Cricket

Sep 20, 2012: Rarely can the defending champions in any competition have come into a tournament with so little expected of them

Aug 12, 2012: As they did earlier in the year against Sri Lanka, England now face a must-win Test if they want to retain their No. 1 ranking having been outplayed at their own game by South Africa

Jun 11, 2012: Some of the stranger reasons for stoppages of play, including animal invaders, bomb threats and gravy

Jun 4, 2012: Sunil Narine became a late addition to the West Indies touring party in England last week. We look at some other last-minute arrivals

Jun 1, 2012: After Jayasuriya and Atapattu they've struggled for a solid opening combination, and have among the worst first-wicket stats in the last six years

May 28, 2012: Batsmen who went through spells of wretched form

May 25, 2012: Chris Gayle has scored 2591 runs in this format in the last 17 months, at an average of 57 and a strike rate of 170. No other batsman comes close

May 22, 2012: Players whose first-class or international careers weren't quite run of the mill

May 15, 2012: England Test players who were born 4000 miles away

May 11, 2012: A look at country-wise stats in a franchise-based tournament, and the IPL teams which have most relied on foreign players

May 4, 2012: A look at which overs have fetched the most runs and wickets in this year's IPL, and the ones that have fetched the least

Apr 30, 2012: Players who troubled the scorers with their long names

Apr 27, 2012: Wicketkeepers have been far more prolific with the bat since 2000, and Matthew Wade has shown early signs of conforming to that trend

Apr 24, 2012: The stories behind the highest individual scores in Tests

Apr 20, 2012: In the 1980s, Test run rates in the West Indies used to be higher than in any other country; since 2000, it's become the lowest

Apr 17, 2012: Trivia about the Almanack you may not have heard before, including factoids about Britain's canals

Apr 13, 2012: Shivnarine Chanderpaul is among the best batsmen in the world in home Tests, which was demonstrated once again against familiar opposition, Australia

Apr 6, 2012: These two have been the top fast bowlers in Test cricket over the last couple of years, but while their overall stats are similar, there are some differences too

Apr 3, 2012: Players who were dismissed because they thought they were, because they wanted to be, because they didn't turn up at the ground, and for other unusual reasons