Cricket - Matches & General Discussion Thread

[tim2]

2 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Somehow we have managed to combine a toothless bowling attack with a long tail that doesn’t look like contributing much with the bat.

A really hopeless morning with some odd choices by the established players in the lineup in terms of shots.

Our only hope is the weather, just stop oil or a huge turnaround.

They probably fancy chasing 450, which I suspect will be the result. But if Australia use the same tactics and they keep holing out, they'll get nowhere near.

From 188-1 on a pancake wicket with two well set batsmen, and Root, Brook and Bairstow to come, we should have got 500.

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, Futtocks said:

I'm not even that sure that it's Australia who are outsmarting England. Bazball, like any style of Cricket, can be played intelligently or stupidly. It isn't just biff bang wallop; it's also about disrupting the opposition's plans. Trying to hit every bouncer just encouraged the Aussies, because wickets were falling.

Smart Bazball would have been to start leaving the bouncers and forcing Australia to think up a Plan B (when their spinner was invalided out of the match) then press the attack again.

There were times in the first test where the Australians looked passive and a bit intimidated in the field, until they got their confidence from England's loose play.

Yep

 

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, tim2 said:

They probably fancy chasing 450, which I suspect will be the result. But if Australia use the same tactics and they keep holing out, they'll get nowhere near.

From 188-1 on a pancake wicket with two well set batsmen, and Root, Brook and Bairstow to come, we should have got 500.

Chase 450 , be 263 all out in 14 overs and tell everyone we won because we were really entertaining 

[DavidM]

Is labuschagne the most hateful man in world cricket 

[DavidM]

Sad news that Alan Border said he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 

[Futtocks]

2 hours ago, DavidM said:

Is labuschagne the most hateful man in world cricket 

Not while David Warner has a discernible pulse he isn't.

[17 stone giant]

If nothing else, England's tactics are giving people something to talk about.

Only once everything has been decided will people (and I'm thinking in particular about the England players) be in a position to reflect upon how they really feel.

In other news, I'm delighted that Hampshire has been awarded an Ashes test in 2027. Hopefully we'll use the next four years to improve the stadium etc. even more.

Edited June 30, 2023 by 17 stone giant

[gingerjon]

Genuinely the most enjoyable cricketer on the planet. He just does the cricket and nothing else.

 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Rain may come to England's aid but given the length of the tail and Engalnd mind-set could they bat out for a draw or we we see a seriues of a series of cross batted swipes.

Usman Khawaja for me is already man of the series for he remembers:The openers job is there to stay at least until the close of play

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

The West Indies in big trouble in the ICC World Cup qualifier against Scotland as they are 121-6 after 28 overs.

I think I’m right in saying they can’t afford to lose this match or they will miss out.

Holder and Shepherd are actually putting on a decent stand for the 7th wicket to be fair.

On Sky Sports Mix currently and here: https://www.espncricinfo.com

Edited July 1, 2023 by Gerrumonside ref

[DavidM]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Holder and Shepherd

There’s two names from the past !

[Futtocks]

A reminder - Live Women's International T20 on BBC2 later today.

[DavidM]

Mark Taylor crying about intimidating bowling . Something that’s just come to him now 

[wilsontown]

To be fair I thought the England approach of just sending down bouncer after bouncer was a poor watch. They were even sending bouncers at Lyon, despite the fact he could hardly move and there were three stumps sat there that he would struggle to protect.

Live by the sword and die by the sword, I think. The Aussies have quicker bowlers than we do.

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Futtocks said:

A reminder - Live Women's International T20 on BBC2 later today.

The eternal difference between the sides:

England will be happy they made the game competitive.

Australia will be livid they made the game competitive.

[Bedford Roughyed]

Catch or no catch?

Obviously I have never read the rules… but seemed like a catch to me…

[tim2]

3 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

Catch or no catch?

Obviously I have never read the rules… but seemed like a catch to me…

No catch - he hadn't stopped his movement. Keep the ball off the ground until you're sure.

Won't make any difference.

[gingerjon]

5 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

Catch or no catch?

Obviously I have never read the rules… but seemed like a catch to me…

The thing is, if that's not a catch on the 'control of the body' rule - which is what the third umpire ruled - then neither is Steve Smith twisting all over the place and eventually not having the ball. But that one was given.

I know things are never like for like but they really do seem like both are or both aren't.

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Not looking good for England and it might be game over by lunchtime. For sure, mathematically, England can still win 3-2 but is that likely. As a Cricket realist my 3-1 Australia win predication made at the start of the series, might be conservative...

No Nathan Lyon should give England an opportunity but:

• Who is the English spinner for whom a dustbowl of a pitch would favour?
• With dark rumours around Mark Wood's fitness who is the fit and firing pace bowler(s) to come into the side?
• Come to think of it how much redball cricket is being played anyway at this time of year with isolated games scattered amongst T20 blast fixtures

Onto the Women's game now, i caught the end of this and, as with the mens team, Australia's women are the better  side. What was interesting was proof that Women's cricket shows that a properly priced product will sell . When Tom Harrison has his damascene conversion it was, according to him, based on the Womens World Cup final back in  2017 when tickets priced at £ 10 caused a near sell out at Lords. I should know for I was there and the atmosphere at a womens game is far better than the average T20 simply becase more women and children are in attendance.

