Tag: cricket

I think that can only be described as a thrashing.

It’s going to take a pretty remarkable bit of batting (and indeed some decent bowling) to win this one.

But then we always knew it would take some remarkable performances to regain the Ashes. Is there anyone in this side who could provide an Atherton-like two-day batting performance? Or alternatively Freddie and Pietersen could knock it off together in a couple of hours.

You know it must have been dire when 155 is a pleasing total. It’s a lot of fun watching KP smack the ball around; it’s even more fun watching Harmison and Jones do it.

Or at least they do in 30 minutes – the toss is about to happen. I love this moment, when nothing has happened yet and everything is still possible.

No tournament in cricket or rugby is ever going to have the cachet of the (football) World Cup – the pool of teams is too small. Apparently, for the last World Cup, TV audiences in Thailand were bigger than the global TV audience for the last Rugby World Cup. On the other hand, having less teams is a hell of a way of building up rivalries. Especially since, if you’re English, the main nations that play rugby or cricket – Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France – are all either ex-colonies or local rivals. Local rivals being a polite term for ‘ancient enemies’.

We haven’t beaten the Aussies at Lords for 70 years, and our record against other countries isn’t great either. It seems unnnecessarily sporting of us to always play the first match of a series at a venue where we usually lose, and the last at one where we do well. And there’s an entertaining interview with Justin Langer in the Sunday Times.