Cow Corner

Saj returns to lift the mood

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:45:10 -0800

To say that Sajid Mahmood was raw when he was introduced to international cricket in spectacularly premature fashion back in 2006 would be an understatement, but 'King' is back, and faster than ever.

Big Saj was a bewildered member of Duncan Fletcher's 'keep playing them till they get good' development model, but that should not be held against him as he gingerly makes his way back into the international fold. ...

Captain Cook lacks no haste

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:36:13 -0800

Barely had Andrew Strauss left the interview room after suggesting that he may wish to take a break in Bangladesh, than Alastair Cook began practising his coin-tossing technique and handing the selectors his business card.

England have long been accused of treating every young talented batsman as though they were David Gower minus the plums in the mouth, and a case in point was Cook's hugely premature awarding of the vice-captaincy. ...

T&T set the example

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:49:26 -0800

Beaten but unbowed, that is what the local press should be writing about a Trinidad & Tobago team who went so close to Champions League glory.

T&T travelled to India for the Champions League Twenty20 and they were accompanied by all the baggage of the shambles that is West Indies cricket.

Politics is a murky world and Cow Corner has no intention of digging into the row between the West Indies board and their star names. ...

Mad Fish finally freed

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:22:41 -0800

The news of Marcus Trescothick's return home after suffering a recurrence of his stress-related illness in India was as predictable as it was tragic.

With disarming honesty in assessing his performances, Trescothick judged that he was 'firing at just 60 to 70 per cent'. Jesse Ryder's personal analysis has often seen him playing in the same ball park in terms of figures, but his illness has usually been merely that of a violent and repetitive yeast infection. ...

Watson wellies Australia to Trophy triumph

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:47:14 -0800

Shane Watson's second successive century gave Australia back-to-back victories in the Champions Trophy as the burly all-rounder bludgeoned two huge sixes to finish with a flourish.

It would be easy to be flippant and describe Australia's victory in the Champions Trophy as irrelevant, but there was a faint slice of importance attached to their Top 100 list that the football bods are doing on the site shows that often semi-finals are the greatest games: the drama, the tension, the 'what if' we miss the showpiece finale. ...

Exemplary Elliott embarrasses England

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:03:18 -0800

England made New Zealand's quartet of seamers look like a pack of West Indies pacemen circa 1984 on an eccentric pitch at the Wanderers to squander top spot in Group B. ...

Super Shah stars to stun South Africa

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:37:56 -0800

Owais Shah banished memories of shoddy run-outs and sloppy dismissals with an audacious 98 to send hosts South Africa crashing out of the Champions Trophy.

Awarding a man-of-the-match proved to be an arduous task as the Proteas skipper Graeme Smith produced a typically five-wicket haul helped England to avoid the ignominy of suffering the first ever 7-0 series whitewash in a one-day series at the hands of Australia in sunny Durham. ...