Yesterday evening came the inevitable announcement. After 52 Test, 3835 runs, and 9 centuries, Jonathan Trott called time on his England career. It was the final move from a dignified, proud, yet realistic man. It was clear to all that Trott would not be playing for England again after his torturous Caribbean tour, but it…
It’s the story that just won’t go away. KP versus the ECB. KP versus his former teammates. The ECB versus modern cricket. KP versus his ego. Whatever you want to call it, the ‘KP saga’ just drags on and on. I tried to become disinterested in it during last summer, as I wanted to try…
Under the floodlights in Adelaide today, England confirmed what we all knew already. They’re pretty god damn awful at ODI cricket. By all accounts they were as woeful today as they have been throughout the tournament, and throughout the last 2 years. Hopefully, this will be the wake up call that English cricket needs to…
Tomorrow’s match with Bangladesh really is the last chance saloon for England at this World Cup. Their campaign so far has been akin to a granddad turning up to a rave. Other sides have not just evolved in the last year, they have evolved in the last month. England haven’t moved on since their 2013…
So England got off the mark. Hardly a quick start, more of an apologetic shuffle. They certainly didn’t swat away Scotland with ease, they laboured through the contest and a more ruthless side would have punished them for their inadequacies. Perhaps Scotland should just be happy to be at the World Cup. Perhaps that is…
It’s time for England to turn up. This stumbling about in the group stages, only to spring a surprise in the knockout stages is a great plan. So devious that nobody has yet figured it out. But this master plan of peaking at the opportune moment, of course relies on England actually being able to…
So here we go. I’ve set myself the challenge of blogging everyday of 2015 – 365 posts! Some days they may be short and sweet; others long and rambling, but hopefully I can stick with it for the entire 12 months. Obviously, it would make it a lot better for me if people actually read…
In the wake of Callum Baird’s brilliantly written report on a 0-0 bore draw between Airdrieonians and Morton earlier this week, I have been contemplating where we stand in the discipline of match reporting. For years, the simple match report has been the bedrock of newspaper back pages with often entire pull-outs dedicated to a…
Another Season of mediocrity for Sussex Red Ball consistency undermined by surprising limited overs failings How they fared After finishing third in the championship in 2013, Sussex were looking to recapture the title for the first time since 2007. The Hove outfit have been one of the most consistent teams in both red and white…
17-year-old Aneurin Donald has enjoyed quite a summer. He has been captain of a very successful England Under-17 side and played above his age for the Under-19 side too. Couple that alongside continually improving performances for Glamorgan 2nd XI and the future looks bright for the young batsmen. The culmination of his year came this…
The England One-Day side is as it’s lowest ebb since… well, since it’s last lowest ebb. They seem to come along with increasing regularity these days! After a damning and humiliating 3-1 thrashing versus India this summer and a 3-2 defeat against Sri Lanka earlier in the year, England have won just 3 of their…
It’s 4:30pm on August 17th and England have just completed a turnaround against all odds on a scale akin to the Miracle of Midway. One noticeable factor of the England celebrations, as James Anderson collects his man of the series award, is the wealth of new faces. After India appeared to have conquered their overseas…
Glamorgan are into their first T20 quarter final in six years and have just comprehensively won their first two matches in the new 50 over cup. But you won’t hear much about this in the media; and this is not just due to traditional media’s increasingly poor coverage of county cricket. Glamorgan simply aren’t seen…
It has often been said over the past half -decade or so that the England Test side has been too much of a closed shop. That honest consistently performing county pro’s where never seriously considered for promotion to the national side. All that changed however during a terrible winter for English cricket, as we saw…
The auction for the 2014 Indian Premier League took place last week and saw several of the world’s top talents snapped up for hundreds of thousands of dollars by eager franchises. Apart from Pakistan , all the major test playing nations have representatives in the 2014 edition. It just so happens that England’s sole representative…
So it appears that Kevin Pietersen will never again take to the field in an England shirt. Pietersen has undoubtedly been the best player I have ever seen play for England, and the thought of him being pushed aged just 33 just doesn’t sit right with me. I can vaguely remember the bad old days…
In the wake of England’s crushing defeat in Sydney and with his side 3-0 down in the current ODI series, Alastair Cook gave the strongest indications yet that he may step down from his current role as ODI captain. When asked about his position as captain Cook responded saying. “I’m going to have a decision…
Jack Vittles 