The Politics of Sport - Why I Affirm South Africa's Affirmative Action

By Shane Thomas

"Always going to be a question mark against any black player who plays for South Africa... Has he been picked for his race and colour, or is he any good... nobody's going to say, but everyone's thinking it."

This statement came from former England cricketer - turned pundit - Geoffrey Boycott in the aftermath of Temba Bavuma becoming the first black African to score a Test match century for South Africa.

Moeen The Muggins

By Shane Thomas

As England suffered an expected series defeat to Pakistan, one of the many subplots to come from the postmortem was the injudicious selection of Moeen Ali to open the batting alongside Alastair Cook, despite having never played in such a specialist position before. It was a disastrous choice, as Moeen only scored 84 runs in the series, with his batting travails possibly affecting his bowling.

England Need To Leave Their Complacency At Home

By Shane Thomas

In early 2012, the England men's cricket team was in a pretty good place. They soundly beat Australia a year previous to retain the Ashes, and then followed that up by thumping India 4-0 to become the world's best ranked Test side. They had assumed the mantle of the sport's playground bullies, and travelled to the United Arab Emirates to continue in this vein.

Good Pitch? There's Nothing Good About This

By Shane Thomas

When I first began to watch cricket (I was about 12), I would often hear players and commentators talk about a pitch (or wicket) being "good". I soon learnt that a good pitch was one that was amenable to plenty of runs being scored, favouring the batsman, and making it onerous for bowlers to take wickets.

England's Final Test

By Shane Thomas


England have been a significant power at the top end of world cricket for long enough now to prove that it's no fluke. Fans can rub their eyes and realise they're not dreaming. After a generation of enduring mediocrity, and sometime worse, the phrase "English cricket" is no longer a national punchline.

Athletic Main Course Humiliates United

By Shane Thomas

Many proclaimed last week's victory for Athletic Club de Bilbao over Manchester United as one of the results of the season so far. I was one of them. Turns out that was just an apertif. For their main course, they welcomed United to their home patch, and didn't just beat them, but dished out a beating.

Their intense pressing, mobile movement and incisive passing were all there from 7 days ago, but after their 3-2 win at Old Trafford, it was clear that the Athletic players knew that there was nothing to fear from the English champions, and performed accordingly. United weren't opponents, but co-conspirators in their own humiliation. United weren't defeated, they were thoroughly embarrassed.

An England Defeat In Which We Can All Rejoice

By Shane Thomas


The England cricket team; the sport's dominant force. The playground bullies. Best in the world. Don't believe me, look at the rankings.

So on this England team went to the sub-continent to play Pakistan. They came, they saw, and they got a pasting. It was a rude awakening, as Pakistan taught England a lesson that they shouldn't really have needed teaching. England were whitewashed in the series, 3-0, and have been humbled as a result.

But it's not England's defeat that should bring joy to cricket fans, but Pakistan's victory.

Episode 47 - 2011 in Review (Part 3)

No guest host, but still tons of sport to review on this episode. Our penultimate year in review show takes on Cycling, Cricket, Swimming, Darts and Golf.

The Greatest Events In Sporting History' is available from http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/sportinghistory/

Episode 44 - Basil D'Oliveira's Ashes Century in 1968

A big innings for the England cricket team, but an even more important one for the rest of the world. There was a time when South Africa's policy of apartheid was freely tolerated by many other countries. We talk about how one man swinging a cricket bat helped to change all that.

The Greatest Events In Sporting History' is available from http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/sportinghistory/

The Excitement Of Test Cricket - So Where Is Everyone?

By Shane Thomas

Today provided us with arguably the most madcap day of Test cricket in 2011. Day 2 of the 1st Test between Australia and South Africa in Cape Town gave us a section of all four innings of play. The day started with Australia on 214/8, with them eventually being all out for 284, inspired by a superb knock of 151 from Michael Clarke.

At this point in the match, sanity went on holiday. South Africa came to the crease to begin their riposte and were promptly bowled out for a paltry 96, with Shane Watson going through the Proteas bating line-up like the proverbial dose of salts, taking 5 for 17 off only 20 deliveries. But whatever the Aussie bowlers can do...

All Hail The Playground Bullies

By Shane Thomas

This is a weird time to be a supporter of the England cricket team. For as long as I've watched the sport, English cricket has been little more than a punchline. Summer after summer brought mediocrity, annoyance and often defeat. While things began to improve at the turn of the millennium - never more so than the epic 2005 Ashes series - English cricket had a place; which tended to be looking up at the Australians, as they conquered all and sundry to underline their position as the world's best.