Cricket

[DelW]

The forecast suggests slightly warmer than I'm (not) enjoying right now.

Oh

 

[High Dyke]

England men clearly demonstrating the failure to take wickets, though take nothing away from the New Zealand batters. Obviously they (England) don't want to win the match or the series.

 

[D1511]

I think it would be pretty tiring just sitting on the terraces and watching it ...

Crowd has thinned out hugely since tea......pretty punishing conditions to sit and watch. Also, a rather daunting prospect trying to get home via EMR, so that's contributing to the early departures too.

I'll let you know tomorrow!

SPF50, long sleeves and a broad brimmed hat would be very advisable.......

 

[Haywain]

a rather daunting prospect trying to get home via EMR,

One of the challenges I face tomorrow.

SPF50, long sleeves and a broad brimmed hat would be very advisable.......

The factor 50 is packed, but the long sleeves will be in case of fierce air-con on the trains. My seat should be in shade for almost the whole day.

 

[D1511]

My seat should be in shade for almost the whole day.

Excellent! It might even make up for the return trip via EMR!
Good luck and enjoy the cricket

 

[Harvester]

New Zealand are finally all out after lunch for 438. A bit of a fight back by England, to limit them to under 450!

 

[Haywain]

New Zealand are finally all out after lunch for 438. A bit of a fight back by England, to limit them to under 450!

Taking 10 wickets for 120.

 

[75A]

Whilst England had a good day @ Trent Bridge, a few 100 miles away in Belfast, Ireland had a truly historic day in a T20 International against India.
They were put in to bat and reached 9-182 after the 20 overs with Tim Tucker getting 50 & Gareth Delany 49. Har**** Rana took 3-24.
After hitting 16 off the first over we all though 'oh dear' but then with his first ball in International cricket Jai Moondra bowled Sanju Samson and the mood lightened.
Opener Abhishek Sharma made 50, but 7 of his team mates only got single figures, leaving them 34 short @ 148 all out in 18.5 overs.
A memorable day and the celebrations will go on long into the night!
A shame that the ' Wonder Boy' didn't play, I hope he will in the next game which is at Stormont on Sunday.

 

[DelW]

They were put in to bat and reached 9-182 after the 20 overs with Tim Tucker getting 50 & Gareth Delany 49. Har**** Rana took 3-24.

I see the forum's software takes exception to Mr Rana's first name

 

[D1511]

I wonder what part of County Meath Jai Moondra comes from ......
Arriving from India in 2022 seems rather recent for international qualification to me, but if that's the ICC rules, then why not use Indian cricketers to help defeat Indian cricketers......

Apparently there were 70 cases of serious heatstroke among the crowd at the Test yesterday, with a number still in hospital this morning.

 

[75A]

It's the World gone mad isn't it?
It's the blokes name for goodness sake!

 

[DelW]

Our test team may be struggling against one Kiwi side, but the women's T20 team comfortably beat NZ this evening, finishing the group stage unbeaten. Australia might match that in the other group.
So far so good!

(Edited to add) : Ireland broke their duck with a consolation win against West Indies, who are second in the group.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I see the forum's software takes exception to Mr Rana's first name

Let's see if it likes going to Scunthorpe

 

[Haywain]

I wonder what part of County Meath Jai Moondra comes from ......
Arriving from India in 2022 seems rather recent for international qualification to me, but if that's the ICC rules, then why not use Indian cricketers to help defeat Indian cricketers......

He qualifies residency, having lived in Ireland for at least 183 days in each of the last 4 years, and with it being his primary and permanent residence. He moved to Ireland in 2021 according to numerous sources.

 

[DarloRich]

Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from international cricket:

England captain Ben Stokes has made a stunning announcement to end his international career at the conclusion of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand.

All-rounder Stokes, one of the finest cricketers to ever play for England, was in the middle of a bowling spell at Trent Bridge when a statement was released confirming his intention to end a 15-year international career.

Ben Stokes: England captain retires from international cricket during ongoing New Zealand Test

England captain Ben Stokes announces his retirement from international cricket during the ongoing third Test against New Zealand.

www.bbc.com

EDIT - he has just taken a wicket as the news was announced!

 

[Haywain]

he has just taken a wicket as the news was announced!

Brilliant moment - first ball of the over just after the crowd had heard the news. Gets a standing ovation and then runs in and takes the wicket; a very emotional moment.

 

[Purple Train]

Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from international cricket:

Ben Stokes: England captain retires from international cricket during ongoing New Zealand Test

England captain Ben Stokes announces his retirement from international cricket during the ongoing third Test against New Zealand.

www.bbc.com

EDIT - he has just taken a wicket as the news was announced!

Well I wasn't expecting this. Probably the right time, and I do hope he gets himself a break from everything that's been going on recently. But who on earth is going to replace him?

