Australia vs West Indies: Test Series Preview

Australia go into their first Test series since the Ashes with a strong desire to bounce back, and one could hardly dispute that the West Indies are in need of a boost following their recent troubles, so both sides should be sufficiently motivated for the three Test series which starts on Thursday. For Australia, the [...]

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India vs Australia: One Day Series Preview

India are hosting Australia for a seven-match ODI series, which normally would have been hyped for weeks (if not months) in advance, but the Ashes (and its attendent ODIs) blurred into the Champions Trophy which blurred into the Twenty20 Champions League which only finished yesterday, so it’s almost as if the series has crept up [...]

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Lee and Johnson: what might have been?

Mitchell Johnson, after a disappointing Ashes series (even allowing for his fine showing at Headingley), is showing English crowds what he’s capable of. After taking a wicket with his only ball of the rain-curtailed Twenty20 series, he was at it again at The Oval, taking 3 for 2 from his 7 overs as Australia won [...]

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England vs Australia: One Day Series Preview

England go into the One Day series against Australia still riding relatively high on the euphoria of Ashes victory, althouhg their confidence must surely have taken a serious knock following their close escape in Ireland and their awful start to a rain-interrupted innings in Manchester on Sunday. The prospect of 7 ODI matches without KP [...]

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England Have Won the Ashes

Congratulations England, farewell Flintoff, hard luck Hussey, and hats off to young Broad. It hasn’t been the greatest series ever, but winning the Ashes still means a lot. Of course, it’s all thanks to Monty’s last stand at Cardiff…

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Ashes Almost in Reach

Australia are facing an almost impossible task to avoid defeat at the Oval after Jonathan Trott made an impressive ton on debut as England set the tourists a stratospheric 546 to win. If any side is capable of making 546, it’s the side that made 674/6 at Cardiff (albeit in very different conditions), and if [...]

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It’s Nearly Time

After all the hype, the mind games and the avian pitch invasions, the Ashes are about to reach their denouement at the Oval. It might not be as tense as 2005, but cricket fans across the globe will still be calling in sick, scheduling phantom ‘meetings’ that last the same amount of time as the [...]

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Ups and Downs for the Dutch

Dutch cricket has had quite a summer – as England can attest – but it will no longer be able to rely on the services of ‘Don’t Call Him Dirty’ Dirk Nannes, who has been called up by Australia (at last) for the Twenty20 internationals at Old Trafford that will follow the Ashes. Although Nannes‘ [...]

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Pad Up, It Could Be You

Apparently, absolutely no one has been ruled out of the running for inclusion in the side to play the Fifth Test at the Oval, so make sure you’re prepared in case you get a call next week to say you’re in the squad. Let’s face it, the prospect of you playing for England in the [...]

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The Dossier

The so-called ‘Langer dossier‘ detailing all of England’s failings (which, incidentally, Justin Langer almost certainly didn’t write) is getting a lot of coverage today – but it’s hardly full of revelations. In the words of Michael Vaughan, “If I had been asked to write a dossier on English cricket, I would have come up with [...]

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England Revert to 1990s Type

In retrospect, I think England’s collapse to 102 all out (seemingly a tribute to the Ashes performances of 10 or 15 years ago) has been due for some time. Even when making large scores, whole sections of the batting order have been weak or anonymous, and the lack of confidence among many of the players [...]

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England Without their Superstars

The prospect of England going into a crucial Fourth Ashes Test at Headingley without either Kevin Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff is enough to fill any Pom with dread, and it looks like it might be about to happen. Pietersen, of course, is out with an Achillies injury, and Flintoff is looking doubtful, to say the [...]

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