Cricket thread

[deptfordmarmoset]

Benefit of the doubt always used to go to the batsman - I assume that’s still the case, although a lot of decisions in this series have been poor, even with the review system.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t umpires in Test matches supposed to be neutral?

I think the neutral umpire rule was dropped because of covid, and because there was better technology to review decisions. It has led to a bit of Root-umpire confrontation though.

 

[matticus]

And correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t umpires in Test matches supposed to be neutral?

Umpires are ALWAYS neutral - I assume you mean "from a neutral country"!

 

[matticus]

With our star bowler out for (a quite respectable!) 19, I think this is going to be over pretty soon ...

Meanwhile, in the commentary box:
"Isa Guha - Ex-England bowler" is really growing on me this year. She's the first woman that I've noticed really fitting in to the TMS team, and clearly knows her stuff. Not a natural, garrulous radio person, but thinks about what she says.

 

[Dayvo]

Jeffrey Archer could bat better than Jofra!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

With our star bowler out for (a quite respectable!) 19, I think this is going to be over pretty soon ...

Meanwhile, in the commentary box:
"Isa Guha - Ex-England bowler" is really growing on me this year. She's the first woman that I've noticed really fitting in to the TMS team, and clearly knows her stuff. Not a natural, garrulous radio person, but thinks about what she says.

Ebony is good too. I thought she also fitted well into the TMS team.

 

[matticus]

Leach hits a 6. Fightback 2.0 is go!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Scoring sixes is evidently a tail-ender speciality here.

 

[Beebo]

A test match which lasts 2 days isn’t a proper test match.
The battle between bat and ball needs to be more equally balanced.

 

[matticus]

Ebony is good too. I thought she also fitted well into the TMS team.

Fair point. I've kind of lost track who is on while I'm at work!
Is Alison Mitchell the 3rd female voice this week? I think she's always done a competent job on the radio, but the bar has been set very high by TMS over the years ...

(although some of the men are worse, I should stress! Just not the core team.)

 

[nickyboy]

A test match which lasts 2 days isn’t a proper test match.
The battle between bat and ball needs to be more equally balanced.

Exactly this. When you have two Test cricket superpowers concluding a match in less than two days it's no advert for the longer form of the game. The powers that be need to take a look at how home authorities are preparing test pitches if they are interested in ensuring that Test cricket continues. This equally applies to England of course. I hope that we don't produce a load of green tops for India this summer

On balance India were the better side for the series. But the pitches they served up drove home their advantage in spinning skill to the detriment of the game

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Exactly this. When you have two Test cricket superpowers concluding a match in less than two days it's no advert for the longer form of the game. The powers that be need to take a look at how home authorities are preparing test pitches if they are interested in ensuring that Test cricket continues. This equally applies to England of course. I hope that we don't produce a load of green tops for India this summer

On balance India were the better side for the series. But the pitches they served up drove home their advantage in spinning skill to the detriment of the game

Still another Test to go.

I feel giving the away team the choice of batting or bowling first will get rid of the pitches that fall apart after the first day.

As far as this pitch is concerned, we actually lost the mtch on the first day. If we’d scored 200+, like we should have done, it may have been a different story.

India played the conditions better than us, not brilliantly, but well enough to win.

The strange thing was that on a pitch that was turning sharply, most of the wickets fell to balls that didn’t turn, which would indicate that a different defensive technique may be needed.

 

[AndyRM]

The pitch was a joke. That's not making excuses for poor batting performances, it's just the truth. Absolutely nowhere near the standard required for any form of cricket.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

The main thing I have against the pitch is...

What the hell am I going to do tomorrow now?

 

[Dayvo]

The main thing I have against the pitch is...

What the hell am I going to do tomorrow now?

Watch Lagaan! We took a hell of a beating in that, too!

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uyONHKeYb8g

 

[nickyboy]

Still another Test to go.

I feel giving the away team the choice of batting or bowling first will get rid of the pitches that fall apart after the first day.

As far as this pitch is concerned, we actually lost the mtch on the first day. If we’d scored 200+, like we should have done, it may have been a different story.

India played the conditions better than us, not brilliantly, but well enough to win.

The strange thing was that on a pitch that was turning sharply, most of the wickets fell to balls that didn’t turn, which would indicate that a different defensive technique may be needed.

I would wholeheartedly support a change to the rules so the away team gets to choose whether to bat or bowl first.

Of course England batted first in this test and lost badly. But I suspect it would stop home teams taking a risk in preparing pitches where there was a major advantage in batting first or second