Cricket, lovely cricket

[Monty]

Cant spell and Im still funnier, bet yer Boyfriend loves you Poindexter.

Come back to me when youre willing to make it £2000, no £3000. Im being serious so dont jerk me around. And I choose the charity this time.

Monty

[Adam Went]

Steven:

Actually, my response was going to be a bit more along the lines of: what went wrong? The UN had the game in the bag half way through our innings, and they let it slip.

Surely even you most ardent of UN supporters must admit that it would have been nice to end the series in Australia on a more positive note than a 6-1 smacking?

Monty:

Doesn't sexy and handsome (yeah that's right, there's a D in there - we're not talking about Victorian era cabs, are we?) mean the same thing?

$500 on the Ashes 2013. Take it or leave it. Just how confident are you really?

See your ODI team at the World Cup....

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

Hi all
Its difficult these days when sportsmen become slebs to seperate what they do with who they are,perhaps it was better in the old days when all we saw of them was what they did on the field.
All the best.

Not sure I agree there, Martin. In these celebrity-obsessed days, it's good to see some who are deserving of their fame rather than those who appear to be famous for being famous. It also adds to enjoyment of the cricket, in my view, to know a little of the personalities of the players. And we certainly cannot blame the players themselves - who among us can honestly say that blessed with a talent like Warne's we wouldn't milk it a bit?

It's not too long ago that sportsmen, idolised by schoolboys all over the world, wondered if they wold have enough money on retirement to open up a sweet shop. So if it grates a bit to see Warney grinning over a box of chicken nuggets, tough. He's earned it through talent and hard work.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[martin wilson]

Hi all
Better footballer than a cricketer? He must have been some football player then.
I never knew too much about him other than he always seem to get picked for Australia's all time XI, I skimmed rather than read his biography properly but it was obvious he was a huge talent and a great character.
I suppose thats why I like Warney, who wants robo players?
Its difficult these days when sportsmen become slebs to seperate what they do with who they are,perhaps it was better in the old days when all we saw of them was what they did on the field.
All the best.

[Nothing to see]

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2004/s1217825.htm

Cricket legend Keith Miller dies
Reporter: John Hayes Bell


TONY JONES: One of Australia's cricket greats, Keith Miller, has died at the age of 84.

One of the game's best all-rounders, Miller played in Don Bradman's 'Invincibles' team of 1948 and captivated crowds around the world with his flamboyant approach to the game and to life.
His family announced today he'd died peacefully at a Victorian nursing home.

John Hayes Bell reports.

JOHN HAYES BELL: As a young man, Keith Miller had eyes for the track.

If he'd stayed small, he had his heart set on being a jockey, A fighter pilot in World War II, like so many others, he had to put thoughts of a cricket career on hold for five years.

SIR MICHAEL PARKINSON, MILLER'S FRIEND: "Pressure," he said.

"I'll tell you what pressure is."

He said, "Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse," he said.

"Playing cricket is not."
JOHN HAYES BELL: But he went on to become one of Australia's cricket legends, arguably the best all-rounder the country has ever produced.

Miller scored a century on first-class debut for Victoria.

Later, he moved to NSW - he said as a matter of economic necessity.

Yet his passion for football may have robbed cricket of his talents.

KEITH MILLER: I was a better footballer than a cricketer.

Thank you very much.
JOHN HAYES BELL: Without question the greatest all-rounder of his era, Miller made his Test debut against New Zealand straight after the Second World War, before he toured England as a young man under Don Bradman in 1948.

A magnificent attacking batsman, he played 55 Tests, averaging 37.

But it was his lethal fast bowling combination with the late Ray Lindwall which helped put Australia on top in Test cricket.

He claimed 170 Test scalps at 22.97.

He never faded from public life.

A noted public speaker, journalist and raconteur, Miller also made a name for himself as a cricket commentator, working alongside staff at the ABC and in commentary boxes around the world.

He would have turned 85 next month.

John Hayes Bell, Lateline.

And I'm gonna show my age here but I remember Miller commenting on ABC. In glorious B&W. It's a bit like Richie Benaud. The elder statesman.
Thommo was the best fast bowler the world has ever seen. He was sheer pace and his sandshoe crusher - sorry, Yorker - was the best ever bowled. Thommo down one end, Lillee down the other. The mighty Aussie side of the 71/72 Ashes. No WAGS, no BS. Just cricket. And Marsh drinking more beers on a flight to London than anyone else.

[Monty]

Adam,

We currently hold the Ashes, crushing your team last month. Tis the now, the reality. Live up to it Son.

As for the rest of your post, not very good was it? Poor personal insult, play on my surname. What? You think Ive not heard that one before? I have, when I was 5.

Like the England team all summer, Ive whooped your ass over this series. Ive been sharper, funnier, sexier and far more hansome.

The games over son, youve been beaten. You are now a jabbering wreck, go home to Mum.

Monty

[martin wilson]

Hi all
Jardine,aye he was a strange one,its one thing to hate the Aussies on the cricket field but I get the impression he hated Australians full stop.
I read that fielding near the boundary,he spat at the crowd,perhaps like Monty the first he was suicidal.
You need to get a sense of perspective Adam, you had a great great side,you dont now,cowboy up and admit it.
Stephen posted that we dont put too much value on beating the side missing the Packer rebels.
As for the 80's side, we had some great players,Goochie,Gower,Beefy et al
The past 15 years or so though,all we have heard about is the superiority of Aussie fitness training, coaching,player development and the general greatness of the Aussie nation.
Its funny though,since you have lost Hayden,Langer,Gilchrist,MGrath and Warne none of that stuff seems to be working any more!
I will admit our fitness levels are light years away from what they used to be,and I for one regret that.
When the 80's side took the field,you could tell just by looking at them that they varied in their level of fitness,and more impressively,sobriety.
All the best.

