So … are you excited about the big England match tonight? What do you mean which England match? Hold on, there’s a vital World Cup qualifier for the England footy team tonight? But there’s an England ODI as well – and it’s a day/nighter. Surely the ECB wouldn’t have done anything so silly as schedule an England cricket match on the same night as an England football match? Read the rest of this entry »

Isn’t it good to see Brett Lee playing in England again. To see those balls propelled towards the heads of the English batsmen, and then those slanted eyes narrowing even more, dancing to the joys of battle; then there’s his menacing grin directed to his victims. The presence of Lee doubles the personality of the Australian side, and it’s something I’ve missed this summer. Read the rest of this entry »

There was a moment earlier this summer when, against our better judgment, we thought Jimmy Anderson had cracked it. It was the final morning of the underwhelming Chester-le-Street Test against West Indies and Anderson, swinging the ball both ways at pace, squared up Sulieman Benn and knocked back his off-stump. Benn had, as they say, played down the Bakerloo while the ball was hurtling along the Jubilee, and – as Anderson headed off with match-winning figures of nine for 125 – the temptation was to spot his Mr Inconsistency tag fluttering away towards Lumley Castle.

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