That's an impressive missed catch from Buttler there.
That's an impressive missed catch from Buttler there.
Thoroughly sick of Pant at this point.
He's one of those players who is both incredibly good and also incredibly lucky.
Another glorious final ten overs here.
Nasser just gave your mate Dernbach a mention there, Jimmy.
Still going strong (well, ish) for the men in duck egg blue.
https://www.kiaoval.com/squad/
Pretty sure everyone on that page either has been panned for 12 an over at the back end of an ODI, has had a failed run as a Test opener, or will do one of those in the future.
Rikki Clarke is not looking good for his age.
Hussein donning it on DRS there.
That's why you need to give pundits the freedom to talk, on BCCI fluffer TV he would be excommunicated for doubting The Great Virat and the conversation would never move forward.
Some cracking shots here. I look forward to the collapse.
I just learned via Cricinfo that Ebony Rainford-Brent a) has a ludicrously long name and b) there are three double-barrels in there.
Ebony-Jewel Cora-Lee Rosamond Camellia Rainford-Brent.
EDIT: Also Kuldeep is hating this.
Last edited by Ian; 26-03-2021 at 02:56 PM.
Just about reflects the number of jobs she has within cricket (and does all of them very well, as far as I can see).
What other stuff does she do?
Director of Cricket for Surrey women, and also heads up the national ACE programme which is about getting black kids into cricket.
Hussein's full bit on DRS / Umpire's call has been uploaded by Sky if anybody cares:
https://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...call-confusing
I didn't see it but my dad was telling me about a talking heads bit on DRS where Kevin Pietersen was dead set that it was bad for batsmen (presumably because they can no longer fuck about on the front foot to non-spinning spinners).
Nas was right if it's the same bit I saw, it was introduced to eliminate the howler, but ever since inception it hasn't really been used like that, so there probably is some merit in the idea of just trusting ball tracking (lol at the Indians being all for that though).
Definitely missed a trick when they didn't use the Broad edge against Australia as the evidence for terrible decisions, although that Stewart one was an absolute doozy. Sri Lanka were so so bent back in the day.
Indians are all for anything until it stiffs one of their pin-up heroes, and then they move over to thinking the opposite.
The whole DRS scepticism there was brought about because Sachin was given out in the 2011 World Cup and they couldn't get over it.
Well Kohli had apparently said that they should just trust the ball tracking rather than do the umpire's call stuff but Hussein's argument is if you do that, allowing for the margin of error Hawk Eye give, means you're basically making the wickets bigger and that if you're doing that the umpire will, rather than making the best call and letting DRS sort it out, just err on the side of it being a wicket and DRS can overrule it if he's properly fucked it.
'Trusting ball tracking' basically reduces the umpire to calling wides and moving stones between their hands. Could probably do without them at that point.
I think that's fair.
Those sorts in cricket do the thing where when they're on it top edges and the like that for another player or on another day might go right up in the air or into the hands of a fielder just go where they need to. But it's weird because it's not QUITE luck because they have those moments too often. It's like they just shift the margin of error up just a bit in their favour.
It's amazing to watch and I'm not sure it's evident in quite the same way in any other sports I watch. Maybe some quarterbacks in American football.
Stokes is the king of it I think. Spent the whole of 2019 on good/lucky island.
De Villiers as well.
I think I only really notice it personally (in terms of actual experience) in cue 'sports', where the best players always seem to 'get all the luck'. I think the reality is that they are just the best players, and so are able to capitalise on the luck they get, whereas some middle of the road muggins doesn't.
Nice to see a mini batting collapse from someone other than England.
Stuard Broad really is a natural on commentary. Can see him even being a lead man in the future, a la Tony Greig or Richie Benaud etc.
I've quite liked what I've seen of him.
NZ v Bangladesh T20. NZ score 173/5 in 17.5 and then it's rained off. The rain stops, Bangladesh come out to bat needing 148 in 16 (they think). Nine balls in, the umpires stop the game as the match referee has got his calculator out. Word comes in that actually they need 170 to win.
THE best sport.
