The Cricket Thread

[Jimmy Floyd]

There used to be an old school sports shop at the end of my road where I grew up, the guy in there told me (while closing it down after 35 years) that the reason it all went wrong was that Nike and Adidas, or at least one of them, took all their product lines out of said shops so that you had to buy either direct from their own boutique places, or from Mike Ashley who presumably places a preset massive annual contract with them. Lord Nike, or perhaps Ashley via them, was fed up with Dave's Sports having access to their gear. A tale as old as time, really.

[Ian]

All this is just making me think of Kevin Bridges talking about a scummy Glasgow sports shop selling dozens of baseball bats and not a single baseball.

"The Easterhouse Red Sox must have not played many games this year."

[niko_cee]

Ok, so, here are the runners and riders, not many at the moment:

https://villagecricket.co/product/junior-cricket-bat/

https://www.prodirectsport.com/cricket/p/gunn-moore-diamond-202-junior-kashmir-willow-bat-blue-black-junior-cricket-bats-256121/

Sports Direct was a total failure.

[niko_cee]

Got to say, I'm concerned about this 'not for use with hard balls' minefield which seems to plague the entry level junior bats.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If you're looking for any kind of durability I'd take the GM over whatever the hell 'Village' is.

[niko_cee]

The 202 gets a 1 star review on amazon with a video of it having cracked/split massively around the splice after a few uses.

Think village is either a Yorkshire based scam, or a 'small business' rival to the big brands.

[Ben]

No scams in Yorkshire chore.

[Clunge]

My first bat was a G&M and it's still in great nick 20 years+ later.

[niko_cee]

The GM 202 just arrived and it looks/feels nice.

On the subject of youth cricket my daughter also does this street cricket thing, which I assume is some sort of ECB/county initiative to get more cricket being played and it's interesting to watch the little fuckers playing. Every shot is a scoop, or reverse ramp or reverse sweep of some sort. Must be maddening to coach but I guess it shows how influential the very short format versions have become. Not sure I ever saw anyone play a reverse anything in my career as a youth cricketer, although I do consider myself to have been a pioneer of the uppercut/waft over the slips.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Reverses didn't become widespread in amateur cricket until maybe five or six years ago. Now you see them a huge amount. I did Surrey U16s a couple of times last year and they had a Whitgift lad built like a front rower who could switch hit / reverse slog seamers or spinners aerially for boundaries, with effortless poise and power. Was a bit scary to watch in a way. That said, to do it really well is still the preserve of the really exceptional hand-eye merchants. Even at county level, most can't do it like him.

[Ben]

I recall playing against Simon Guy (Yorkshire wicketkeeper) in a cup game about 15 years ago and I was bamboozled by his creativity. Hitting 360 degrees with scoops, reverse sweeps etc. We'd move the field then he would find the new gap with a new shot immediately. It's pretty much the norm now but back then it was completely alien. Impossible to defend against.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Even now, if you have fielding restrictions and you have someone who can both wallop it in front of the wicket and beat fine leg / third up in the ring with ramps, then you're basically fucked. The only panacea is a left armer bowling slower wide yorkers right across people, haven't seen that defeated yet.

[hfswjyr]

If I recall correctly, the first time I saw the scoop shot in an international was Baz playing it. Am I dreaming, and did he popularise that as well? Or did someone play it before him?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Dougie Marillier is generally considered to have been first. Dilshan probably majorly popularised it.

[thommo]

2nd winter net session yesterday and I've definitely bowled too much and my shoulder is now extremely sore. Good job we've got 6-7 weeks before any actual games so I should be fine if I take it easy.

Basically a repeat of last year, as evidenced by this post:


I think I've thrown myself back into cricket too eagerly, and I'm now ruing it. I netted on Wednesday and my shoulder felt quite sore when bowling and it got to the game on Saturday and I couldn't bowl without real pain as I got through the action.

Absolutely typical that I've injured myself just as I got involved. And of course I was an absolute magnet for the ball in the field; I think I had to pull out a slide or dive 4 times in quick succession in the outfield. Throwing the ball back in didn't feel good either.

I never learn. :face:

[Jimmy Floyd]

I had good news this morning, added to the Premier League list for this year. Looking forward to getting volleys of abuse from Surrey players all summer.

[Danny]

Congrats Jim.

Where does that put you level wise?

[Max Power]

Not long until Joel Wilson is forced to send one upstairs for Jim to rock and roll on…

[Jimmy Floyd]

Highest level of club cricket, I guess. Last year I was starting to get a few county academy games and did the national schools final, so the wind is behind me a little bit. Pro level is not possible I don't think, but definitely aiming for national panel (minor counties / county 2nd XI) at some point in the future. Been quite surprised how it's gone given I was a dogshit player.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not long until Joel Wilson is forced to send one upstairs for Jim to rock and roll on…

Weirdly, I'm not sure that level appeals. Hardly make any of your own decisions and from talking to a couple of people last year, it sounds like about 70% of the job is trying to stop people from sneaking onto their phones to fix the match, which, aside from at the very highest level (England/India etc), everyone is doing literally all the time.

[Danny]

Highest level of club cricket, I guess. Last year I was starting to get a few county academy games and did the national schools final, so the wind is behind me a little bit. Pro level is not possible I don't think, but definitely aiming for national panel (minor counties / county 2nd XI) at some point in the future. Been quite surprised how it's gone given I was a dogshit player.

Great stuff.

What makes you think pro isn’t possible? You must be doing something right to get where you are and get given a national final. Schools or not.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Because the English pro umpires are, with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions, all ex pro players. So either the policy would have to change or I'd have to be truly the best of the best.

There's also the issue that I'd have to fund myself at the stage before and probably quit my job, which is unlikely to be sensible.

[Danny]

Fair. I didnt realize it was that way for the umpires. I would have expected more of mix, though nothing like football where they all appear to have never played it.

[Waffdon]

Another great start from England followed by the usual collapse. Root, Bairstow and Stokes all going in the space of 10 minutes isn’t really a surprise to anyone.

[Waffdon]

This also might be the greatest ground I’ve ever seen btw

[Dave.]

Jaiswal is amazing.

[Ian]

The second episode of the James May in India show on Prime had a nice bit about manufacturing cricket bats and balls if anybody hasn't seen that / is interested.

[Waffdon]

Jaiswal is amazing.

50+ in every match so far. Christ. This could be another absolute annihilation

[Waffdon]

Jesus, I’m good.

:D

[Waffdon]

I reckon Pope & Stokes must have averaged about 10 this series if you take out both their 1 good innings. Gingers are shite

[Jimmy Floyd]

We probably need a solid northern bastard in the middle order. Josh Bohannon maybe.

