I made a list yesterday of the 12/18 counties posting on Bluesky (some more than others) for anyone enjoying the #CountyChampionship chat on here this week:
#cricket
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Yeah, definitely, I'd love to see more clips and highlights on here, it's the one thing I really miss from the other place.
Looks like Warks had a page (I found an announcement on their Facebook), but deleted it at some point
I think I've found 12/18 counties on here too, still not a huge amount of activity, but a few clips all the same:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Yep, I use NV Play a lot, it's just not the same as engaging with things with other fans!
This is an absolute ripper from Ollie Stone, glad to see counties are cross posting videos on here as well!
#cricket #CountyChampionship
The first wicket of our 2026 campaign 🎯
#SOMvNOT | 📝📺 live.trentbridge.co.uk
Yep, exactly that, not much bounce or carry in the pitches yet, little rough for spinners, rusty bowlers in cold weather etc
It's amazing how much more difference a bit of sun makes!
Well now I have to choose between reposting and assuming everyone else can't read!
I knew my perfect 280 characters was too good to be true...
Day 1 of the County Champ, lunchtime mythbusting:
1. April is actually one of the best months for run scoring, statically
2. The ball doesn't actually swing more when it's overcast, or seam more when the pitch is green
3. Only ~20% of CC seamer deliveries are >82mph vs ~60% in Tests. Pace matters
We've had this for years in cricket where HE arbitrarily took 'half a ball diameter', because of the predictive component, and everyone seems kinda okay with it..?
I've never seen any justification or reasoning, though
Absolutely gutting, felt like he went for it to make up for giving away the corner first time round.
Wasn't a great header either, felt like the equaliser was coming for the entirety of added time
The 'we only need one big play to get back into this' mentality only ever works in the narrow scenario where the other Super Bowl quality team also doesn't score any points.
Personally not an outcome I'd be counting on in the biggest game of my career
What would be your thoughts on why Fraser might contribute to conceding?
He's replaced three very different players here, so it often comes with a significant personelle or formation shift?
In the second example, some spinners over-angle the seam so it's more forward-square/backward-point, and you get 'in-to-in' off-breaks, which drift in and turn in.
I think it's rare to get an off-break arm-ball that swings in, apart from Ashwin (which I have re-posted in the past)
Hi Ian, thanks for the kind words.
Yes, that's a good assesment! If you think about a right-arm off spinner, their arm ball often points straightish, but to the slips, and that swings away from a RHB.
For a stock off break, itthe seam is a lot squarer, aiming at deep-square, also drifting away
Carse making great use of the perfect overhead conditions early up to find some serious hoops
#TheAshes 🏏
It seems the mantra is to empower players to avoid 'fear of failure', and to play cricket that puts pressure back on the opposition.
It's much more about leaning into players' natural skills (which have become more attacking over time) rather than just being gung-ho all the time
🏏
A great session for England so far, Stokes and Jacks managing to put some pressure back on the bowlers by... *checks notes* ...not getting themselves out for a bit.
It's likely far too little, too late, but it's nice to see that it can be done
#Ashes 🏏
I hope anyone who was calling for more 'traditional English bowlers' is seeing how placid the non-Starc seamers are looking with this pink ball.
The fact is, you *need* higher pace in Aus to make the bounce count, and it looks like England have the better arsenal in this Test.
#cricket #Ashes 🏏
I enjoyed chatting to The Athletic a few weeks ago about the context around the next day-night Ashes Test:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
There's only a small sample size for pink-ball Tests, so it is always fascinating to see how they play out (in hopefully more than 2 days!)
#cricket #Ashes
Fair enough, but I think young players are allowed to make mistakes and say the odd stupid thing, without it undermining the whole project.
I think there has been a concerted effort to get better at that, I agree
The funny thing is, they really, really aren't, it's very media overblown.
The main principal is to empower players to play positive, entertaining cricket without fear of failure.
Doing anything different in cricket always comes with heavy scrutiny every time it isn't perfect
I've seen a lot of criticism of England being too aggressive during a flurry of wickets (and in general), which I didn't want to pass judgement on. I need to watch the full 2nd session, as painful as it might be
Not to defend England's performance with the bat, but this innings from Head shows you *exactly* how damaging an aggressive approach can be in a low scoring game.
No-one is criticising Head's shot selection because it's working. Execution, not intent, is the issue.
#Cricket #Ashes
Glossing over the first innings, it was VERY FUN to see England looks so threatening with the ball in an away Ashes series
Pace, accuracy, skill. It's been a long term plan to have this many high quailty options, and it's finally coming to fruition
#Cricket #Ashes
If I get time, I'll post my 5 Things to Watch Out For in this series too, but that might be a 2am kind of post
With the #Ashes round the corner, and some new followers as a result, it's time repost this from the 2023 Ashes:
swingdoctor.substack.com/p/2023-ashes...
Your guide to navigating talk of conditions, the 'new Kookaburra ball' and other theories on swing bowling!
#Cricket 🏏
Boosting these as The Ashes fast approach. 2 cricket starter packs including official accounts, journalists, bloggers, enthusiastic amateurs and passionate followers.
We don't like cricket, we love it!
Check out the Cricket feed too, use the 🏏 to help separate from the insect or #Cricket #TheAshes
Really enjoyed chatting to The Athletic on the (lack of) impact of 'overhead conditions' in cricket:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/675...
A pleasure meeting @nallum.bsky.social too, who approached the problem from a different perspective, but firmly joins the 'Look Down, Not Up' brigade
#cricket
Linsey Smith out in the middle for England at No.10, which makes her the first left-handed batter to face a ball at a World Cup for England Women since Lydia Greenway in 2013.
By ending 5*, she becomes England's fifth-highest left-handed run-scorer at Women's World Cups, ever.
