The Cricket Thread

[Archibald&Crooks]

Personally thought we bowled pretty badly in that innings, yet still skittled them for under 170.

I'm probably wrong but Broad doesn't seem as threatening as he can be and probably hasn't done so most of the summer. If we get tonked this winter in the Ashes it wouldn't surprise me if Anderson and he were to call it a day

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

I'm probably wrong but Broad doesn't seem as threatening as he can be and probably hasn't done so most of the summer. If we get tonked this winter in the Ashes it wouldn't surprise me if Anderson and he were to call it a day

Although on reflection and to be fair, this pink ball should be taken into consideration.

Plus, it could be all over today. It's pretty embarrassing.

 

[LSUY]

I've dunked digestives in my tea that have lasted longer than the West Indies.

 

[mpickard2087]

Embarrassing 'contest'... basically bowled them out twice in a day. There is probably a case for the test/first class status of the match, and series, to be stripped.











Now watch the Windies win the series 2-1...

 

[VegasII]

A win's a win but it's a cheap one and I'm disappointed in England with their choices in this test match. Captain armchair hindsight alert lol and I'm not being negative..but I would of declared the first innings just after 400. I thought at the time that there wasn't much need to go on for 500-600 and it would have been better to try and make a game of it. As we've seen, this Windies side isn't anywhere close to being on a par with India or Australia or even SA. You could see that after tons by Cook and Root. Against the top sides you have make it easy on yourselves and grind them down, but the weaker teams aren't worth it.

If the Windies had still ended up in a position to follow on then I would of put ourselves into bat again but changed the top four to Stoneman, Westley, Malan and Roland-Jones, and given them another chance to have a bat. I don't think that's being disrespectful; it's offering a challenge to the match as well as finding out a bit more about those players ahead of the ashes. The Windies may have raised their game a tiny bit more as a result.

England could have challenged themselves and made a game of it for the fans but they didn't. What's the point in hammering a nearly 2nd string West Indies when the Ashes are coming up?

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

A win's a win but it's a cheap one and I'm disappointed in England with their choices in this test match. Captain armchair hindsight alert lol and I'm not being negative..but I would of declared the first innings just after 400. I thought at the time that there wasn't much need to go on for 500-600 and it would have been better to try and make a game of it. As we've seen, this Windies side isn't anywhere close to being on a par with India or Australia or even SA. You could see that after tons by Cook and Root. Against the top sides you have make it easy on yourselves and grind them down, but the weaker teams aren't worth it.

If the Windies had still ended up in a position to follow on then I would of put ourselves into bat again but changed the top four to Stoneman, Westley, Malan and Roland-Jones, and given them another chance to have a bat. I don't think that's being disrespectful; it's offering a challenge to the match as well as finding out a bit more about those players ahead of the ashes. The Windies may have raised their game a tiny bit more as a result.

England could have challenged themselves and made a game of it for the fans but they didn't. What's the point in hammering a nearly 2nd string West Indies when the Ashes are coming up?

I disagree with large tranches of this but am too nice to give you the red x of death over it

ANyway, I enjoyed watching test match cricket in the evening, it made a nice change, but even so, what with the ball and all that, i'm not sure it'd be for me on a full time basis, maybe one every summer.

 

[VegasII]

I disagree with large tranches of this but am too nice to give you the red x of death over it

ANyway, I enjoyed watching test match cricket in the evening, it made a nice change, but even so, what with the ball and all that, i'm not sure it'd be for me on a full time basis, maybe one every summer.

lol thanks haha. I agree on the evening test matches...

 

[Arnoldtoo]

I don't think that's being disrespectful

I'd love to hear your suggestions if you were being disrespectful!

 

[mpickard2087]

A win's a win but it's a cheap one and I'm disappointed in England with their choices in this test match. Captain armchair hindsight alert lol and I'm not being negative..but I would of declared the first innings just after 400. I thought at the time that there wasn't much need to go on for 500-600 and it would have been better to try and make a game of it. As we've seen, this Windies side isn't anywhere close to being on a par with India or Australia or even SA. You could see that after tons by Cook and Root. Against the top sides you have make it easy on yourselves and grind them down, but the weaker teams aren't worth it.

If the Windies had still ended up in a position to follow on then I would of put ourselves into bat again but changed the top four to Stoneman, Westley, Malan and Roland-Jones, and given them another chance to have a bat. I don't think that's being disrespectful; it's offering a challenge to the match as well as finding out a bit more about those players ahead of the ashes. The Windies may have raised their game a tiny bit more as a result.

England could have challenged themselves and made a game of it for the fans but they didn't. What's the point in hammering a nearly 2nd string West Indies when the Ashes are coming up?

Nah I think they got it about right. With bat and ball they afforded themselves long periods to see just what the ball does under the different conditions. The top 5, and most importantly Cook and Root, got to go up against it for a good period of time and can feedback the initial observations of how the ball behaved. Same with the bowling, they were out there all day and could evaluate a number of factors... What was the new ball like, what happened when it got older and softer, seam/swing, what was it like when the sun was out, under cloud cover, when the lights were on and it was dark etc etc.

