The cricket thread

hungrymark

I've just had a comment published on the BBC live feed. The one about black bears and trees about ten minutes ago. Best day of my life.

crunchman

SA did the right thing by declaring.  If they had got 2 or 3 tonight when all the batsmen were tired from more than 2 days in the field then it could have been interesting.  Now England have got to the close unscathed I can't see anything other than a draw.

I'm not sure the pitch is entirely to blame for the mountain of runs.  England dropped a lot of catches.  Also, I'm not sure how penetrating the England attack is on good pitches.  There is no-one who consistently bowls over 90mph and we don't have a really good spinner.  I don't think Moeen generates a lot of bounce, which might have helped on this pitch.  Someone like Lyon who seems to put a bit of overspin on the ball might have been a lot more effective than Moeen.

Heartfeltdawn

hungrymark said:

I've just had a comment published on the BBC live feed. The one about black bears and trees about ten minutes ago. Best day of my life.

Mine involved the BBC legal department and some cricketing comments that were published in the 606 days

Heartfeltdawn

crunchman said:

SA did the right thing by declaring.  If they had got 2 or 3 tonight when all the batsmen were tired from more than 2 days in the field then it could have been interesting.  Now England have got to the close unscathed I can't see anything other than a draw.

I'm not sure the pitch is entirely to blame for the mountain of runs.  England dropped a lot of catches.  Also, I'm not sure how penetrating the England attack is on good pitches.  There is no-one who consistently bowls over 90mph and we don't have a really good spinner.  I don't think Moeen generates a lot of bounce, which might have helped on this pitch.  Someone like Lyon who seems to put a bit of overspin on the ball might have been a lot more effective than Moeen.

We did drop catches but you look at how wickets have fallen. The majority have been soft giveaway dismissals rather than outstanding balls. There's comparatively little dust being kicked up in the creases when bowlers deliver or batsmen scratch about. The pitch is holding together very well. Those run up marks at one end were there on the first day and haven't gotten any worse. The lush outfield has held together very well and we've virtually no reverse swing. The UAE pitches were hard work but they at least offered turn and reverse swing: this has had nothing. I really think the Saffers asked for a flat track in order to get some of their batsmen into form. 

I don't think 90mph bowlers owuld have made much difference. The bounce is consistent and easy paced (as seen by a couple of nicks by Morris off Finn with the second new ball that didn't carry). It's not fast enough for those nicks to carry so anything short isn't really going to trouble anyone. The pitch is anything has gotten easier to bat on as the game has progressed, almost as if it's lost pace. An overspinning bowler might have helped but I'm struggling to think of anyone in first class circles aside from Lyon who bowls like that. Rashid isn't much of an overspinner and the folk who did get overspin did so via cheating (principally Narine and Ajmal). Kumble would have been interesting on that track. 

crunchman

This is a bit too reminiscent of Adelaide.

iseverynamegone

Bum. Squeaking.

scrumhalf

"I do not know what's going off out there" as a certain bowler might have said.

Heartfeltdawn

It's an object lesson in how cloud cover affects a pitch. Lords is exactly the same, looks benign for the most part until the clouds roll in and then the bowlers get something going. Fact is, James Anderson spent the best part of two and a half days getting sod all swing and now the Saffers have had conventional swing, reverse swing, and the ball is gripping for the offie. They've actually got the floodlights on at Newlands now thanks to that cloud cover and Bairstow has just slipped over turning on the run, showing there's moisture on the pitch. 

If we'd taken half the catches, we would have had more time batting in good conditions. 

scrumhalf

For a game that at times seemed to be hopelessly one-sided it turned out to be a nice little drama and could, as has been said, have been very tense had we held our catches and been trying to bowl them out in favourable conditions.

Gassage

Although I have had a strong relationship with Gunn and Moore for many years, yesterday I was given a treat even by my standards.

I'm writing a piece for a well known Cricket mag on how you can use best practice to select a bat, and how test players contribute to the bat evolution process.

Anyway, yesterday I got gifted on of Joe Root's bats (he's gone to New balance so they had 3 going spare)

The noticable thing about Joe's bat is it always looks so wide when he bats- and I've found the reason- the handle is 1/2" longer and the blade 1/2 shorter- like a mongoose, so the bat is more compact and looks chunkier and wider.

The grain on this is incredible as you can see- it is as good as it gets., as is the ping and pickup (it's 2-11 oz and picks up about 2.8)

Anyway, excuse the badgery but interesting nonetheless.

On the handle it says JR74, which means it's the 74th bat GM made for Joe.

