Australian opening batsman Chris Rogers has confirmed that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the 5th Ashes Test at the Oval. While his Australia career was brief (he will end up with just 25 Test caps), it has been a fitting reward for a remarkable first-class cricketer whose experience and skill […] READ MORE
Author: Nicholas Sharland
NickSharlandWAGging a Finger at Ian Healy
In a successful cricket team, even the things that go wrong tend to be swept under the carpet so that the grime does not detract from the spectacle of the victory parade. It is how the atmosphere of the England team under Andy Flower was able to sour during its decadent period. How Nick Compton, […] READ MORE
The Ashes: Fourth Test, Day One Review
A record-breaking morning of cricket saw Australia demolished for 60 by Stuart Broad (8-15) and England’s other fast bowlers, before Joe Root (124*) and Jonathan Bairstow (74) put on 173 for the fourth wicket to give England a remarkable 214-run lead after the first day of the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. After Alastair […] READ MORE
The Gary Ballance Question
The calls for England to drop Gary Ballance have reached fever pitch. Before the tour to the West Indies, there were murmurs that he no longer merited a place in the Test squad after a disappointing World Cup campaign that saw him dropped from the ODI team. During that West Indies series, though, he scored […] READ MORE
Shivnarine Chanderpaul: Gone Too Soon
Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s Test career ended in ignominious fashion. After a lean patch of form, the West Indies stalwart (and never has the word received an apter application) was dumped ahead of the ongoing series against Australia. Just 87 short of Brian Lara’s record for most Test runs by a West Indian batsman, Chanderpaul’s career was […] READ MORE
Moeen Ali and England’s Thing with Spin
Test cricket is really, really hard. Ask Scott Muller or Darren Pattinson. Bowling spin in Test cricket is one of the hardest things of all in the sport: ask Bryce McGain or Simon Kerrigan. And Moeen Ali, the man currently employed to do that job for England, is struggling. Since the start of 2015, he […] READ MORE
Kevin Pietersen’s England Chances Fading
Only three innings into his dramatic return to county cricket, Kevin Pietersen’s hopes of an England Test recall appear to be receding into the distance. Scores of 19, 53* and 32 in the second division of the LV= County Championship are far from ideal. The current England set-up includes teammates and a head coach he […] READ MORE
Lyth Set For Frustrating Wait
The last twelve months of Adam Lyth’s career have brought him everything a batsman could wish for – a mountain of runs, a County Championship winner’s medal, and most recently, a Wisden Cricketer of the Year award – except an England place. The early indications from the tour match against a hopeless St Kitts and […] READ MORE
Pietersen Return a Rare ECB Triumph
Towards the end of last summer, as Surrey were dumped out of the NatWest T20 Blast semi-final by the Birmingham Bears, it looked like Kevin Pietersen would never play another match on English soil. A short while later, he was released by Surrey, and he soon signed deals in both the IPL and CPL franchise […] READ MORE
UAE’s World Cup Defeat in Context
If you had been forced at the start of the World Cup to bet your house on the outcome of one game, India versus UAE would have been one of the surest prospects. New Zealand v Scotland might have had you wriggling nervously in your seat, while Sri Lanka v Afghanistan would have had you […] READ MORE
