Rory Mathews

Plan 2 Student Loan? Beware, govt is freezing the repayment threshold, should you overpay now? (spoiler: some yes, many no) blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2026/01/bewa...
New long read blog incl
- What's changed
- Why millions can reclaim £100s,
- Overpay? AI calc
- Failed political action & more...

Ben Duckett is in danger of setting an unwanted record. With a minimum of 10 innings batted, the fewest runs by an England opener in a Test series is 173 by Cyril Washbrook in 1950-51; Duckett currently has 160 in 9.

The all-country record low is 95 by David Warner in 2019.

I am old enough to remember hundreds of county players being forced to play with a Kookaburra ball for weeks on end, while the Test side was in action at the same time and not using one.
Maybe it was a fever dream? Must have been.
Imagine Surrey scoring 800+ and a bowler going for 200+?
Bad dream!

Government U-turns on support for bird-friendly swift bricks in new homes Housing minister Steve Reed refuses to back mandating measure, despite giving support while in environment job

Nothing must stand in the way of the profits of the big developers, not even a “Swift brick” costing *checks notes* £35. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Couldn’t agree more. Love this block at the start of the season and a great run of weather this year has made it even better.

It’s been a BRILLIANT block of championship cricket. I’ve loved the narrative and the ups & even the downs. What a shame it’s over until the end of June. Here’s hoping for some good white ball contests… but I LOVE the championship and it’s been FABULOUS FABULOUS FABULOUS

England player in the making for sure. Seriously impressive.

GW 8 Squad News

The Cricket Draft County Champ Scout Report GW5 by Ronan Alexander

Would you like a bit of help with your transfers ideas for GW 5?

@ronan_45 provides some great options right here:

join.thecricketdraft.com/4jDDtWo

#TCD #FantasyCricket #TheCricketDraft #CountyChamp

The Cricket Draft County Champ Scout Report GW4 by Ronan Alexander

Stuck for transfers ideas? We have some great options for GW 4 in this article:

medium.com/@TheCricketD...

You can also see what the experts @SAAdvantage & @danjadz_ are doing right here:

youtu.be/Igcm-55BDBc

#TCD #FantasyCricket #CountyChampionship

Best bowling in the 4th inns of a match on County Championship debut

9-35 JEBBPQC Dwyer Sus v Derbs Hove 1906 (Won) *
8-53 W Wright Kent v Mid Lord's 1890 (Won)
7-36 KJ Dudgeon Kent v Nhants Northampton 2025 (Won)

* Full name:
John Elicius Benedict Bernard Placid Quirk Carrington Dwyer

Here’s where I ended up

All 18 Teams:

🏏Predicted XIs
🏥 Injuries
❌ Unavailable
🟩 Fixture difficulty

#TCD #FantasyCricket #TheCricketDraft #CountyChamp

medium.com/@TheCricketD...

I curate two cricket starter packs that include all that you list
Cricket Starter Packs are now live.

Part 1 - the original
go.bsky.app/Uq6tVD6

Part 2 - the follow-on
go.bsky.app/12FSHyh

You don't have to be a member to follow

Aiming for a third season in the top 100 of @thecricketdraft.bsky.social County Championship this year after 22nd in 2023 and 55th last year. Here’s where I’m at pre-squad announcements. Going seam heavy!

Tomorrow we will be releasing ‘Gameweek Info’ for every team (once the squad announcements have taken place).

Hopefully this will help with all your planning!

🏏Predicted XIs
🏥 Injuries
❌ Unavailable
🟩 Fixture difficulty

(Example 👇)

The Cricket Draft County Championship Game is now Live!

🏏Select your 15 player squad
💴 £100m budget
⚒️ Manage team through the season
🌍 Challenge fans around the world
🗓️ GW 1 Starts on April 4th

Download the App Now!

(Please help spread the word)

It’s time!

You can now select your County Championship Cricket Draft Squads….

#countychampionship #cricket #fantasycricket

James Anderson

Nasser Hussain’s cricketing truth-bomb fights back against march of AI robots | Barney Ronay The Sky Sports pundit deserves an award for his accurate assessment of India’s Champions Trophy gerrymandering

barney's column this weekend is sensational

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/m...

Dignity and humanity of Afghan women must be worth more than game of cricket | Jonathan Liew The Taliban uses the success of its men’s team as propaganda – cricket’s powerbrokers should pursue a collective boycott

"our concern for the women and girls of Afghanistan apparently kicks in at 1.5 cricket matches. two or more games in a single sitting: an unconscionable act of collusion in a murderous, misogynist, medieval death cult. fewer than two: all right lads, crack on"

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/j...

This is the first time England men have had two of their top three dismissed in the 90s in the same Test innings.

#NZvENG

Tough for Cox, but would be well earned for Ollie Robinson and I think England will be better with him in.

Delighted to confirm that England’s multi format series in South Africa will be live on Test Match Special.

Heather Knight’s side are playing 3 T20s, 3 ODIs & a Test match.

All starts on Sunday at noon with the opening T20.

#bbccricket #SAvENG

PCA says 'more work needed' on player welfare as ECB unveil rejigged Blast schedule Total of 52 men's and women's double-headers due to be staged across 20 different venues

PCA and ECB still at loggerheads over men's T20 Blast schedule - and particularly the number of back-to-back matchdays

Schedule released this morning: another 6-week gap between group stages and QFs, plus Finals Day clashes with an England T20I series again

www.espncricinfo.com/story/pca-sa...