The Guardian (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
A spell in South Africa should make Monty Panesar a more assertive – and therefore better – cricketer All is very much not well in the cricket world of Monty Panesar. His top-dog England place has gone for now, and with the advent of Adil Rashid so has the touring that has been his for the last four winters. He has endured a miserable season in which his confidence has bled dry, and there...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 17/09/2009
• All-rounder wants to participate in dangerous sports • Agent says Flintoff will jump in TV series Andrew Flintoff's ambition to go bungee-jumping contributed to the all-rounder's decision to turn down an England and Wales Cricket Board incremental contract, his agent revealed last night. Andrew Chandler said that his client's motivation for rejecting the deal was not greed but sprang from...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 17/09/2009
Andrew Flintoff's decision to reject an ECB contract may make him richer but could damage his most precious asset In one sense Andrew "Chubby" Chandler has done pretty damn well by Andrew Flintoff. When it boils down to it, his job as Flintoff's agent is to make as much money as he can for his client (and himself) and this indisputably he has done. Fred is rolling in it, a man of means and...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 14/08/2009
The case for recalling the Surrey batsman for the Oval Test is built on a willful underestimation of the risk involved For those who dare to dream, I hate to be the dream-breaker. Even without the Test-match drama, The Oval next week would be an overblown state occasion thanks to Fred's swan song, without the tumult that would greet Mark Ramprakash on the ground from which he has extracted hundreds...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Sport gives the catharsis, pain-free drama, clarity and resolution that the world outside cannot. And nobody gets hurt Two summers ago I wrote here of my aversion to the BlackBerry as holiday companion. No mobile device would accompany me on my vacation, I declared: "The only blackberries I hope to see on my holiday are the kind you eat." Now, 24 months later, I have a confession to make....
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 23/07/2009
Ian Bell is the likely replacement but he is the antithesis of Kevin Pietersen and must bat down as low as six to minimise disruption The loss of Kevin Pietersen is every bit as significant to England's Ashes chances as was that of Glenn McGrath toAustralia four years ago. The cracks can be papered over and indeed players, understanding the need to step up, may yet play above themselves as a result....
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 15/07/2009
Andrew Flintoff will be determined to leave Test cricket as a wounded hero, not a spent force This has been coming for some while now. Ever since the operation on Andrew Flintoff's ankle, and the relentless hours of rehab with Rooster Roberts that led all too quickly to another injury and more hours on the treadmill and the moors, it has been blindingly obvious that his body would no longer tolerate...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 07/07/2009
My failure to recognise an unfairly derided fast bowling legend more than 40 years ago still haunts me to this day It is 10 August 1968. A young wannabe cricketer, on vacation from university, sits casually on the Trent Bridge visitors' dressing-room balcony doorway, feet up on the rail, hands behind head, while the team, Surrey, are in the field. There is a tentative knock at the dressing-room door...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 25/06/2009
England's scintillating performance in the World Twenty20 will have turned many a women's cricket agnostic into a true believer Cupid struck bullseye last week and bluebirds sang. I fell in love: with Claire Taylor and her namesake Sarah, with Beth Morgan, Charlotte Edwards, and, well, all the England women's cricket team. I heart women's cricket. On a busman's Friday afternoon, sitting in the stand...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 17/06/2009
If England fail to view twenty20 as a blueprint for the one-day game, other teams will What with the recession, Iranian elections, rise of the BNP and the news that the Nolans are reforming there are a lot of disturbing things in the world to worry about before getting to England's exit from the World Twenty20. Last week, without the aid of official rankings, such is the lack of sufficient information,...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 05/06/2009
Bash F5 for the latest updates and send your six-hitting soliloquies to john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk Preamble: Firstly, the good news. The rain that has drenched London this morning and in the first part of this afternoon is forecast to move away to the north (so while that's good news for cricket fans, I suppose we ought to concede it's pretty bad news for anyone hoping to host a barbeque in the East...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 28/05/2009
Gloucestershire's small-minded expedience in fielding Australian Stuart Clark shows where their priorities lie It has been open season on winding up Angus Fraser, which may be like shooting fish in a barrel but no less fun for that. We like dear old Gus's ubiquity, the capacity to be in several places at the same time, usually, although not always, to his financial benefit. No one can spin plates...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 29/03/2009
England's inept displays against the West Indies cannot be blamed on the stand-in coach Friday was a bad day for Andrew Strauss and his team, but it was a worse one for Andy Flower whose candidature for the permanent position of director of cricket was still on the table even as the England innings was foundering. To get bowled out once for spit, can be, as Ian Bell said after the 51 all out Test...
shabbirrpince (Free subscription) | 20/03/2009
Andrew Strauss returns to one-day cricket for the first time in almost two years against West Indies with the added responsibility of captaincy, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian. Quite simply, the captain has to be worth his place in the side as a player. There is no room (or ought not to be), as Michael [...]
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 21/01/2009
The England team leave today on a 10-week tour of the Caribbean that promises to be like no other since Micky Stewart was appointed coach, manager or what you will more than two decades ago. The sacking of Peter Moores has derailed plans – well his plans, at any rate – and the timescale coupled with the imperative to get the appointment absolutely right next time means that there is no...
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