Cricket

[Busaholic]

Just for light relief, and to show how things have changed somewhat even in the cricket world,
I reproduce a quote from a new book entitled 'Summer's Crown - The Story of Cricket's County Championship' by Stephen Chalke, published by Fairfield Books at £20. Probably not available at many good bookshops, but it is at mine.

Quote;=
''
At Hove in 1891 Kent, needing 139 to win, went to lunch on the final day on 33 for 5. Their last hope rested with the amateur Charles Fox who had just gone in to bat. But,when play resumed, he was nowhere to be found and was ruled to be 'retired,out'. By the time Fox returned to the ground, Sussex had bowled Kent out for 54. Asked to explain his absence, he replied 'I was having lunch with a widow'.''

I believe this to be a euphemism for Ugandan discussions.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

In news that requires the popping of a good champagne Watson has been dropped for Lords.

 

[DarloRich]

I do wonder how Lords would handle Bay 13 and thier antics.

Such behaviour is forbidden at Lords!

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Australia win the toss for the 2nd test and are Batting first.

Such behaviour is forbidden at Lords!

That's because the average age of the crowd at Lords is 73.

 

[DarloRich]

That's because the average age of the crowd at Lords is 73.

They must have recruited some new younger members then PS it will be lower over the weekend as i am going to the match

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

They must have recruited some new younger members then PS it will be lower over the weekend as i am going to the match

Lucky. Going to an Ashes test is always special.
I've been to the last few Boxing day games. ('14 India(day 1 and 5), 13' England(day 1 and 4) '12 Sri Lanka) Boxing day with the Ashes was an amazing atmosphere. Day 5 in the Indian game was intresting. It was just nice to watch a cricket match. Funny enough after the end of days play I was on the train heading crosstown to watch the Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder Big Bash league game.

Day 1:
http://i.imgur.com/KWZxDx5.jpg
Day 4:
http://i.imgur.com/gjKsf9t.jpg
Day 4 I got front row.

Anderson is lucky he isn't on a Warning yet. If he keeps planting his back foot where he's been putting it he won't be bowling by tea.

 

[Busaholic]

Australia win the toss for the 2nd test and are Batting first.



That's because the average age of the crowd at Lords is 73.

Finally I can go somewhere where I'm one of the younger ones around.:lol

An acquaintance of mine, now dead, and very much an Establishment sort of guy, had his heart set on becoming a member of MCC having been on their waiting list for years. Apparently what happened then , and maybe still now, is that when a vacancy arises the next person on the waiting list is contacted by letter to see if they still wish to become a member (or are dead!) and given three months to reply and cough up the necessary dosh. The letter duly arrived after many years' wait, but unfortunately for George he was going through a messy divorce at the time and wasn't living at home. His wife opened the letter and promptly threw it away, only telling him this as the coup de grace a couple years later when the divorce had gone through! I wouldn't say it hastened George's death but it more than rankled for the rest of his life.Maybe of relevance on a railway forum, he was also either the grandson or great grandson of George Gilbert Scott, I can't remember which (probably the latter).

By the way, does anyone know why Haddin is not playing at Lords? 'Personal reasons' covers a hell of a lot - is he suspended?

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

By the way, does anyone know why Haddin is not playing at Lords? 'Personal reasons' covers a hell of a lot - is he suspended?

According to Mark Taylor his daughter Mia is in hospital.

 

[Busaholic]

According to Mark Taylor his daughter Mia is in hospital.

Thanks for that info. We must all wish her a speedy recovery.

First wicket falls, Warner to Mooen. This guy is a seriously good player

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Warner dead set what are you thinking! Appalling shot. Brainless cricket.

 

[DarloRich]

Australia close day one on 337-1

Smith 130 not out
Rogers 158 not out

That has gone quite well for them hasnt it!

 

[Johnuk123]

It will be interesting to see if England with the scoreboard pressure revert to type when they're chasing 600ish.

The Lords grounds staff have made sure the match goes to 5 days but by doing so has made the cricket mind numbingly boring.

It's exactly that sort of pitch that makes cricket virtually unwatchable.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Australia close day one on 337-1

Smith 130 not out
Rogers 158 not out

That has gone quite well for them hasnt it!

It was an exclent days play from us. Other than Warner there's been some good smart steady batting. Watching Smith bat is absloutly marvelous.
Warner will be mighty peeved he holed out on this deck.

One does ask did the Lord's ground staff sub traction thier work out to people who build motorways?