Will be interesting to see how the team ends up for our inevitable stomp on Sri Lanka, particularly the seam bowling, Ollie Robinson seems to be in a nosedive towards ignominy. Anyone who hasn't seen/heard his podcast is missing out on a true bulwark of culture.

[Ian]

Anyone who hasn't seen/heard his podcast is missing out on a true bulwark of culture.

Oh god, what sort of shit is he doling out on there?

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjozinxh-Dg

Scroll to any random point in the video (this is the most recent episode) and see how long it takes before your brain just shuts down entirely.

[Ian]

I'm afraid that is simply too much charisma for me to handle.

[hfswjyr]

I never thought we'd come close to beating this Aussie team, but even with no expectations, and to have the team coming close-ish, I'm still disappointed.

[niko_cee]

Cursed (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/68563855)

I reckon there would be a really interesting study to be had in the long term health benefits of helmets. They completely normalise getting hit on the head, and have led to a style of play were it is almost disregarded. Would be interesting if it's really bad for you in the long run, with impacts which would probably be avoided in a no-helmet alternative reality. I guess there probably aren't enough instances of getting hit on the head for it to be a CTE style issue, but it could be interesting where a safety device decreases risk aversion and ends up leading to the sort of thing it is trying to negate.

[Ben]

I think you're absolutely right. Obviously there are situations where a helmet is desired but overall I probably can't argue with that sentiment.

Personally I've worn a helmet most of my life (and currently do so) but my opening partner never does. He's quite often asked why he isn't (when the opposition has a quick bowler etc.) and his reply is always that he isn't planning to have his head anywhere near the ball. He's been the top scorer in our division the last two years so who am I to argue with his logic.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I never wore a helmet and was never hit in the head. Always thought I could see the ball far, far earlier because of it. However I also didn't face any really rapid bowling or sweep.

I was at pre season this week and chatting to our first team quick, we decided to have him run in and bowl about ten bumpers in a row a) to see if he could deliver them and b) to see what the batters did. They all had a slash at every single one and about three would have been out. One was hit on the back of the head. That would never, ever have happened pre helmets.

[Ian]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/68546045

History makers. :cool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

One of my very 'gammon' views is that English cricketers are a bunch of softies these days. You can take Anderson out of that equation but the rest are just pampered fucks who don't have the mental capacity to deal with an away 5-test series.

[Ian]

I agree and a common whinge of mine for football especially is we don't really produce anybody for the major team sports who has a proper "over my dead body", hard-nosed motherfuckers these days.

John Terry was probably the last one for England football unless I'm forgetting somebody. And my feeling is that in my youth the England rugby team, during the periods when they were a bad team, were at least a team who'd try and drag you down to their level and make you fight to beat them.

I'm glad Stokes and McCullum have made the England team actively enjoy playing test cricket but I wonder how many of them in the current setup properly hate losing?

[Ben]

I just saw something on the BBC live text about the Kookaburra ball being used in the CC. What is this heresy? Is it some bullshit about trying to nerf the dobbers on our green tops?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yeah the last 5 years have been a series of attempts to stop medium pace in English cricket, might as well try and stop gravity.

[Kikó]

Warwickshire having a few massive partnerships against Durham https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-one-2024-1410191/warwickshire-vs-durham-10th-match-1410202/full-scorecard

[Clunge]

Somerset binning off the season before it's even really started, again.

https://i.imgur.com/p7DMapO.png

:facepalm:

[thommo]

First outdoor nets yesterday, finally. I much prefer netting outside, just feels better. Ended up bowling quite nicely after a wayward start, bowled a lot at the 1sts and kept it in the right area. Our league season isn't starting until the first weekend of May so hopefully the pitches will dry up a bit by then. Not sure how many friendlies we'll play though....

Next step is to knock in the new bat. Will have to just sit down with a film on and get to work.

[Ben]

Our league have postponed the full first round of fixtures (scheduled for this week) to be crammed in on some random Sunday.

Double weekends. :sick:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Just call it rained off ffs. Double weekends are ridiculous in this day and age. They always get far too influenced by Big Club A crying salt tears that they were rained off against Bottom Feeders B and that it's all so unfair. Deal with it ffs, it's sport.

I went to the umpires pre season meeting and we got a directive (which I think is a national ECB directive, actually) that we're all giving too many decisions out, and batters need to get more benefit of the doubt. I've been saying this for years, so felt quite smug.

[Ben]

I went to the umpires pre season meeting and we got a directive (which I think is a national ECB directive, actually) that we're all giving too many decisions out, and batters need to get more benefit of the doubt. I've been saying this for years, so felt quite smug.

Just asked my umpire mate. Can confirm they were told this up here too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

They say that there are more than twice as many mistakes on out decisions as on not out decisions. I can well believe that's true, but it's been true for 100 years (thanks to the Bumble 'keep the game moving' brigade), so I wonder what's made them crack down on it now. Maybe being sawn off is more of a participation issue than not getting a plumb one as a bowler. Maybe it's all part of the war on medium pace. Who knows.

[niko_cee]

I know it's a batsman's game and all but that seems an odd directive. Surely an umpire needs to be sure in their own mind before giving something out?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Well that's exactly what they're saying. You should only give things out 'beyond reasonable doubt' as opposed to 'on the balance of probabilities'.

They even went through a whole load of Hawkeye replays where the ball is barrelling into the top of middle, umps has given it out and then barking CORRECT DECISION, BUT A BAD DECISION.

[niko_cee]

Ah, so lbw is only the bottom half of middle? Gotcha. Batsman's charter as ever.

Think we probably need some sort of 'certainty' that doesn't evoke the two legal standards, seeing as there is a massive margin between the balance of probabilities [51%] and beyond reasonable doubt [90%+?].

[thommo]

Shame we don't have appointed umpires for the 3s then, we need all the help we can get. We were bowled out for under 50 4 times last season. :D

[niko_cee]

Deadly's done for.

I'm sure there would have been ECB directives aimed at countering him were he playing today.

[hfswjyr]

This seems like the worst form of affirmative action.

[Gray Fox]

All a part of the grand scheme to reduce the number of LBWs given against Bairstow. Top work. That'll keep him in the team for a few years more.

[igor_balis]

All a part of the grand scheme to reduce the number of LBWs given against Bairstow. Top work. That'll keep him in the team for a few years more.

I've full faith he'll overcome and just revert to getting his stumps spattered instead

[Ian]

And still review it.

[ItalAussie]

I regret not dipping in to visit here during the World Cup final.

We've had a good run in the cricket. Probably winding up soon though.

