The Cricket Thread

[Tashyboy]

I hadn't seen that. He does look a bit disfigured for sure so thought there must have been major surgery and then probably grafts/plastics.

Psychologically he must have been through the wringer. Poor guy. He had already expressed frailties when it came to his appearance (bulimic I think). It's good to see him back in the public eye.

My concern with Freddie is he wears his heart on his sleeve. Watching him
It’s like he needs his fix of adrenaline. He should have a Bessie pal telling him what he needs to know and not what he wants to know. Like a lot of high profile personalities. I think he sometimes needs protecting from himself.
Personally I love him
To bits.

 

[Junior]

Agree on Livingstone. One swallow does not make a summer and all that. Although again he is handy with the ball and good in the field which helps though.

Agree on Malan. Just think with the depth we have he should be the one to move aside for Brook.

Smeed just too inconsistent with the depth we have

Banton - bad 24 months just after he broke through haven’t helped. Hopefully this summer is his return to norm as other than Brook nobody hits a ball cleaner

Torn on Malan. His record is decent but as you say, he takes a while to get going so if he fails having used up a lot of balls, we have our backs against the wall. I see a place for him though so that's why I think Roy should step aside for Brook, and Brook should open.

Livingston has been turned into a bits and pieces cricket for England. At Lancs he's a gun batter (even in fcc) and part time tweaker. With the rise of Brook and Jacks, I think he's just going to fill that number 7 birth.

Nice to have so many batters to choose from......bowling in limited overs is a different story. Esp with Wood amd Archers injury issues.

 

[Billysboots]

With 45 minutes to kill this evening I stumbled across The Longest Feud on Prime. Quite simply, it charts the childish spat between Ian Chappell and Ian Botham dating back to a falling out in a Melbourne bar in 1977.

Quite aside from being utterly pointless viewing, with the last ten minutes being excruciating in the extreme, all the programme managed to do was reinforce in my mind what an arrogant man Botham is.

It reminded me of my childhood, much of which was spent with mates at my local county ground watching my heroes playing. Great days they were. We were junior club members and used to spend long summer days both watching the games and collecting autographs. We got countless autograph books filled with signatures of all the legends of the game from the late 70’s and early 80’s.

None of the players back then found it too much trouble to spend a few minutes signing autographs and chatting with the youngsters. They all did their bit, from the great touring West Indies and Australian sides, to our own Test players.

All, that is, apart from one man. Ian Botham. He was straight out of the changing room, past excited hordes of waiting kids, in his car and gone. Every day, every time Somerset visited, every season. Never a word for anyone. And he was in a minority of one.

I’ve tried down the years to warm to him but can’t. His interview a few years ago with Piers Morgan was a car crash. His autobiography one of the toughest reads I have battled through. But the 45 minute documentary this evening topped the lot.

I’m not a huge fan of Ian Chappell, albeit I thought he was a decent broadcaster. But Botham just came across as an arrogant, egotistical bully. He’s nearly 70 years of age. About time he started acting it.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

One that has gone under the radar a little, Durham have been promoted to Div 1 of the county championship. After a really rough few years, thanks ECB, they have done brilliantly to come back so quickly. They've done it quietly, effectively and also, this year, with a degree of style.

 

[RichA]

Didn't get to watch the ODI yesterday so have just watched it on iPlayer. If Stokes and Buttler get that bit of early luck they are still utterly brutal.
Really enjoying the use of current players this year by the commentary teams. Tymal Mills is very good.
At least one of our England teams knows how to please a crowd.

 

[WGCRider]

Looking at this series and the current Australia - South Africa series I'm beginning to dread the world cup. Every game has been really one sided - not a single close, exciting finish. T20 has spoilt us.

 

[Grizzly]

Looking at this series and the current Australia - South Africa series I'm beginning to dread the world cup. Every game has been really one sided - not a single close, exciting finish. T20 has spoilt us.

What made the 2019 World Cup win for me was that the ICC's seemingly odd insistence on used wickets led to most of the games being tight. I don't know that they will do the same this time around - used wickets in India tend to become raging bunsens, so it is more likely that we will see a tournament played on IPL pitches. In which case you are spot on - there will be lots of teams going big in the first innings and lots more teams suffering from the scoreboard pressure batting second.

 

[Mudball]

Brooks replaces Roy.. (finally) gets the opportunity he deserves. Eng now have the depth to post or chase big totals… bowling dept could do with some depth. Indian pitches now support fast bowlers, so it might work in Eng favour, but it is a throw of the dice.

Suddenly SA is putting up big runs against Aus. Will this become the tournament with the highest number of 350+ scores ?

Meanwhile, speaking of Indian fast bowlers, india skittled our Sri Lanka in the Asia cup finals today for 50. siraj took 6 wickets of which 4 came in one over.. mental

 

[Neilds]

View attachment 49453
The video of it is horrific. Front right tire blew out. Looking at his face he’s had some major reconstructive surgery - jaw bone & cheek bone.

That isn’t the latest crash for Freddie. The last one was in a Morgan 3 wheeler and he wasn’t wearing a helmet which is why the injuries were so bad

 

[Neilds]

Will England declare in the ODI against Ireland? Should get well over 400 at this rate!

 

[Mudball]

Funny hit wicket doing the rounds from the Bangladesh match

 

[3offTheTee]

Will England declare in the ODI against Ireland? Should get well over 400 at this rate!

Made we laugh when Sky showed a we were 6 overs the score was 84/0. The prediction was 700!!

 

[Deleted member 15717]

Funny hit wicket doing the rounds from the Bangladesh match

surely it should be out as bowled, as the ball clearly takes the bails off before his foot decides to complete the job

 

[Neilds]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66934872

Makes Bazball look a bit pedestrian

 

[Mudball]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66934872

Makes Bazball look a bit pedestrian

Some of the cricket among associate nations is interesting.. Saw a clip between Nepal and Ireland where the Napalese keeper did not run the batsman out because he was tripped by the bowler. Under spirit of cricket

Imagine Barstow not getting Smith out if he tripped over .. or vice versa

 

[Neilds]

Has Jonny been hitting the pies since the Ashes? He is looking quite large in India

 

[Piece]

CWC about to start. In India. In a massive stadium. Which is empty.

 

[Billysboots]

Hugely disappointing crowd for the opening game of the CWC.

 

[Billysboots]

CWC about to start. In India. In a massive stadium. Which is empty.

I get that the Indian crowds are passionate about their national side. But I thought they were passionate about cricket, regardless of of who is playing.

The turnout here is an absolute embarrassment. It makes the football World Cup in Qatar look impressive in comparison.

 

[D-S]

Some sort of ticketing fiasco reported on the radio.