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Lawrence Booth
@boothcricket.bsky.social
1.7K followers 20 following 150 posts
Editor of Wisden and cricket correspondent of the Daily Mail
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boothcricket.bsky.social
Not sure I've ever interviewed an ex-England player so full of eloquent outrage as Matt Prior after Brisbane:
🏏England's players are "taking the mickey"
🏏Only two are up for the fight
🏏Time for Stokes to "call in his chips" on Crawley/Pope
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
MATT PRIOR: If I got out like this I'd be dug out by the dressing room
It pains Matt Prior to say it, but say it he does. England's former wicketkeeper is ticking about the performance that left Ben Stokes's side two down in the Ashes with three to play.
www.dailymail.co.uk
December 9, 2025 at 12:50 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
It's always fascinating to talk to John Buchanan, who coached Australia during their most successful era. He told me England have no choice but to stick to their approach, but likened them to F1 drivers not adapting to the road ahead
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
www.dailymail.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 2:31 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
Zak Crawley's pair at Perth was a reminder that England openers often struggle in Australia. A couple of exceptions gave me their insights: Chris Broad, who averaged 78 here, and Mark Butcher, who hit the first ton by an England opener at the Gabba
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Why England openers fail Down Under and secrets of the rare successes
When Chris Broad suggests it will be 'tricky at the Gabba, because all eyes are going to be on him', it hardly needs explaining that he's talking about England's troubled opener Zak Crawley.
www.dailymail.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 4:09 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏I met up in Perth with former England batsman Robin Smith. It was quite a chat, ranging from his views on Bazball (chill, guys) via his brush with death after drinking a bottle of vodka a day for 12 years, to the latest tragic twist in his personal life.
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
ROBIN SMITH: I twice came within minutes of finishing my life
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LAWRENCE BOOTH: Robin Smith has had plenty to be grateful for, and much to test him. By his own admission, he is lucky still to be here.
www.dailymail.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
There are just two days left to enter our annual writing competition. Submit your entry by the end of Friday for a chance to win a £250 voucher and see your work published in next year's almanack: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...
www.bloomsbury.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
Last year, New Zealand ripped up the formbook to inflict a first home series defeat on India since 2012-13. Read the series review and full Test reports from the current edition of Wisden Almanack by clicking on the image. www.wisden.com/series/india...
Classic David v Goliath: How New Zealand Inflicted A Historic Clean-Sweep On India | Wisden Almanack
New Zealand toured India in 2024/25 for three Test matches and lost the series 3-0. R Kaushik’s tour report as well as all three match reports appeared in the 2025 edition of Wisden Cricketer’s Almana...
www.wisden.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:41 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
Always a pleasure to talk to Joe Root, who believes England - and their coterie of quicks - have their best chance for years of winning in Australia
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Joe Root: Our fearsome pace attack will go toe-to-toe with the Aussies
LAWRENCE BOOTH: Never mind the fact that Australia has not been kind to Joe Root. He simply can't wait for the Ashes and thinks this will be England's best chance Down Under in years.
www.dailymail.co.uk
October 8, 2025 at 11:14 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏With cricket fretting over a "bat emergency", it was fascinating to hear about the emergence of a possible non-wood alternative...
🧑‍💻... not to mention plans to insert technology into the new bat to produce data on hitting power
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Revealed: The future of cricket - a non-wood bat
INSIDE CRICKET: Cricket loves its laws and law 5.3.2. seems as certain as the sun rising in the east: 'The blade shall consist solely of wood.' But for how much longer?
www.dailymail.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
Thanks for having us, @gillis49.bsky.social! Really enjoyed it.
