THE ASHES ARE BACK! Australia go into this series overwhelming favourites after winning the last series convincingly by a 5-0 margin. However the English are demonstrating significant signs of improvement after a 1-1 test series and 3-2 ODI series against New Zealand. Mix in the home ground advantage of the English against the confidence and form of … More The Boldest of the Bold – 2015 Ashes Predictions
“Ryan Harris has retired from all cricket effective immediately.” The post, sitting right at the top of my Facebook newsfeed, stung sharply. I jolted out of half-attentiveness. Cricket, at its root source, is entirely unfair, unjust, unkind.
Michael Clarke’s back issues forced him to put the more delicate art behind him. Andrew Symonds faded into obscurity after the Sydney Test. Stuart MacGill followed his lack of conventionalism by retiring mid-series in 2008. Brad Hogg played three Tests, averaging over 60 with the ball, which led him to a semi-surprising retirement. Simon Katich … More Jason Krejza; ‘I always meant to be an attacking bowler’
In a piece published overnight, Dan McGrath waxed lyrical on the potential of the Day/Night Test, to be played later this year, in both a commercial and cricketing context. “No matter what time of day, what colour of ball,” McGrath wrote, “the intensity of Test match cricket will shine through.” I take a very different … More A party? Pah.
The concept of a Pink Test is nothing new for Australia’s cricketers, but never has the title been meant quite so literally.
Leg spin is the most difficult art to master. As a very rubbish leg-spinner myself, I understand that perfectly well. Women’s cricket is a perfect example of just how hard it is – aside from Dane van Niekerk leading the South African attack, and Amelia Kerr making waves as a 14 year old for Wellington, … More Six Ball Over: Kristen Beams
It is April 2011, in the shadow of another sun-soaked summer of cricket. But change is in the air. The Big Bash League, Cricket Australia’s attempt to revitalise the domestic cricketing landscape, is still heavily conceptual. It is, in theory at least, a clean break from Australia’s traditional state-based structure, eschewing the representative pyramid for … More A Tale of Two Careers: The Lee Carseldine Story
When, at the end of the 2003/04 Australian domestic season, Jo Angel decided to retire, a giant presence was leaving the Western Australia ranks. A giant man too, at six-foot six-inches tall. For more than a decade, Angel had been the man WA turned to match after match. The final statistics said it all: 485 … More Jo Angel; ‘It’s a pretty simple game overcomplicated by people’
When Usman Khawaja debuted for the Australians, the public was full of admiration. With a baby face, conservative nature and a loving mother in the stands, Australia was behind Ricky Ponting’s short term replacement. But as of now, that’s all he’s turned out to be. A short term replacement.
As another summer grows ever more distant in the rear view mirror of life and the international game takes an IPL-enforced drinks break, there is precious little for an Australian domestic fan to do. The Sheffield Shield has been raised once more, the top performers have found their way into winter squads, and the cricket … More Five keepers vs. a fringe batsman: The Jono Wells story
Mind The Windows 