On the 18th January 2015, Abraham Benjamin de Villers broke the world record for the fastest ODI century. In fact, he didn’t just break the record, he broke it, stamped on it, set fire to it and laughed in its face. His 31-ball hundred was a moment where the boundaries of the sport were redefined.…
After yesterday’s brief flirtation with the world of the CPL, today sees the return of my countdown to the World Cup, and my latest player to watch. Steven Finn is the one England player to feature on my list. In truth, I could have put 2 or 3 on here, but whether that’s due to…
I’ve decided to take a day off from ‘Ones to Watch’ series after viewing the CPL draft last night. I just felt that I had to try and put into words, how misguided I believe some of the franchises were in their player recruitment strategies. Yesterday saw the players draft for the third edition of…
Pakistan are always my favourite team to watch at the World Cup. They lurch like a drunken fool from catastrophe to success. Never predictable, always riveting. The embodiment of this style of cricket can be found in their mercurial all-rounder. Shahid Afridi is entering his fifth world cup, and he is still as much of…
From afar it almost looks like the West Indies have written this World Cup off. Their squad selection has been confusing and their recent form has been patchy to say the least. When the squad was announced for the World Cup, there were two clear stories to be observed. Firstly, the omission of Kieron Pollard and…
It speaks volumes of India’s destructive batting line-up that, despite their atrocious showing during the recent ODI tri-series, and increasingly toothless bowling, they are still considered a firm favourite for a semi-final spot in the World Cup. Plenty has been said about India’s much vaunted top order and their ability to make huge totals. If…
The World Cup is just 12 days away, and for now, all I can feel is genuine excitement. Sure, I’ll be just as annoyed as the rest of you when the tournament feels like it’s been going for months and England and Bangladesh play out a boring dead match in front of nobody. But for…
In the tri-series final at Perth, Mitchell Johnson’s pace and aggression certainly had England on the back foot, leaving them at 46/4 and with little chance of victory. However, as any seasoned England viewer will know, the match was realistically over when Australia posted their total of 278/8. No other team so often produces such…
Jack Vittles 