Cricket thread

[rich p]

The old one seems to have been lost in the corridor of uncertainty.
As we speak, the amazing Joe Root has scored another ton which means he has got to at least 50 in his last 11 Tests. Outstanding.
Cook has ploughed on to his 31st ton which, whike not being of the same flair, is also amazxing. Let's hope these two stay fit for the Ashes.
Albeit that this Windies outfit are not a patch on their teams of old, sadly.

 

[MikeG]

The little bits I've seen suggest that the Windies would struggle to win if they played in the County Championship. There'll be one or two batsmen filling their boots during this series, once the first 10 or 12 overs are out of the way.

 

[rich p]

Does anyone know what the point of a day/night Test is in this country? It's not as if people are going to pay 75 quid to pop along for a couple of hours after work.
And the weather is almost bound to be inclement

 

[rich p]

I think this might be past Joe Root's bedtime

 

[AndyRM]

Enjoying listening to it, but it does seem a bit odd and gimmicky. But if this is the way to compete with limited overs cricket it's got mileage.

 

[srw]

I see the latest generation of England openers appear no more sticky than the last.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I just saw the score of 287 for 2 and switched TMS on to listen to what was going on. First ball, Root bowled. I turned TMS off again immediately. My apologies for disturbing the game.

 

[MikeG]

........I see the latest generation of England openers appear no more sticky than the last.

Except one of them got a hundred, and the other got out when the pink ball was swinging around corners.

 

[Beebo]

Does anyone know what the point of a day/night Test is in this country? It's not as if people are going to pay 75 quid to pop along for a couple of hours after work.
And the weather is almost bound to be inclement

It isn't really designed for England, where we get very long summer evenings. It is more for the subcontinent where it gets dark very quickly.

 

[Daddy Pig]

It seems to me that the link ball is not a level playing field as it moves around a lot to start with and then under floodlights it's a nightmare. It's only because WI are utter tripe that Eng are doing well. I reckon that Eng will be 600 up by tea (end of second session) and then WI 4 down by the close. Following on and all over in 3 days.

 

[srw]

Except one of them got a hundred, and the other got out when the pink ball was swinging around corners.

OK - the latest generation of England numbers 2 and 3. The job of an opener is to survive the first 10 overs whatever the ball is doing, before going on to get a score, and the job of a number 3 is to do the same if the number 2 hasn't. I'm no technical expert (and I haven't seen any TV coverage of the match), but I wasn't aware that extremely swingy balls were unknown in this country.

As I'm sure @Dayvo will tell you, they need more Middlesex men in the side

Both Surrey and Gloucestershire could have done with someone better. The bowling looked reasonably ordinary, but the batsmen did their best to get themselves out in unusual ways. Gloucestershire only set a respectable target thanks to a couple of lively overs in the middle, and Surrey turned what began as a gentle procession into a bit of a scramble.

It's been a long time since I last actually went to a match, so I'd forgotten how much more fun it is being there and seeing the whole thing (even a 20-over biff) rather than following the Guardian OBO and watching the Channel 5 highlights.

 

[MikeG]

OK - the latest generation of England numbers 2 and 3. The job of an opener is to survive the first 10 overs whatever the ball is doing, before going on to get a score, and the job of a number 3 is to do the same if the number 2 hasn't. I'm no technical expert (and I haven't seen any TV coverage of the match), but I wasn't aware that extremely swingy balls were unknown in this country..........

The odd thing is that you seem willing to judge a newcomer after just one innings ("no more sticky"). You might well remember that Gooch got a pair in his first Test, and that even Bradman got plenty of single figure scores. Oh, and whilst it's nice if the openers see off the new ball, your ten over thing is a bit arbitrary. I opened a few times, generally when one of the genuine openers was incapacitated. It always seemed to be against Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke or Wasi Akram. Fun, fun.

340-odd for 3 is a useful day at the office, but against this attack tells us absolutely nothing at all. I'm afraid it might flatter us into thinking Malan is a Test player. I would have preferred an accumulator of runs rather than a one day biffer in England's middle order. A Bell/ Thorpe type player, rather than another shot-maker. It's another collapse waiting to happen when all but one of your players are shot-a-ball millionaires.

 

[srw]

The odd thing is that you seem willing to judge a newcomer after just one innings ("no more sticky"). You might well remember that Gooch got a pair in his first Test, and that even Bradman got plenty of single figure scores. Oh, and whilst it's nice if the openers see off the new ball, your ten over thing is a bit arbitrary. I opened a few times, generally when one of the genuine openers was incapacitated. It always seemed to be against Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke or Wasi Akram. Fun, fun.

The key word in my post - "appear". Not hugely judgemental. And yes, 10 overs is extremely arbitrary, and I couldn't even hold a bat straight let alone see a quick ball and hope to play it.

That's what being an armchair supporter is all about.

 

[swee'pea99]

Very sad to see West Indies cricket looking so forlorn. You can't help wondering if it can survive. I've heard it said that West Indies youth is turning away from all things British, in favour of American culture, and yesterday seemed to give credence to that idea. I grew up with Clive Lloyd's boys terrorising all comers; this lot couldn't frighten a troop of boy scouts. You want to see your team win, but only if there's at least a contest. Will the 'Windies' (sic) still be playing test cricket in 20 years? On yesterday's showing, I wouldn't put money on it.

 

[MikeG]

It's not so much being anti "all things British" as doing what appears on their local TV, which is all American, and heavily features basketball. That's where all the tall athletic fast bowlers have gone. The West Indies, as a construct, pretty much only exists for cricket. Don't forget, the rest of the time these are independent, competitive, nations.