I also got given one of Watto's- it's very very light, big with a VERY high middle. It is 2.10 on scales with 2 grips and antiscuff so c. 2.8 real weight, surprisingfor a man of his size.

I refrained the offer for a pair of Watto's pads as they'd be knackered.

Heartfeltdawn

Gassage said:

I also got given one of Watto's- it's very very light, big with a VERY high middle. It is 2.10 on scales with 2 grips and antiscuff so c. 2.8 real weight, surprisingfor a man of his size.

If it wasn't light, he'd pull a muscle picking it up in the backlift. 

Gassage

Heartfeltdawn said:

Gassage said:

I also got given one of Watto's- it's very very light, big with a VERY high middle. It is 2.10 on scales with 2 grips and antiscuff so c. 2.8 real weight, surprisingfor a man of his size.

If it wasn't light, he'd pull a muscle picking it up in the backlift. 

Rooty is a bit of a unit now. He's 6 2 and he's been hitting the gym big time.

I do laugh- squeaky clean image but smokes like a chimney secretly and always has since about 15. I know Rooty's dad Matt very well thru MCC.

Gassage

Here's Shane Watsons.You can see the differnce in blade and handle length. This bat is huge but is so light I can't tell you.

Heartfeltdawn

Gassage said:

Rooty is a bit of a unit now. He's 6 2 and he's been hitting the gym big time.

I do laugh- squeaky clean image but smokes like a chimney secretly and always has since about 15. I know Rooty's dad Matt very well thru MCC.

One of the worst kept secrets in the cricketing world Remember the slight hooha when the paps got Bres and Root puffing away after the 2013 Ashes victory? The boy doesn't smoke like a rank amateur. That isn't the grip of a beginner. 

http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article2134120.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/£££-Joe-Root-and-Tim-Bresnan-have-a-fag-outside-the-bar.jpg

Still got some way to go before he can catch up with Lehmann. Last time the Aussies were over, I went to Taunton to watch Somerset versus Oz. I got there two hours before the start and loaded up on supplies for the day in the supermarket next to the ground. As I was coming in, one of the Aussie support staff was coming out armed with two carrier bags of juices, drinks etc and another containing at least six packs of 20 fags. It was refreshing to see in the modern era of protein this and dietary plans that fags were still considered a vital part of the day's preparations. 

Gassage

Smokers in the current and recent side

Swanny
Bressie
Rooty
Hales
Trotty
Ryan Topley
Butcher
Thorpe

The biggest chain smoker was Murali Karthik, the left arm spinner.

Giles + Freddie were big tab men too.

Heartfeltdawn

Thorpe's autobiography did as much to detail his tab habit as the breakdown of his marriage. Didn't John Crawley take up the snouts when he was trying to lose weight? 

NB: Apparently he gave up later though.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/2316597/Smoking-ban-a-drag-for-changing-room-addicts.html

Wasim smoked and bent the ball both ways. That's good enough for me!

I hope Trott smoked straights. You can imagine him taking ages making a roll up. 

scrumhalf

I can nly imagine how many more runs I would have scored with edges like that.

Heartfeltdawn

Mental, isn't it? I grew up in the era of the SS Jumbo and Turbo and remember thinking how thick the GM Diamond looked when it first came out. They're nothing compared to modern bats. Like golf, the technology and design has improved to give a bigger sweet spot. They have made it easier to bat. You don't need perfect balance and timing in order to get the ball somewhere. Watching someone as nonmuscular as George Dockrell smack sixes at the World Cup over extra cover like Viv in his pomp is the demonstration of that technology in full effect. 

hungrymark

Broad's gone berserk again then...

Heartfeltdawn

Right climate for it. It's the first time the Saffers have had to bat in muggy conditions all series (England got it in the Second Test and saved the game) and they've looked all at sea.

The way Taylor and Bavuma at short leg have astounded the commentators is indicative of pitches in the last decade. Yes, they have both taken some great catches this series. But the like of Gus Logie and David Boon were doing this regularly 25 to 30 years ago. Because so few pitches have decent pace and bounce, short leg is one of those positions that has drifted away from the game. If Colin Graves got his wish and Tests were played over four days, then you need pitches like these and not like the one at Newlands, and you need pitches like these throughout the domestic game as well. One reason the West Indies are so utterly shite now is down to the dreadful wickets they play on at home. 

An interesting series though. The Saffers appear to have a lot of problems, England are ironing theirs out, and it also seems like it might well be time for Finn to take the new ball with Broad. Jimmy isn't finished but he never looked fit and happy. I reckon England will want him to do next winter's tour to India (five Tests out there will need experience) but I don't think he'll be going to Australia for the next Ashes 2017-18.