There's probably a case for a Shankar call-up here.
There's probably a case for a Shankar call-up here.
He'd FLAY Henry all over the counties.
https://wisden.com/stories/exclusive...ving-into-film
Part 7.
Probably the least interesting to me, but it's nice that Shankar has found a new industry to be a deluded charlatan in.
Weather looks well set for this test championship. 6 days of rain.
I reckon they'll get between 3 and 4 days in, hopefully that's enough for India to win so that the format survives.
More likely it'll be swinging all over the shop and this will be the end of all test cricket forever.
Also, I did sort of lol a bit at them only letting in 3000 fans to watch, despite having the Hollies stand rammed last week. Is it because they want to maintain some sort of massive bio-bubble over the whole complex (I guess that's why they've gone to the ground with a hotel attached to it)?
What's the weather in London like? Can we go back to Lords?
Weather in the south/south east of England today is APOCALYPTIC. No play today.
Could probably tour it round the country day by day to try and find the dry spot. I think the north west is ok today.
It's nice up here today.
And Glasgow is empty of sports drinkers because they're all waving their sporrans about in Hyde Park so this seems a perfect venue.
When Scotland play their first Test match (which I reckon will probably happen before 2030), the Grange will be a great venue. Finding cricket grounds in Scotland is great, like finding a proper cup of tea in America.
So what happens if this test championship final doesn't get enough time to finish even with the reserve/6th day?
Trophy shared (shame as I was hoping it would go on first innings which is likely to be NZ).
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...isible-visible
Nathan Leamon laughs as he remembers the time he once got Andrew Strauss out in an Ashes Test. It was the Adelaide Test of 2010-11, and ahead of the game the Australians had recalled the left-armer Doug Bollinger to their attack. Not having faced Bollinger in a while, Strauss asked Leamon – still relatively new in his job as the team’s analyst – to put together some clips.
“But the last time Bollinger had played was actually at Headingley against Pakistan,” Leamon recalls. “So Straussy watches 20 balls of Bollinger hooping the ball away from the bat, and walks out. First ball went absolutely gun-barrel straight. He left it. And it took his off-bail. He walked back in, took his pads off, sat down next to me. Eventually I worked up the nerve to say: ‘Sorry, think I might have got you out there, skip’. He said: ‘I wouldn’t disagree.’”
They deserve it for the ongoing national bottle job that happens as soon as they enter Australia.
First innings lead looking a bit sketchy, if they can just stay out there today I think tomorrow is supposed to be ok so a result still very much possible.
Definite advert for reserve days for tests in England (although obviously the sports science scheduling twats would have a fit at the prospect)
Or just accepting that it's possible to start making up time before you've been served elevenses.
There is nothing more cricket than the phrase: 'Tea will be taken early'.
I also always love it when it's raining all morning, starts to brighten up about 1, groundsmen give it the thumbs up and, "Well, just as soon as the players have had lunch..."
They love a half hour resumption followed by a 40 minute lunch break, and then the players resume for the afternoon, no doubt groaning after their roast lamb and apple crumble, only for it to start pissing it down again.
Yeah, whatever happened to starting half an hour early to make up lost time? Did the players' union kick up a fuss about TOO MUCH CRICKET or something? Ground safety?
"What do you want us to do? Skip brunch? You've gone mad!"
Scenes are in progress here.
Neesham will be enjoying this given the chat he was having with India fans on Twitter earlier.
A bit tasty this, especially with a rare wrong decision from Gough being overturned to save Williamson.
I'm sure they'll be fine but it's been a fun start.
Not sure about the Kiwis submerging themselves fully in the bunker. Might end up being a draw, imagine if it ends with then going off for bad light.
3 boundaries since I posted that lol
Gavaskar in the box is starting to seethe, so it must be coming home.
I had no idea England were embarking on some sort of T20 escapade against Sri Lanka (neither did Sri Lanka by the looks of it) but I'm pleased to read in the dispatches of a middle order fireworks display from a certain D. Shanaka for the visitors. Question is, does he have film star looks?
Also, that England team would probably beat the current/NZ series test XI in red ball.
https://imgur.com/a/u5Wqx71
So good
Is he just doing a Panesar or is he trying to assault a child?
Yeah my take on that is that he's tried to slap a terrified-looking kid then realised he's on camera.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...full-scorecard
Fairly comprehensive run chase that.
