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Category Archives: South Africa
Mitchell’s Big Mo
When Australia’s cricket team thrashed England’s 5–0 in the 2013–14 Ashes series in Australia, most commentators agreed that the essential difference between the teams was one person: Mitchell Johnson. As regular readers of this blog will know, Mitchell Johnson bowls … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, South Africa, Test Cricket
Tagged Dennis Lillee, Michael Holding, Mitchell Johnson, The Ashes
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The Supremacy of Dale Steyn
One of the perennial questions that baseball and cricket fans like to ask themselves is how to measure the greatness of a player. In the case of pitchers, does their greatness lie in a low earned-run average, or the number … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Cricket, Right Off the Bat Website, South Africa, Test Cricket
Tagged Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, WHIP
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South Africa Resurgent
The English team has been crushed; the Indian side are rebuilding; and the Australians are seeing some light at the end of their long, dark tunnel. For the general-interest fan, these make for interesting times about the also-rans of international … Continue reading
Farewell King Kallis
First there was Rahul Dravid (in 2012); then there was Ricky Ponting (2012); and then Sachin Tendulkar (2013). Now Jacques Kallis—the greatest all-rounder of his generation—has retired from Test cricket. Tendulkar (15921), Ponting (13378), Kallis (13289), and Dravid (13288)—giants of … Continue reading
Reverse: the Curse
It’s now time to talk about reverse swing. No, it’s not the latest dance craze from California. It’s a relatively new phenomenon in cricket that entails the ball doing funky things previous unknown in the laws of physics. Unlike in … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, Pakistan, South Africa
Tagged Dale Steyn, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram
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Clash of the All Too Human
After some last-day heroics from Matt Prior, about whom we’ve already waxed lyrical on these pages, the England cricket team managed to draw their three-Test series with New Zealand, 0-0. It wasn’t meant to be this way: England are currently ranked … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa
Tagged Alastair Cook, Brendon McCullum, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior, Michael Clarke, Peter Siddle
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All-Day Games
Time was—say, fifteen or twenty years ago—that you had to wait until Summer to watch a game of cricket. Sure, you might be able to listen on the radio to a crackling broadcast of a game on the other side … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Bangladesh, Cricket, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
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February Frolics
While I (Martin) may have been quiet the last few months on Right Off the Bat, the world of cricket continues to make some noise. Currently going on in India is the Women’s World Cup, which is being televised by … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Baseball, Cricket, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa
Tagged Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Curt Flood, Dale Steyn, Kerry Packer, Tony Greig
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The Delights of the Draw
One of the main complaints cricket lovers receive about their game is how it can go on for five days and yet no-one wins. What’s the point? is the cry. Evander and I talk about this in our book, Right … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, South Africa
Tagged Faf du Plessis, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis
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Semanus Mirabilis in Cricket
It’s been a remarkable week for cricket—one so full of improbable stories, unlikely heroes, and record-breaking achievements that I (Martin) can’t contain them in just one blog. One of the more astonishing facets of the last few days is that, … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Bangladesh, Cricket, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
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