Ben Gardner
@Ben_Wisden
Followers
20,051
Following
951
Media
273
Statuses
3,924
managing editor, @WisdenCricket Monthly columnist, weathered empire builder
He/him
Joined April 2016
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#บางกอกคณิกาMeetAndซี้ด
• 103856 Tweets
All To Nene D-Day
• 67933 Tweets
ネルフェス
• 30315 Tweets
NCT DREAM TDS3 SEOUL DAY1
• 19292 Tweets
バイデン
• 18606 Tweets
GW後半戦
• 18201 Tweets
YOASOBI
• 16974 Tweets
ペンラ8000円
• 13185 Tweets
ウマチュン
• 10911 Tweets
Princess Charlotte
• 10856 Tweets
高利貸し
• 10329 Tweets
スリッパ
• 10209 Tweets
Steve Smith is convinced every lbw ever given against him isn't out except for the one that isn't actually out
71
1K
17K
Jan 15, 2017: Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2018: Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2019: Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2020: No Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2021: No Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2022: No Virat Kohli hundred
Jan 15, 2023: Virat Kohli hundred
The drought is over
34
709
9K
Fitting that the first close game at this World Cup is between Virat Kohli and scoring an international century
40
708
8K
Shreyanka Patil was five years old when RCB played their first game, and somehow she's still won a title for them before Virat Kohli has
79
889
8K
Imagine being newly hooked on Test cricket by the Ashes and then deciding to watch this India-West Indies game, you'd be put off for life
286
463
8K
Travis Head has scored 84 off 26 inside the powerplay and his opening partner is scoring faster than him
12
445
8K
India could have declared at the end of the powerplay and still won by eight runs
39
473
7K
Congratulations India on winning the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
21-year-old Mayank Yadav is seriously quick and seriously talented 🤯
He’s been clocked at 156.7kph (97.3mph) in the ongoing clash against RCB! 🔥
#IPL2024
78
470
5K
135
425
8K
From tomorrow, there is Test cricket scheduled to be played on every single day until January 1, 2023
101
451
7K
Mark Wood finishes with 7-100 with the ball and 40 off 16 with the bat in the game
25
389
7K
Jos Buttler's 47-ball ODI hundred sees him just miss out on taking the record for England's fastest ODI hundred from Jos Buttler (46 balls v Pakistan, 2015), but he does take second place, pushing Jos Buttler (50 balls v Pakistan, 2019) into third
#NEDvENG
58
495
7K
India have scored 800 runs in two games and Suryakumar Yadav has contributed 3 (3)
128
345
7K
Don't know if I agree with this '2-2 is a fair result' stuff. Rain is the what stopped this series being 3-2 to England, and they have been, across the five Tests, the better side
453
353
7K
Amazing that the PCB had Babar Azam's successors ready to be announced less than two hours after he decided voluntarily to step down as captain, what a slick, well-run organisation!
83
957
7K
To sum up: India dropped loads of chances, Mitchell made a brilliant hundred, Kuldeep got smashed, New Zealand fielded like demons, Boult and Henry beat the bat loads, there was a silly run out, and they still had enough in the tank to piss about trying to get Kohli another ton
98
497
7K
Such a shame that R Ashwin didn't reach 500 Test wickets with an exact split of right- and left-handers. The tally is currently 251 to 249
33
353
6K
Shaheen Afridi going off injured will go down as one of the great World Cup final 'what-ifs'. Game turned completely on that one moment
48
728
6K
Ravi Shastri announcing that Australia have won the World Cup in front of 120,000 people is amazing given a) the official attendance is 92,000 and b) half of them have left already
50
468
6K
For Pakistan, this tournament feels like the start of something rather than the end. Only three of their XI in the final are older than 30. Four of them are 22 or younger. The core of an excellent side could be there for a long time
58
732
6K
England made their highest Ashes opening stand in eight years and still got bowled out for 124. Extraordinary commitment to comedy batting
#Ashes
43
452
6K
Stuart Broad's last ball as a batter: Six
Stuart Broad's last ball as a bowler: Wicket
Test cricket? Completed it
11
416
6K
Four English medium-pacers bowling to Steve Smith at the MCG:
3K
258
2K
31
299
6K
Is Rohit Sharma the best batter ever to have never been his country's best batter in any format?
