Cricket

[Svensson]

I have no problem with the short stuff. It's supposed to be a test for all players. The only thing is that is usually shows that the captain is out of ideas.... If you don't like to see the short stuff, go and watch some T20

To come back to the bodyline comparison (yes I know, I am responding to my own posts....) the thing with bodyline is that the players at the time were not equipped to deal with short balls. They weren't part of the game and no one really practiced them. there were also no helmet or arm guards (I believe). The gloves were probably more of a gesture than real protection.... My point it, I would expect a modern test-cricketer to be able to deal with bouncers. At the same time, they are an opportunity for the batsman. Hook it or top-edge it and it flies for six; tap it on the head and stoll a single. Play the bouncers well and the bowlers will run themselves into the ground even faster. It's an opportunity for the batsman to exert complete dominance over the opposition bowlers and only the best batsmen will succeed.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I’ve got no problem with short stuff Svensson as it’s part of the game but I think Bodyline as a tactic was over the top. Just from a cricket fan point of view it would be a bit boring if all that was going on was fast bowlers bowling at the body with a leg side field. Any kind of repetition would be boring so a good mix is needed.

[Svensson]

Aussies are playing the extra batsman by dropping Murphy in favour of Green, so no spinner. They could have brought in Green for Warner, kept the spinner and STILL play the extra batsman.

and yes, I love the smell of sledging in the morning.

[GBinOz]

Aussies are playing the extra batsman by dropping Murphy in favour of Green, so no spinner. They could have brought in Green for Warner, kept the spinner and STILL play the extra batsman.

and yes, I love the smell of sledging in the morning.

Poor strategy, but as I expected. Replacing an out of form batsman with an all rounder and retaining the spinner would have been a better move, but perhaps the idea is to equalise the series to increase the interest, and the crowd, for the final Test?

[Svensson]

ok, so it ended 2-2. As a former resident of Old Blighty, I'd say much deserved for england who only have themselves to blame for throwing away any realistic change of winning back the Ashes in the first two tests. The day belonged to Stuart Broad which no doubt will seriously wind up the sports editor of Courier Mail But I think Circket lovers around the world will miss this thoroughbred competitor. The series will be remembered for orthodoxy sticking it up to bazball possibly for the final time.

Word.

[Herlock Sholmes]

If someone had told me at the start of this series that Jimmy Anderson would be playing on but Broad would be retiring I wouldn’t have believed them.

[Herlock Sholmes]

As George has pointed out, we don’t want to risk threads being derailed by us cricket fans so this is a reminder that we have this thread for comment/discussion about the upcoming Ashes series (unless England are being thrashed of course, then I’ll ask Jon Menges to close the thread)

[GBinOz]

Hi Herlock,

I'm hoping for a contest. Our mob has some name players but are getting a little long in the tooth. Your mob seem to be eternally subject to injuries. Never the less, both sides will field their best and we will hopefully see an even contest.

Cheers, George

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock,

I'm hoping for a contest. Our mob has some name players but are getting a little long in the tooth. Your mob seem to be eternally subject to injuries. Never the less, both sides will field their best and we will hopefully see an even contest.

Cheers, George

Hi George,

Hopefully we can put up a good fight. We need our two quickest bowlers (Wood and Archer) to be firing on all cylinders along with Atkinson. Wood is 35 and is being wrapped in cotton wool to some extend which is understandable for a fast bowler of his age and sadly Archer is in danger of sustaining an injury blowing his nose. We’ll just have to see. A big thing for me will be the performance of our best batsmen Joe Root who has never scored a hundred in tests against the Australia in Australia. He’ll be desperately wanting to put that right.

[andy1867]

England have a decent chance, it will come down to the fitness of the bowlers..Archer looks to have improved his fitness,Wood for someone who falls over so many times after a delivery is always a worry, and another worry .. I can;t see an outstanding spin bowler in our squad..Bashir has 60 odd wickets @ nigh on 40..Lyon has well over 500 wickets @30...Hazlewood cummings and Starc?..are they creaking a bit?
Joe root averages mid 30's in Australia , Crawley always worries me, but seems to get out of jail when he needs to, I reckon Harry Brook will either do wonders or be out trying to "Scoop" summat ridiculous to third man while lying on his back...he's the most "unyorkshire" like cricketer you could imagine.
Anyhow, thanks for pointing this thread out.
Its good to find something on the forum I know a little , at least about
Me Dad was Irish...hated the game, Mum was English, loved it...I took after my Mum in that respect...Me Grandad, mad Wednesday and cricket fan and would only enter Bramall lane when Wednesday were playing United or Yorkshire were playing anybody
I remember My Dad coming home from work when me and me Mum were watching one of the first televised test matches on TV..He said
"Jaysus..how longs this rubbish on for"..?

Me Mam

"5 days you daft heathen"

How we laughed...(Well 2 of us did)

[Herlock Sholmes]

Crawley has been given too many chances for a Test opener averaging 31. Bashir looks ok but he does bowl a lot of poor balls. I’d have given Rehan Ahmed a go. A leg spinner who bats too.

[Herlock Sholmes]

RIP Dickie Bird. A cricket legend.

[Geddy2112]

RIP Dickie Bird. A cricket legend.

Indeed he was but he has to be the worst after dinner speaker I've seen. Every time he was asked a question he stated he was under contract from the ECB and could not comment. Not much point in having him there to be honest, a sad loss however.

[GBinOz]

RIP Dickie Bird. A cricket legend.

A legend indeed. An Umpire that could make a decision without reference to "others".

The third umpire was intuited to overcome the "clanger". It is now being used to challenge any decision that a team deems does not suit their cause. I am not privy to the percentage of umpire decisions that are contradicted by the third umpire, but my observation would be that it is very low.

[Herlock Sholmes]

A legend indeed. An Umpire that could make a decision without reference to "others".

The third umpire was intuited to overcome the "clanger". It is now being used to challenge any decision that a team deems does not suit their cause. I am not privy to the percentage of umpire decisions that are contradicted by the third umpire, but my observation would be that it is very low.

I’d guess the same George. I’m not a fan of the technology as I think that it undermines the umpire’s who are doing a difficult job and as far as it appears that we both can see, they make very few errors. We even see LBW reviews where the tech shows that the ball would have nicked the stumps yet they don’t give it out.

One issue that I do have in cricket is the amount of times players claim catches when it seems fairly obvious that the ball touched the ground. It’s made worse when you see slow motion replays and the commentators say that they think that it was a clean catch. It’s made worse by the fact that it appears that any benefit of doubt it always goes to the fielder.