There was also a test match to win, and you have to be ruthless and get the job done. If it had been a dry Bunsen of a pitch then yeah maybe bat again and let the pitch disintegrate more, but we had a fresh seam attack who'd ran through them once and it was correct in my opinion to get them out there and do it all again.

 

[aussiespursguy]

I disagree with large tranches of this but am too nice to give you the red x of death over it

ANyway, I enjoyed watching test match cricket in the evening, it made a nice change, but even so, what with the ball and all that, i'm not sure it'd be for me on a full time basis, maybe one every summer.

The Adelaide test will be the first Ashes Day/Night test this summer. Should be great.

 

[Buggsy61]

Geoffrey Boycott: Former cricketer sorry for 'unacceptable' comment

Not very clever Geoffrey - I certainly don't think you will be getting a knighthood now!.
The likes of Richards, Sobers and Lloyd were also some of the greatest players of their time, and also conducted themselves impeccably. Don't you think that might have had something to do with it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/41010324

Growing up watching the great West Indies team of the late 70's and early 80's I did not enjoy that last test match one bit. They are quite a young team not used to English bowling conditions, but there was too much of a gulf in quality to take that game seriously, and certainly not a great warm up for the ashes.

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

Geoffrey Boycott: Former cricketer sorry for 'unacceptable' comment

Not very clever Geoffrey - I certainly don't think you will be getting a knighthood now!.
The likes of Richards, Sobers and Lloyd were also some of the greatest players of their time, and also conducted themselves impeccably. Don't you think that might have had something to do with it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/41010324

Growing up watching the great West Indies team of the late 70's and early 80's I did not enjoy that last test match one bit. They are quite a young team not used to English bowling conditions, but there was too much of a gulf in quality to take that game seriously, and certainly not a great warm up for the ashes.

They didn't always behave impeccably. If things were going against them (a rarity for about 20 years from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s), they could be a bit sulky, surly and downright petulant, although they were hardly the only offenders in cricket or any other sport back then. The clearest example of their petulance was probably the visit to NZ in Feb/March 1980, when Colin Croft barged into an umpire as he was approaching the bowling crease, and Michael Holding kicked a stump out of the ground when he had an appeal turned down. The thing is, they were such a good team that they didn't need to get involved in stuff like that.

 

[Pellshek]

Independent today: England makes £220m per year from TV; West Indies, £12m.

 

[Buggsy61]

They didn't always behave impeccably. If things were going against them (a rarity for about 20 years from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s), they could be a bit sulky, surly and downright petulant, although they were hardly the only offenders in cricket or any other sport back then. The clearest example of their petulance was probably the visit to NZ in Feb/March 1980, when Colin Croft barged into an umpire as he was approaching the bowling crease, and Michael Holding kicked a stump out of the ground when he had an appeal turned down. The thing is, they were such a good team that they didn't need to get involved in stuff like that.

True. Although, I was thinking more of the players knighted myself - Richards, Lloyd and Sobers (apologies if I have missed any), who to me always seemed to be good role models. In the case of Richards and Sobers they were also two of the greatest cricketers who ever lived.
Just think Boycott was out of order insinuating that the only reason why these three got knighthoods is because they are black, as this is clearly not the case.

 

[dondo]

I'm probably wrong but Broad doesn't seem as threatening as he can be and probably hasn't done so most of the summer. If we get tonked this winter in the Ashes it wouldn't surprise me if Anderson and he were to call it a day

Anderson still looks class to me and I hope he will carry on for as long as he can.
Broad is a funny one, quite often he is bowling 80mph medium pace and looking unthreatening but he is capable of producing series changing spells bowling 85+mph unplayable deliverys

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Depending on which poor bastard they get to open, I reckon the rest of today's team is the one we will see in the first Ashes Test.

Arguably harsh on ToRoJo but he's probably going to play the DeFreitas role until Jimmy retires.

Hoping the Headingley pitch is reasonably flat otherwise this could be over in a couple of days.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Sad to see my team, West Indies, doing so poorly in tests but with all the internal politics and lack of money it is not surprising. The CPL has shown there is still talent around but getting thumped by everyone in test cricket is not likely to help development.

 

[Buggsy61]

Sad to see my team, West Indies, doing so poorly in tests but with all the internal politics and lack of money it is not surprising. The CPL has shown there is still talent around but getting thumped by everyone in test cricket is not likely to help development.

Lack of money must be a key factor. I hear a lot of the young sportsmen there are concentrating on trying to break into basketball, NFL, athletics and football where the potential financial rewards are greater.

 

[WorcesterTHFC]

Lack of money must be a key factor. I hear a lot of the young sportsmen there are concentrating on trying to break into basketball, AFL, athletics and football where the potential financial rewards are greater.

What's the AFL? The only AFL I can think of is the Australian Football League.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

We really are woeful where the batting is concerned aren't we?

I'd be astonished if we came away from Australia with anything less than at least a 2-0 beating. Minimum. We can't keep batting with only 4 batsmen