Soapbox
 

The man who played with fire

If Kevin Pietersen wants to be Wizard of Oz again, the century he scored against Sussex, might be a step back on the yellow brick road, writes Tim Ellis.

Good Week, Bad Week

Given that one topic dominated the news all week, Peter May does well to pick out a diverse bunch of winners and losers from the past seven days.

Media Column special: The fixing saga

Cricket issues have not been short of column inches this week. Cricket365's Media Column gets its paws inky.

Time to accept some inconvenient truths

Cricket should have accepted long ago that gambling-fuelled corruption is inevitable and we have to manage it as best we can, writes Peter May.

Cricket365's Team of The Month - August

Mixing domestic stars with Test purists and ODI specialists is never an exact science, but here's Jonhenry Wilson's judgment of the month's best performers regardless.

Pakistan mini dramas turn into crisis

Cricketers are the real deal, playing for your country. Therein lies the source of gut-wrenching feelings when the result goes for or against your chosen ones, writes Tim Ellis.

Bookmakers must act now

As cricket and the law are doing so badly at dealing with spot-fixing, surely the industry has to self-regulate? Alan Tyers has more.

English papers react to spot-fixing scandal

There's a sense of shock, outrage, sadness and anger in the papers after spot-fixing allegations were labelled against some Pakistan players.

Sad day in England, carnival time in Kandy

Nick Sadleir reflects on the spot-fixing news, and looks back at the second half of his time in Sri Lanka in his final blog from the island.

The List - Highest Test eighth-wicket stands

Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad on Saturday recorded the highest Test eighth-wicket partnership ever. Here's the company they keep.

The List - Pakistan's lowest Test totals

Pakistan on Saturday capitulated to their joint sixth lowest Test score ever. Here's where their Lord's effort fits in amongst their other batting embarrassments.

Good Week, Bad Week

Kevin Pietersen's greatest weapon - unerring self-confidence - cops a blow, while Steven Finn's manners fetch a slap on the wrist in Peter May's judgment of the week that was.

Five rainy Lord's thoughts

Not much cricket at HQ on day one, but Alan Tyers has a chance to ponder a few things at a very interesting juncture for the England side.

Lord's decider or Ashes precursor?

Is the fourth Test at Lord's to be judged as a tremendous event in its own right or as a final warm-up for the Ashes? There is no reason it cannot be both, writes Peter May.

England 2010: A Space Oddity

England have hardly helped themselves by losing at The Oval, writes Tim Ellis.