3 minute readHassan Nawaz hit Pakistan’s fastest T20 ton today – a 44-ball effort against New Zealand. It was only his third international innings, which brings to mind Shahid Afridi’s absolute nonsense of a hundred the very first time he walked out to bat for the national side. But it wasn’t like The post Hassan Nawaz’s hundred v Shahid Afridi’s first hundred first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Shahid Afridi can bat again even if Twenty20 doesn’t flatter him Shahid Afridi might smash a hundred Shahid Afridi made a T20 hundred yesterday ..read more

2 minute readEvery year, 10 to 20 bowlers take 40 wickets or more in the first division of the County Championship and every year, three or four of them are the exact same Hampshire players. This cannot go on. This will not go on. In 2021, in his first year with Hampshire, The post Without Mohammad Abbas Hampshire will surely slide towards mediocrity or worse… won’t they? first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Is it fair that Hampshire have Mohammad Abbas in the County Championship? Jamie Porter and Mohammad Abbas aren’t moving on Hampshire: second and still cheating ..read more

3 minute readThe County Championship has got a new sponsor. It’s Rothesay. Even if you have no idea who Rothesay are, you can probably make a pretty decent ballpark guess. When the ECB seek sponsorship for a domestic cricket competition, they typically end up mining quite a narrow seam. In no particular The post What does the County Championship’s new title sponsor say about you? (Yes, you) first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: The County Championship title race Sponsored cricket grounds County cricket in the internet age: how can it generate an income ..read more

3 minute readSend your match reports to king@kingcricket.co.uk. We’re only really interested in your own experience, so if it’s a professional match, on no account mention the cricket itself. (But if it’s an amateur match, feel free to go into excruciating detail.) Daisy writes… I suggested in spring that we might get The post Daylight Larssony at The Hundred Final – a match report first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Rudimental at the Hundred finals (a match report) Essex v Australians at Chelmsford – match report A report from the first day of the Hundred at Lord’s ..read more

2 minute readThe danger with the Champions Trophy has always been that people might look upon the celebration photos in years to come and think, “Wait, these guys didn’t win a World Cup, did they? What the hell was this?” Someone, somewhere, therefore came up with idea of forcing the winners to The post The downside to winning the Champions Trophy is that you have to wear the white jackets first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Champions Trophy: D’ya eye these ODIs or did ya already OD on those ODIs? It’s wrong to say India are playing the Champions Trophy final at home – because when ..read more

3 minute read“This is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team,” argued Gautam Gambhir after India qualified for the Champions Trophy final and in so doing moved it to Dubai. This claim was a little out of date because Dubai’s neutrality only really lasted until the The post It’s wrong to say India are playing the Champions Trophy final at home – because when does an international cricketer ever get to spend three consecutive weeks at home? first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Hussain v Gavaskar on India’s home-from-home advantage India lose home one-day international ..read more

4 minute readWe’ve got to be honest with you. We don’t believe that India has maintained a hostile relationship with Pakistan all these years so that its men’s cricket team could gain an edge in the 2025 Champions Trophy. That doesn’t mean that playing all your games at the same ground when The post Hussain v Gavaskar on India’s home-from-home advantage first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Home advantage in cricket Number one Test team finally leaves home Why have the England players gone to Dubai ..read more

5 minute readIf you want some idea of the future direction of the England one-day international (ODI) team, then look to the futuristic year of 2024 when Australia came over. That’s when Harry Brook was in charge. Sure, England lost 3-2, but he did a decent enough job and if anything the The post Harry Brook is obviously going to replace Jos Buttler as ODI captain – but do England need a third leader for T20s? first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Is Ben Stokes definitely a better pick than Harry Brook in England’s World Cup squad? Joe Root? Dawid Malan? Harry Brook? Which batter isn ..read more

3 minute readThe thing about Ibrahim Zadran is he’s done this before. Everyone forgets because his incredible World Cup hundred against Australia was only the second-best knock that day. He did however play – for our money – the finest shot of that particular match. Glenn Maxwell’s was a nonsense innings positively The post Ibrahim Zadran plays shots other people can’t first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Did you see… Ibrahim Zadran’s ramp shot off Pat Cummins? Jos Buttler and the ramp shot Why Stokes and McCullum aren’t worried about bad shots, only bad innings ..read more

< 1 minute readJos Buttler hasn’t always impressed us as England’s white ball captain. But man… this was below the belt. We don’t habitually read “employee backs his boss” type articles because they don’t tend to be awash with intriguing thoughts that enrich our life. But in this case, the BBC headline sucked The post Joe Root has set a new benchmark for ‘faintest praise’ in his backing of Jos Buttler first appeared on King Cricket. Related posts: Will Jos Buttler prove that the best Test teams contain the best T20 players? Joe Root: the most boring one-day batsman in the world Jos Buttler ..read more