[Kikó]

Ital 😍

[ItalAussie]

I'm hoping to float around a little more. I don't have much interesting to say, but everyone else here does. :D

[Shindig]

What next? Mellin rising from his grave?

[thommo]

Picked up a bat (along with gloves, pads, bag) a couple of weeks ago and have been steadily knocking it in each night. Probably have done about 2.5-3 hours of work; is that ok to use in the nets tonight against old balls?

Aim is to use it this weekend as I have a friendly on both days.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In my mind it's 4 hours, so after 3 I'm sure it will be fine against soft old ones.

[Ben]

Snow expected on the higher ground around here today, then more rain tomorrow and Friday.

Saturday's game looking sketchy, which is a shame because we're being livestreamed against a team who've signed up Trent Boult's club opening bowler partner, so I was looking forward to watching myself get castled in High Definition.

[thommo]

In my mind it's 4 hours, so after 3 I'm sure it will be fine against soft old ones.
Good stuff. I'll give it another 20 mins before I head to nets just to be sure (and infuriate the missus even further).


Snow expected on the higher ground around here today, then more rain tomorrow and Friday.

Saturday's game looking sketchy, which is a shame because we're being livestreamed against a team who've signed up Trent Boult's club opening bowler partner, so I was looking forward to watching myself get castled in High Definition.
Met Office seems to have the rest of the week as fairly dry (albeit bloody cold). You should be ok. League season started or a friendly?

[Ben]

League season. We were meant to start last week but that got nixed by the steady rain we've had since October. 22 games in our league so it runs from now to mid-September.

[Ian]

What does "knocking in" a bat entail? And if it's required how come they don't come, I dunno, pre-knocked?

[niko_cee]

Just hitting it with a ball or special mallet, I guess to fully compress the face of the blade to prevent any sudden impacts causing it to crack/split/chip off when in use - although that can still happen. My recent foray into bat buying suggested you can pay for the service nowadays, ie get it knocked in by someone presumably, or have it done automatically on some bats - lower end ones I would guess. It's probably more ritualistic at this point. Do people still oil their bats?

[thommo]

Basically hitting the bat with either a bat mallet, or an old ball in a sock. You need to do this for a number of hours to compress the fibres in the bat which helps with bat life and performance. It does seem weird to me that I spent a fair chunk of money on a nice new bat and then immediately have to wear it down a bit to get it ready for use.

You can pay to have it knocked in when you buy it. Some also come pre-pressed which I believe reduces the amount of knocking in needed.

[Clunge]

It's basically just whacking the main hitting area, edges and toe with an old ball and/or mallet for 9-10 hours to compact the wood/grain so it doesn't just split and splinter the first time it's used in battle. You used to rub linseed oil in while knocking them in, not sure if that's still the done thing or not. My parents agreed to buy me a fancy bat growing up on the proviso I knocked it in for about 20 hours. Damn thing still split after about five uses.

[niko_cee]

3 replies inside 10 minutes.

:cool:

Good to see TTH still has its finger on the pulse of the big issues of the day.

[Clunge]

Linseed oil smells fucking great, tbh.

[thommo]

The bat survived nets. :thbup:

Going to do a little more knocking tomorrow and Friday just to ensure it's ready for the matches at the weekend. I'm chomping at the bit to get out there now. "Met Office Carmarthen" has become my most visited page over the last few weeks. :D

[thommo]

Inevitably, the friendly today was rained off. More hope for tomorrow as the forecast looks dry until Monday.

Tried to watch Ben get worked over but the livestream doesn't seem to be up. :D

[Ben]

They had it on but we got delayed for rain so they took it down and never got it going again. Thank God, scratchy as fuck.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We managed to get a 25 over game in, home team had a New Zealand first class seamer bowling from my end whom two Surrey scouts had come to watch. He was fucking shit.

[hfswjyr]

Who? He'll probably be our opening bowler soon at this rate.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Simon Keene (Auckland)

[thommo]

Managed to get our friendly in yesterday - ended up playing two T20s so we could flip the batting and give everyone a chance.

It was a good laugh, but on a pitch I never want to play on again - an artificial wicket slap bang in the middle of a rugby and football field. Too much bounce on those wickets, and the outfield was awful, muddy and soggy. I was constantly worrying about my grip in my run-up and when fielding, so it wasn't particularly representative of the league season but good to at least get out and play a bit.

[Danny]

England Provisional ICC Men's T20 World Cup & Vitality IT20 Squad versus Pakistan Squad:

Jos Buttler (Lancashire) Captain
Moeen Ali (Warwickshire)
Jofra Archer (Sussex)
Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Tom Hartley (Lancashire)
Will Jacks (Surrey)
Chris Jordan (Surrey)
Liam Livingstone (Lancashire)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
Phil Salt (Lancashire)
Reece Topley (Surrey)
Mark Wood (Durham)

How many games until Archers arm falls off?

[Jimmy Floyd]

On paper that should have too much for both Oman and Namibia.

[thommo]

A tough first day at the office for the league season.

Up to the 2s to help out as availability is inevitably poor to start the season and we got soundly beaten. It was a glorious day but the weather had been so bad, the pitch was soft and slow and a nightmare to bat on. We were actually the only game in the division to go ahead. Got myself a wonderful 2-ball duck, slapped a short one back to the bowler as I tried to cut and went through the shot too early. They chased down our mediocre total and won by 7 wickets with little issue.

Back to our club to watch the 1s and they started well with a comfortable win; it was beautiful to sit in the evening sun with a pint watching the wickets tumble.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've done four games so far, three warmups and a national cup first round tie on Sunday for which I was very ill but somehow dragged myself through it. This weekend I have a Premier League debut and then national cup second round. The week after, standing with my old pal off the NZ first class panel. Then in a couple of weeks, Surrey v Middlesex U18, followed by an 'exchange' in which I have to go and umpire a Hertfordshire Prem game, that will be shit.

Things starting to escalate quickly, already done a South African Test match player last week, and another one coming at the weekend. Honestly not sure how I've got this far so quickly. I always thought that one would have to be a much bigger 'character' than I am to make it to the higher levels, turns out just savage consistency and good decision-making can do the trick.

[Ben]

I complained (well, just noted really) in my umpire's report for the game on Saturday that one of them missed a boat load of front foot no balls (their opening bowler pretty much every ball). It didn't affect the result or anything but those are the basics you expect. I've been rewarded for trying to get the coordinator to bring it to his attention by having him appointed for our game again this Saturday. Dodgy LBW incoming.

