Better to be lucky than good...

Well there’s plenty of transfer shenanigans on the board today as the window slowly creaks closed, but we’re ignoring the footy and dialling up our gloat gauge to max following England’s absolute thumping of South Africa last night, where we bowled them out for 83 or as it’s known colloquially in Croxley circles ‘a Fox score’*.

A great performance particularly from Stuart Broad who opened the door with a five wicket burst which was then barged wide open by The Fred and The Harminator. Even given the SAFs are looking a bit punch drunk and in danger of going off piste at the end of a long tour, it was still a great performance and a superb result.

England now look a pretty decent one day side, but it helps if you pick a balanced team and play the best man in each position. Selectors you appear to have listened.

Now we have to admit we had our misgivings about KP being named captain, but with three wins on the trot, he certainly seems to have the right stuff.

Nope not inspiring leadership, nor great tactical nouse and nuanced bowling and fielding changes, nor indeed the touchy touchy-feely approach he’s apparently taken to man management.

Nope, what KP has got in spades is luck and as the old saw goes and it’s always better to be lucky than good.

Let’s hope it holds out until around this time next year.


*Named after the lowly totals regularly achieved by the dear old Fox and Hounds, ‘The Worst Team in England’ as the Daily Torygraph once had it.

The return of the four Musketeers?

Work, that unconscionable burden of the drinking classes work kept us occupied for a couple of days – that and the fact there’s been less sporting meat than Frankie’s famous vegetarian breakfast – has meant a slight lapse in our posting schedule but we return to form, on a glorious sunny Friday full of the joys of summer, .or at least full of the joys of an early morning caffeine overload.

Sometimes it’s hard to bear the spurting burden of being perpetually right but as predicted Master Murray went out on Wednesday to the awesome power of Rafael Nadal, not so much having his arse handed to him, but rather having it served on a shiny silver platter, surrounded by flowers and garland and with a neatly peeled poking delicately through the ring.

Still no shame in losing to Nadal, who is quite simply awesome and sets the benchmark for what Murray should be serving for. There’s plenty of time for the Scotsman to raise his game and a Wimbledon quarter final is no disgrace for a 21-year-old. Especially if he’s a Brit.

But to more heartening cricketing matters today and a missed opportunity in our not-so-humble opinion with the announcement of the England squad to face South Africa in the first Test next week, which basically, like our flinty heart when it comes to fat lasses, remains unchanged.

However dropping down a level into the shires it’s encouraging to see not only The Fred scoring runs and the Harminator rumbling ominously up at Durham, but Welsh pace wizard Simon Jones taking a few names and rattling a few wickets at Worcester.

It almost begs the question: could the four bowling musketeers of the Ashes 2005 be finally reunited in one last great adventure next year?

Ironically it’s probably the Hogster, historically the most dogged and dependable of that redoubtable quartet who’s furthest from regaining his place but with Flintoff, Harmison and Jones all getting back in contention our bowling resources are looking a whole lot deeper.

…Now if we can just sort out that that batting

The Indian Premier League ...of evil

And so it begins... and what a difference a month makes. Was it just over one short rotation of the moon ago that Kevin Pietersen, our very own KP, him with the three lions tattooed on his shoulder, was loudly declaring to the Torygraph that he wouldn’t jeopardise his England future by signing up for the Indian Premier League?


Headlines like ‘KP rejects IPL’ and quotes like "...It's not something I'm particularly interested in ...Money's not really too important, it's not as if I need money right now. I'm really enjoying doing what I'm doing," would seem to have ruled KP out of any future IPL equation. It was heartening to see one of England’s premier stars publicly forsake the easy cash and make a stand on principle.

However clearly a month is a long time in cricket and talking to The Times via Sporting Life, KP has had a radical change of heart now insisting, “It's definitely something that the hierarchy needs to fix into our fixtures ...You want your best players playing for their country and for the IPL. You don't want them choosing between the two. It's silly to think that you're losing up to a million [dollars] over six weeks.”

Not as silly as playing in a meaningless Twenty20 thrash for a ton o’ cash, weeks before a vital home Ashes series though apparently.

Sometimes these things just write themselves.

Elsewhere in the world of cricket, former England quickie Andrew Caddick has declared erratic, misfiring spearhead erm lethal long levered assassin (oh, we give up delete as appropriate) Steve ‘the Harminator’ Harmison not fit for purpose. Ouch, saucer of milk down Taunton way please!