Taking the Mickey: Pakistan’s perennial plot twist
A lot has been made of England's transformation since their beleaguered 2015 World Cup campaign Down Under. Back then, their 50-over tournament came to…
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Isabelle is a freelance broadcast and print journalist with a focus on politics and sport, especially cricket. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday and ESPN Cricinfo. She is also a broadcast journalist for the BBC, calling on both men's and women's domestic and international cricket matches. She studied at Oxford University, where she was President of the Oxford Union, and is now Middlesex CCC women’s cricket captain. She barracks for Essendon, mainly due to the legal intrigue the club provides. Isabelle tweets from @izzywestbury and can also be found on her website - isabellewestbury.com
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A lot has been made of England's transformation since their beleaguered 2015 World Cup campaign Down Under. Back then, their 50-over tournament came to…
Alongside universal healthcare, gun control and Mexican border walls, the player pay dispute raging in Australia between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricket…
Just days following the UK's decision to leave the European Union last year, the Financial Times ran the ominous headline: “The UK has no…
Social media entered into the public domain amidst a frenzy of expectation that a direct line between us, the public, and the sports stars,…
Sport, by its very nature, is a partisan affair. Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, required reading for any sports fan, reassures us that the transformation…
“Can you just rock and roll that?” The advent of the decision review system has undoubtedly enhanced international cricket, not least by introducing us…
"We want you to comment on the pregnancy thing with female cricketers." "I think it's a fabricated gender issue." "It was a bit over…
On a lazy day in February only last year, the rumours became fact. A Women's Big Bash League, in some shape or form, would…
In February this year, Hillary Clinton was odds on for a clean run to the White House, Brexit was the name of a breakfast…
One of the delights of sport, and one with such longevity and steeped in such history and tradition as Test cricket, is in watching…
“I am here because I worked harder than anyone else.” Perhaps it’s because I never quite reached the top. Perhaps I’m just cynical. Perhaps…
This World Cup has been a coming of age tournament for T20 cricket, and no one is to thank more for this than the…
The World Twenty20 is underway and, as befitting this form of cricket, it started with a bang. The West Indies' Chris Gayle, he of…
Club cricket finals. The World Twenty20. It's that time of year where, at both ends of the talent spectrum, the cricketing roulette of knockout…
“The Test is to be broadcast on Sky – a first for the women's game – and both are aware of their roles as…
"Politics is a blood sport." So said the politician Aneurin Bevan, whose stubborn persistence and booming Welsh oratory helped him spearhead one of the…
As with is the case with captaincy in other team sports - football, basketball, AFL even - the emphasis on away wins in cricket…
Somewhere in the depths of Steve Waugh's 720-page magnum opus, Out of My Comfort Zone, published a decade ago, lies a passage on the…
The roar from the crowd echoed triumphantly through the stadium. The mood was one of nervous excitement. Thirty minutes in and Germany were yet…
Australia versus New Zealand on the world stage has become a a regular occurrence. Cricket, netball, and rugby World Cup finals have all seen…
Love some of these lists! There are some great names and defo a few would have been a bit more obvious in the line-up, but intention here was to factor in a mixture of raw talent and skill (Dev), with a bit of innovation (Bosanquet et al.), as well as something completely different (Dawson)…
Golden generation: Old boys who missed the T20 carrot
Nice example re Sarah Taylor playing men’s first grade in Adelaide. She took a couple of catches by the way but didn’t bat – she was next in, and her team won. Agree almost impossible to find out though…
Cover the sport, not the spectacle
Agree with this comment: “…there may be a fear to be seen as sexist…” and something that’s always going to be difficult to handle. In an ideal world journalists do their job, scrutinise the players (male or female), criticise if they’re underperforming, praise where it’s due, and we all take it as part and parcel coverage of the game. Realise that this isn’t an ideal world and many interpretations possible. Hopefully with increasing coverage journalists and the public accept it’s not a reflection of a sex, but of a performance…
Cover the sport, not the spectacle
Not a complaint, just a progression. Amazing the coverage women’s sport is getting, but to really take it seriously need to cover the on-field action. IMO, that is…
Cover the sport, not the spectacle
Agreed on the whole – although not particularly enthusiastic re the Cricket All-Stars venture in the US. When I say select regardless of age – isn’t an unconditional endorsement of a team full of plus 40s. The game that’s already been played was pretty slow to watch, especially the fielding. It’s all about standards I guess – if you reach the expected levels of athleticism, skill, concentration etc. then I couldn’t care how old you are, but I think it’s pretty evident that a lot of the players involved in this little US venture are passed it, non? Fair play for a bit of fun and coffer-filling, but can’t seriously be viewed as a legitimate strategy to promote cricket in the US!?
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
I won’t lie Henk, you’ve got me stumped there. Not entirely sure how to respond…
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
Super interesting. Lots of parallels between baseball and cricket, of course.
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
Good digging. Although I feel as though my current cricketing status exemplifies my point. I am, of course, planning to break back into the international fold in about 10 years time.
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
Here’s hoping. #testcapatfourty
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
Agreed (Dom). Re bowlers Siddle selection (in the squad at least) perhaps proof that Australia’s policy is adapting to form over anything else. Although everyone thinks he’s older than he actually is.
Re the women’s game it used to be far worse than the men’s in terms of fastracking young prodigies because, due to the prominently amateur state of the game, the fear was always that players would retire in their middling twenties in order to go and get a ‘proper’ job.
Australia's youthful obsession: Forget the figure in the age column
Agreed. It’s all a balance, and I agree CA have got a fair few things wrong, but also a lot right.
The county members are a blessing and a curse to English cricket – spot on in retaining the importance of longer form cricket but their demographic is an ageing one and very narrow too; where CA have perhaps gone too far in favour of T20, England’s domestic set up arguably not enough. All swings and roundabouts. Can’t have it all, although India making a good fist of it at the moment.
Cricket's not dead yet: The hyperbole raging through Australia