The Cricket Thread

[Spurslove]

Well you are right on top. It really should not have been this way. Picking the best bowlers in a test is the only way. This rotation rubbish is a fail and chairman of selectors Hohns is at fault. We have the best team of three quicks in world cricket but they have played together ONCE on tour. Fucking disgrace.
As for dropping Head (who is our third highest scorer this series and vice captain) what does that do for a young player. What future does Wade have. Pissed off.
As for all our lefties being found out on this tour, we were found out in our last summer. India targeted our lefties round the wicket and Bumrah in particular ( who I rate very highly) had great success round the wicket to them. Seems England watched that series too.
Anyway, good luck chaps, rant over. Should be a win for you boys.

Cheers buddy. I had to laugh at your assessment of Wade though on today's showing. Overall, a fair result as apart from a few obvious individual stand-out performances, I thought both sides were fairly evenly matched. All five tests played in front of packed houses, exactly as it should always be in these Ashes matches. We'll just have to take our revenge next time in Oz...!!

.

 

[Spurslove]

Giving County Cricket the exposure of the Tests on TV
might revive the red ball game and ensure players build their technique.

Wonderful Test series with so many plot twists and turns.

Jimmy G2, this is something I've been advocating for some time now, but Sky just won't have it and it makes absolutely no sense to me. The argument against it is always the same i.e. hardly anyone goes to watch county cricket any more so it would fail to attract much advertising revenue and/or sponsorship, but that makes no sense when you consider they're more than happy to broadcast women's cricket where hardly anyone turns up at the grounds to watch.

Now don't get me wrong, I like women's cricket and I don't want to do it any kind of dis-service but the fact remains that if it's OK to broadcast women's cricket live, then it should be exactly the same for County Cricket, which is the very lifeblood of our test format.

.

 

[aussiespursguy]

I'd go worse than that, you won the toss ffs, should've batted!!! Always bat to win a series.
TBF, It will be the right result if you do lose.
On a completely different note, what's the difference between shield cricket and county? We seem to have no faith in our county (English) stars whereas the Aussies always draw from the shield.

Yes I forgot to add that! Apparently Langer was surprised by Paine's decision!. Stupid.

The difference between Shield and County is not much in the way it works. Just the scale. Only 6 states here as opposed to 2 divisions there. Then of course next step down is state grade competitions.

 

[dondo]

I have to say, I do like Isa Guha

I like her and most of the cricket pundits they are much more knowledgable and better to listen too than the football pundits imo

 

[dondo]

Yes I forgot to add that! Apparently Langer was surprised by Paine's decision!. Stupid.

The difference between Shield and County is not much in the way it works. Just the scale. Only 6 states here as opposed to 2 divisions there. Then of course next step down is state grade competitions.

You guys have slightly better weather than us too which makes a big difference to the mindset of our players. 4 day games in early may and mid September are generally a lottery due to the weather

 

[Spurslove]

I like her and most of the cricket pundits they are much more knowledgable and better to listen too than the football pundits imo

I believe that cheating is pretty much part of football these days with players throwing themselves to the ground as if they've been shot by someone in the crowd at any hint of any physical contact, and the refs usually oblige them with free kicks, corners, throw-ins and penalties, showing yellow and sometimes red cards to the perceived villain.

So it's difficult for football pundits to call it for what it is. Cheating. They call it 'simulation' because they don't like to use the 'C' word against their fellow professionals, and it's much harder to give a true and honest view of the technicalities involved in playing football for that reason, so I often feel they make stuff up as they go.

Cricket is a much purer game. I know there have been some sorry individuals who've cheated down the years but on the whole cricket is played cleanly, honestly and genuinely by 99% of players and coaches.

Also, footballers generally are fairly thick and cricket people are better educated. (And with that, Spurslove places his tin hat firmly on and straps himself in for a battering...)

And as for Isa Guha, yes, I definitely would. ?

.

 

[E17yid]

I believe that cheating is pretty much part of football these days with players throwing themselves to the ground as if they've been shot by someone in the crowd at any hint of any physical contact, and the refs usually oblige them with free kicks, corners, throw-ins and penalties, showing yellow and sometimes red cards to the perceived villain.

So it's difficult for football pundits to call it for what it is. Cheating. They call it 'simulation' because they don't like to use the 'C' word against their fellow professionals, and it's much harder to give a true and honest view of the technicalities involved in playing football for that reason, so I often feel they make stuff up as they go.

Cricket is a much purer game. I know there have been some sorry individuals who've cheated down the years but on the whole cricket is played cleanly, honestly and genuinely by 99% of players and coaches.

Also, footballers generally are fairly thick and cricket people are better educated. (And with that, Spurslove places his tin hat firmly on and straps himself in for a battering...)

And as for Isa Guha, yes, I definitely would. ?

.

It’s just harder to cheat in cricket than football. That’s all it is. If Cricket players could cheat and know they’d have a good chance of getting away with it you’d see a lot more cheating, like you do in football.

 

[JimmyG2]

Stokes walking before being given out was a highlight for me of the series
and a return to proper cricket values which have survived but only just.

 

[Arnoldtoo]

It’s just harder to cheat in cricket than football. That’s all it is. If Cricket players could cheat and know they’d have a good chance of getting away with it you’d see a lot more cheating, like you do in football.

