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  • lloydlloyd Frets: 5773
    I'm all for a tactical battle between bowler and batsman but just read in the Sri Lanka/Aus match there was a stretch of 154 deliveries without a run being scored.....

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  • I've played games of Brian Lara on the PlayStation like that. 
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    lloyd said:
    I'm all for a tactical battle between bowler and batsman but just read in the Sri Lanka/Aus match there was a stretch of 154 deliveries without a run being scored.....
    Aus were 8 down and just trying to hold out for a draw.  If they had managed to last another half hour or so bad light would probably have come to their rescue.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    lloyd said:
    I'm all for a tactical battle between bowler and batsman but just read in the Sri Lanka/Aus match there was a stretch of 154 deliveries without a run being scored.....
    It was utterly brilliant. 154 deliveries without a run and it was utterly absorbing. O'Keefe had done a hamstring, couldn't run, and couldn't have a runner so blocking is all he could do. The light was getting bad, the rain that had come at the end of the previous four days never arrived, Sri Lanka ran out of reviews and had a legit bad-pad turned down in the 79th over, another chance two overs later that Australia reviewed and had overturned... it was the perfect riposte to those who have recently called for 4-day Test cricket. 

    From a spinner's point of view, watching Sandakan bowl with Herath today was a complete delight. The wicket at Pallekele wasn't a huge turner (Galle for the next Test will be). Just like England at Lords, poor batting strategy in the first innings screwed Australia. Prior to the Galle Test, the top six for Australia averaged 60 between them in Tests. They do it on flat tracks but give them tracks with a bit of swing or a bit of turn and they topple.



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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    They have gone too far in banning runners.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    It's one of those times when the laws look foolish in not allowing a runner for a player who was obviously incapacitated. If all sides acted honestly then the law should be changed. The reality is that sides would exploit it. For every case like O'Keefe when the runner would be the right option, there would be two or three more where a side looked to gain an unfair advantage. 



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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    It's one of those times when the laws look foolish in not allowing a runner for a player who was obviously incapacitated. If all sides acted honestly then the law should be changed. The reality is that sides would exploit it. For every case like O'Keefe when the runner would be the right option, there would be two or three more where a side looked to gain an unfair advantage. 
    I'm not sure a runner is ever an unfair advantage.  The risk of confusion that arises surely makes them a disadvantage most of the time unless they are genuinely needed.  I seem to remember some comical runouts involving runners.
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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Well, I never expected Pakistan to fold like that. I thought we declared too late and they should have batted the overs out.

    Well done England.


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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    crunchman said:
    I'm not sure a runner is ever an unfair advantage.  The risk of confusion that arises surely makes them a disadvantage most of the time unless they are genuinely needed.  I seem to remember some comical runouts involving runners.
    Equally there were times when a patently unfit Arjuna Ranatunga asked and got runners. There's a clear advantage there as King Arjuna was not a short single specialist. 

    The modern laws really came about after the Strauss-Smith incident. I agree with Strauss, a runner for cramps is not right. There's a huge difference between asking for a runner when you have cramp and the one time I used a runner as I'd actually dislocated my kneecap and consequently had a knee twice the size it normally was. 





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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    scrumhalf said:
    Well, I never expected Pakistan to fold like that. I thought we declared too late and they should have batted the overs out.

    Well done England.

    Both the SL-Aus series and the Eng-Pakistan series have shown that inconsistency in Test batting is now the norm. Pakistan batted really poorly on a wicket that still wasn't doing much. Yes, some reverse swing there but it wasn't excessive and if there's a side who you think would be able to cope with reverse swing, it'd be Pakistan. 

    I'd put it down to T20 cricket. The attacking game has changed, bowlers are finding the marathon spells are rarer and less productive when they do happen, and collapsing in the first innings doesn't mean you lose the game (England at Edgbaston and Sri Lanka in the first Test against Australia and Palekelle. All out for 117 in under 35 overs and then less than eight days later you're celebrating a series victory). 



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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Sadly, possessing the skill to bat for a really long time in a Test match is now a dying art. I doubt we will again see the likes of Mike Atherton batting for a fortnight to save a match like he did against South Africa.
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    scrumhalf said:
    Sadly, possessing the skill to bat for a really long time in a Test match is now a dying art. I doubt we will again see the likes of Mike Atherton batting for a fortnight to save a match like he did against South Africa.
    It's not even the epic rearguards that are failing: it's an inability to play on a wicket that offers just a bit to the bowlers. England lost at Lords on a blameless pitch, Old Trafford saw Pakistan do likewise, and then Edgbaston has seen both sides fail in one of their innings on a wicket that really didn't do much. 

    Australia are in the same position. Before the Sri Lanka series that is still going on, the top six for Australia averaged over 60 between them. Their last four innings read 203, 161, 106, and 183, playing on wickets that offered turn but nothing dangerous or vicious. In recent years they've collapsed against a bit of swing (Trent Bridge and the infamous 47 against South Africa in 2011 where they were 21 for 9) and whined massively about anything that wasn't a shirtfront pitch (Cardiff wicket in the last Ashes). Their top six bat fine on the sort of anaemic road wickets that have been churned out recently in Australia but it does nothing to prepare them for batting overseas on wickets that offer the bowlers anything. 





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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Well, that was an innings-and-a-half. Bloody hell.
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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30825
    If anyone's in NW8 on Thurs I am playing at Lords. Come on down.

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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    So that's the fourth innings above 400 at Trent Bridge in 50 over cricket this season.

    Great outfield, pitch suited for batting, boundary dragged, in, bats that help plenty, and yet it will still be put down to "Players are stronger". 

    Comine that with a shitty wicket prepared for the SA-NZ Test and the recent borefest that was WI-India and really it's only been the Eng-Pakistan Test series that has served up any decent cricket. 



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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30825
    Skippered MCC on the Nursery Ground y'day.

    What a lovely day- 30 degrees, we lost in a close game and former Eng fly-half Rob Andrew turned out for us and tore a hammy !! (Rob's head, secnd from left in first pic)

    Gassage 20* thus taking my average to a mighty 73 for the season.

    It's safe to say this morning has been quite painful.




    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    Why is Joss Buttler in the test squad?  He can't keep to anywhere near the required standard, and it's not like his batting has made up for it in the test / first class environment.
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  • GassageGassage Frets: 30825
    crunchman said:
    Why is Joss Buttler in the test squad?  He can't keep to anywhere near the required standard, and it's not like his batting has made up for it in the test / first class environment.
    'Cos he's a miles better keeper than Bairstow.

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  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Why is Batty anywhere near a playing squad?

    Never mind super-duper T20 tournaments, why do we continually fail to develop decent spin bowlers? That's probably a rhetorical question.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11411
    Gassage said:
    crunchman said:
    Why is Joss Buttler in the test squad?  He can't keep to anywhere near the required standard, and it's not like his batting has made up for it in the test / first class environment.
    'Cos he's a miles better keeper than Bairstow.

    From what I've seen Bairstow is a less bad keeper than Buttler.

    In Asia, with all the standing up to the stumps they should play Bairstow as a specialist batsman and pick a proper keeper.  James Foster has a higher test batting average than Vince anyway - you could improve the batting and the keeping by picking a decent keeper.
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