177
252
6K
Batters with multiple men's World Cup hundreds before turning 24:
Sachin
Rachin
End of list
42
452
6K
That last-ball no-ball is absolutely brutal on Rinku Singh. He doesn't get the six, but he does get the ball faced, and that brings his T20I career strike rate down below 200
41
305
6K
Great to see Dinesh Karthik give Glenn Maxwell a warning by knocking off the first bail without the ball in his gloves. Spirit of Cricket at its finest
#INDvAUS
76
481
5K
Virat Kohli has the best batting average and the second best bowling average among all players at the 2023 World Cup
16
416
6K
Mohammed Shami is now India's leading wicket taker at the 2023 World Cup, having played only half their games
7
238
6K
Virat Kohli after everyone makes fun of him for scoring a hundred
19
332
5K
For some reason, there's quite a lot less fanfare about Ravindra Jadeja equalling Sachin Tendulkar's tally of ODI five-fors
22
342
5K
Maybe 'The Biggest Upset In World Cup History' was actually Bangladesh beating Afghanistan
43
295
5K
When Babar made that 196 to save the Karachi Test against Australia, you wondered if he’d ever make a better hundred. It’s taken him three innings. Some player
#SLvPAK
17
367
5K
Fair play to Australia, dropping one of your most in-form batters because he can’t play spin and then his replacement getting out to spin for 0 (1) is funny
54
230
5K
Think about it from the cricket ball’s perspective though. It’s 2018 and you’re excited to get played with, but you only get 13 overs before being shut in a box for five years. You’re long past hope, but then finally you’re chosen to win England an Ashes Test. It’s Pixar stuff
51
251
5K
In 2023, India have bowled Sri Lanka out for 51, beaten them by 302 runs and recorded a world-record margin of victory, and those are three different ODIs
16
444
5K
The way all the New Zealand fielders jump in unison with Mitchell Santner here is just wonderful
41
600
5K
It's all just so beautifully orchestrated. Gives Sky advanced warning so they can get the tribute package together, finishes the day not out to guarantee an ovation first thing tomorrow, and he's got his Mail on Sunday column tomorrow a few thousand more clicks too. A master
43
220
5K
In T20 cricket, 0 (1) is a better innings than 0 (2), so Rohit is at least improving
72
620
5K
The correct Barbenheimer schedule
10.00am - Wake up
10.59am - Watch Pat Cummins get out first ball
11.00am - Watch Oppenheimer
2pm - Watch Zak Crawley smash a run a ball Ashes double hundred
630pm - Watch Barbie
14
173
5K
Suryakumar Yadav is obviously the best T20 batter in the world right now. But I think his current form and peak might be the best ever. Can't think of a player who has scored this quickly this consistently and been this impossible to bowl to. Peak AB, maybe?
#T20WorldCup
57
238
5K
Should Ben Stokes really be comparing Brook to Kohli as an all-format player when Kohli is still yet to show he can make runs in the Hundred or the PSL?
273
162
5K
I wouldn’t worry, Australia are just following the India method of getting smashed in the first Border-Gavaskar Test before staging a comeback. Expecting Cummins to fly home after this game and a net bowler - maybe the Ashwin lookalike- to bowl them to victory at Ahmedabad
99
221
5K
Even if Joe Root doesn't get a bat in this IPL, he'll learn so much just watching the greats like Yashasvi Jaiswal close up
73
303
5K
Mitch Marsh has as many Ashes hundreds as David Warner and Adam Gilchrist, and as many Ashes five-fors as Pat Cummins and Merv Hughes
38
292
5K
It's incredible that Jasprit Bumrah is both a biomechanical freak who bowls 90mph off effectively 18 yards and pinpoint accurate with loads of variations that he knows exactly when to use. Just one or the other would be enough to be a great bowler
17
470
5K
Bit rude of India to schedule a World Cup semi-final that clashes with Pakistan captaincy reshuffle day
29
372
5K
Ben Stokes really messed up by not scoring a fifty against England
Virat Kohli is the only player to score fifties against both finalist in this T20 World Cup.
