The cricket thread

Heartfeltdawn

He's an absolute wonder. 

Shithouse for Somerset today. Temp and clouds at Lords, way more movement about. If they're going to get anything out of this game, they need a huge Middlesex collapse 2nd knock. 

crunchman

Heartfeltdawn said:

He's an absolute wonder. 

Shithouse for Somerset today. Temp and clouds at Lords, way more movement about. If they're going to get anything out of this game, they need a huge Middlesex collapse 2nd knock. 

6 wickets for 16 runs!

Somerset will still need to bat very well to have any chance.

Heartfeltdawn

crunchman said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

He's an absolute wonder. 

Shithouse for Somerset today. Temp and clouds at Lords, way more movement about. If they're going to get anything out of this game, they need a huge Middlesex collapse 2nd knock. 

6 wickets for 16 runs!

Somerset will still need to bat very well to have any chance.

Aye. Not surprised there's some hoop around, it's not cold this end of south London and there's a little bit of moisture in the air. Still going to take a serious batting effort as you say to pull through though. 

Interesting to see that the spinners are taking wickets on day three pitches. A comparative lack of rain coupled with breezes drying them out a bit maybe. Harmer's got one, Leach bowling well, Mason Crane taking a few. Bess is 26 overs into the season and has yet to take one. With Moeen not playing and Bess in bowling rehab for some time I suspect, a Leach-Crane partnership would be most intriguing. 

Also have to put this up: 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/apr/09/moeen-ali-abuse-an-upsetting-start-to-both-the-ipl-and-county-championship

Much is said of racist bullshit when it's directed at football players and racist abuse from the stands. This is no different and should be condemned likewise. 

Heartfeltdawn

Chris Woakes took a wicket today in his second over in this season's IPL. It's his first competitive (ie. non-practice) match since the England-Oz ODI at Manchester last September. 

When you think he went on both winter tours and is a multi-format player, that's some seriously boring bubble time for him. 

crunchman

Definitely starting the season too early.  Snow stopped play at Headingley.

Heartfeltdawn

In the places without rain or snow, there's some good finishes. Middlesex versus Somerset is still totally neck and neck, Gloucestershire have got a good chance of chasing down 200+ against Surrey, Glamorgan aren't out of it against Yorkshire..

I'm sure a few have heard of the Hampshire controversy. Very poor indeed. 

https://twitter.com/leicsccc/status/1380885425695428612

crunchman

Great win for Somerset.

Heartfeltdawn

Outstanding. Four days of swings and roundabouts competitive cricket. Brilliant advert for the game. 

Stuckfast

Heartfeltdawn said:

I'm sure a few have heard of the Hampshire controversy. Very poor indeed. 

That's shocking. He actually went back and knocked the bail off knowing the ball was in his other hand. How could he "not know there was an issue" with that?

That should result in a ban IMO.

scrumhalf

Surely if "the spirit of cricket" is to mean anything at all there has to be a fairly hefty penalty. It's the keeper's equivalent of ball-tampering. 

Heartfeltdawn

100% agree. The keeper isn't a rookie with over 100 professional games under his belt. 

Under the fake fielding rules:

"41.5.10 The umpires together shall report the occurrence as soon as possible after the match to the Executive of the offending side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain, any other individuals concerned and, if appropriate, the team."

So if that happens for attempts to deceive by simulation, then I can't see how an incident like this won't go to a much fuller investigation and possible censure. 

As if the Somerset game wasn't good enough, Gloucestershire really pulled it out of the bag against Surrey who were absolutely woeful in the field. All that money, all those names, all the ability to sign practically anyone available, and you're reduced to bowling short balls and wide of the stump nonsense in an attempt to save the game. Disgraceful that only one wide was called. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKO49936

crunchman

Century for Foakes in that Surrey match.  Surely he has to keep his test place.

Stuckfast

I count six hundreds by England-qualified opening batsmen in this round of matches which should make things interesting for the selectors. Adam Lyth is probably past it now but the rest are mostly young players.

Heartfeltdawn

crunchman said:

Century for Foakes in that Surrey match.  Surely he has to keep his test place.

And he kept beautifully whilst Surrey were spraying it around this afternoon. Watching him with the gloves was my favourite part of the winter. 

Stuckfast said:

I count six hundreds by England-qualified opening batsmen in this round of matches which should make things interesting for the selectors. Adam Lyth is probably past it now but the rest are mostly young players.

Maybe it's at the point where we have to look for something other than hundreds because we've brought openers in and they've all ended up with similar results. They get a start, many will make a ton or two, but they don't sustain the performance. Take Cook out of the equation and there are two openers with 30+ averages in the last few years. One of them is Sibley at 30.41. The other is Sam Robson (30.45) and he hasn't played in over half a decade. It's a pretty sorry list. 

It's all part of the slide. Of players who debuted in the 90s and 00s and played more than 20 Tests, two from the 90s and seven from the 00s averaged more than 40 with a number averaging high 30s (Stewart was 39.54). 

Of batsmen who debuted in the 10s and 20s and playing more than 20 Tests, Root is all on his lonesome. Hameed averages 43 in three Tests so doesn't count, Stokes and Ballance are next highest with averages of 37. 

Australia: players who debuted in 90s and 00s, average more than 40 in a min of 20 Tests: a total of 13 players with a number playing under 20 Tests who averaged 40+. 

Players who debuted in 10s and 20s averaging more than 40 in a min of 20 Tests: Four with Labuschagne not quite at 20 Tests. 

The all-rounder opener. That's what we need. 

crunchman

Heartfeltdawn said:

..... (Stewart was 39.54). 

Stewart averaged 46 when playing as a batsman.

Only 34 when keeping wicket though.  They would have been better off playing Jack Russell and let Stewart concentrate on his batting.

Gassage

crunchman said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

..... (Stewart was 39.54). 

Stewart averaged 46 when playing as a batsman.

Only 34 when keeping wicket though.  They would have been better off playing Jack Russell and let Stewart concentrate on his batting.

Save for the fact Stewart dropped a lot less than Russell at test level.

scrumhalf

Apparently in the Hundred wickets will be referred to as "outs".

Can someone please kill off this abomination, it makes me think of T20 as traditional.

Heartfeltdawn

You have to give the ECB credit for trying to create something that makes the Stanford Super Series look good. 

Stuckfast

Essex 96 all out!

Heartfeltdawn

Very interesting day so far. Leicestershire with an unbeaten century opening stand against Surrey, Adam Lyth three short of a successive ton, Somerset rebuilding again..