Jimmy takes five

Jimmy Anderson’s first ever ODI five-for was a sight to behold (highlights here and here). South Africa’s batsmen, having been so imposing at Newlands on Friday, were in disarray as the hosts were skittled for 119, with the ‘Burnley Express’ taking 5-23, including the pivotal wickets of Amla, Boucher, and Duminy. England’s tour so far [...]

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The Return of Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen is feeling ‘refreshed‘ after his forced break from cricket (time which he exploited to promote pomade, although sadly not Dapper Dan). England will certainly be glad of his return, having had an uneven and inconsistent end to the summer, and apparently Pietersen has prepared himself for the winter by spending “a month on [...]

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Twenty20 Champions League Preview: Part Two

Part two of the Twenty20 Champions League Preview: The Bangalore Royal Challengers have almost as many South Africans in their squad as the sides representing that country (even without the injured Kevin Pietersen). Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn all feature, whilst Rahul Dravid demonstrated in this year’s IPL that there’s a role for [...]

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Champions Trophy: Group B Preview

South Africa have always been the nearly men of 50-over cricket, but they did win the Champions Trophy back in 1998, since when they have developed a reputation as big tournament bottlers. This is South Africa’s best chance in years to win some ICC silverware, as well as to cast off the ‘chokers‘ tag. New [...]

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Flintoff goes freelance

There’s been plenty of talk in recent months of the rise of the freelance cricketer, with first Andrew Symonds, then Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff being linked with the idea. Now it seems that the latter is set to lead the way, having turned down an ECB contract in favour of what some might call [...]

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England back to being rubbish after Ashes anomaly

England’s batsmen have failed for the second match in a row, failing for the second time in three days to knock off the required runs after their bowlers had restricted Australia to an unexceptional total. With a large Pietersen-shaped hole gaping in the top order (Matt Prior batting at number three? Seriously?), the home side [...]

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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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Ireland vs England: ODI Preview

There’s not much time for England’s cricketers to get over their Ashes hangovers (although that seems less of a problem this time) as they head off to Belfast for a One Day International against Ireland. Paul Collingwood resumes his role as stand-in captain whilst Strauss takes a rest, and of course both Pietersen and Flintoff [...]

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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 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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The Bell is Back

Ian Bell will definitely start the Third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, after England opted not to call up a replacement for the injured Kevin Pietersen. Bell hasn’t played for England since February, when he was part of the touring side that collapsed to 51 all out against the West Indies in Jamaica, and the lack [...]

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Black Caps Agree to Pass on IPL Cash

There has been a lot of talk recently about the rise of Twenty20 freelancers, with Andrew Symonds and Andrew Flintoff both being linked speculatively with the idea of wandering Twenty20 specialists playing in four or five different countries’ domestic Twenty20 competitions a year rather than playing for their country. Kevin Pietersen is the latest player [...]

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