wasim Akram: the fastest bowler I never saw.
If you want an example of how not to prepare to face a seriously brilliant Pakistani fast bowler, read this account of Middlesex v Pakistan at Lord’s two decades ago… (extracted from Who Wants...