The Lords grounds staff have made sure the match goes to 5 days but by doing so has made the cricket mind numbingly boring.

Cardiff was just about the same thing. The other theory is the pitches are set up to stop our fast bowlers.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was going to be the standard pitch.
I mean what's wrong with having a pitch like this:
https://twitter.com/bbctms/status/412746518135730176
It only leads to this amusing stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-McD2Jya2Y

 

[Greenback]

Yesterday's play was boring. I much prefer a good contest between batsmen and bowlers where the batter shave to use their heads and their feet to decide what to play and where to hit the ball.

A dead track doesn't do the game itself much good, but maybe if the wicket starts to break up a bit then it may get a bit more interesting.

Is this the sort of pitch the Aussies wanted when they complained that the Cardiff wicket was poor and not up to Test standards?

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Yesterday's play was boring. I much prefer a good contest between batsmen and bowlers where the batter shave to use their heads and their feet to decide what to play and where to hit the ball.

A dead track doesn't do the game itself much good, but maybe if the wicket starts to break up a bit then it may get a bit more interesting.

Is this the sort of pitch the Aussies wanted when they complained that the Cardiff wicket was poor and not up to Test standards?

Most Aussie fans don't like this pitch ether.

The problem with Cardiff and more than likely this one is that it becomes a coin toss championship. I.e whoever wins the toss wins the game.

 

[Greenback]

I meant the players and management, not the supporters! I think a pitch like this one is tedious for anyone who watches the play, never mind whose side they're on!

I don't think the Cardiff pitch was fantastic, but it did produce a fair amount of runs and some very interesting cricket.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

I meant the players and management, not the supporters! I think a pitch like this one is tedious for anyone who watches the play, never mind whose side they're on!

I don't think the Cardiff pitch was fantastic, but it did produce a fair amount of runs and some very interesting cricket.

From our bowlers perspective they prefer it to rip though a bit and to have some bounce in it. Johnson is most dangerous when hes giving the quick short stuff.

Some of the best pitches are ones that have that rip and bounce but the big gremlins don't really start appearing until late day 3.

We had similar pitches last summer for the Indian series. Made absolute dull play.

Clarke is just about done really. That was a horrid 45 minutes of batting.
I guess you can kind of figure out he's just about done considering he signed for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL during the year.

 

[ainsworth74]

Anyone want to bet it'll be over tonight

 

[DarloRich]

Anyone want to bet it'll be over tonight

at 30-4 it might be!

 

[Busaholic]

From our bowlers perspective they prefer it to rip though a bit and to have some bounce in it. Johnson is most dangerous when hes giving the quick short stuff.

Some of the best pitches are ones that have that rip and bounce but the big gremlins don't really start appearing until late day 3.

We had similar pitches last summer for the Indian series. Made absolute dull play.

Clarke is just about done really. That was a horrid 45 minutes of batting.
I guess you can kind of figure out he's just about done considering he signed for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL during the year.

I'm afraid what you said about Clarke also applies to Bell, out for 1 again, bowled. England must be ruthless now, unlike 2009, and get rid of non-performing players after this test. Ballance too had a great deal of luck in getting to 23 and missed the ball he was bowled by by a mile, a country one at that. He might return, but in the meantime Bairstow beckons. Lyth too better get a big score in the second innings, otherwise he may be remembered as a one-trick pony, like Sam Robson in his second test last year.
I know the mantra about 'don't change a winning team' after the first test, but Finn has an excellent record at Lords, his home ground, and if we're not careful both Anderson and Broad will be out with niggles at the same time.We are supposed to be the home team, with a huge reserve of players to choose from! We were stuck with the ridiculous selection of bowlers in the 2013/4 series, but not now, supposedly!

Incidentally, those calling for the selection of Rashid should note that he was in line to play this test but ruled himself out with soreness!

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

I'm afraid what you said about Clarke also applies to Bell, out for 1 again, bowled. England must be ruthless now, unlike 2009, and get rid of non-performing players after this test. Ballance too had a great deal of luck in getting to 23 and missed the ball he was bowled by by a mile, a country one at that. He might return, but in the meantime Bairstow beckons. Lyth too better get a big score in the second innings, otherwise he may be remembered as a one-trick pony, like Sam Robson in his second test last year.

I'm actually surprised by Bell's form. Normally hes in good nick against us and we have to work for his wicket.
Perhaps he can join KP to play some BBL over the Aussie new year. KP has managed to get people to like him down here.

