The master of being himself

Aug 15, 2012: Andrew Strauss doesn't pose, shout, or try to shove all his players into one mould. Being his own man may just be his greatest virtue

How did England go from great to godawful?

Aug 1, 2012: It's a disease that afflicts all teams these days - of too much cricket and too much travel

What's so wrong with negative fields anyway?

Jul 4, 2012: When England set cautious fields they are called tactically naïve; but they win

Were things really better back in the day?

Jun 20, 2012: While nostalgia can skew anyone's judgement, it's just as much a fallacy to think that all aspects of a sport are always improving

The Bresnan effect

Jun 6, 2012: What makes some players talismans, in whose presence their teams play better than they would otherwise?

Coaches don't win matches

May 9, 2012: They may be the ones who front up at the post-match press conferences, but they're not really in control of the matters they answer questions about

Who'd have thunk it?

Apr 25, 2012: Predicting how a player is going to perform has always been a tricky business

When is poor form just randomness?

Apr 11, 2012: How can we tell coincidence from errors of approach and application? It's a question of judgement

What makes cricketers superstitious?

Mar 28, 2012: In a game where so many variables are outside a player's control, the value of superstition as a crutch cannot be overestimated

A gentleman champion of timeless steel and dignity

Mar 13, 2012: A whole strand of the game - a rich vein that runs through cricket's poetic heart - departs the scene with one of the all-time great No. 3s

It's all up to Morgan

Feb 29, 2012: For much of his career, Eoin Morgan has had the door opened welcomingly wide for him. No longer

Captaincy: not what you might think it is

Feb 15, 2012: Leadership isn't a quality, or about field placings. It is an effect that a player has on a group

The problem's not Test cricket, it's bad Test cricket

Feb 2, 2012: It is the product that matters. If the interest in Test cricket is declining, it is because the standard is not all that high

What we could learn from Warner

Jan 18, 2012: Far from being the downfall of Test match technique, T20 may actually help batsmen get into good habits for the long form

Why newcomers steal the show

Jan 5, 2012: Debutants seem likelier to succeed these days than their established team-mates. It wasn't always this way

The grittiest XI

Dec 21, 2011: Some players have talent; others make the best of themselves with sheer bloody-minded hard work

Winning is everything? Sorry, no

Dec 7, 2011: In cricket, as in other sports, it's not about the statistics and the bottomline. It's about how much joy you give, how well you are loved and remembered

Is there room for intellectuals in cricket?

Nov 24, 2011: There may be tensions between thinking and competing, but good sports teams are open to all kinds of players - including those who seem misfits

Advice to cricketers: get a life

Nov 7, 2011: Having a pastime outside the game - say, writing a diary - can set you free from the tyranny of results and often make you a better player

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