Simon Barnes

Simon Barnes

Former chief sportswriter of the Times and the author of more than 20 books

Pause - it's good for you

Pause - it's good for you

Break has several meanings in cricket, but today the predominant usage is to do with money-making

01-Jun-2017•Simon Barnes

What branding does to sport

What branding does to sport

Cricket is much more than just a product to be packaged and sold by advertisers, right?

01-May-2017•Simon Barnes

The beguilers

The beguilers

What makes us call a player a genius?

03-Apr-2017•Simon Barnes

When the going is always tough

When the going is always tough

In professional sport, pressure is not only inevitable but also welcome

02-Mar-2017•Simon Barnes

Look sharp

Look sharp

If you have focus, you can achieve anything - or so they say

02-Feb-2017•Simon Barnes

Take me for example

Take me for example

Why do we expect sportspersons to be role models?

02-Jan-2017•Simon Barnes

The others

The others

Not all the terms used in cricket come from the English language

01-Dec-2016•Simon Barnes

Not a problem

Not a problem

The difficulties modern players face are often described as being "issues". That's not always a bad thing

02-Nov-2016•Simon Barnes

Go pro

Go pro

A word that was once used to describe a lower class of player now stands for a job reasonably done

03-Oct-2016•Simon Barnes

Is this boring you?

Is this boring you?

What is the purpose of sport: to entertain or to pursue excellence?

01-Sep-2016•Simon Barnes

Built by sport, revealed by sport

Built by sport, revealed by sport

How does the word character apply? First you played to develop it, now you develop it to play

01-Aug-2016•Simon Barnes

An immortal at The Oval

An immortal at The Oval

Only a child's wild imagination could have conceived an innings like Kevin Pietersen's 158 against Australia in 2005

01-Jul-2016•Simon Barnes

Call in Colin

Call in Colin

At 41, Cowdrey gamely took on Lillee and Thomson, because how could he not?

02-Jun-2016•Simon Barnes

Nas not gonna take it

Nas not gonna take it

When the England captain turned a chorus of boos into a revolution

02-May-2016•Simon Barnes

My black teacher

My black teacher

Watching Garry Sobers dominate England in 1963 was a lesson in race relations and in cricket

01-Apr-2016•Simon Barnes

Here's Harmy

Here's Harmy

At the start of the 2005 Ashes series, there was thrilling anticipation and there was hope

02-Mar-2016•Simon Barnes

The pricking of pomposity

The pricking of pomposity

Murali's 16 wickets at The Oval in 1998 were not only match-winning, they were epoch-changing

02-Feb-2016•Simon Barnes

Leave it to Beefy

Leave it to Beefy

The 1980 Jubilee Test was all Botham

04-Jan-2016•Simon Barnes

Kris Srikkanth's shot of hope

Kris Srikkanth's shot of hope

An imagination-embellished stroke that turned the course of the 1983 World Cup final

02-Dec-2015•Simon Barnes

He'll get you one-handed

He'll get you one-handed

At Headingley in 1984, Malcolm Marshall summed up the fierce and terrible beauty of one of the greatest teams of them all

02-Nov-2015•Simon Barnes

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Sri Lanka allrounder Dunith Wellalage flies home after his father's death

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Bereaved Dunith Wellalage rejoins SL squad in Dubai

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