The cricket thread

Stuckfast · September 2018

Gassage said:Afridi a better bowler? On which planet?

Actually that's a fair point, Afridi was also a one-day specialist really. But at least he would also occasionally play a match-winning innings with the bat.

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Teetonetal said:

Sad, India and aus away wins will be career highlights I'm sure.

Now drop him for the final test and get 2 new openers in!

Nah, give him a proper farewell. Let him go out with some crowd applause as he bloody well deserves it.

And then beg him to act as a batting consultant for the next generation. Can't see him being much of a media pundit or commentator.

Gassage · September 2018

I think that there’s a lot of overanalysis here. The simple fact is that India have a batting order with 9 Righthanders and Sharma conveniently dug a crater by going round the wicket that’s a lot easier for an off spinner to exploit rather than a leg spinner. Having batted myself on the Lords pitch the day after he did this at Lords 2014, I’ve never seeen such a hole in the danger area before and he did it yet again,.

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Gassage said:

I think that there’s a lot of overanalysis here.

After analysis, I believe this to be wrong. I sent it upstairs and Joel Wilson decided to overturn your decision.

Definitely the crater made a difference in this Test but you've still had the situation of Moeen comprehensively outbowling two other slow bowlers. Kohli was right when they said they'd picked the wrong team: Jadeja on that wicket would be been a right handful.

Gassage · September 2018

You’re forgetting how many left handlers England have!

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Gassage said:

You’re forgetting how many left handlers England have!

Which hasn't stopped Jadeja in the past, given that the guy he's dismissed most in Test cricket is that chap who's just announced his swansong. Coincidentally that same chap is also Ashwin's top bunny.

Gassage · September 2018

Heartfeltdawn said:

Gassage said:

You’re forgetting how many left handlers England have!

Which hasn't stopped Jadeja in the past, given that the guy he's dismissed most in Test cricket is that chap who's just announced his swansong. Coincidentally that same chap is also Ashwin's top bunny.

But the crater is outside a left handlers leg stump

scrumhalf · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

Gassage said:Afridi a better bowler? On which planet?

Actually that's a fair point, Afridi was also a one-day specialist really. But at least he would also occasionally play a match-winning innings with the bat.

Yes, he could really get his teeth into that.

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Gassage said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

Gassage said:

You’re forgetting how many left handlers England have!

Which hasn't stopped Jadeja in the past, given that the guy he's dismissed most in Test cricket is that chap who's just announced his swansong. Coincidentally that same chap is also Ashwin's top bunny.

But the crater is outside a left handlers leg stump

Yep.

Gassage · September 2018

Heartfeltdawn said:

Gassage said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

Gassage said:

You’re forgetting how many left handlers England have!

Which hasn't stopped Jadeja in the past, given that the guy he's dismissed most in Test cricket is that chap who's just announced his swansong. Coincidentally that same chap is also Ashwin's top bunny.

But the crater is outside a left handlers leg stump

Yep.

So you kick it away.

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Or you just don't focus on the one crater.

Bye, folks.

guitars4you · September 2018

Gassage said:

Ali Cook retires.

sad day. Top bloke

agree - Looking at his stats and it sometimes it is hard to remember how good he was - last 2/3 years no where near his best, yet cumulative results are excellent and a good guy - Not sure what follows for him - Not sure what follows for England - Troubled to find one good opener in the last few years - Now we have to find 2 - Maybe worth sticking with Jennings - But currently we need positions 1-2 and 3 - Root at 4 - and maybe 5

As far as England are concerned, then the bowling has won this series with the odd useful batting, but no consistency with the bat by anyone, other than Curran - India bowled well - Apart from Kohli, they again have offered hit n miss batting with no consistency - 2/3 exciting matches to watch and interesting how many times matches with 250/350 runs, per innings produce the most exciting cricket - Bat 1st and get 500 +, then steam roller the opposition in their first innings, or indeed they respond with 450/500 and they can quickly filter in to boredom

England have won the series, but a lot of questions have been raised about the team - More questions will be raised this time next year, when almost certainly, Broad and Anderson will retire after the Ashes

earwighoney · September 2018

Heartfeltdawn said:

Nah, give him a proper farewell. Let him go out with some crowd applause as he bloody well deserves it.

And then beg him to act as a batting consultant for the next generation. Can't see him being much of a media pundit or commentator.

Agree.

If any player deserves a proper farewell it's Ali Cook, he's been the great gentleman of the sport and maintained a great reputation as a man even at testing times.

I'm not surprised to find out the international retirement came as he's looked pretty burnt out for a while, the last Ashes tour in particular he looked truly broken.

I'd love to see him back in the England fold at some point possibly as a batting consultant but first and foremost I'd like to see the guy enjoying county cricket and just looking less frazzled as a man so he can enjoy his personal life - I truly believe the touring schedule for international test cricket is too much now days and players need some time to just be themselves.

