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Category Archives: Test Cricket
What the Hell Happened to India?
Reader: Consider two cricket teams—India and England—both alike in dignity. Both sides are in transition: even though their star players may have departed to the skyboxes and commentary positions, both teams are blessed with plenty of youthful talent—to wit, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya … Continue reading
Brendon Goes Big
New Zealand’s cricket side has always punched above its weight—putting in performances that belie its small population and lack of financial resources relative to Australia. It currently ranks a lowly eighth (out of ten) in the ICC World Test Rankings, … Continue reading
Posted in Cricket, India, New Zealand, Test Cricket
Tagged B. J. Watling, Brendon McCullum, Jimmy Neesham
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Let’s Talk about Kevin
One of the many consequences of England’s collapse to the Australians this winter has been the enforced retirement for playing for England of Kevin Pietersen, one of the most successful England batsmen ever. He’s only 33, has three, perhaps four, … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, IPL, One-Day Cricket, T20 Cricket, Test Cricket
Tagged Andrew Flintoff, Ian Botham, Kevin Pietersen, Mitchell Johnson, The Ashes
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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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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
Jonathan Trott
OK, cricket fans: We need to talk again about Jonathan Trott—and perhaps you baseball fans will have an equivalent player you can talk about who raises the same issues. Jonathan Trott plays cricket for England—both the longest form of the game … Continue reading
The Debut to End All Debuts
You’re a batter who’s reached the age of twenty-seven, scoring freely and often in the minor leagues, and yet you’ve been prevented from entering the majors because the guy you’d be replacing is a slugger of such renown that to … Continue reading
The Wit & Wisdom of Cricket
Much recommended by the Right Off the Bat Project is The Wit and Wisdom of Cricket, 2012, anonymously compiled, and published by Prion/Carlton: A collection of some of the best quotes from players, pundits and avid followers past and present. … Continue reading
The Winter of Our (English) Content
For the first time in 28 years, England has managed to win a Test cricket series in India, a task that has eluded many great sides over the years, and which nobody gave this one a prayer of doing when … Continue reading
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