gillis49.bsky.social Giles Wilson @gillis49.bsky.social · Sep 26
The finale of the @wansteadfringe.bsky.social book festival — an uncommonly pleasant evening talking Bazball with @nickhoultcricket.bsky.social and @boothcricket.bsky.social
Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult speaking to Giles Wilson
September 27, 2025 at 6:47 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
RIP Dickie Bird, who has died at the age of 92

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Dickie Bird transcended the sport of cricket, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH
LAWRENCE BOOTH: Dickie Bird, who has died at the age of 92, broke the old rule that a sporting official should never be noticed.
www.dailymail.co.uk
September 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏Jacob Bethell's hundred on Sunday confirmed what many already suspected: he has the talent, and the temperament, to bat at No 3 in the Ashes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 v 🇦🇺
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
How Jacob Bethell proved he MUST be England's No 3 for the Ashes
LAWRENCE BOOTH: With every blow of his pulsating 82-ball 110 against South Africa in Southampton, Jacob Bethell reinforced what should already have been obvious.
www.dailymail.co.uk
September 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
Rummaging in county cupboards brings all sorts of curiosities to light. Kit Harris goes around the north of England in nine objects, in the current edition of Wisden. www.wisden.com/wisden-crick...
Ties That Bind: Around The North Of England In Nine Objects | Wisden Almanack
Kit Harris used nine objects to chronicle nine English county cricket clubs. The piece originally appeared in the 2025 edition of the Wisden Almanack.
www.wisden.com
September 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏Cricket’s existential crisis: why the sport is in danger of running out of willow to make bats…
🇮🇳 Suppliers failed to take into account the post-IPL boom
🪾Not enough trees have been planted
🏁Race is on to source alternative material
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Revealed: Cricket is running out of BATS - here's why
A recurrent grumble during the recent England-India series concerned the state of the Dukes ball. But another equipment-related headache has been raging. The 'cricket bat emergency'.
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 26, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
Last year, Australia won a home series from 1-0 down for the first time since 1968/69. Read Gideon Haigh’s tour review and all five match reports from India’s tour of Australia, from the current edition of Wisden. www.wisden.com/series/austr...
Australia V India In 2024/25: ‘Better Prepared, Better Selected, Better Coached And Better Led’ Hosts Regain Border-Gavaskar-Trophy | Wisden Cricket Almanack
India toured Australia in 2024/25 for five Test matches and lost the series 1-4. Gideon Haigh’s tour report as well as all five match reports appeared in the 2025 edition of Wisden Cricketer’s Almanac...
www.wisden.com
August 22, 2025 at 1:05 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏Spoke to Liam Livingstone, who has been in red-hot form for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred but is no longer wanted by England: "I was just told they were going with someone else, and that is pretty much all I’ve had since."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Liam Livingstone opens up on England axing and his red hot form
'I'm not going to sit here and cry about it,' says Liam Livingstone. 'I've got to just keep doing what I've got to do. Whether that's in international cricket or not.'
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 22, 2025 at 8:51 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏I've not always been nice about the Hundred. But a trip to Southampton was a reminder that there's more to like than many imagine.
PLUS
🇦🇺A worrying take from Aussie boss
🙇‍♂️ Was the captaincy an apology to Bethell?
💯 Bob Simpson's near claim to fame
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
I was the Hundred's fiercest critic - here's why I'm now supporting it
It is a bitter pill for some to swallow, but the future of red-ball domestic cricket in this country is now inextricably linked with the success of the competition it despises
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 19, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
It’s 100 years since Jack Hobbs equalled, and then surpassed, W. G. Grace’s record for most first-class centuries. In this year’s Almanack, Leo McKinstry looked back at Hobbs’s summer of summers. www.wisden.com/wisden-crick...
A Wisden Cricketer Of The Year, Twice: The 1925 Summer That Saw Jack Hobbs Achieve A Rare Honour | Wisden Almanack
In 1925, Jack Hobbs went past WG Grace’s record of most first-class centuries. Leo McKinstry’s feature on Hobbs’ golden summer originally appeared in the 2025 edition of the Wisden Almanack.
www.wisden.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏The end of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿v🇮🇳 can mean only one thing: the Top Spin awards...
