0To boo or not to boo…

Published by & filed under Australia.

Dur­ing the ODI world cup there has been con­tinu­ous dis­cus­sion amongst the com­ment­at­ors about the reac­tion of the crowds to the 2 Aus­trali­an cheats. Eoin Mor­gan did­n’t take a pos­i­tion and said he felt it was­n’t up to him to tell the fans what to do or think. Vir­at Kohli asked sup­port­ers not to boo the pair in a pos­it­ive ges­ture that per­haps they don’t deserve. Former Eng­land play­ers includ­ing Graeme Swann have been very neg­at­ive about the boo­ing, as have many Aus­trali­an ex-pros. So what is the watch­ing pub­lic to do?

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0The Ashes urn2019 Ashes

Published by & filed under The Ashes.

So, with the crick­et world cup almost over, it’s time to start think­ing about the main event of the crick­et­ing sum­mer: the Ashes! In the last install­ment Eng­land were once again soundly beaten down under, but they haven’t lost at home for 18 years. On paper both sides have some top play­ers, so it looks like it could be the closest series since 2005. To ensure they come out on top Eng­land will need to sort some big issues at the top of their order.

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0England: Time for a “Sir Alex” style manager?

Published by & filed under England.

Respons­ib­il­ity is a chal­lenge for all of us at some time in our lives. Some of us devel­op it young, some nev­er quite seem to grasp it at all. Life cir­cum­stances can help or hinder us, as can some luck along the way. Celebrit­ies and pub­lic fig­ures face the same chal­lenges we all face, but they do it in the pub­lic eye where every­one can (and does) judge them. Throw in fame and money and the chal­lenge gets all the lar­ger. Rather than wait for mis­takes to hap­pen and then lam­baste our young role mod­els, is there any­thing that can be done to help and pre­pare them?
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0England and Wales Cricket Board logoA game of nerve?

Published by & filed under Uncategorised.

It’s that time again — the nights are long, the air is cold, but soon the radio will fire into life and bring the sounds of Aus­trali­an sum­mer to our ears. Will Eng­land come back from the pre­vi­ous white­wash with a win (as they did in 2010-11, or will Aus­tralia com­plete a 3rd white­wash in 4 series. I for one am bet­ting it won’t be a draw!
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0500 Plus? Perhaps This Year

Published by & filed under England, One Day Internationals. Last updated .

Firstly dear read­er an apo­logy for our lack of recent com­mu­nic­a­tion – we both appre­ci­ate it that people take the time to pour through our mus­ings and hope you con­tin­ue to do so.
Now down to business.
Back in August last year Eng­land did the unthink­able and broke the record for the highest ever one day inter­na­tion­al score, post­ing 444–3 – a run high­er than the pre­vi­ous total that had stood for a little over a decade.
It was a massive score – one that would have been seen as simply unachiev­able in years gone by. But the game, like England’s bat­ting order, has come on in spades in recent times with T20 crick­et lay­ing much of the found­a­tion for a new style of play.… Read Full Article

0Ruthless India Despatch Visitors

Published by & filed under England, India, Test Cricket. Last updated .

There was a point in the fourth test between India and Eng­land when the hosts were 30-odd runs behind their oppon­ents with only three wick­ets remaining.
It was a false dawn though and the mas­ter­ful Kohli and mag­ni­fi­cent Jay­ant Yadav (in only his third test) com­bined to take the match and with it any hopes of a series draw bey­ond the grasp of the visitors.
It served to under­line the gulf in exper­i­ence of con­di­tions on the sub-con­tin­ent. India rammed home their great­er know­ledge and under­stand­ing of how to play in such an arena. Through most of this series they have been the far bet­ter of the sides and a win was inev­it­able once a lead of 200 was sur­rendered. … Read Full Article

0Cricket Australia logoAustralia’s Golden Era Hurts the Current Cricketers

Published by & filed under Australia, Test Cricket. Last updated .

Aus­tralia – what the heck! They’ve just lost the series against South Africa fol­low­ing some bat­tling col­lapses worthy of Eng­land at their very best (or worst!)
It’s incred­ible to see what has happened to the side when they are com­pared to the team of recent past. There’s a big wad of rub­bish in the cur­rent line up – I can’t think of any­one who would make the Eng­land side who played in the last test against South Africa. OK they have a few injur­ies, espe­cially in the bowl­ing depart­ment, but things will have to change.… Read Full Article

0Political Machinations Start Series With a Bang

Published by & filed under Australia, England, India, Test Cricket. Last updated .

Dur­ing a week in which the world saw a new Pres­id­ent elec­ted Com­mand­er-in-Chief in Amer­ica and Brit­ish Prime Min­ster Theresa May vis­ited India, it is per­haps apt the first test is com­pared to glob­al polit­ic­al machinations.
The say­ing goes that a week is a long time in polit­ics – and the say­ing would appear apt in crick­et too.
Only a few days ago many naysay­ers (myself included) were fear­ing the hosts could inflict a series white­wash on the vis­it­ors — espe­cially if the top order in par­tic­u­lar didn’t apply them­selves bet­ter.… Read Full Article