Category Archives: England

England vs. South Africa, First Test, Day 3

End of day score. England 385. South Africa 403/2. Every now and again in Test cricket a team experiences not merely a bad day but total demoralization. Because the Test match may go on for five days, a side can not … Continue reading

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England vs. South Africa, First Test, Day 2

End of day score. England: 385 all out. South Africa 86-1. The great glory of Test cricket is that a side can be dominant at the end of one day’s play and by the end of the next day’s play … Continue reading

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England vs. South Africa, First Test, Day 1

End of day score: England 275-3. The hero for England was Alastair Cook, who scored his twentieth century at the age of only twenty-seven. Cook is not an exciting batsman; I (Martin) think even he would admit that. But he’s … Continue reading

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Finally, the Big One

Tomorrow (Thursday), it begins: the Test series that all cricket fans have been waiting for—England vs. South Africa in three mouthwatering matches to determine which is the best side in the world. Although the series should have been five games, … Continue reading

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Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding

Frank Loesser said it best. “Ask me how do I feel,” chimes the ostentatiously virtuous Sarah Brown (rhetorically) to the covertly virtuous Sky Masterson in Loesser’s musical-without-equal Guys and Dolls, “Well sir, all I can say, is if I were … Continue reading

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The Contest before the Contest Is a Contest

The Australian cricket team begins a series of five one-day internationals against England. It’s an anomalous series in many ways, since it doesn’t come on the back of a Test match series between the old rivals (called the Ashes), and it’s … Continue reading

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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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