Category Archives: England

The Curse of Number One

Amid the endless rounds of bi- and tri-lateral tournaments that dominate the cricket calendar, there are really only two honors that the major cricket-playing nations covet. One is to win the quadrennial World Cup, which uses the one-day (50-over) form … Continue reading

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Ascending Mount Vernon

With his six-wicket haul in the third Test match against New Zealand, South African bowler Vernon Philander has taken over fifty wickets in only seven Test matches: the quickest to that feat since—wait for it!—1893. Unlike his bowling partners in … Continue reading

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A Tale of Two Series

Two cricket series recently ended. A resurgent Pakistan took on top dogs England in three Test matches (in which Pakistan thrashed a hopeless England 3-0), four one-day internationals (in which England thrashed a hopeless Pakistan 4-0), and three Twenty20s (in … Continue reading

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Going Viral (We Hope) with Keats Injured Playing Cricket

On this date (almost), a Great Poet recorded his failings in a late-winter, spring-training game of cricket. This would be March 19, 1819: 193 years, roughly 70,500 days (counting Leap Years like this one), or 1,692,000 hours ago for the … Continue reading

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Slaughter!

In May of last year, India were ranked the best cricket team in the world at the longest form of the game, Test cricket. England were a close second. What a difference nine months make! Shortly after triumphing in the … Continue reading

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Evander (Not Holyfield) Meets and Greets Baseball Players and Cricket Fans

The scene today was Fairfield, New Jersey, the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Route 46 East. I arrived with my pre-1974 Yankee Stadium seat to add some autographs and to promote Right Off the Bat. The Crowne Plaza was hosting a … Continue reading

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The Mighty South Africans

For the last couple of years, a joke has been muttered by those begrudging the England team’s success that the only reason it wins is because of all the South Africans in the side. Captain Andrew Strauss, batsmen Kevin Pietersen … Continue reading

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The Fight to Be Number One

It is a truth universally acknowledged (or at least it is in the world of international cricket) that teams visiting the Indian subcontinent are as unable to cope with the mysteries of spin generated by pitch and weather conditions in … Continue reading

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The Old Ones

At the end of 2011, much of the talk in cricket was over what Australia, South Africa, and India should do about their aging titans. Should Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey (Australia) gracefully leave the stage? Were Jacques Kallis’s days … Continue reading

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The Declaration

The Test match (the international version of the five-day game of cricket) offers a fascinating, strategic option for captains: the declaration. As Ron Kaplan notes of India’s current game against Australia : “Isn’t there the chance that India could have … Continue reading

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