Although I got a tough one in the cup yesterday too but I get it; it was a full outswinging yorker that just missed everything. I was waiting for the death rattle and nothing came. The bowler appealed because he thought the only way it hasn't cleaned me up is because it clipped my pad/boot on the way through.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Having the same umpire two weeks in a row is terrible practice, even if there wasn't a problem, but especially if there was. Never happens in our league.

If I saw that about not calling no balls come through on my captains' comments I'd be fearing the chop. God knows how some of these counties operate.

[Ben]

The umpire (and fixture) arranging in our league is terrible. The league has a wide reach (60 mile diameter) so some of the clubs out in the countryside tend to get the same umpires most weeks, which as you can imagine is dreadful.

[Danny]

Come on Jim you tease. Give us names.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If they were good names I would have done. Clyde Fortuin and Sarel Erwee

[Danny]

:D

That first one made his debut in Feb, wasn’t that the series where they sent no one of note cause of their domestic T20. Fairs it’s an international cap but still.

[Ben]

Erwee is pretty legit though. I bet he scores a shitload for whoever snapped him up.

Saying that, Fortuin probably has/will. Levels.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Clyde has been over before and churns out 1,000 per season without even blinking. That said on Saturday he tried to pull a full one on a slow wicket and got a snooker cue end that looped up to cover, welcome to England bru.

I also did this lad on Sunday https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/patrick-rowe-1130758 and he looked absolute mustard, the amount of time even lesser pros have compared to mere mortals is amazing.

[Luke Emia]

Yeah, one of my best mates all the way through school played National League North(football obviously) and would sometimes play with us on a Sunday when we were all in our mid 20’s the difference between him and everyone else on the pitch was incredible and he never even made it to pro.

[Ian]

Jimmy is retiring (being retired?) Probably the right call, but still it'll feel weird without him.

Also just saw that he's played in a fifth of all England tests. :|

[Jimmy Floyd]

That cannot be right surely. *looks it up* 187 from 1071. Pretty close to it.

I don't think they should retire him. They should pick the strongest team for each game. If he's in it pick him, if he isn't then don't. Far too much 'planning' going on.

[Danny]

My thoughts on it too. If he is fit and playing well why wouldn’t you pick him.

Edit: looks like he hasn’t played this season and apparently won’t until the end of May to ‘manage his workload’. Odd decision.

[Luke Emia]

Wonder if it’s him who has leaked it or if it’s the ECB? If it’s the ECB then they need to have a long hard look at themselves.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I had an interesting weekend. Doing my first Premier League game was pressure enough so then imagine my surprise when we were out for the toss, out came the captains and one of them was Mark Stoneman. He is still playing champo for Middlesex so how he found himself in this position playing for a Surrey club side with which he has no previous connection (to my knowledge) is anyone's guess, but there we are. This was in fact his first visit to their ground and it was interesting to watch him managing his really quite shit bowlers and being baffled when the oppo were not able to rotate the strike at will like pros can. The carb-fest beige tea also seemed not to his liking. He was actually a nice guy, with his alreet and play-ahs and what have you the accent stuck out a bit in Surrey. The useless other team dropped him twice on his way to 55 and then he holed out to deep square, much to the delight of the emotionally unstable Saffa who was bowling at the time.

Only once during the game did I incur the wrath of Stoneman and his Kiwi bowling accomplice when not giving them an LBW, I felt it was sliding down but they were of the opposite opinion and he barked at me HE GOT ACROSS, LIKE in purest geordie. I had been warned that top-end teams like to 'test' umpires they don't know and perhaps that was it.

[Ben]

Is that the Kiwi you mentioned further up? Is he quick or are New Zealand looking at a barren era?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Same one, yeah, and he was actually really good this time but I wouldn't say quick. He was like a shit Southee, I suppose.

[thommo]

That opener has one of the weirder stances/guards I've seen.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yesterday I also got a brief look (4 balls) at alleged Australian phenom Teague Wyllie https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/teague-wyllie-1295848, and all I can say is that if you got runs for exclaiming 'Ooh yeah!' when a scantily clad woman walks along the boundary then he would be averaging a lot more than he does.

[hfswjyr]

Is that the Kiwi you mentioned further up? Is he quick or are New Zealand looking at a barren era?

I don't follow our domestic game, but from the various new players that have been tried in recent matches, only Ben Sears has looked up for it. Maybe Will O'Rourke. The rest have looked half-pace.

[Jimmy Floyd]

NZ in the last say 30 years have been incredibly good at identifying what talent there is early and then developing it to the max. They will never have depth but if they can keep finding 2 players a year they'll be OK.

[Kikó]

Yesterday I also got a brief look (4 balls) at alleged Australian phenom Teague Wyllie https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/teague-wyllie-1295848, and all I can say is that if you got runs for exclaiming 'Ooh yeah!' when a scantily clad woman walks along the boundary then he would be averaging a lot more than he does.

Phwoar

[Danny]

Typical Teague, always thinking with his Wyllie.

[thommo]

Back down to the 3s this weekend for a Sunday game at home vs Aberystwyth 1s. I expect we'll get thumped but hopefully we can bowl first and make a game of it.

Played in the 2s in the weekend just gone. It was a tough game, our opponents batted first and made 243 in really warm weather. We had them 140-odd for 7 so it was frustrating to see it slip away. I came on for an over at the end and cleaned up the number 11 to get my first of the season. Then the captain came to me and asked if I wanted to open. The usual opener plays his shots a bit so I was just asked to stick around and see off some overs while he plays his natural game. We put on 70 in 16 overs, with me contributing a beautiful 7, but he was bowled just after drinks and I eventually got bowled off an inside edge in the 21st over. We lost comfortably in the end but managed to pick up 8 pts, so not a terrible result all things considered.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed opening though. I obviously need to get a bit better at rotating the strike but it afforded me time at the crease and allowed me to get into a decent rhythm at picking up the ball. Hopefully I can do it again this week for the 3s.

[Ian]

I think the only cricket content I have consumed via YouTube recently is the Nas/ Athers podcast Sky do but currently in my feed is 90 minutes of Long Melford 1st XI vs. Great Bromley 1st XI.

[Luke Emia]

I think the only cricket content I have consumed via YouTube recently is the Nas/ Athers podcast Sky do but currently in my feed is 90 minutes of Long Melford 1st XI vs. Great Bromley 1st XI.

Lovely place Long Melford. I got married about 5 miles away from there, not sure I’d be watching their cricket team though.

[thommo]

As expected, a tough day and a bit of a hammering for us yesterday. We fielded 8 lads 18 or younger, up against a side who will probably storm up the divisions for several seasons.

