Scott Oliver

Freelance writer

Three men on an island: when Smudge, Trav and Marnus cut their teeth in England

A look back to the time Steven Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne spent paying their dues in club cricket

08-Jun-2023•Scott Oliver

Is the ICC's pitch-rating system fit for purpose?

Why is Brisbane 2022 below average, while Ahmedabad 2021 is not? Here's why using technology to assess pitches would help weed out many of the shortcomings of the current process

30-Mar-2023•Scott Oliver

Summers with Greenidge and Marshall

A small Lancashire club went all starry-eyed and slack-jawed when a couple of West Indian invincibles turned out for them for two seasons in the 1990s

04-Nov-2022•Scott Oliver

He smashed jaws, he thrashed sixes: Wasim Akram in the Birmingham league in 1999

Twenty-three years ago, caught in the turmoil of the match-fixing saga, the Pakistani legend turned out for Smethwick CC

08-Aug-2022•Scott Oliver

One small Lancashire club, two Aussie giants

About 30 years ago, Mark Taylor and Matthew Hayden, legends in the making, spent a summer each as the overseas pro at an English club

09-Dec-2021•Scott Oliver

When Andre Russell shook up an English spa town with his big hits and fierce strikes

Before he became Dre Russ, the Jamaican spent a season in Worcestershire that the locals still talk about

04-Nov-2021•Scott Oliver

When VVS Laxman turned out to bat for Pudsey Congs

Did you know about the time, 25 years ago, when the Indian batsman plied his trade for clubs in the Bradford Cricket League?

12-Aug-2020•Scott Oliver

Like father, unlike son

Many sons have followed their fathers into cricket, but they haven't always played for the same sides

13-Jul-2020•Scott Oliver

Bat till you can't bat no more

Harbhajan Singh picks a team from among the best cricketers he played against

06-Mar-2020•As told to Scott Oliver

Who needs Warne when you've got Katich

Stuart MacGill picks a team from among the best cricketers he played with

03-Feb-2020•As told to Scott Oliver

Four Kiwis, three keepers, 11 for all time

Scott Styris picks a team from among the best white-ball cricketers he played with

10-Jan-2020•As told to Scott Oliver

The Thorpedos: spinners, pacers, fiery run-makers

Graham Thorpe picks a team from among the best cricketers he played with

06-Nov-2019•As told to Scott Oliver

My Beefy and my Lamby long ago

Mike Gatting picks a team from among the best cricketers he played with

05-Sep-2019•As told to Scott Oliver

English with a hint of Aussie

Nick Compton picks a team from among the best cricketers he played with

09-Aug-2019•As told to Scott Oliver

All hail the grim reaper

If you were an England batsman of the 1990s and 2000s, the chances were pretty high McGrath had your scalp in his bag

31-Jul-2019•Scott Oliver

Nine of mine and a couple of theirs

Graham Gooch picks a team from among the best cricketers he played with

22-Jul-2019•As told to Scott Oliver

Snap, crackle, flop

Five players who made Man of the Match on debut, and never again

08-Apr-2019•Scott Oliver

'India are a powerhouse because cricket is in their blood. We shouldn't be jealous of that'

Nasser Hussain looks at the state of the world (and English) game

12-Dec-2018•Interview by Scott Oliver

Thorpey and Gilo mug Sri Lanka

Fresh off an inspiring win in Pakistan, England headed to Sri Lanka in 2001, and proceeded to pull off an epic upset

06-Nov-2018•Interviews by Scott Oliver

'One of the worst things you can do is try to copy someone else'

Kumar Sangakkara opens up about the mental side of the game: dealing with the pressure of expectations, big finals, verbals, and captaincy

17-Oct-2018•Interview by Scott Oliver

1 2 3 4 5

Showing 1 - 20 of 127