2 minute read The scorecard says Dean Elgar was bowled by James Anderson. The scorecard is keeping a lot of important detail to itself there. To recap what happened, Anderson hit Elgar on the thigh, the ball bounced back towards the bowler, only for Elgar to inadvertently elbow it backwards again. The ball
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Is England v South Africa a series we should care about?
2 minute read It’s the fun question that now launches all series and tournaments: “Why should I care about this?” When there’s wall-to-wall cricket, nothing can be taken for granted – these days you have to take the time to work out which matches actually matter. No matter how seriously a team says
Continue readingWho will lose to Australia in the World Cup final?
2 minute read When we put together our Essentials Calendar last month, we figured we’d turn our attention to the World Cup at this point. We thought our gaze would shift from the West Indies v England Test series at the perfect time and we’d catch a big, exciting finish to the tournament.
Continue readingOn this evidence you’d have to say the Mark Boucher situation is galvanising South Africa
< 1 minute read Galvanisation is a tricksy process. Sometimes you need an extra ingredient. A week or so ago, we pointed out how going on tour with a coach who’s been charged with gross misconduct didn’t seem to be having a galvanising effect on the South Africa team – which is what captain
Continue readingOn this evidence you’d have to say the Mark Boucher situation isn’t exactly galvanising South Africa
2 minute read South Africa coach Mark Boucher has been charged with gross misconduct by his employers. The hearing isn’t until May 16. This is a slightly odd way to embark on a Test tour. The charge is a pretty hefty one. Racism, basically. Former team-mate Paul Adams (of frog-in-a-blender bowling action fame)
Continue readingMarco Jansen can both bat and bowl but looks like he can do neither
3 minute read South Africa v India has been an excellent series that has thrown up some really significant talking points. King Cricket being King Cricket we’d instead like to focus on one of the insignificant ones: Marco Jansen and how awkward he looks. If you’ve not been paying attention, Jansen is South
Continue readingThe 2021 Festivus holding page: The Boxing Day Tests and ancient Ashes
< 1 minute read A few years ago we hit on a suitably half-arsed approach to covering the Boxing Day Tests. We flag what matches are taking place in advance, wish everyone a happy Festivus and then leave you all to cobble together a kind of fragmentary, disjointed log of any major developments in
Continue readingDale Steyn was a trier
3 minute read Calling someone a trier is usually seen as damning them with faint praise, so we’re going to have to expand on that headline a little bit to ensure the praise is significantly less faint. The early days Dale Steyn’s just retired from cricket. We remember his Test debut. For his
Continue readingWhy ‘overnight’ is such an important part of a five-day Test match
2 minute read Whenever a Test is decided late on the fifth day, there’s much talk about how that kind of tension and excitement wouldn’t happen with four-day Tests. It’s half true. This is why. If you move a deadline, you don’t negate it. Even if a Test match has no fifth day,
Continue readingDanish Kaneria or Dane Vilas – who is most Danish?
4 minute read Danish Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer who has been banned from the sport for life for spot-fixing. Dane Vilas is a South African cricketer who currently plays for Lancashire. Despite what their names suggest, neither player is from Denmark. So who is most Danish? Let’s measure the two men against
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