The farce that is the investigation in to the death of Bob Woolmer looks set to get even worse today with a press conference that is expected to say that Woolmer actually wasn’t murdered after all and he instead died of natural causes. The news follows an investigation by Scotland Yard in to the findings of the West Indian pathologist who conducted the analysis of the post mortem and pathology tests.
Now, I’m no expert, but it seems fairly obvious to me that saying a death is murder is a pretty serious thing and that you only say it if you’re …read more

The storm in this week’s tea cup (or is that this week’s storm in the tea cup, I’m not sure, although I don’t think it especially matters) is dredging up of Fredalogate which happened, as far as I can tell, for exactly no reason whatsoever. Whether or not some cricket journo was having a really slow day and decided to cause some mischief, I’m not sure, but the short version of events is that Vaughan apparently blamed Fred for England’s failure in the World Cup, Jim Cumbes (Chief Exec at Lancashire) wagged his finger at Vaughan saying he was out …read more

Well hurrah for this. As if the recent World Cup and particularly its final was not farcical enough already, it has just taken a turn for the bizarre. After Australia won the World Cup final, not necessarily due to being a better side, but because they could just see in the dark, Adam Gilchrist, who scored a remarkable 149 off 102 balls, admitted to “using a squash ball”. Yep. Ball tampering at its finest – Adam Gilchrist had stuffed a regular squash ball in to one of his batting gloves which he admitted to giving him better control over his …read more

This World Cup has been remarkable. Not necessarily for the outcome nor the cricket played, but for the sheer number of careers that it has claimed. OK, so technically not everyone in this last is quitting for good, but in one form or another they have all retired / resigned / not-had-contracts-renewed as-of the end of this World Cup:

Brian Lara (International cricket)

Glenn McGrath (one-day cricket)
Duncan Fletcher (England coach)
Stephen Fleming (one-day captain)
Russel Arnold (International cricket)
Bennett King (West Indies coach)
Inzamam-Ul-Haq (Pakistan captain)
Ken Gordon (tried to quit as President of West Indies Cricket Board)
Tom Moody (Sri Lanka coach)
Dav Whatmore (Bangladesh coach)
Clive Lloyd (ICC …read more

As if any other result was likely. Admittedly, the circumstances surrounding their victory leave a lot to be desired, but nevertheless, the Aussies did more than enough, both during this game and throughout the tournament to be worthy winners. The final itself has been described as farcical, owing to the match ending in near darkness after an umpiring cock-up. The Aussies’ innings was made, however, following a remarkable 149 from Adam Gilchrist in 104 balls. Sri Lanka gave it their best, but after Jayasuriya and Sangakarra were out, there was little left to come before the light stepped in.

I’ve got a gift, it seems. Whenever I “big up” anything, it always goes the opposite way. For example, I thought the semi-finals were going to be awesome and they turned out to be totally one-sided. Sri Lanka’s win over New Zealand (despite proving my prediction to be totally wrong) wasn’t so surprising. New Zealand had absolutely no answer to some very skilful bowling, spearheaded by, you guessed it… Murali. 115* by Jayawardene in the first innings gave the Sri Lankans a total of 289, a target traditionally not beyond the New Zealand top order, but on the day, it …read more

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’s final match in the 2007 World Cup neatly signals the start of new things for the side. The match, against the West Indies, was not without its highlights – foremost it was to be Duncan Fletcher’s last game in charge, a fact shadowed by the fact that it was also Brian Lara’s last one day International appearance. Brian Lara got a standing ovation from the crowd. Duncan Fletcher got no such thing. The irony, of course, is that in the last match of the tournament, England played by far the best cricket of the campaign. It was sloppy in …read more

Ah well. Hopeless optimism. It’s a skill and a facet of any England supporter. You have to believe. You have to want it. You have to think, that despite everything going against, that England could still prevail. You know that it’s not likely to happen, but there’s always a glimmer of hope. The latest World Cup match against South Africa was no exception. Had England won it, and beaten the West Indies, they would have progressed to the semi-finals, into a position they probably didn’t deserve. So all that was really required was one good performance, one really hard fought …read more

I had the opportunity to flex my cricketing know-how by appearing on the excellent “My Cricket World Cup” programme on BBC World. Now, it’s safe to say that whenever you hear a recorded version of yourself, you think you sound like a wally, but it’s true, in this case. I’m sure I’m not that posh.
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 …read more