Stuckfast · September 2018

Whilst I'm not a gambling man, I'm tempted to put a few quid on Essex to win the title back next season, now that they have Cook available all year.

The England top order remains a puzzle though. Surely they've got to give Burns a try at some point?

sixstringsupplies · September 2018

it's a tough one - I suppose now that Cook has announced he is going, Burns will get the nod for Sri Lanka.
Jennings will probably play the next match, and probably go to Sri Lanka - am I right in saying his 36 yesterday has been the highest score by an opener in the whole series?

Stuckfast · September 2018

Not sure if anyone here follows county cricket, but if I was a Worcs fan I'd be livid. They've gone into a relegation scrap against Hampshire and come up against an attack that contains precisely no English qualified bowlers, thanks to Rod Bransgrove's deep pockets. That can't be good for the game and it's just another example of how the dice are loaded against the smaller counties (says the bitter follower of Northants, who've just lost our best batsman to Notts).

Stuckfast · September 2018

... and what about that Somerset - Lancs game, eh?

earwighoney · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

... and what about that Somerset - Lancs game, eh?

Bloody hell. Somerset lost by 1 run!

Crazy. Poor HFD.

Stuckfast · September 2018

No, it was a tie!

crunchman · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

... and what about that Somerset - Lancs game, eh?

Normally Somerset live stream their home games, but couldn't find one of this. Was following it on Cricinfo.

With Somerset not winning, that basically hands the title to Surrey.

guitars4you · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

Not sure if anyone here follows county cricket, but if I was a Worcs fan I'd be livid. They've gone into a relegation scrap against Hampshire and come up against an attack that contains precisely no English qualified bowlers, thanks to Rod Bransgrove's deep pockets. That can't be good for the game and it's just another example of how the dice are loaded against the smaller counties (says the bitter follower of Northants, who've just lost our best batsman to Notts).

I know what you mean - I'm a Yorkshire fan/follower and they have to play most matches now with no Root, Bairstow and when one day international matches are on, then no Rashid, Willey, Plunkett either, so at times 5 senior players missing from the Yorkshire team

earwighoney · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

No, it was a tie!

Yes! My mistake.

A crazy game of cricket. 22 wickets fell on the first day.

It's a shame First Class cricket goes under the radar of sorts. In terms of excitement it must be up there with the finest of all forms of cricket.

Legionreturns · September 2018

crunchman said:

With Somerset not winning, that basically hands the title to Surrey.

Good eh?

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

crunchman said:

Stuckfast said:

... and what about that Somerset - Lancs game, eh?

Normally Somerset live stream their home games, but couldn't find one of this. Was following it on Cricinfo.

With Somerset not winning, that basically hands the title to Surrey.

It was on the Somerset CCC website. Streamed out of the match centre, BBC commentary as always, and it was two of the most hilarious days of cricket anyone could want.

1. The pitch turned but wasn't impossible for batting by any means.
2. The Lancs batting has been pisspoor all year and was no different.
3. Somerset no better though. Diabolical fourth innings. Once Hildreth was dismissed by a fantastic quicker ball from Maharaj, I thought we'd lose.
4. Liam Livingstone's swipe in the 2nd Lancs innings was filthy. Even Keaton Jennings would wince at that But it wasn't the worst...
5. Dom Bess's swipe to get stumped when the scores were level was even worse. It's the Eldorado of slogs.

Funny year for Bess. Gets the England slot, scores runs, everyone's complimenting him on his mental approach... now he's barely bowling for Somerset, looks unlikely to be anything other than a Lions tourist this winter, and he's lost his head when chasing a title at a crucial time. I hope he comes back as he's got some ability but a young spinner can disappear for a bit (think of Adam Riley at Kent over the last two years, good to see him get wickets again).

Stuckfast said:

Not sure if anyone here follows county cricket, but if I was a Worcs fan I'd be livid. They've gone into a relegation scrap against Hampshire and come up against an attack that contains precisely no English qualified bowlers, thanks to Rod Bransgrove's deep pockets. That can't be good for the game and it's just another example of how the dice are loaded against the smaller counties (says the bitter follower of Northants, who've just lost our best batsman to Notts).

Not just Bransgrove's pockets either. The taxpayer has indeed been generous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Bowl_(cricket_ground)#Expansion

Not a Hampshire fan at all and I agree with the comments above. Duckett's move is an interesting one but you see the power a Test ground county has financially with the way they signed Duckett and Slater from Derbyshire and they went straight into the CC side and scored runs. Seeing how easy it is to sign people up now, I wonder if cricket needs a transfer window. I don't object to overseas players being signed up because the one you've signed is injured or is stopped from playing by his country board (eg. Quinton De Kock) but seeing English players drafted from one side to another mid-season is a bit odd to me.

Surrey have the CC title in the bag and they've done the things right in the last few years by bringing in good senior players like Sangakkarra and Morkel whilst bringing in young players who have performed very well. Somerset might well end up with no silverware but it is a season of real success. They don't have the financial power of Surrey, they rarely get an England game, they've been utterly shat upon in the future franchise competition whilst bloody Glamorgan and Hampshire get rewarded by the ECB, and yet they're way up in the CC and in the T20 Finals Day with a side that has a lot of homegrown players and a couple of good overseas signings in Renshaw and Ali who weren't big money signups.

earwighoney · September 2018

Heartfeltdawn said:

Funny year for Bess. Gets the England slot, scores runs, everyone's complimenting him on his mental approach... now he's barely bowling for Somerset, looks unlikely to be anything other than a Lions tourist this winter, and he's lost his head when chasing a title at a crucial time. I hope he comes back as he's got some ability but a young spinner can disappear for a bit (think of Adam Riley at Kent over the last two years, good to see him get wickets again).

Not a Hampshire fan at all and I agree with the comments above. Duckett's move is an interesting one but you see the power a Test ground county has financially with the way they signed Duckett and Slater from Derbyshire and they went straight into the CC side and scored runs. Seeing how easy it is to sign people up now, I wonder if cricket needs a transfer window. I don't object to overseas players being signed up because the one you've signed is injured or is stopped from playing by his country board (eg. Quinton De Kock) but seeing English players drafted from one side to another mid-season is a bit odd to me.

Surrey have the CC title in the bag and they've done the things right in the last few years by bringing in good senior players like Sangakkarra and Morkel whilst bringing in young players who have performed very well. Somerset might well end up with no silverware but it is a season of real success. They don't have the financial power of Surrey, they rarely get an England game, they've been utterly shat upon in the future franchise competition whilst bloody Glamorgan and Hampshire get rewarded by the ECB, and yet they're way up in the CC and in the T20 Finals Day with a side that has a lot of homegrown players and a couple of good overseas signings in Renshaw and Ali who weren't big money signups.

Bess - I thought the England call up was just too soon for him. He'd not had a huge amount of cricket under his belt. IMO, young players will make mistakes and need some time to settle in, aside from a few exceptions like Sam Curran (for now anyway)

Another young spinner who seems to be regaining some form after some early promise/English selection then time in the wilderness is Danny Briggs.

Transfers are a strange thing in cricket, especially when they happen mid season. A few years ago I remember when James Tredwell was playing white ball cricket for Kent but red ball cricket for another county. Of course I can see why it happened but it seemed a very odd situation.

Surrey seem to be a very well run county in the visible facets of their operations I have been able to see first hand be it development of junior cricket which has been bringing them great rewards at this moment in time. I got free tickets from my nephew (via his club) to see a Surrey T20 for a Tuesday night which was near enough full. It was clear to see how well the club is doing financially just from domestic cricket, I imagine few counties are able to capitalise on a demographic to the extent which Surrey are. Well Glamorgan seem to do well financially, but that's down to handouts from the ECB. (Whatever happened to the inquest regarding those payments? Nothing I imagine.)

Always good to read of HFD's disdain for Glamorgan....

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Stuckfast said:

Not sure if anyone here follows county cricket, but if I was a Worcs fan I'd be livid. They've gone into a relegation scrap against Hampshire and come up against an attack that contains precisely no English qualified bowlers, thanks to Rod Bransgrove's deep pockets. That can't be good for the game and it's just another example of how the dice are loaded against the smaller counties (says the bitter follower of Northants, who've just lost our best batsman to Notts).

And then Sod's Law pops up and Northants do a Hampshire...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/45438642

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

India's guard of honour lasted longer than our middle order.

scrumhalf · September 2018

Stokes just gone, 171-5, new ball imminent.

We were 133-1.

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

Jadeja - two wickets, first day wicket, both left handers. And he didn't need a crater. Shoulda playeda at-a da last Test-a...

Heartfeltdawn · September 2018

earwighoney said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

Nah, give him a proper farewell. Let him go out with some crowd applause as he bloody well deserves it.

And then beg him to act as a batting consultant for the next generation. Can't see him being much of a media pundit or commentator.

Agree.

If any player deserves a proper farewell it's Ali Cook, he's been the great gentleman of the sport and maintained a great reputation as a man even at testing times.

I'm not surprised to find out the international retirement came as he's looked pretty burnt out for a while, the last Ashes tour in particular he looked truly broken.

I'd love to see him back in the England fold at some point possibly as a batting consultant but first and foremost I'd like to see the guy enjoying county cricket and just looking less frazzled as a man so he can enjoy his personal life - I truly believe the touring schedule for international test cricket is too much now days and players need some time to just be themselves.

@earwhighoney And that is one hell of a good send off.

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