[Steven Russell]

Adam: You are correct: it was Bill Woodful who got hit over the heart. But as with Oldfield, this was while a traditional off theory field was in place. With hindsight, Jardine's remark of "Well bowled, Harold" may have been a little undiplomatic though.

I am quite envious of your ability to label the Ashes thrashing as ancient history. For those of us who have seen a few more summers (and winters) than you, It still seems oddly relevant.

And with regard to the ODI currently in progress, let me pre-empt your inevitable response:
If Australia win - Strewth! Even our second eleven can beat you pommy no-hopers. We are great and you are rubbish.
If Australia lose - Aw, look mate. It's a dead rubber and we couldn't even be bothered to field our best team. If we had picked blah blah blah etc. etc.

Don't do it, Adam. You're better than that.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

Monty:

See the thing is that throughout this series you've been telling me to stop living in the past, and yet that is exactly what you are doing! The Test series was ages ago.....the ODI series is happening NOW. Get with the times, old bean!

I'm not necessarily a big fan of the Happy Meal, though I am told that you won't take any burger unless it's got more than 20,000 calories in it. Understandable. It wouldn't be so much a dive across to catch the ball when you're keeping, but a waddle/belly flop, wouldn't it? Haha...Bell for a Belly flop....god i'm good.

Martin:

Alderman was a good bowler when the ball was swinging around, hence why he was good in Pommy conditions, but on flat tracks, a bit more suspect. Had a bloody fantastic hairdo though.

Jeff Thomson played his first test with a broken foot.
Phil Emery played his only test with a broken hand.

That's tough. Not like these pansies you've got these days - "Ooh, ooh, I rolled my ankle - get me out of here!"

Cheers,
Adam.

[martin wilson]

Hi all
Adam,you know nothing,and you had to revise to know that much.
Anyway,yeah, I think Closey was 40+ when he played against the Windies,he had a reputation as a hard man so tried to tough it out and took a couple on his chest, probably not a good idea.
Larwood was so quick I read he knocked Woodfulls bat out of his hands,you ever see a fast bowler do that?
"Oh,by the way,whens your Don coming in ?" Good old Bowesy.
Richie said 'Typhoon' Tyson was the fastest bowler he ever faced,we have had some good 'uns!
Maybe Terry Aldeman should be added to your list,he was a right pain in the derrier over here.Someone wrote 'Gooch Out!' (our skipper) on a wall and some wag added lbw b Aldeman O.
I always liked Merv The Swerve as well,a man with more moustache than you might reasonably expect to fiind on a human beings face. I always thought he ran in hard and gave it everything (another one who bowled through injury I think)
Anyway all the best.

[Monty]

Adam,

Duh, Martins knowledge far outweighs yours.

Any fool could see I was talking to you. Well, when I say any fool....

You still think the ODIs are far more important than Tests? Thats like preferring a MacDonalds Happy Meal over a fine Steak dinner. Its the toys aint it? You like playing with the Disney toys, Goofy is yer favourite no?

Monty

[Adam Went]

Monty:

As you have proven your knowledge of cricket is less than my next door neighbours 10 year old hound during the series, forgive me for saying your opinion holds no value.

Now Monty, that's no way to speak to Martin! What's he ever done to you?

I don't think 11 AM is quite time for tea but I trust you'll all be sitting up to watch one final punishment to your woeful teams abysmal performance in this series?

Cheers,
Adam.

[Monty]

As you have proven your knowledge of cricket is less than my next door neighbours 10 year old hound during the series, forgive me for saying your opinion holds no value.

And you come back to us when you win the Ashes full stop. Judging your test performances in the last 2 Ashes tours, you lot are gonna forget what they look like.

Now run on Sonny, yer Mums calling you in for yer tea.

Monty

[martin wilson]

Hi all
My favourite Miller story was the threesome he had with a Duchess and her 16 year old daughter while on tour over here, strewth cobber!
Monty was right on Larwood,I forgot to mention for winding up reasons that he wasnt bowling leg theory at the time. I will mention that in the documentary about bodyline years ago, one of the team (Pelham Warner?) who was still around said the Aussies played leg theory like a bunch of prats.
I just closed off when I heard about the spot fixing.
It was obvious they were bang to rights,and I just wanted them gone, the whole squad,I was utterly sickened by it.
I wasnt too impressed by our authorities, I felt they wanted the tour to continue for financial reasons.
I heard there was some stuff going on in the one dayers but I had lost all interest by then.
Funny though,if I didnt know it before,it made me realise how much I love cricket.
All the best.

[Adam Went]

Martin:

I think Bill Woodfull was the one that got hit in the heart?

Didn't know that about Brian Close but then wasn't he still playing at quite an old age? Probably didn't have the reflexes to keep up with Holding anymore.

As Steven said, Keith Miller once said "Pressure isn't cricket. Pressure is a messerschmitt up your arse."

Steven:

Get back to me when you've won an Ashes series 5-0, m'kay?

Monty:

I could name a bunch of fast bowlers who were better off the top of my head:
Glenn McGrath, Dennis Lillee, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall (infact let's just say any of the Wendies fast bowlers from the late 70's - early 90's) Allan Donald, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, John Snow, Alan Davison, Shaun Pollock, M.J. Druitt.

Back in yer box.

Cheers,
Adam.