119
511
8K
82
286
5K
So Bangladesh are worried about the wet conditions, but play resumes, then Litton Das slips over and hurts himself first ball, and then turns tentatively and gets run out second ball. Hmmm
#T20WorldCUp
164
613
5K
Amazing that England can pointlessly declare, bowl a million no balls, drop a load of catches, injure their frontline spinner and somehow still end up with a lead
59
243
5K
KL Rahul clearly understood that hitting a four and then a six would have given India a bigger NRR boost
67
203
5K
Some effort given he didn’t know what a six was until he saw Tom Hartley hit one on day one at Hyderabad
71
269
5K
The cool leave for the wide and then the checked lofted drive - R Ashwin has given Jack Leach competition for the greatest 1* of all time
#INDvPAK
11
241
4K
Rinku Singh's ninth T20I and he's yet to score a fifty, questions must be asked
267
161
4K
Zak Crawley has faced 103 overs less than Usman Khawaja in this series, and has scored more runs than him
112
181
4K
England have been more competitive than anyone could have hoped for this series, but the worry for them is it's 1-1 and India still have Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami to come back
109
167
4K
Cricket's good, but watching Mohammad Rizwan repeatedly punch himself in the thigh is better
25
332
4K
JUST IN: The BCCI have requested another schedule change, asking the ICC if they can restart today's game again tomorrow
488
346
4K
Holding back your left-arm spinner, who also happens to be the world's No.1 ranked bowler, because you're worried about the left-hander smashing him, and then you're forced to go to him and he turns one through the gate first ball. Sometimes your best bowler is your best bowler
35
245
4K
This is just a huge weekend for Accuweather. If it’s right and the rest of the Manchester forecasts are wrong, I don’t think any England cricket fan is ever using another weather service again
75
189
4K
Feels like India have really missed Virat Kohli in this Test. Those balls that spin past the bat or shoot low once an over feel a lot different if he's hooting and clapping after each one
46
333
4K
Zak Crawley has scored more runs in the 2023 Ashes than Alastair Cook or Andrew Strauss ever scored in any home Test series
73
141
4K
Mark Wood's strike rate of 250 at Headingley is the highest in history for anyone facing more than 10 balls in a single Test match
14
150
4K
Mayank Yadav, a 21-year-old with 10 T20 appearances to his name, has just been clocked at 97mph on his IPL debut. The only thing quicker than him is the speed with which he's been changed from 'medium fast' to 'fast' in his player profiles
9
242
4K
How has Jarvo managed to get a visa when not a single Pakistani journalist has one?
363
316
4K
Whatever your thoughts on Virat Kohli as a person and captain (and I was a fan), while he was in charge it was hard not to feel Test cricket was safe. He was the most powerful figure in cricket’s world, and it seemed he loved Tests more than anyone else in the world
25
336
4K
"That shot is nigh-on impossible for a normal human being" - Ian Smith on that Kohli madness
#INDvPAK
10
347
4K
Rashid Khan and his Afghanistan teammates have shown extraordinary bravery in speaking out against the actions of the Taliban. They should be at the heart of cricket's response to the crisis, rather than blindsided by it.
