What has happened to my cricket?
British comedian and cricket fan, Miles Jupp, reflects on some of the radical changes the England team underwent this summer
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
British comedian and cricket fan, Miles Jupp, reflects on some of the radical changes the England team underwent this summer. Ranging from Michael Vaughan’s resignation to his beloved Matthew Hoggard’s exclusion from the Test series against South Africa, Flintoff’s return to form and Harmison’s comeback, Jupp regrets his absence from an eventful cricketing season in England as he was occupied with other commitments. Click here to read his blog in the Wisden Cricketer.
Some people compare English cricket to a soap opera. Wrong. If you miss a soap for a few weeks you can turn it on again and within minutes you’re up to speed. I have turned my back for the briefest of whiles and I’ve missed Armageddon. No soap scriptwriter would dare to make all these changes at once.
The unflappable Michael Vaughan suddenly flapping. Harmison returning before Hoggard after their Hamilton hiatus - now Hoggard may never return. KP being captain in both forms of the game - I wouldn’t have bet a penny. How could a man who for the last three years has looked as if he is acting in another movie be so capable of bringing people together? He has England playing at a totally different heart-rate.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo