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  • Mismatch at Mount Maunganui

    England

    Should we be surprised that New Zealand are ranked number two in the ICC’s Men’s Test rankings? Hardly. They have…

    New Zealand's quiet strength, England's shortfall
  • Joy for Paine as Root Licks His Wounds

    The Ashes

    This has been the best Ashes series for some time, probably since 2009. In 2015 England won 3-2, which makes…

    The finest Ashes in a decade, finely poised
  • Abdul Qadir

    Some Cricketers

    The great Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir died last week. This article about him first appeared in my book, The Pakistani…

    Pakistan's great leg-spinner, fondly remembered
  • The Legend of Headingley – 2019

    The Ashes

    It’s not supposed to happen. You don’t win Test matches after being bowled out for 67, at least not in…

    You don't win from there - except this once
  • The Apotheosis of Steven Smith

    Some Cricketers

    Whatever happens in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston - England are slightly ahead on points, as it were, as…

    A run-machine reborn on the Ashes stage
  • Time Machine Cricket

    Some Cricket Matches

    Come on everyone! It’s England v Ireland at Lord’s! And we’re going back to the nineteenth century!It really did seem…

    England v Ireland, and a step into the past
  • Someone Had To Lose

    Cricket World Cup

    That’s the rule. Even England, the side all neutrals wanted to lose (after the elimination of India) can’t be blamed…

    A final too cruel to have a loser
  • Roundheads and Cavaliers

    Cricket World Cup

    The two semi-finals of the 2019 men’s Cricket World Cup could hardly have been more different from one another. Yet…

    Two semi-finals, two contrasting cricketing souls
  • Six Down, Three to Go

    Cricket World Cup

    The so-called group stage of the 2019 men’s Cricket World Cup has been an unqualified success. Group stage seems odd…

    A group stage that has delivered handsomely