Category: England
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England must endure Ashes drubbing – then rebuild
England last won a Test in Australia in January 2011. It capped off a glorious tour, sealing the series 3-1 in Sydney amid scenes of travelling euphoria. It was a great England side which won its three Tests by an innings. Since then, nine defeats in 10 Tests. A victory Down Under seems as far […]
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We need to talk about The Hundred
Love it or loathe it, perhaps even be indifferent to it, The Hundred is here. For those for whom 120 balls is just too damn many in an innings, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) went away and thought long and hard about how they could maximise revenue to fund their annual pay rises […]
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What do you do with Ollie Pope?
Proclaiming that any young player, in any sport, is going to be a great before they’ve even been tested at the highest level is always an extremely dangerous thing to do. Those of us old enough to remember the hysteria when Graeme Hick had finally qualified and was selected to play for England in the […]
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Life as a village cricketer – COVID edition
You’ve probably already heard of COVID-19 and felt some of its impact. It has left nothing untouched, not even the sacrosanct English pursuit of the sound of leather on willow echoing across village greens up and down the country. Professional sport was halted almost everywhere and cricket was no exception. At one stage the prospect […]
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The Cricket Blog speaks to Phil Tufnell
Phil Tufnell is a veteran of the English cricket scene, from his 121 Test wickets to his 17 years and counting as part of BBC’s Test Match Special roster of commentators. With cricket about to make an eagerly anticipated return to terrestrial TV in the UK, we spoke to Phil about the importance of live […]
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Is this the most bowler dominated era of cricket?
There is an increasing obsession to convince ourselves that everything we are seeing is the best it has ever been. It is a rampant obsession in almost every modern sport. There is a lot of discussion amongst the cricket fraternity currently about whether this bowler dominated era is making batting harder than it has ever […]
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Swinging a cricket ball without saliva
You know the drill: bowler bowls, batsman leaves it, keeper catches it. Keeper instinctively flings ball to first slip, first slip closely inspects it, daubs a generous amount of saliva across the shiny the side of the ball and rubs it vigorously against his whites, leaving the distinguished red dye visible in its wake. The […]