Fair play to our team though, kept at it in the field and put in the effort on a really hot day. On a personal note, I bowled pretty well (8-3-22-2) but batting wise I played a lazy shot and got a leading edge, easily caught for just 2.

The opponents were good lads overall - well 10 of them were at least. Their wicketkeeper was a bit of a prick from start to finish. Happy to say I had him nicking off to slip in my 2nd over, out for just 6.

[niko_cee]

There isn't a wicketkeeper in the world who isn't a mouthy little cunt.

I would say no offence to any resident TTH wickies, but you know what you're like.

[igor_balis]

Been quiet on my nights this week, and doing the usual aimless pissing about I ended up on a series of videos on the talksport YouTube featuring jarrod kimber and bumble (and some other bloke), and some of Jarrod's stuff more generally.

I was already aware of him from that podcast he did with zaltzman, but I think he's brilliantly entertaining. I may be missing some obvious flaws in his material simply by virtue of knowing fuck all about cricket, but was finding it all very compelling.

Any fans on here? Even ignoring his opinions and their relative merit, he just seems like a genuinely top bloke. Nice to see Bumble seems to really like and respect him, they had surprisingly good chemistry.

Maybe that's partly a cricket thing - in football, it's quite laughable how insecure ex-pros are about football pundits who didn't play at #thehighestlevel. How could you possibly provide the quality insight a Gabby Agbonlahor does if you didn't, right?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I like Kimber, some of his Youtube stuff is great. Also very 'neutral' in the sense that he focuses on everyone on their own merits, most online cricket outlets have gone heavily towards chasing Indian clicks in the last year or two which is about as boring as it gets.

[Clunge]

Mega seeing Jof back. Also, is there some kind of decree that Pakistan always has a chubbster in the team? Their current keeper is a proper unit.

[hfswjyr]

If it's the same guy who toured NZ last year, as well as being a proper unit, he was also proper shit.

[Jimmy Floyd]

World T20 is underway, it started at 1.30am in the UK. Canada played the USA and the latter won with some lad biffing 94 off 40 to chase 194 on a very small ground.

3.30pm today sees West Indies against Papua New Guinea. England's opener is against Scotland on Tuesday.

[Danny]

I had considered trying to get tickets for the Florida games but the selection ended up meh and not really worth the 4 hour drive.

Worked out well considering I have surgery to sort my ACL out Friday and would not be feeling the drive or sitting in the heat any time soon.

[Jimmy Floyd]

PNG kit is sensational. Worth getting whomped 4 times for.

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/videos/c3ggdx171zjo

Absolute scenes at the end of normal time in this one. Taxi for the Oman keeper. Associate cricket is just the best.

[thommo]

Two really good weekends for me and my club cricket exploits.

We headed for an away game firstly, off the back of two pretty crap batting efforts to start the season (47 all out and 54 all out). They won the toss and batted and when they put on 120 for the opening wicket, it was a little worrying. Ultimately we bowled really well to restrict them and they ended 191/5 off their 40 overs. I ended up with 3-29 from my allotted 8 overs.

We started ok with the reply but a quick flurry of wickets meant I came out to bat at 84/6 after 19 overs. Their captain was swinging it miles so I saw out his last 3 overs without a hope in hell of scoring runs, and then tucked in to the replacements. Unfortunately I edged behind with about 40 needed, but a run-a-ball 41 is my best batting score ever. We fell narrowly short (162 all out) but it was a really good performance all round and earned a good wedge of bonus points.

We were due to play this Sunday so I decided to go the 3 miles up the road on the Saturday to watch our 1s play a local derby. Packed bar and great atmosphere as our captain took a 5-fer and opened the batting to make 92 and lead us to a 5 wicket win. The 2s also won at home, so the pressure was on for us to earn a first win of the season and make it a clean sweep.

Our bowling attack again fired, bowling out the opposition for just 70 (1-9 from 4 overs for me). A collapse is never far away with our batting however, and I walked out at 48/5 with the nerves jangling. Our older opener told me to just play time and he chipped away at the runs. With 8 required, I got off the mark with a big six down the ground, before clipping the next ball for 2. :cool:

3 wins from 3 for the club, and our first win of the season in the 3s. Lovely stuff.

[Ben]

Good stuff mate. :thbup:

I'm injured. Potentially ACL. :eyemouth:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Nothing better than winning in club cricket, especially when the team hasn't had a great run. Also nothing better than walking off the field having made some with the bat.

Saturday they sent me to Hertfordshire Prem for an exchange. God it was bizarre. I turned up at this place in Watford and there was an umpire assessor there telling me he was marking us for progression to the national panel. This was news to me, I'm top 25 in Surrey now but it's only the top 3/4 who are national panel and I would say I'm a fair way from that yet. Anyway, my colleague had one of the most bizarre heads I've ever seen, in that he had a normally shaped head, but the face was entirely in the bottom half of it. He wasn't disabled or anything, just looked bizarre. I thought I was on acid. I had a quality game and the assessor (who had gravy stains down his shirt) said I was ace, though I wasn't bothered by that as he clearly didn't have a clue. The tea was even weirder. They cooked up a load of those chicken breaded schnitzel type things that you get in a supermarket, dumped them in a bucket, and then we ate them with our hands. That was it. Not even a bun to put them in or a plate.

I should have known this but Hertfordshire cricket was absolute shit. One of the teams was good but the other would be third tier at best in Surrey. Some Kiwi bloke hit about 15 sixes over my head into the tennis courts. There's a reason everyone else in cricket hates Surrey, the more I experience the game the more I realise Surrey are just the best at every aspect of it.

[Ben]

A lot of Premier Divisions are shit (within context). The ECB made this push some years ago to have all areas under their umbrella, forgetting the fact a lot of the country is piss poor at the game. I've experienced Cornwall, where guys get paid eye watering amounts, and if they rocked up in our area they'd get lolled off the park.

[hfswjyr]

Some Kiwi bloke hit about 15 sixes over my head into the tennis courts.

Get this man onto the next flight to the USA/WestIndies.

[Danny]

Good stuff mate. :thbup:

I'm injured. Potentially ACL. :eyemouth:

Uhoh. How you manage that?

Did mine almost 3 weeks ago and getting it sorted out this week. Long road to playing again (football that is as I dont think I could find cricket here...)

[Ben]

Uhoh. How you manage that?

Did mine almost 3 weeks ago and getting it sorted out this week. Long road to playing again (football that is as I dont think I could find cricket here...)

