Posts By: Jon Scaife

0To boo or not to boo…

Posted 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

Posted 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?

Posted 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?

Posted 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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1Cricket Australia logoMichael Clarke — So long

Published by & filed under Australia. Last updated .

So, Michael Clarke has announced his retire­ment from inter­na­tion­al crick­et after the final Ashes test at the oval. Many have already paid trib­ute, we’re not so bothered about doing that. Here’s why.
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0International Cricket Council logoFour day test matches? no thanks!

Published by & filed under Test Cricket. Last updated .

With a few recent test matches fin­ish­ing in 3 or 4 days, there has been talk in some quar­ters about redu­cing test matches to 4 days. We’d like to give a resound­ing no thanks sent back to any such ideas.
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0Cricket Australia logoSteve Smith — world number 1 mouth, not number 1 batsman

Published by & filed under Australia, The Ashes. Last updated .

Con­grat­u­la­tions to Steve Smith who has taken over the “Glen McGrath” pro­fess­or­ship for the pub­lic under­stand­ing of Aus­trali­an hubris. To be fair to McGrath, a man with over 500 test wick­ets, and integ­ral mem­ber of one of the greatest sides of all time, he could be for­giv­en for think­ing his side might white­wash Eng­land, although say­ing it aloud is insult­ing and isn’t a part of the spir­it of respect in which crick­et should be said. Steve Smith how­ever, a man who was pathet­ic the last time he vis­ited Eng­land and pathet­ic again in the cur­rent series (if we exclude his excel­lent double hun­dred which was made on a flat noth­ing pitch at lord’s).
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