Do we blame Duckworth, Lewis or Stern?
Fell asleep and missed the debacle and second innings. Not that the target ended up making any difference anyway. Restricted to 142/7 from 16 in the end.
Christ, what knock that was by Fakhar against South Africa, even in a losing cause.
Comedy way to get out as well in the end (sauntering a second and getting done by a direct hit from the boundary).
Edit, seems that may not have been the most recent game, but he's been at it again today.
Yesterday. Time moves at its own pace on the island, I guess.
Was just watching the highlights waiting for the masters to come on.
Regret to report that James Vince is currently 187 not out in the opening Championship match, at better than a run a ball.
I saw Sam Robson "looking in good touch" on the live text yesterday. No idea what he ended up with.
I love the early part of the County Championship you really do get classic things happening. Like snow stopping play at Yorkshire today...
Makes you wonder what the charms of the IPL are really?
Is shalford in your neck of the woods, @Jimmy Floyd ?
No, but I know where it is, about 30/40 mins away. Nice part of the world.
"Ed Smith's England selector role abolished"
Way to cap off a generally good news night. The coach also being the selector sounds like a ballache for him, but at least there's someone to demand the sacking of when we next get humiliated.
I see Wee Jimmy Taylor is now 'head scout' in the revamped setup. But has the question been asked whether he's tall enough for the role?
I suppose in the current times it might be OK, but when fans are back he may not be able to see over the heads of people in the row in front of him, so he'll just have to ask their opinions and use those. Bit of a lottery imo.
"How did you think the bowlers got on in that session, James?"
"Well I could only see the bouncers. "
I fucking love the Hundred. Everything about it is perfect
OK, but why?The ECB have collaborated with house musician Jax Jones to produce a tournament song for The Hundred – and have decided to stick with the term “wickets” rather than introduce “outs”.
The aim of The Hundred, an eight-team men’s and women’s tournament, is to take cricket to a new audience.
To this end, the ECB wanted a tournament song, as seen at World Cups and other major sporting events.
The song, ‘Feels’, was first used by the ECB in an advert for the Hundred released on Wednesday that will be used across on-demand broadcasting services like 4oD and social media.
'He was working on a track', my sides are splitting. Anyway, what about the cricket?“The Hundred will showcase world-class sporting action on the pitch and stars from the world of entertainment off it,” the ECB told Standard Sport.
“Music will be at the heart of the entertainment side and when selecting the song to feature on our ad campaign, we wanted to work with an artist that aligns with The Hundred’s high octane, positive energy.
“Jax Jones was the perfect fit. He was working on a track, ‘Feels’, that embodies the upbeat experience we want to create for fans this summer and we felt this was the ideal choice for the campaign.”
Sounds like a game changer...The ECB have looked at cricket’s language in a bid to demystify the sport for new followers. It was revealed this month that they were weighing up calling a batter’s dismissal an “out”, rather than a “wicket”.
But to ensure consistency with the other formats of the sport, “wicket” will remain, with the word “out” only involved in its current guise.
Another certain terminology change is that the tournament’s equivalent of Player of the Match will be Match Hero.
JAMES VINCE in LED lights, the new audience will be powerless to resist.More details are emerging about the in-stadium look of the tournament. There will be a “Main Stage” in each of the eight grounds, from where musicians and DJs will perform between games, and players will be interviewed, while players will enter the field of play through short tunnels with their names lit up by LED lights.
"Match Hero." Jesus Christ.
Old white men and marketing grads decide what will get the youth involved.
The very notion that the sport needs 'demystified' is a laugh too. No sport needs that. You know the basic premise (in cricket's case: hit the ball, don't let it get caught or get past you to knock the sticks over) and if you enjoy it you'll pick up the rest as you go along.
Your part of the world is completely fucked, perhaps beyond repair.
RIP the larrikin spirit etc.
Pat Cummins donating 50,000 bucks to the ethno-nationalist Indian state strikes me as a low point, but everyone seems to be spinning it as a high point.
When I do die of covid can the Maroons flag fly here for 24 hours?