In the nets in January. Bowled a bouncer (fast, btw) and felt a pop at the top of my calf. Assumed I'd pulled the calf and didn't bowl for the rest of the winter to let it heal. First game of the season we only batted then got rained off so I didn't feel anything, then the second game I set off to chase one in the field and it went again. A few more weeks go by of me ignoring it, just batting and generally fielding in the ring but I was in agony most of my holiday last week both at the top of my calf and also working into the back of the knee. I can walk fine but anything more tends to set it off and I can't put any pressure on it. Went to see my physio and she reckons it's almost certainly the ligaments and the calf pain is a by-product. Waiting for an MRI.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Get this man onto the next flight to the USA/WestIndies.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/cole-briggs-1252163

I think every 2nd tier cricketer in New Zealand has a club gig over here.

[Danny]

In the nets in January. Bowled a bouncer (fast, btw) and felt a pop at the top of my calf. Assumed I'd pulled the calf and didn't bowl for the rest of the winter to let it heal. First game of the season we only batted then got rained off so I didn't feel anything, then the second game I set off to chase one in the field and it went again. A few more weeks go by of me ignoring it, just batting and generally fielding in the ring but I was in agony most of my holiday last week both at the top of my calf and also working into the back of the knee. I can walk fine but anything more tends to set it off and I can't put any pressure on it. Went to see my physio and she reckons it's almost certainly the ligaments and the calf pain is a by-product. Waiting for an MRI.

Jesus.

I was just making a run in behind and went to check right. Felt like the bottom half of my leg stayed and the rest of me went. I didn't feel a pop but a crunch and thought it was just bone on bone, maybe a bit of meniscus damage so I watched the rest and drove home. Made an appointment and the doc was like "yeah its ACL" before we even did the MRI. Turns out only ACL with a LCL sprain that will heal naturally.

Sounds about same with the rest though. I can walk with no issue but trying to do anything remotely like twisting is a no go. They gave me a brace at the appointment as they knew so I have been in that most of the time just waiting. Finally doesn't look like a balloon, just in time to get cut open and start again.

Fingers crossed it's not ACL for you and something a bit more manageable!

[thommo]

That sounds rough Ben. Hopefully it's not too bad and you can get back before the end of the season.

Jimmy, your umpiring stories do paint a hilarious picture of club cricket in general. I do love umpiring and scoring too; we've not got a game this weekend so I might go away with the 2s and do some of both.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Club cricket is the most amazing subculture. Non-cricket people's idea of it is that it's twee and dull, the reality is so different. It's like this big swirling pit of insecurities, pent-up grudges, vanity, petulance, humour and occasional moments of genuinely heartwarming brilliance. I'm probably one of the few people who has been at the very bottom of it and now also the very top, wouldn't change a moment for anything.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Scotland munching us everywhere in the powerplay. Apparently we have never won a T20I against a European nation. That is some stat.

[Waffdon]

This ground looks smaller than niko_cee new garden when he buys his house

[Waffdon]

Genuinely have no idea why you’d host this in the Caribbean in June. Surely it’s going to rain every other day

[niko_cee]

Never made an offer for the cricket field place which I was quite glad about when I picked up my daughter from cricket recently and saw some biffer routinely launching filth into back gardens/fence panels/the car park.

Is anyone outside of India actually interested in this? Do they even like it there anymore or is it just all IPL? The whole format just feels like absolute death now.

[Waffdon]

Test is king but think I’d prefer T20 over ODI.

I’m surprised T20 hasn’t taken off in America. You’d think it would suit the slow ones over there

[Ian]

T20 is trash, but as with basically anything it's fine once the stakes get high enough.

[Waffdon]

109 needed from England. Should still piss it but competitive enough

[Jimmy Floyd]

These midnight/1am starts our time are baffling. You can't even say it's for the Indian market as it's 6am there which is hardly prime time. Who is it for, the American west coast? Are they watching little else on Sunset Boulevard?

[Ben]

They're caught between trying to appeal to the locals to grow the game in America (fair enough) and also suit the Indian market, so we've got a pathetic situation where there's 10:30 and 20:00 local time games and sometimes nothing in between.

[Ben]

This New York pitch is rascal.

[niko_cee]

I see the dangerous pitch bealing is about when there is any risk of not being able to hit every single ball for six.

Dangerous pitches are probably the only interesting thing left in the cricket world west of England.


Similarly, the sizes of the boundaries - 75m and 65m on each side, and 71m straight – and slow outfield have inhibited run scoring with the boundary ropes unable to be pulled in because of ICC tournament guidelines.

:violin:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Big boundaries is the key to making T20 interesting, small boundaries are poison, yet people seem really really upset when it's anything other than sixes galore.

[Ben]

I don't get it either. The IPL is an absolute bore in my opinion.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The other issue is that modern batters are all crybabies and have zero adaptability to conditions, they spend so much time pinging the ball off bowling machines indoors that they think a bit of variable bounce is horribly unfair. Outdoor game, motherfuckers.

[Shindig]

Arena cricket league would be lethal, though. :drool:

[Waffdon]

Good bowling is better than good batting.

Unless it’s KP :wub:

[Ben]

Torn meniscus and ACL. :eyemouth:

Hopefully can get it back in good condition for next season...

[Danny]

Shit. How long they say until you can get an op?

[Jimmy Floyd]

There's a guy at my club who has had I think 4 ACL ops, two on each knee. Missed 5 complete seasons over the last 10 years. Latest comeback this season, immediately the 2s top scorer. Never leaves you.

[Ben]

Shit. How long they say until you can get an op?

I've got Bupa at work so going private, hopefully in the next couple of months.


There's a guy at my club who has had I think 4 ACL ops, two on each knee. Missed 5 complete seasons over the last 10 years. Latest comeback this season, immediately the 2s top scorer. Never leaves you.

Never had it. :D

[Danny]

Bupa :cool: Half my family (me included) worked at the Leeds on at one point or another before it became Spire.

They used to do all the Leeds players back in the day.

Im starting to brick it a bit. Mines tomorrow.

[Waffdon]

‘Murica absolutely cruising this so far.

[Waffdon]

Super over time :cool:

[Waffdon]

Pakistan giving away 18 runs with only 10 coming off that bat is hilarious

[Clunge]

Paahahah! That was dire from Pakistan.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This tournament showing why the 10 team format is utter gubbins.

[niko_cee]

Just seen that the Afghans gave the fufteen-fufties a good shoeing overnight.

Hadn't really looked that the groups, but I see we somehow have the Aussies in ours, despite the fact that both are incumbent limited overs world champs.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The groups were quite openly picked for commercial reasons, which is pretty ridiculous.

[Waffdon]

Just seen that the Afghans gave the fufteen-fufties a good shoeing overnight.