When T20 was brought in in 2003, it was to broaden the base and appeal of bthe game to Women and Children with a shorter version of a 50 over game. A family friendly version. Compare that with what you have now. A booze fest for out of season soccer fans and corpulent city workers getting smashed. Played at a time that is anything but family friendly. 

No more than five (overpriced) pints for the inebriated (at the Oval) and Surrey allegedly make more money through booze than other counties make from a blast season. Mark Chapman made the comment that when his wife went to a Lancashire T20 she had the unfortunate experience of sitting near a couple of blokes who were so smashed at the ground they did not know who was playing.

I am a cricket tragic and would not bring wife son or daughter to a T20 at the Oval, Chelmsford or Hove because it is an unpleasant experience, and judging by the crowds that are drawn in you are excluding Women, Children and Muslims from the booze fest so instead of administrators making pious comments about diversity. Perhaps they should reflect that the County T20 does not achieve what it was meant to do and need to recalibrate their target audience even if they make less money from booze.

[gingerjon]

16 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Not looking good for England and it might be game over by lunchtime. For sure, mathematically, England can still win 3-2 but is that likely. As a Cricket realist my 3-1 Australia win predication made at the start of the series, might be conservative...

No Nathan Lyon should give England an opportunity but:

• Who is the English spinner for whom a dustbowl of a pitch would favour?
• With dark rumours around Mark Wood's fitness who is the fit and firing pace bowler(s) to come into the side?
• Come to think of it how much redball cricket is being played anyway at this time of year with isolated games scattered amongst T20 blast fixtures

Onto the Women's game now, i caught the end of this and, as with the mens team, Australia's women are the better  side. What was interesting was proof that Women's cricket shows that a properly priced product will sell . When Tom Harrison has his damascene conversion it was, according to him, based on the Womens World Cup final back in  2017 when tickets priced at £ 10 caused a near sell out at Lords. I should know for I was there and the atmosphere at a womens game is far better than the average T20 simply becase more women and children are in attendance.

When T20 was brought in in 2003, it was to broaden the base and appeal of bthe game to Women and Children with a shorter version of a 50 over game. A family friendly version. Compare that with what you have now. A booze fest for out of season soccer fans and corpulent city workers getting smashed. Played at a time that is anything but family friendly. 

No more than five (overpriced) pints for the inebriated (at the Oval) and Surrey allegedly make more money through booze than other counties make from a blast season. Mark Chapman made the comment that when his wife went to a Lancashire T20 she had the unfortunate experience of sitting near a couple of blokes who were so smashed at the ground they did not know who was playing.

I am a cricket tragic and would not bring wife son or daughter to a T20 at the Oval, Chelmsford or Hove because it is an unpleasant experience, and judging by the crowds that are drawn in you are excluding Women, Children and Muslims from the booze fest so instead of administrators making pious comments about diversity. Perhaps they should reflect that the County T20 does not achieve what it was meant to do and need to recalibrate their target audience even if they make less money from booze.

Covid seems to have been the switch in terms of what (some) counties chose to do with the Blast. Before then, with full houses, they really did seem to be doing a good job of having both families and the boozers. When it came back, prices were well up - I think it's now nudging £30 as a starting price on average with few concessions or alternatives - and the target demographic is definitely "blokes who are so drunk they are cheering the beer snake not the match".

[phiggins]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

The thing is, if that's not a catch on the 'control of the body' rule - which is what the third umpire ruled - then neither is Steve Smith twisting all over the place and eventually not having the ball. But that one was given.

I know things are never like for like but they really do seem like both are or both aren't.

Smith got his fingers under the ball then juggled around with it, then threw it in the air once he’d got it in his hand and rolled around to be on one knee.

Starc just pushed the ball onto the ground (dare I say, downward pressure?) while he was still sliding. The fact that he appears in control just means that it’s stupid fielding rather than poor umpiring. He just needed to have his palm and the ball facing up when he cushioned his fall, rather than just slide the ball along the ground.

[phiggins]

3 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Not looking good for England and it might be game over by lunchtime. For sure, mathematically, England can still win 3-2 but is that likely. As a Cricket realist my 3-1 Australia win predication made at the start of the series, might be conservative...

No Nathan Lyon should give England an opportunity but:

• Who is the English spinner for whom a dustbowl of a pitch would favour?
• With dark rumours around Mark Wood's fitness who is the fit and firing pace bowler(s) to come into the side?

Both worrying points. For the spinner, I think Ahmed should’ve played instead of Ali. Or, with Stokes now reduced to being a part time bowler, they might have considered Jacks and 4 seamers. Foakes should also have played. If that meant leaving out one of Brook or Bairstow, so be it.

The lack of seamers is even more worrying. Anderson completely ineffective, but who can come in? Can’t see Woakes or Potts being any better. And with Archer, Stone, Wood and Mahmood all crocked, you have to ask questions about how we are treating our fast bowlers early in their career. 

[Futtocks]

Potential international incident here!

[phiggins]

Not too dissimilar to a mankad. But idiotic from Bairstow. His selection as a keeper batter has backfired spectacularly 

[gingerjon]

Aussies entirely in the right. Brain fart from Bairstow.