Two Twenty20’s and two one day Internationals down and… scores are level. England and the West Indies are so evenly matched that there’s very little to separate them. And that’s not saying we’ve had four tense and exciting games – quite the opposite, in fact. Rather, we’ve been treated to four very one sided affairs, where one side showed the type of talent of which you would expect of a top side, whilst the other under-performed hideously. In fact, it is this ‘talent’ that ties to the sides so closely together, that is, the talent of inconsistency.
It’s all a bit …read more

In the second post of this series, I’m looking back at another shocking event in cricketing history. Perhaps not in the same category as the Bodyline tour, where bowlers set out to deliberately injure batsmen, but this episode is just as despicable. So despicable, in fact, that Australian legend Richie Benaud described it as the most disgraceful thing he had ever seen. That says it all.
Well, actually, this video says it all…

Shocking stuff.

The domestic season in England is well under way and in the Friends Provident one day series, where the players play in pyjamas and have silly American Football style names like “Sussex Sharks” and “Yorkshire Phoenix”. Well the one day game has taken a turn for the bizarre by the introduction of the “referral” system, whereby each team can refer decisions made by the on-field umpire to the off-field third umpire, who has the benefit of the television replay.

Six weeks later and we’re finally nearing the end of this bizarre World Cup. Fortunately we’ve got two very tasty looking semi-finals on the cards.
Semi 1: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, Jamaica (Tuesday 24th)
First up is Sri Lanka vs New Zealand. Sri Lanka have the been the “surprise” of the World Cup, after demolishing several big teams on their way through to the semis. Jayasuriya has been on top form with the bat, and it has been Malinga the Slinger with the ball, rather Murali, who has, by his standards, been quite sedate. Question marks have been raised over Sri …read more

England did enough to get in to the Super 8 stage of the World Cup by beating Kenya in the final match of Group C. In a match delayed by heavy rain and subsequently limited to 43 overs, Kenya won the toss and bravely elected to bat first. They lasted until the final over, but their low run rate was only enough to set a target of 178. Kenyas men batted valiantly, but on a wicket suited to bowlers, the regular loss of wickets never enabled Kenya to build any significant partnerships. England’s bowlers were led by Jimmy Anderson, although …read more

The next 2 days of the World Cup ought to offer some riveting cricket.
Today sees India in a must-win match against Sri Lanka for a place in the Super 8. Sri Lanka have been “rampant” thus far in the tournament, scoring large totals and looking in total control. India were unconvincing in their loss at the hands of Bangladesh although did set a new World Cup record total of 413 against Bermuda. Their bowling has lacked the bite of recent years and must step up a gear if they are to beat Sri Lanka. However, they must bat confidently and …read more

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Being an England cricket fan can be very hard work sometimes. Armies of faithful English fans mortgaged their kidneys and their grannies to get out to Australia for the Ashes. Others changed their sleep patterns and abandoned their kids and jobs so that they could be awake at all hours to follow the cricket on the TV or the radio. We sat, we watched, we listened, we gasped, we (occasionally) cheered and we cried. A lot. Thousands of people rearranged their lives to show their support and how were we rewarded? …read more

There were no prisoners yesterday, as the first weekend of the cricket World Cup 2007 claimed two high profile victims. First up was Pakistan versus Ireland, and on St. Patrick’s day of all days. And although the Irish rugby team narrowly missed out on the Six Nations crown, the Irish cricket team were on top form to embarass one of the teams tipped to win the World Cup. As was the norm for these “giants vs minnows” matches, the giants were batting first, but were humbled by some superb bowling and were bowled out cheaply for just 132. The innings …read more

Anyone who has played cricket and been to indoor nets will be familiar, when batting, with hearing the saying “last six”, referring to the fact that you’ve got six balls left in your net. This is traditionally a license to let loose and try to have a bit of fun. In fact, the call of last six will often be followed by a target, such as “20 to win”. It’s then your duty to “win the game” by scoring the required runs, which are adjudged by those bowling at you. You’ll need to work hard for your runs, but slog …read more

Australia suffered another loss at the hands of New Zealand, to lose the three match series in the first 2 games. It was their 5th loss out of 6 games. Even more worrying than their horrific 10-wicket hiding previously, was that Australia posted an-ordinarily-match-winning-336, which New Zealand chased with balls to spare. Sure, a 10 wicket whooping is embarassing, but to bounce back and still get hammered, well that’s just worrying. Even stand-in captain Mr. Cricket Mike Hussey couldn’t steer them to a win with a century, as New Zealand newbie Ross Taylor made scoring one-day centuries look like picking …read more