 

[stuart81]

Seems an incredibly arrogant thing to do midway through a match, sort of sums up the current culture.

Where do England go from here though, Brook clearly isn’t captain material, wonder if we are going through a transitional couple of years now

 

[SuspectUsual]

Not at all like Ben Stokes to make it all about him

Compare and contrast with Kane Williamson’s announcement

The only thing I can think of in his defence is that he told the players before the start of play and it leaked and the announcement was to prevent a media exclusive

 

[DarloRich]

The only thing I can think of in his defence is that he told the players before the start of play and it leaked and the announcement was to prevent a media exclusive

he told the team before play today - apparently it was scheduled to be released at the time it came out and seems to have come as a total surprise to the media. I think change was expected but not THAT change! Who is going to win matches now?

 

[SuspectUsual]

he told the team before play today - apparently it was scheduled to be released at the time it came out and seems to have come as a total surprise to the media. I think change was expected but not THAT change! Who is going to win matches now?

So Ben Stokes thinks it’s appropriate to hijack a test match to announce he’s retiring and make it all about him?

And nobody at the ECB had the balls to say no, no player is bigger than the game?

Awful

 

[Haywain]

So Ben Stokes thinks it’s appropriate to hijack a test match to announce he’s retiring and make it all about him?

And nobody at the ECB had the balls to say no, no player is bigger than the game?

Awful

You're not a Ben Stokes fan then?

 

[75A]

So Ben Stokes thinks it’s appropriate to hijack a test match to announce he’s retiring and make it all about him?

And nobody at the ECB had the balls to say no, no player is bigger than the game?

Awful

To my mind he should have done it after the Ashes debacle.
Now it would be good if Key and his cohorts joined him.
As to who the next Test Captain will be..............

 

[SuspectUsual]

You're not a Ben Stokes fan then?

I’m a cricket fan. A sport that’s about the team not the individual

Ben Stokes is behaving like Cristiano Ronaldo and it isn’t a good look

 

[75A]

Ireland beat India again in a T20 match in Belfast today, winning by 1 run!
Where's the bar?

 

[D1511]

He qualifies residency, having lived in Ireland for at least 183 days in each of the last 4 years, and with it being his primary and permanent residence. He moved to Ireland in 2021 according to numerous sources.

What absurdly lenient qualification rules International cricket has.
Henrik Larsson could have played for Scotland at football with daft rules like those.

I’m a cricket fan. A sport that’s about the team not the individual

Ben Stokes is behaving like Cristiano Ronaldo and it isn’t a good look

His final act of narcissism and arrogance, among many, was him opening the batting this afternoon, under the delusion he could do a Travis Head......but all he could muster was a Zach Crawley....

 

[Haywain]

What absurdly lenient qualification rules International cricket has.
Henrik Larsson could have played for Scotland at football with daft rules like those.

Under FIFA rules it's 5 years residence over the age of 18, so not much different. Larsson might have been ruled out by the Home Nations having an additional condition of having been educated in the relevant country (aside from already being capped by Sweden).

 

[SuspectUsual]

And here’s Harry Brook, treating a test match - that needs saving before it can be won - like a t20 knockabout

Compare and contrast to Darryl Mitchell for NZ

 

[Purple Train]

I can see Stokes' logic in his timing and his choice to open the batting. Similarly to Stuart Broad's timing of his retirement announcement, both players and supporters of an English team tend to be massive Romantics motivated by the thought of "one last hurrah". If we were chasing 150 on a difficult pitch, then I could absolutely see his logic. But no. We're chasing 373 and, rightly or wrongly, it looks like the last desperate act of the "Three Am-Egos", rather than a suitable send-off to a great of English cricket. Maybe we'll look back fondly on this outgoing regime this time next year. I don't know. But, whatever on earth they were trying this evening, it hasn't come off; somewhat sadly, all there is left to say is that the leadership has sat there too long for all the good they have done: in the name of God, go.

 

[ainsworth74]

Interesting that speaking to TMS he explained that he's been feeling recently that he's been falling out of love with the game a little bit but having a spell with Durham last week he found he was enjoying every moment of playing cricket with Durham and then back on the international stage finding that he didn't have that love was a driving force for him retiring from international cricket.

Test Match Special (@bbctms) on X

Ben Stokes has explained the reasons behind his retirement from international cricket. https://t.co/tW5IDOo5AT

x.com

(Apologies for Twitter link but I'm not sure TMS have a non-Twitter presence)

Sounds like good news for us up here in Durham that we might be seeing more of him

I do reckon though that something has gone wrong behind scenes with the England set-up at a managerial level. Are Key and McCullum the right people for the job? And if they're not might that explain some of what we've been seeing on the field? After all, as the saying goes, a fish rots from the head...