🐈Who purred along as the most serene batsman?
🦹Who was the best pantomime villain?
🤦‍♂️What was Bazball's biggest blow-up?
🤷‍♂️Who was the most baffling (non-)selection?
Plus several more...
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
ENGLAND v INDIA AWARDS: Bazball's worst error and India's blown chance
After a rollercoaster month, who were the heroes and the villains, who provided the shocks and who didn't? Here are Inside Cricket's awards for this epic series.
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 4:04 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏The problem with 🇦🇺's top order - and time is running out before the Ashes...
PLUS
🤯Meltdown for Warwickshire's No 11
🥵County bowlers toil in the heat with the Kookaburra
💵The England opener born in the wrong era
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/articl...
Australia's chaotic Ashes build-up and what it means for England
INSIDE CRICKET: As they scraped their way to victory in the West Indies, it was tempting to wonder when the Australians had last fielded such a vulnerable top four.
www.dailymail.co.uk
July 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏I've had a crack at naming the 20 best international venues in the world. How many have you been to? And do you agree with the 1-2-3?
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Top 20 cricket grounds you must go to before you die: LAWRENCE BOOTH
Wisden Editor Lawrence Booth has spent more than two decades watching cricket around the world, and has been picking the 20 you must visit.
www.dailymail.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
nightwatchmanxi.bsky.social
The landmark 50th issue of The Nightwatchman is out now *raises bat*

Packed full of great writing from @jonathanliew.bsky.social, @camsell59.bsky.social, @garfieldr.bsky.social and more

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

Digital: www.thenightwatchman.net/buy/the-nigh...
June 6, 2025 at 9:18 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏 Where does Joe Root's 166* in Cardiff rank in England's top 10 ODI knocks? Three old-school efforts in my list...
PLUS
😵‍💫New concussion rules to prevent repeat of Dube-Rana farce
🎉Jimmy Anderson thrives on T20 comeback
🫂Farewell Glenn Maxwell
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
England's 10 greatest ODI innings: Wisden Editor's definitive list
Joe Root's epic 166 not out against West Indies on Sunday was one of England's greatest ODI innings. But where does it rank in Wisden Editor LAWRENCE BOOTH's definitive top 10?
www.dailymail.co.uk
June 3, 2025 at 11:28 AM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏After decades of Tendulkar, Dhoni and Kohli, which Indian cricketer will next achieve cult status? Seven candidates here...
PLUS
🤷‍♂️What happens to Eng v WI now that the IPL has been extended?
🤢10 retired hurts in one innings!
🌹Trouble at Old Trafford
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Who's the next Virat Kohli? These 7 India stars have the best chance
INSIDE CRICKET: The retirement of Virat Kohli from Test cricket leaves India without an all-time great batsman to worship - for the first time since the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar 35 years ago.
www.dailymail.co.uk
May 13, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Lawrence Booth
wisdenalmanack.bsky.social
At the end of the last decade, when Virat Kohli was the world’s leading cricketer, our editor @boothcricket.bsky.social paid tribute to him. www.wisden.com/cricket-feat...
Wisden’s Cricketers of the Decade: Virat Kohli
Taking performances in all three formats into account, Virat Kohli is the standout batsman his generation. The editor of the Wisden Almanack, Lawrence Booth, on one of the cricketers of the decade.
www.wisden.com
May 12, 2025 at 7:16 PM
boothcricket.bsky.social
🏏Virat Kohli's Test retirement feels like the end of an era. We're going to miss him. But would England's bowlers have been quietly happy if he had extended his career by one more series?
www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricke...
Kohli retirement is dark news for cricket - but even worse for England
Virat Kohli's decision to retire from Test cricket has robbed the format of one of its most compelling practitioners - and, indisputably, its most powerful advocate.
www.dailymail.co.uk
May 12, 2025 at 11:49 AM