“Whether it be, perhaps, in his fielding, or in the, er, the structure of his body”

On its own, not a damning statement, but it did have the benefit of a hand gesture, which was moreorless “he’s a tubby a bastard”.

Post from: EveryJoe

Chris Adams calls Rob Key fat

I was put on the spot with each of the questions, so I don’t even entirely agree with my answers. (Especially as I sit here watching South Africa embarass England.)

But nevertheless, an opportunity for you to see your favourite cricket blogger in action. Hah. Or an opportunity to take some screen grabs and circulate some doctored images. Your call.

Clicky (and go for Tues, 17th April). Much love to the BBC peeps for sorting it all out and dealing with my dodgy webcam.

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Six and Out on My Cricket World Cup

Check it.

Top work Michelle.

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Mixed feelings on the World Cup so far

I would offer to buy everyone a drink, but that might be a little controversial right now.

So anyway, here’s the first ever post: Welcome to Six and Out
The hilarious cricketing lookalikes: Adam Gilchrist, Murali and Ryan Sidebottom
The infamous “Chris Tremlett naked in cosmo” issue
The Rules of Cricket
The day England officially lost the Ashes
And the day that England really lost the Ashes

Ahhh. Many fond memories.

Oh the irony

Whilst doing a bit of research for this post, I discovered the image above. It’s the cover for a book, called “Six and Out”. “Hurray!”, I thought. Until I saw the full title of the book. “Six and Out: The Legend of Australian and New Zealand cricket”. Hmm, so this blog, which tenuously advertises itself as an International cricket blog, which is blatantly an International cricket blog which moreorless focuses on English cricket, actually takes its name* from a book which glorifies Australian and New Zealand cricket teams. In the words of a certain Mr Simpson: “D’oh!”.

Ah well, what can you do. Here’s to another year. Cheers!

* Actually, when I started this blog I had no idea, and the name was chosen owing to the “Six & Out” rule in backyard cricket. It’s also the name of Brett Lee’s band, another fact I didn’t know when starting this blog. Bless.

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Six and Out one year old today

Post from: EveryJoe

World Cup hasn’t started…

Paul Collingwood found a welcome return to form, following up his century against New Zealand with 120* not out and 70. Collingwood doubters should now be feeling very silly about themselves. Aside from his double hundred at Adelaide, Collingwood has had a poor series, and his recent scores rightly earned him man of the finals (!) but he arguably had no worse a series than any of the other players. He managed to do what neither Bell nor Strauss managed and at the right time as well. England’s bowlers also managed to come through, with Liam Plunkett the most promising, picking up some key wickets at key times. There are still many things to look at, such as England’s running between the wickets which has been horrific, the opening batsmen situation and the wicket keeper situation, but the boys at least have some confidence back and there’s something to improve upon. It also shows that England don’t rely on any single member, such as Kevin Pietersen, to win the game. And even more promising is that if more than one player could find some form at the same time, then England can be even better.

Beating Australia in Australia at any time is always an achievement and one that shouldn’t be too undervalued. Leaving Australia with some silverware was certainly unexpected, and I admit I didn’t think there a was hope of it happening after the Ashes whitewash. The CB trophy was always going to take second place behind the Test matches, but it’s great that England managed to turn things around and rescue something from what was otherwise a terrible series. Ahead of the World Cup, this was about the best thing that could happen.

Post from: EveryJoe

England salvage some pride

Is Michael Vaughan really that good a captain? England have failed to win any games in this tour under Andrew Flintoff’s guidance in this series, but the one game that Vaughan is back and England win. Coincidence, or skill? Judging by his frequent injuries, what odds would you give on Michael Vaughan ever taking a role in an England side ever again?

(Have a look at this article from July 2006 for an interesting look at Vaughan’s troublesome career.)

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Vaughan to miss… some more cricket

Words actually fail me.

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England fans: do not read this

Having said that, it seemed like a no-brainer that Monty Panesar would start in the Ashes and we all know what happened there.

It seems like this (pointless) “trophy” is the perfect venue for England to get a bit of practice and maybe experiment a little ahead of the World Cup. It would be great to see the likes of Tremlett and Broad get some bowling practice and allow some of the newbies to the squad some time at the crease. They’ve done that with Paul Nixon behind the stumps, even though so far he’s had something of a shocker. It seems obvious to do the same with the captaincy. And at the very least they should dump Vaughan for good, the man is too much of an injury risk now.

Post from: EveryJoe

Vaughan out; Flintoff captain

Also appointed are Nasser Hussein, Michael Atherton and Angus Fraser, with two, as yet, unfilled spots remaining. My guesses are on Geraint Jones and Ashley Giles.

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Ashes witch-hunt to commence