Sledging? Is that borderline cheating?

I know some of it is witty and funny, but it's an admission that you need to rely on more than skill (and usually some luck) to beat the opposition, and I bet it isn't specifically allowed in the rules of cricket.

Bowlers aren't allowed to wear anything that might be distracting to the batsman (I think), so why should verbals be allowed?

 

[buckley]

So cricketers are better educated than footballers . Is that another way of saying that football is a working class game whereas cricket is mainly more middle class then I agree .

 

[buckley]

Without the rained of game we would have won and I don't agree that they deserved to win its just they had Smith and got lucky .

 

[dimiSpur]

Giving County Cricket the exposure of the Tests on TV
might revive the red ball game and ensure players build their technique.

Wonderful Test series with so many plot twists and turns.

Not easy. Attendances are low as they are, TV coverage may well be argued against by the Counties. I think it could help long-term, but which broadcaster would take on the difficult task of showing live County Championship matches with little to no interest from the public?

 

[dimiSpur]

Without the rained of game we would have won and I don't agree that they deserved to win its just they had Smith and got lucky .

You can't say someone is lucky for being better. The whole point of being "better" and thus deserving to win, is having good players!

 

[aussiespursguy]

Sledging? Is that borderline cheating?

I know some of it is witty and funny, but it's an admission that you need to rely on more than skill (and usually some luck) to beat the opposition, and I bet it isn't specifically allowed in the rules of cricket.

Bowlers aren't allowed to wear anything that might be distracting to the batsman (I think), so why should verbals be allowed?

I certainly would not call it cheating. It has been around since the inception of cricket, and all countries do it. (and yes I know if there was a sledging world championship we would win that too!) Its a part of the game, and as long as it doesn't get personal (and yes de Kock I'm looking at you) then all good.

But is it against the spirit of the game? Maybe.

 

[aussiespursguy]

Without the rained of game we would have won and I don't agree that they deserved to win its just they had Smith and got lucky .

Would have, Could have and should have. What if we batted first in the final game. What if we used our reviews better. Who knows.
Series is over.

 

[E17yid]

Sledging? Is that borderline cheating?

I know some of it is witty and funny, but it's an admission that you need to rely on more than skill (and usually some luck) to beat the opposition, and I bet it isn't specifically allowed in the rules of cricket.

Bowlers aren't allowed to wear anything that might be distracting to the batsman (I think), so why should verbals be allowed?

Mate, that aint cheating. That’s trying to gain a physiological edge similar to when goalies say some shit to a player about to take a penalty.

 

[Arnoldtoo]

I certainly would not call it cheating. It has been around since the inception of cricket, and all countries do it. (and yes I know if there was a sledging world championship we would win that too!) Its a part of the game, and as long as it doesn't get personal (and yes de Kock I'm looking at you) then all good.

But is it against the spirit of the game? Maybe.

Mate, that aint cheating. That’s trying to gain a physiological edge similar to when goalies say some shit to a player about to take a penalty.

Yes, I know - 'part of the game' 'everyone does it' - but I bet the rules don't cover it in a positive way. It's just me being old fashioned, like I said, and when I played the game I never resorted to it. It was an athletic contest.

Still, watch a game of rugby and tot up the number of little infringements that they get away with and you'd run out of fingers and toes to count on pretty quick!

 

[E17yid]

Yes, I know - 'part of the game' 'everyone does it' - but I bet the rules don't cover it in a positive way. It's just me being old fashioned, like I said, and when I played the game I never resorted to it. It was an athletic contest.

Still, watch a game of rugby and tot up the number of little infringements that they get away with and you'd run out of fingers and toes to count on pretty quick!

Every sport has sledging and all sports have outright cheating in it.

I don’t think they sledge enough in cricket. If I was a pro and I wasn’t facing a bowler I’d walk up to where the bowler starts his run up then I’d run alongside him as he started his run up telling him want a**** he is and how ugly his mrs is. If there’s no rule against it then it’s allowed in my book. Obviously it’s not very sportsmanlike but that’s just something losers say.

 

[Spurslove]

It’s just harder to cheat in cricket than football. That’s all it is. If Cricket players could cheat and know they’d have a good chance of getting away with it you’d see a lot more cheating, like you do in football.

Cheating is not part of the game of cricket, but as I said, it is of football, so generally speaking, cricket is infinitely cleaner.

In football, if a player goes past you with the ball, you give him a little tap and bring him down. Not only is that very much part of the game these days, Man City have won Premier League titles because they are experts at it. I'm not talking about any terrible fouls resulting in yellow or red cards if they can help it, but they are probably the best at stopping the opposition gaining any advantage by delivering a few nudges and 'accidental' trips here and there when it suits them best to 'break up the play'. That's using cheating to enforce your game plan and is widely accepted.

Yes, thank God, you're right it is much harder to cheat in cricket, although idiots like Smith, Warner and Bancroft thought they could get away with it without being spotted by loads of cameras with close-up shots of all the players..

.

 

[JCRD]

I have to say, I do like Isa Guha

Oh I would definitely.

I mentioned her earlier

erm... Keep your hands off

and Reshmin Chowdhury too - keep your hands off...