A man called Leslie Dunbar playing cricket for Serbia is right up there. Leslie.
Our old mate Pavel Florin actually in the national team and doing alright too.
I think this Sri Lanka regen XI are genuinely the most inept tourists here since maybe the Zimbabwe 2003 vintage.
They could be in real trouble for World Cup qualification in any of the formats.
Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka have been banned for 1 year by Sri Lanka Cricket for breaching bio-bubble in UK.
Must be the most draconian punishment in sporting history.
Jimmy's boy running through 'em here.
The second over was pretty special, burning through 2 reviews for those two dismissals, dear lord.
I would not like to be Mickey Arthur. Absolute mess of a cricket team / country and he will be blamed.
Although nobody seems to notice it, these are World Cup qualifiers, you need a top 8 finish to qualify automatically. Sri Lanka have already lost 5/6 to West Indies and Bangladesh, and well on their way to getting swept here as well. They've also been docked 2 points for slow over rates, which is a good effort, and currently sitting 13th and last in the table. I can only imagine the bed shitting potential if they have to get past Scotland and co to actually make it.
England bubble has been breached and 3 players / 4 support staff positive (Pakistan series coming up). They have all gone into isolation and we are naming an entirely new squad today.
Could be one of the great baller moves if we win.
Some excellent names in the new squad. Brydon Carse sounds like a law firm. Phil Salt and Danny Briggs are not the names of people who are ever going to make it as England cricketers.
This 'James Vince' sounds an intriguing prospect too.
With a name like Vince I assume he's the hard-nosed, gritty sort of batsman? Very difficult to get out?
Away from our D team playing internationals, the Hundred is fast approaching and seemingly every day they seem to come up with a progressively more batshit mental press releases associated with it.
First there was this:
I assume those are all real acts but who knows really. Then there was this:Further cementing the music credentials of The Hundred, a variety of live music acts courtesy of BBC Music Introducing will also be performing at games, with the likes of The Orielles, Jerub, Lady Sanity, Coach Party and Rachel K Collier bringing a real festival vibe to the competition.
Today's edition, and it's a new partnership with Lego:The Hundred is excited to announce a new partnership with The Croods 2: A New Age, DreamWorks Animation’s latest family adventure blockbuster starring Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds which arrives in cinemas July 16.
The partnership builds on The Hundred’s desire to take cricket to a family audience and inspire kids to pick up a bat and ball. Both brands will work together on several initiatives at games and in the cinema to excite families during what promises to be an unforgettable summer.
I'm really not sure how much more absurd this can go. I'm actually looking forward to it in a macabre sort of way. Covid will ravage it, too.During The Hundred, the players themselves will be challenged to put their LEGO building skills to the test with the help of the content creators embedded in each Hundred team. The content creators are part of The Hundred Rising programme designed to uncover and support young talented professionals.
"the content creators embedded in each Hundred team." Christ.
The lower-than-they'd-like number of kids playing isn't because there aren't enough adverts before Dreamworks films or before Roblox guides on Youtube. It's partly because it's an elitist sport for poshos and Yorkshiremen, partly because it's barely on anywhere kids might encounter it and just generally the UK is a pretty bad for getting kids into sport unless it's a school, fancy or otherwise, with a setup for producing athletes/sportsmen of a particular discipline.
I went to three English schools before my A levels and other than the primary school in Coventry we had a visit from Andy Moles to do with a Kwik Cricket initiative (I believe I've shared my story of him giving me a yellow card) for a couple of weeks one term I barely had any exposure to cricket at all. Half a term leading into the summer at the private school I was at for a year and I reckon in the four years I did in a Lincolnshire grammar school after they must have had us play a total of about three hours of cricket in PE/games.
I've decided to cut through all the fluff and power rank the Hundred teams based on the most important thing of all: which snack they're sponsored by.
1 - Manchester - McCoys
2 - London - Tyrrell's
3 - Welsh - Hula Hoops
4 - Birmingham - Butterkist
5 - North(erns) - Popchips
6 - Trent - Skips
7 - South(erns) - Pom-Bears
8 - Oval Invincibles - KP
Personally I think if The Hundred is to flourish they need to get a better variety of snack sponsors. Having them solely sponsored by KP and each shirt having a different one of KP's brands is really restricting the competition's potential.