"Australia didn’t so much defeat Bazball as simply expose its fragility. They applied pressure until the believers stopped believing. And when the architects of a revolution lose confidence in their own blueprint, collapse is not merely possible – it is inevitable."
open.substack.com/pub/jeffthom...

open.substack.com/pub/jeffthom...

Piece for Wisden on the numbers behind Leicestershire CCC's resurgence... www.wisden.com/series/count...

13k on the Essex stream at the death.

Happens with every close game and no-one is directing them there. All entirely organic

At 16, Joan of Arc led France to military victories, Alexander the Great controlled an empire and Blaise Pascal had invented the first calculator, but at 14, had any of them made a 35-ball hundred?
jeffthomaswords.substack.com/p/no-nerves-...

Excellent fun reporting on this yesterday...

Lovely to see the return of the crossword amongst all the other good stuff in this week's The Cricket Paper...

🏏 New County #Cricket newsletter. Please share and enjoy

🟣 All the Round Two previews
🟢 A fine Round One reviewed
🟠 Gloucs unveil special mural
🔴 Essex celebrate century at Chelmsford
🔵 Middlesex legal trouble
🟡 Championship reform ahead?

countycricket.substa...

With the world seemingly stuck on fast-forward, the return of county cricket this week gave me some much needed respite from the madness...

There really is no better place than HQ to watch cricket. New substack will drop tomorrow... www.substack.com/@jeffthomasw...

In the week Harry Brook shunned the IPL in order to prioritise England’s upcoming Test schedule, I revisit his ‘favourite hundred’, the counter-attacking masterclass from Wellington in December...

Feeling burnt-out after enduring a difficult year both in and outside of work, I took the option of redundancy and ended up covering England's winter Test series in New Zealand for wisden online. Here's the story of how it happened, why I needed it so badly, and how I got along...

A farewell tribute to Jos Buttler... #cricket #championstrophy #sadeyes

This week's article on the inherent humanity of Jos Buttler, and why he was always destined to fail as captain...

Issue 49 of The Nightwatchman is out now and is full of fantastic long-form cricket writing from Scott Oliver, CS Chiwanza, Annie Chave, David Tossell, Qaiser Mohammad Ali and more.

Print: www.thenightwatchman.net/.../the-nigh...

Digital: www.thenightwatchman.net/.../the-nigh...

🚨Launch post klaxon🚨”Last week, during the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips took a catch so logic-defying that – for the first time in four weeks – I sat bolt-upright, well nearly.” open.substack.com/pub/jeffthom...

Having graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Sport & Exercise Science in 2001 and a Diploma in Freelance Sports Journalism from LSJ in 2013, I’ve finally decided – after 20 odd years – it’s time to follow my passion...