77
443
4K
India under Rahul Dravid have lost a Test series in South Africa, lost the final Test in England, and failed to make the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup finals. Not the results the BCCI were hoping for when they appointed him, you imagine
#T20WorldCup
131
424
4K
The Ashwin net bowler thing is fascinating, and surely so ill-founded. Imagine signaling to a genius like that that not only is he in your head, but also that what you think makes him special is how he sticks his elbows out when he bowls, rather than everything else. 4-0 India
72
184
4K
A 'clever' declaration to have a go with the new ball late in the day before losing a tight game, well I never
35
136
4K
It will almost be a shame when Hardik Pandya is back fit because it will likely mean not seeing this bowling attack together. They are extraordinary
127
149
3K
Hearing reports that the Aussies wanted to finish the night with a quiet avo on toast and a flat white in Clapham, but Ben Stokes demanded a Spoons fry-up and pushing on into day two. Not sure the rifts from this series will ever truly heal
24
96
3K
Feels like Rishabh Pant gets picked in T20Is on Test form, and then dropped from ODIs on T20I form
37
120
3K
For the first time under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England have drawn a Test match. And they were right, this is worse than losing
26
140
3K
Zak Crawley scored more runs in his first over in Pakistan than he managed in eight of his 13 Test innings this summer
#PAKvENG
14
144
3K
The second top-scorer in the innings has got 24 and he's not the bloke Maxwell shared a double-century stand with
3
216
3K
Jonny Bairstow has made 11 per cent of his career Test runs and 33 per cent of his career Test hundreds since the start of Love Island 2022
#ENGvIND
28
175
3K
RIP India's No.1 in all formats status, Feb 15 2023-Feb 15 2023
124
108
3K
The BCCI did a great job not selling tickets for these games so that when bits of their stadiums start falling from the sky spectators can flee to other, empty bits of the stands. Genius planning
155
288
3K
If only Cheteshwar Pujara had warmed up playing the IPL rather than the County Championship, he might have executed the ramp shot better
32
214
3K
Since the start of the 2019 World Cup, Mohammed Shami has played 10 World Cup games and taken four five-fors and three four-fors
10
321
3K
Among all T20I batters with at least 1,000 runs, Suryakumar Yadav's average (46.41) is the fourth-best, and his strike rate (180.34) is the only one above 160. He's so, so far ahead of the rest
22
252
3K
England allowing Shardul Thakur to make himself undroppable so India don't pick Ashwin for the fifth Test, clever
#ENGvIND
63
138
3K
Since the start of New Zealand's innings, Babar Azam has resigned as Pakistan captain, and the PCB have named his replacements, removed the entire Pakistan coaching staff and director of cricket, and named Mohammad Hafeez as the new DoC. Big few hours
29
332
3K
Marnus Labuschagne’s current ICC Test batting rating is higher than Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar achieved at any point, which gives some idea of how remarkable the start to his career has been
164
106
3K
I know we all know Jonny Bairstow's 2022 was amazing, but:
136 off 92 chasing 160 in a session
162 off 157 from 55-6
71* off 44 chasing nearly 300
106 off 140 from 83-5
114* off 145 in England's highest ever chase
has to be the greatest five-innings streak in Test history
20
163
3K
If it wasn't for England and Pakistan, World Cups would be so boring
72
288
3K
Yeah but how will Bazball work when England are 20-3 on a green seamer?
61
80
3K
Don't think I understand what's happening here. England are bowling bouncers at Australia and they aren't hooking them to the fielders on the boundary? Is this allowed?
30
121
3K
No exaggeration, this is the greatest hat-trick ball I have ever seen in my life
87
167
2K
60
136
3K
Steve Smith so far: 38 off 117 balls
Pujara in his first 117 balls: 33 runs
Weird how there’s no ‘intent’ chat now
#AUSvIND
58
249
3K
Rinku Singh was eight off 14. KKR needed 39 from eight balls. It's 0.1% stuff, if that. Unreal.
10
287
3K
Weird how when England cancelled the end of a tour to South Africa, when no one had Covid, all you got was sympathy and concern, but now that Covid is actually inside the India camp, the only possible reason for them wanting to call off the final Test is the IPL
#ENGvIND
45
475
3K
Random stat: Shane Warne bowled 178 maidens in the 1993 Ashes. That's two whole days play in which England couldn't score a run off him.
40
232
3K