I know the mantra about 'don't change a winning team' after the first test, but Finn has an excellent record at Lords, his home ground, and if we're not careful both Anderson and Broad will be out with niggles at the same time.We are supposed to be the home team, with a huge reserve of players to choose from! We were stuck with the ridiculous selection of bowlers in the 2013/4 series, but not now, supposedly!

I think we've gone with the same mantra and it lead to the aging side we have.

Broad to be honest was the only real decent bowler for England yesterday.

A well done has to be given to Smith. Just a great knock all round. First time an Australian has scored a double ton since Jason Gillespie in 2006.
Was impressed with Nevill's innings first up aswell. Didn't go all out stupid on the attack.

I am however slightly annoyed:

 

[Busaholic]

With thanks to Cricinfo, an unparalleled site for cricket reports, info and stats of all kinds, despite being run from Australia, a telling fact from yesterday's play - NEVER before in 160 home tests have three of our top five batsmen each been out for one run or fewer! That on a pitch where our opponents racked up well in excess of 500. Trevor Bayliss has major work to do.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Well, that was hard to watch! As well as Australia played, (and they did) England were , I'm afraid, abysmal. No shame in losing to a better team, but I had hoped that England would go down fighting and perhaps take the game into tomorrow afternoon, losing by - perhaps - roughly the same margin that Australia lost the first test. Should have known better!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

To win a Test Match by a margin of 405 runs is certainly an emphatic response by Australia to the result of the first Test Match.

 

[Busaholic]

To win a Test Match by a margin of 405 runs is certainly an emphatic response by Australia to the result of the first Test Match.

In reality, England lost by a lot more than 405 runs, Australia only having lost ten wickets all match. If England had batted first, the match would probably have been all over in less than three days. The only England players to have come out of it with any credit are Cook (as batsman and fielder, but not as captain), Stokes, Broad and (marginally) Ali. Bairstow waits in the wings (133 not out as I write) and the left=arm quick Footitt has taken five wickets for zilch at Northampton and another one in the follow-on innings. Even Trott has scored 87 at Edgbaston, scene of a test very soon.

 

[Johnuk123]

Abysmal display by England, Australia played well but never had any opposition, by having a slow pitch prepared to guarantee a 5 day game we have in fact given the game to the visitors-big style.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Abysmal display by England, Australia played well but never had any opposition, by having a slow pitch prepared to guarantee a 5 day game we have in fact given the game to the visitors-big style.

i really would like to get the correct information on the preparation of English pitches. Listening to Ravi Shastri the other evening on The Verdict - he talks more sense than anyone, in my opinion - he couldn't understand why England doesn't produce pitches that suit English bowlers, as in the past....and as other home countries would do.Then,of course, if the opposition win, they will have done so because they have outsmarted the home side (as England did in India not so long ago!). Shastri said all other countries produce pitches that suit the home side....and they do!

 

[Cletus]

The Stokes run out was much worse than all of the other dismissals though, wasn't it?

 

[Busaholic]

i really would like to get the correct information on the preparation of English pitches. Listening to Ravi Shastri the other evening on The Verdict - he talks more sense than anyone, in my opinion - he couldn't understand why England doesn't produce pitches that suit English bowlers, as in the past....and as other home countries would do.Then,of course, if the opposition win, they will have done so because they have outsmarted the home side (as England did in India not so long ago!). Shastri said all other countries produce pitches that suit the home side....and they do!

Shastri directly contradicts a piece Warne wrote after the Cardiff test, to the effect that the ECB dictated to all test groundsmen in this country, whereas in Australia the curators were above being told what type of wicket to produce. I thought 'what a load of garbage' when I read it, and Shastri just confirms this for me.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The Stokes run out was much worse than all of the other dismissals though, wasn't it?

Without having seen it, I can still definitely say 'no' - run outs may be crass,etc, but basic techniques don't come into it in the same way as batting. Lack of technique allied to lack of application brought us to the worst Ashes humiliation in terms of runs since 1948, the year of my birth. Watson must not be the omly batsman whose test career is now finished, with at least one, if not two, on indefinite hold. Both James Taylor and Jonny Bairstow couldn't have timed their respective centuries better in today's County Championship.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Back to more localised matters, Colwyn Bay once again received "honorary" status of being one of the grounds of Glamorgan as it hosted their match against Lancashire in Division 2 of the County Championship.

Lancashire were 6-1 then 104-2 before a triple century unbeaten stand between Petersen 205 not out (1 x 6 / 27 x 4) and Prince 154 not out (2 x 6 / 24 x 4) took them to 425-2 at close of play.