Hadn't really looked that the groups, but I see we somehow have the Aussies in ours, despite the fact that both are incumbent limited overs world champs.

But the other 3 sides are dogshit so it shouldn’t really matter. Would be funny if Australia smack England about tonight and lie down for Scotland if it comes down to net run rate

[Max Power]

More fun on the New York minefield

[niko_cee]

Not sure the pitch was at fault for any of the SA wickets, but yeah, this is the way to make T20 interesting. Just make it brutally random.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It really would be spectacular if Australia decided to tank against Scotland to knock us out. Any changes to your side Mitch? Yeah Nass, out go Warner, Starc and Stoinis and in come Kerry O'Keefe, Edna Everidge and a dingo.

[Dquincy]

Wonder how far that can be taken before it's claimed as match fixing. I remember some of the football world cup teams just passing it round the back who both needed a draw to qualify.

Anyway, well played Australia. Executed a brilliant game yesterday. But England should be fine.

[niko_cee]

India in a bit of potential strife in the nuclear derby.

[niko_cee]

Absolute fielding masterclass from Pakistan in the last few overs. Launching overthrows left, right and centre in a low scoring game.

[Waffdon]

Scotland should have a real chance to go through now especially if Aussie’s don’t fancy going too hard. Big win today for the NRR

[Jimmy Floyd]

England will have to nuke the other two.

Huge bottle job from Pakistan.

[niko_cee]

At least we might be rid of Mott, who seems like a weapons grade chancer.

[thommo]

I thought I'd be more irritated at England teetering on the precipice of elimination. Ultimately, the fact that this is the THIRD T20 World Cup in under 3 years has rendered me completely apathetic to the whole situation.

[Ben]

I couldn't give less of a shit about it. I watched Lion King yesterday instead of India vs. Pakistan.

[Ian]

'Mon the Desh. :cool:

[Spikey M]

America found out about Cricket?

[Ian]

Judging by the crowds for some of these games: no.

[Spikey M]

Remember when they hosted sports in countries where they really like them? That was fun. They should do that again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Quite a fun finish ongoing here, complete with obligatory anguish in Athar Ali Khan's voice.

[niko_cee]

I hate the leg bye rule generally, although understand its necessity, but lol at the Desh not getting four for that horrendous lbw decision that was overturned.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It will very literally cost them the game. There has been some dreadful umpiring in this tournament.

[niko_cee]

How has he not hit that out of the park? 50mph full toss right in the hitting zone, like some sort of baseball throw down.

We'd lose this from here more often than not.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pakistan v Canada underway and the latter out of the traps like mounties chasing a yeti.

Involving more countries really is the best way to make these things good.

[Jimmy Floyd]

India might actually throw/fuck this.

[Danny]

Just noticed the US have Corey Anderson playing for them. Weird one.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There are quite a lot of people who could probably qualify for the USA if they ever put together a proper schedule and become a proper team. I know loads of India/Pakistan rejects flock there for the easy life after being drummed out of national contention.

[Waffdon]

Cheeky 5 penalty runs for India to help them out

[Jimmy Floyd]

For dawdling between overs, this will help spread the game to new frontiers.

[Danny]

There are quite a lot of people who could probably qualify for the USA if they ever put together a proper schedule and become a proper team. I know loads of India/Pakistan rejects flock there for the easy life after being drummed out of national contention.

I seem to recall there being talk of Plunkett doing it a while back too.

[hfswjyr]

Just noticed the US have Corey Anderson playing for them. Weird one.

If I remember correctly, he married an American woman and went to live there permanently and now qualifies.

Also - what a shambles.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not sure how you lost that one. Absolutely mugged by Sherfane Rutherford.

Our date with destiny and more specifically with Oman is tonight, don't miss it.

[thommo]

I can see Australia and Scotland pulling a Disgrace of Gijon and feigning ignorance, so ultimately our two games wont matter a jot.

Bangladesh v South Africa has been the game I actually listened to/watched the most and that was a cracker.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It will matter a jot if we give Oman and Namibia a good hiding, as frankly we should. Australia fucking around with run rate is one thing but deliberately losing to Scotland would be too much even for their flexible moral outlook.

Bangladesh v Holland also on later which could be a good one, winner may well qualify.

[Ben]

I couldn’t help but laugh if “Davey” starts shouldering arms to some width from the Scottish dobbers.

[Waffdon]

It’s only right Australia lay down on Saturday after the rain saved England in the opener.

:cool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

It would actually be quite good for the sport if Scotland qualified as it would get them into the next one and give them a bit of economic certainty, the cricket board is an absolute mess up there. Would also open up a spot for another European team.

They are Scotland though so fuck them.

[Waffdon]

Scotland chased down 150 in 13 overs and 6 wickets to spare against Oman so I assume England will have to do that and similar against Namibia.

Sure some nerd has worked it all out

[thommo]

I saw something that mentioned England would need to win by about 120 runs across both of the games to ensure an NRR ahead of Scotland before the final group match.

[Ben]

When you put it that way we should absolutely go through and if we don't then we deserve everything we get.

[Ben]

Taking the knee injury news in my stride and doing a groundsman course to keep me busy during rehab. Pencilled myself in for the end of season renovations. I am obsessed with grass now.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Slippery slope that. Quite literally at some grounds.

I had an interesting day Saturday. Was doing a very good second tier game, south London derby, proper fixture. Three session format so like a Test match day, 120 overs or time. In the end we bowled 124 in the game and could have been 130+ if it had gone all the way. The team that bowled second had a guy, the captain, who bowled 34 from my end unchanged and to say we got on well for the duration of that spell would be a lie.

At tea he steamed up to me demanding to know why I hadn't given something out gloved behind. I told him it was because I didn't think it was out. He told me that he had checked the streaming footage and it clearly showed that it should have been out. I shrugged and said well I can only give what I see out there. We have to report anyone who talks about video in umpiring decisions, so we did, and he'll probably get a slap on the wrist.

Today I finally got round to watching the footage back and found the ball in question. The camera's like 100 yards away and completely inconclusive, even going frame by frame I'm still not sure if I got it right or wrong. So either he was lying about having watched the footage, or he is seriously delusional about what's in it. Cricketers!

[Ben]

Slippery slope that. Quite literally at some grounds.

You're not wrong. I'm now looking at grants for a better roller if you know where I should be asking? ECB grants seem to be dependent on hosting girls cricket which we're a million miles away from yet.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We get most of our grants from Surrey or local councillors. ECB are absolutely useless so no point even going there.

If you have a friendly councillor who likes his/her sport they seem to be able to conjour money from nowhere, at least down here.

