The Twenty20 season hasn’t got off to the best start this year, but I have to say I am enjoying it. It has recently been marred from some peculiar and football-hooligan-esque behaviour at the game between Middlesex and Hampshire, where Middlesex has their dressing room broken in to by thieves who stole wallets and other items and Hampshire had their tour bus pelted with stones. In addition, no single Twenty20 match (so-called because each side bats for, yep, 20 overs) has actually managed 20 overs a side due to horrendous weather conditions in an unusually wet June. Global warming and …read more

This is why we love Freddie so much. Embroiled in a “row” over Fredalogate following comments from Michael Vaughan, we were all waiting to hear what Fred had to say about it all. Stoic as ever, Fred shrugged it all off. After meeting Vaughan for lunch, Fred’s outlook on the whole issue was, for want of a better expression, “Am I bovvered?”. The answer, was ‘no’.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” he added. “There is a lot of history there, and something like this, which is a storm in a teacup, isn’t going to affect that. I’ve …read more

England might not be much cop when it comes to playing cricket, but our cricketers are at least talented in other areas, as confirmed by Mark Ramprakash winning this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, becoming the second cricketer in a row to win it, following Darren Gough. Both players are ex-England cricketers. Gough’s England career was arguably the better, especially in the one day format, but you never felt Ramps really got going at the International level, despite obvious potential.
Considering that dancing is basically the ultimate in vanity exercises, I’m intrigued to see which cricketer will attempt the feat next year. …read more

Damien Martyn announced the other day that he has retired from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. This is a most unusual thing to do. I’m not going to comment on how great a batsmen he was blah blah because he’s an Australian and there are plenty of other people who can do the ego-massaging. Nope, instead I’m going to jot it down to Damien Martyn being flat out scared. Of England.
That’s right. Australia are 2-nil up in an Ashes series. Englands bowlers have been rubbish thus far. Perhaps he figured that England had been holding back a …read more

As the England boys sit in first class comfort on their long-haul to Australia ahead of the Ashes, Matthew Hoggard has been revealing the secrets of his success. Hoggard, who will be a vital component of England’s bowling attack, as had a magical couple of seasons and is now a considered a lynchpin. I’m not sure how many other metaphors I can invent to say that he can bowl a bit. Stupidly, though, he’s given the game away, and no doubt Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath will read with glee on finding the missing piece of their bowling jigsaw, as …read more

Whilst the ICC Champions Trophy trudges dull-ly along with scant chance of seeing any sort of exciting gamesplay, I thought I start a feature that looked at the quirkier side of cricket. It might turn out as a sort of cricketing glossary. Similar to the feature that Channel4 used to run, before they stupidly gave up the rights lost the cricket, the name of which I’ve forgotten*. That said, it was a much better feature than Sky’s Willow and Stumpy a godawful animated pool of cricketing sputum.
So in this inaugural edition, I’m covering a peculiar affliction that doesn’t apply only …read more

Monty Panesar, England’s spin bowler has developed a cult following amongst leagues of English supporters. He has made himself famous for being a frankly terrible fielder, and equally useless batsman. English fans cheer and jeer whenever he fields (or fails to field) a ball. It’s all supposedly light-hearted stuff, but some peeps have even gone so far as to anagram his name to find some more ridicule.