The Surfer
A pilot's bravery
A sobering story from the Sun of a 16-year-old pilot who died when his Cessna light aircraft crashed on a cricket pitch in Southend, Essex
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
A sobering story from the Sun of a 16-year-old pilot who died when his Cessna light aircraft crashed on a cricket pitch in Southend, Essex. It seems that Sam Cross deliberately steered the plane away from houses as it was coming down. One eyewitness said:
“I suspect he deliberately pointed the plane to make sure he didn’t hit anything. Half an hour earlier the field would have been full of children coming home from school.”
Saying hi to the guillotine
Prince didn't choose or ask to be captain, Arthur didn't arrange for Kallis to have elbow surgery or encourage his captain to go a little over the top on his pre-tour holiday in Knysna
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Prince didn't choose or ask to be captain, Arthur didn't arrange for Kallis to have elbow surgery or encourage his captain to go a little over the top on his pre-tour holiday in Knysna. Whether South Africa head to Sri Lanka to face a carnage or not remains to be seen. Neil Manthorp in Supercricket recommends they just smile through it all, no matter what.
Full postIn fact, many of the chief protagonists in the French Revolution (before the common people started to win) were led to the guillotine with a smile, a cheer and wave to the crowds. There was something very noble about having your head sliced off in front of a crowd of colleagues.
Roll up for Botham's testimonial
No, not that one ..
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
No, not that one ... When Liam Botham took five wickets on his county debut aged 18, England thought they’d found a chip off the old block. Sadly for the cricketing fraternity, Liam thought better of trying to cope with the expectation of emulating his father and headed instead for rugby, where he ended up playing both codes. Cricket’s loss was rugby’s gain, until injury cut short his career aged just 29. To that end he’s been rewarded with a testimonial match … of cricket … which will see Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen line up against Shane Warne at the Rose Bowl this Sunday in a Twenty20 fest. Well, if your dad’s Ian Botham and he can’t pull in a few favours, who can? He’ll be there, too, of course. If you fancy heading down there, tickets are priced £10 for adults and £5 for children.
Full postEngland's bowlers under fire
Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis has criticised England’s bowlers after their performance on the last day at Lord’s
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis has criticised England’s bowlers after their performance on the last day at Lord’s. In his column for The Daily Telegraph Younis said:
“The situation on the final day was crying out for the ball to be pitched up but instead our batsmen were given plenty of wayward, short-pitched bowling (by Liam Plunkett as well as Harmison). It was too easy for us to pick off the bad balls and Harmison has to think about his bowling a little bit more.”
Just for good measure, Younis went on to say:
Full postHolding bags a degree
'Whispering Death' aka Michael Holding aka Mickey walks tall with a Civil Law degree from the University of East Anglia for his contribution to cricket
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
'Whispering Death' aka Michael Holding aka Mickey walks tall with a Civil Law degree from the University of East Anglia for his contribution to cricket. Read on in The Jamaica Observer.
"My mother was a teacher and she used to tell me when I was a young man, 'Mikey, I know you love sport, but I want you to remember one thing: you've got to get a piece of paper behind you.' Well, now I have"
Strauss - From victim to villain in run-out drama
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Lord's saw the beauty and the beast as Andrew Strauss' rush of blood proved his undoing, says David Hopps in the Guardian. Mark Nicholas calls it as a moment of madness. Read Martin Johnson's take on the subject here.
You could say that Bell was unlucky to be run out by a direct hit from Inzamam, which is cricket's equivalent to being killed by a falling meteor while out walking the dog on Dartmoor. If International Cricket Council regulations permitted, the Pakistani captain would employ a butler to do his fielding for him.
From supercharged leg-break to swish of the bat Afridi ensures there is never a dull moment, writes Lawrence Booth.
Full postThe plight of Panesar
'Steve Harmison is the key' was the word around Lord's and other homes of cricket when Pakistan came out to bat on the final morning of the first Test
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
'Steve Harmison is the key' was the word around Lord's and other homes of cricket when Pakistan came out to bat on the final morning of the first Test. But with 15-3-43-0 Harmison was not so much keyed in as he was clueless.
Steve James writes in The Guardian that
the quickie was expected to exploit any variable bounce, but he simply did not deliver. All the great bowlers have always attacked from the Pavilion end here. Qualms about his action meant Harmison spent much of this match operating from the Nursery end..
All eyes were then on Monty Panesar.
Full postExposed Ashes scalper loses tickets
The Herald Sun has tracked down a serial scalper who used at least three addresses to grab Test seats to sell at massive mark-ups on ebay.
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
The Herald Sun has tracked down a serial scalper who used at least three addresses to grab Test seats to sell at massive mark-ups on ebay.
“The batch of Ashes tickets Craig Jones was waiting for will be cancelled,” the paper reported. “But most have already been sold to English fans, who face huge financial losses having already booked airfares and accommodation.”
The path of Khan
Imran Khan was more than just Pakistan's cricket captain
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Imran Khan was more than just Pakistan's cricket captain. He was a warrior, an ambassador and a playboy of the Western world. But after retirement and divorce from one of Britain's most glamorous heiresses, he is dedicating his life to saving his country from political corruption. Tim Adams, of the Observer, travelled to his secluded villa to talk to him about his mission.
The most alluring figure at Lord's was Imran Khan, writes Mark Nicholas.
Full post'Run them out'
Sriram Veera
25-Feb-2013
Mike Atherton tries hard to find the problem area of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq.
To get an insider's view on the weaknesses of Inzamam and Yousuf I asked Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan opening batsman and now commentator, how best to dismiss these two batsmen. He thought for a while and then said 'run them out'. The problem for England is that I'm sure he was being serious.
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