[Ben]

Thanks. I've messaged our councillors. Even if we get a few grand it'll cover most of the cost as we will flog the old one.

[Danny]

Ben going down the Henry Lansbury route :cool:

[Waffdon]

Oman will do well to get to 50 here

[Jimmy Floyd]

I reckon I'm genuinely a better umpire than this Pakistani one on field. Absolutely dreadful.

Oman should be better than this, it's only Uganda in this event who are full toilet and they somehow managed to win a game.

[Waffdon]

England chase it down in 5.2 overs and they’re already ahead of Scotland. Dream is over.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Unless there's rain or you beat Australia.

[Waffdon]

We’ll probably lose by a few runs to the Aussies to keep the glorious failure tag going.

Don’t think there’s any rain due in Antigua over next few days sadly

[Gray Fox]

Save us Johnny. Silence some critics.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Quite impressive to have designed a tournament format that incentivises teams tanking against minnows - all for money of course, because if they hadn't pre-determined teams' second round placement regardless of where they finish in the group then Aus would be needing to win vs Scotland to avoid a harder group next.

[Gray Fox]

Well this isn't looking good.

[niko_cee]

This will be a pretty lol way to go out of a tournament, just get prohibited from playing all the disabled teams by the weather.

It's Zimbabwe all over again.

[Waffdon]

There were no guarantees England were going to win against Scotland. They were 90 odd without loss and then the D/L had England needing to chase a big score in not a lot of overs. If anything the extra rain helped them

[Dquincy]

2-1 England. Not the start I was expecting. Ffs.

[Ben]

Oh dear.

[Dquincy]

Momentum building up for England now. But haven't the foggiest what a decent run rate is for an 11 over match.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We'll win the match, but not sure if we'll do it by enough not to bring Scotland's NRR back into the game.

[Waffdon]

Rain :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Raining out of a clear blue sky, only the Scots could have organised this.

[Dquincy]

A lot of these Nambian players don't look very Nambian.

[niko_cee]

I'm all in for there being an almost impossible net run rate deficit to make up for Scotland and then Australia bowling 150 no-balls in a row.

[igor_balis]

A lot of these Nambian players don't look very Nambian.

Mans relentless, have a day off Enoch!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Australia should absolutely tank their game, so we'll see if they have it in them.

[Ian]

While it's obviously great that the current lol cricket format incentivises teams to lose I don't think the Aussies have it in them to intentionally throw a game, even if it means fucking England over.


Mans relentless, have a day off Enoch!

In future I'd advise you to think of any of the things you could be doing with your time, even if it's only 20 seconds or so, instead of responding to quincy.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why is Nass hamming this up like they don't need 55 from 12 balls?

[Dquincy]

In future I'd advise you to think of any of the things you could be doing with your time, even if it's only 20 seconds or so, instead of responding to quincy.

But why?

[niko_cee]

Oh wait, Australia have to fail to win? They can't shenanigan it on NRR?

[Waffdon]

Aye, paying off the Oman lads midweek worked a treat for it

[niko_cee]

They should still go for it.

No chance England don't absolutely smash them if they meet again.

[Waffdon]

Stoinis needs to get a grip.

Australia going to chase this down with a few balls to spare now.

[Waffdon]

24 from the over. For fuck sake

[Waffdon]

Multiple dropped catches and Australia needing 13 an over at a point with 7/8 overs left. Glorious failure.

Australia desperately didn’t even want to win that aside from Stoinis and that lanky cunt at the end

[Ben]

Pretty pathetic from Ireland here.

[Ben]

Pretty pathetic from Pakistan in response.

[niko_cee]

What's the fixed line up for the super [sic] eights then?

Do we get to potentially lose to America? Is it a full round robin?

[Jimmy Floyd]

We are with USA, Windies and South Africa, top two to the semis. Other group is India, Aus, Afghanistan and Bing bong bangladesh.

[thommo]

Back-to-back league wins. :cool:

It was lucky we played on Sunday as it tipped down on Saturday afternoon. However this did mean the wicket was very soft and low - batting first was not ideal. We collapsed and I came in at 28-6. Managed to put on 64 for the 7th wicket and ended up staying not out (25*) as we creeped over 100. It was a cracking score on that wicket as we knew we had a good bowling attack.

I opened the bowling and took 2-13 in 6 overs and our two spinners finished them off in wild circumstances - both of them picking up hat-tricks as we bowled them out for 41 in the 23rd over for a really solid win. Another away game next week against the bottom club, so hopefully we can make it 3 in 3.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Two hat-tricks in one innings is mental :D

[thommo]

Their last 7 wickets fell for 10 runs, it was absolute chaos. Once we got through the top order, it became clear the rest were lads who didn't have the technique to bat on a sticky wicket.

Our youngsters were the same to be fair. I tried to drill it into them to get forward, it's going to stay low. After a few overs though, they'd get a short one and their eyes would light up and the ball would scuttle through under their swipe across the line.

[niko_cee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c3gg0q8w0wwo

:happycry:

It's because everyone on the planet fucking hated you before it ever happened mate.

[Danny]

I saw someone on Twitter say they talk like it was something that happened to them rather than it being them cheating and finally getting caught

[Ben]

Warner definitely gives off those vibes.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I saw someone on Twitter say they talk like it was something that happened to them rather than it being them cheating and finally getting caught

Australian sport cannot conceive of itself being anything other than righteous underdogs, so it's a case of 'does not compute'.

[niko_cee]

Have England really got games Thursday, Friday, Sunday? :cab:

Although I guess it might be Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. Seems a tight schedule either way.

[Danny]

Have England really got games Thursday, Friday, Sunday? :cab:

Although I guess it might be Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. Seems a tight schedule either way.

Based on US time its the latter but Wednesday 830pm start with 10:30am Friday for the next one is still a tight turn around. Atleast they are at the same ground.

[Ben]

I'm shocked that the ICC/BCCI have messed up the scheduling. Usually so good.

[niko_cee]

I see we obliterated the fancied Windies overnight. Very good.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Salt is turning into what Jason Roy always thought he was.

Hopefully we're peaking at the right time, another win would make various people seethe in just the right quantities. That should get us a semi with the USA to come.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Afghanistan beat Australia overnight (lol), which means that Aus have to beat India to get to the semi-finals, unless the bangles do them a favour.

Meanwhile we have to pile the runs up against God's United States today, which if successful will qualify us for the semis.

[niko_cee]

It's going to rain isn't it, obviously? Theoretically any win is fine isn't it as SA's net run rate won't be stellar if they lose to the windies.

[Gray Fox]

What a final over for Jordan there. Hattrick and 4 wickets in 5 balls.