Monty’s Mission

Monty Panesar may have been cut adrift by England despite winning the Ashes for them with the bat, but he’s on a new mission now – trying to bring success to the Highveld Lions. Monty looks set to make his debut in tomorrow’s match against the Chevrolet Warriors, and it will be interesting to see [...]

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England swing the axe

The ECB’s decision not to offer central contracts, nor even incremental contracts, to Steve Harmison or Monty Panesar has left both with their international futures in doubt. Harmison has been rumoured to be considering international retirement in any case, but Panesar now looks to have been cut adrift, particularly when the fact that Adil Rashid [...]

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England cast Vaughan (and Harmison) adrift

Despite their central contracts, neither Steve Harmison nor Michael Vaughan were included in the England ‘pre-Ashes’ squad of 16 (not 17 as was reported at the weekend – does anyone know what went on there?) that was announced today. Although Geoff Miller has said that “[t]he door has not been closed on any player at [...]

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Flintoff loss could prove Adil’s gain

The news that Andrew Flintoff will miss the World Twenty20 tournament will have been unwelcome for most involved in English cricket (and, of course, for the competition’s sponsors), but it could prove to be Adil Rashid’s big break. The young Yorkshire spinner has been called into England’s 15-man squad to replace Flintoff. Rashid played a [...]

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County Cricket 2009 Division 1 preview

Durham surprised a lot of people with their Championship win last year, and with Steve Harmison out of favour with England once again, their bowling attack looks just as strong as it was in 2008. Ian Blackwell has come in to bolster the middle order and add a spin option, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul returns in [...]

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Ones to watch: Wrap-up

It’s more than a year now since I named my 11 to watch, so it’s probably time to weigh up (briefly) who’s lived up to their potential and who hasn’t: Nasir Jamshed is still under 20, but had little chance to impress this year given Pakistan’s effective exile from international cricket; Virat Kohli made some [...]

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Key to captain MCC

The start of the English County season is almost upon us, and the evidence arrived today with the naming of the MCC’s team to take on County Champions Durham in the traditional curtain-raiser. Most reports are highlighting the inclusion of former England captain Michael Vaughan in the side (alongside fellow England castaway Ian Bell), but [...]

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Flintoff out

Andrew Flintoff is out of the Fourth Test against the West Indies, which could precipitate a considerable restructure in England’s middle order as they attempt to fight their way back into the series. With Graeme Swann also a doubt through injury, England have already flown out cover in the form of Amjad Khan and Ravi [...]

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England’s response to 51 all out

Now that the dust has settled on England’s god-awful performance with the bat against the West Indies, it’s time to start thinking about what England need. The answer, it seems to me, is change. What do I mean by change? Not a radical throwing out of the baby with the bathwater, but a reasoned reassessment [...]

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Adil Rashid gets a chance

England have decided to forgo the usual warm-up match silliness and field a team of a mere eleven players against St Kitts & Nevis in the first match of their tour of the Carribean. Owais Shah is included in the XI, presumably to remind the more inconsistent members of the top order (that’ll be pretty [...]

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England in reasoned selection shock

Either England’s selectors have come to their senses, or the crazed combination of staunch conservatism and random stick-a-pin-in-Playfair changes has accidentally happened upon something approaching reason. Not only is Michael Vaughan, who was given a central contract as part of the ECB’s continuing commitment to 2005 nostalgia, not included in the squad for the strangely [...]

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Amjad Khan called up

Amjad Khan has been included England’s squad for the still-not-quite-confirmed Tests against India. The young Kent quick was included in the squad for the two postponed ODIs last month as cover, and the call-up to the Test side marks a remarkable couple of years for the Copenhagen-born paceman. He missed the entire 2007 season following [...]

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