Sorry for not posting yesterday. I only just got chance to watch the highlights on Channel 5 Online. If England were going to win the game then they needed a magic spell like they did on Friday morning. They didn’t get it, but the Aussie’s batted real well, and we should expect that. The Canary Yellow’s don’t have the batting they once did, but Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke are both very good batsmen, and they both batted well on a good pitch. Batsmen are allowed to bat well. Yes, it didn’t swing and the pitch was a touch on the slow side, but a draw was a fair result in the end. Mark Nicholas was optimistic. Headingley will be an interesting proposition, and if the sun don’t shine then this will be a result pitch.
Ashes 2009
August 4, 2009
Draw a fair result
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August 1, 2009
Rain set to spoil well set Brummie Saturday
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Interesting. England had a phenomenal day yesterday. Seven wickets for nothing in the morning, with Onions and Anderson running through the Australian batting. With the ball swinging and England on fire, they made Ponting, Hussey and co. look like a West Indies team. With Strauss on top form and the Sherminator looking confident the match is set up very nicely indeed. Big shame its going to rain all today!
August 1, 2009
Flintoff busting Aussie balls
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July 30, 2009
Shane Watson
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Shane Watson. Words fail me. Yet he scores runs. Is this the same Shane Watson that was scared of the dark in 2005? Someone put everyone out of their misery and remove this annoying character from the field first thing tomorrow please.
July 29, 2009
Fan v Fan Challenge 3: Horse race
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Whilst ponies are strong despite their diminutive size, it’s just possible that Dizzy’s height and weight could be against him in this one. Tuffers is smaller and lighter than Gillespie which could really help his cause here, but what about that age difference between them both? Do you think he’s got enough stamina and ‘True Brit’ tenacity to beat the lanky Aussie and make it to the finish line first, or will it all end in a heart–stopping photo finish?
July 23, 2009
Richie Benaud exposed to swine flu
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Flight from Melbourne to London, $2,000 Aussie
Tube to St John’s Wood, £2.20 with Oyster
Access to the Lords Media Centre, free
Contracting swine flu and endangering Richie Benaud, priceless
July 20, 2009
Today at Lords
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England won.
Australia didn’t.
Andrew Flintoff was magnificent.
Ricky Ponting was impressively magnanimous.

Magnificent Flintoff
July 19, 2009
Cricket classic in store for tomorrow
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Great start to the day, however, being English, we are now supposed to be terrified that Australia will chase down the biggest fourth innings total in history to win the test match. Let’s be realistic, if that is going to happen, Clarke will need to make 200 and Hadden 150. If they do, fair play. England bowled well today, and the 180 run unbroken partnership was quality batting. I’m still confident that – unless the weather spoils what should be a terrific last day – England will win this game. If the Aussies get close, it’ll be a phenomenal contest.
July 18, 2009
England aim to bat Aussies out of game
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After a great bowling performance I’m intrigued that England are batting again. Could have forced the follow-on but didn’t. Seems slightly strange. Perhaps Strauss expects the pitch to play better today than over the next couple. Either way, if England bat all today and then an hour into tomorrow they are likely to be 500+ ahead, with five-and-a-half sessions to bowl the Aussies out. I’m a bit of a traditionalist though when it comes to the follow-on, I’d have asked them to bat again.
July 17, 2009
Naked cricketers boost TVC hits to record high
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Now then now then, England have enjoyed their best day of Ashes cricket since September 2005. The ball moved, the ball bounced, and the Aussie batsmen kept missing it, chopping on and hitting it up in the air. After Alistair Cook was in the runs yesterday, James Anderson and Stuart Broad both performed well today, which is doing wonders for the number of hits on this site. Over the last couple of days The Village Cricketer has had its best days ever, with more than five times the amount of traffic than normal. And what are you all reading? Here are the top five most visited The Village Cricketer posts over the last week:
1. Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Alastair Cook naked – for charity mate
2. Nathan Hauritz’s finger
3. Is he insane?
4. Bloggers Ashes – the result
5. TVC gives thumbs up to Empire of Cricket
Yep, when one of Broad, Anderson or Cook make headlines for England, the post I did on their naked centrefold for Cosmopolitan magazine gets a huge amount of visitors. A shame indeed then that I don’t have any pictures of Andrew Strauss naked, Kevin Pietersen naked or Andrew Flintoff naked. Naked cricketers it seems, are very popular on the internet.
To give you an idea of how many hits TVC is getting, if the current rate continued we’d have a higher monthly circulation than the Cycling World, Total Fly Fisher, Golf Punk and Bowls International magazines.