Posts from ‘February, 2009’

England pushed on to a large total today, with Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara to the fore.

It was only a year ago that we were questioning Andrew Strauss’ test future – now he is captain, and statistically the best batsman in the team.

The 4th Test starts this afternoon, with England urgently needing a win to level the series and give themselves a chance of winning it.  This tour has proved more difficult for the tourists than was expected, and credit to the West Indies for the improvement they have shown.
However, perhaps we overestimate the quality of the [...]

Traditonally, a batting average of 40 or more has been held to denote a very good test player. But there is a feeling that in this modern era the figures don’t follow that rule, and that batting averages are now inflated.

More fallout from the Stanford affair today, with ECB chairman Giles Clarke rejecting calls to resign his position. The program of back-tracking and buck-passing is well underway by Clarke and his supporters within the game.

Cricket has been swiftly selling it’s soul for the sake of a fist full of dollars. Let’s hope for the good of the sport that the events of today act as solid kick up the backside.

The 2nd Test between West Indies and England was abandoned due to an unsafe outfield, yet another example of cricket’s ability to inflict injury upon itself through administrative error.