It's just not cricket

Post by **DRT** » 12:27 Sun 19 Jan 2014

I've just listened to an interview that suggests three of the key players in the Australian side are not going to Perth, so perhaps a win against the B team is on the cards?

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 16:06 Sun 19 Jan 2014

DRT wrote:I've just listened to an interview that suggests three of the key players in the Australian side are not going to Perth, so perhaps a win against the B team is on the cards?

Who cares? I mean, really, who cares who wins one of these pointless pyjama games? One-day games are marginally more meaningful than the shameless trash that is T20 but I still can't get myself that worked up about who gets more runs in 50 overs. I'm more concerned about whether England Women can win the Ashes now.

Post by **DRT** » 16:34 Sun 19 Jan 2014

djewesbury wrote:One-day games are marginally more meaningful than the shameless trash that is T20 but I still can't get myself that worked up about who gets more runs in 50 overs.

Perhaps a little harsh. I understand traditionalism and it is the main reason why I despise Pink Port, but its apparent success in introducing Port to a wider audience has opened my mind to the idea that sometimes it is good to compromise in order to grow.

By way of example, as I alluded to at the beginning of this thread, I was completely dumbfounded by and disinterested in cricket until Ben and Alex introduced me to the game through a series of T20 and ODIs at Lord's and the Oval. Those experiences in the short-form of the game resulted in me watching some of last summer's Ashes series and then staying up until 4am on a number of occasions to watch the series down under. I strongly suspect I am not alone in having my interest sparked late in life by a format that is easy to understand and that doesn't take five days to reach an outcome.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 16:38 Sun 19 Jan 2014

HARUMPH!
Oh just give me some Tramadol and let me sulk about how rubbish we are.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 16:44 Sun 19 Jan 2014

I am with Derek in that mighty oaks from little acorns grow, and with Daniel that giving up on timeless tests was the start of the collapse of civilisation.

I couldn't bear to follow the cricket, this series needs to be painlessly destroyed. I hate to see them suffer.

Can't resist adding that Cook and the management team seem to have some 'issues to resolve' with the players.

Post by **DRT** » 16:50 Sun 19 Jan 2014

LGTrotter wrote:giving up on timeless tests was the start of the collapse of civilisation.

I disagree. That happened when this was invented and given to children.

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 23:04 Wed 22 Jan 2014

Just a reminder that the second women's ODI starts tonight. Commentary on 5-live sports extra from 3:05am.

If England win then they retain the Ashes.

Glenn E. · Post by **Glenn E.** » 04:47 Thu 23 Jan 2014

AHB wrote:If England win then they retain the Ashes.

Is there just one Ashes? Or is there one for men, one for women, one for U20 (or whatever it is), etc?

Post by **DRT** » 08:23 Thu 23 Jan 2014

Glenn E. wrote:
AHB wrote:If England win then they retain the Ashes.
Is there just one Ashes? Or is there one for men, one for women, one for U20 (or whatever it is), etc?

There is really only one, which is the men's series over five, five-day test matches. They just made another one up to stop the girls moaning. I think the Australian's wanted to call it The Sheila's Cup, which would have been more appropriate.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 20:55 Fri 24 Jan 2014

I had a dream that the England (men) cricket team won a match against Australia. Albeit an irrelevant one.

Post by **DRT** » 22:03 Fri 24 Jan 2014

...and I heard that Cook now thinks he had a dream where he suggested it might be a good idea to have some changes in the England set-up. Obviously no longer required now that everything is fixed.

benread · Post by **benread** » 07:15 Sat 25 Jan 2014

DRT wrote:
Glenn E. wrote:
AHB wrote:If England win then they retain the Ashes.
Is there just one Ashes? Or is there one for men, one for women, one for U20 (or whatever it is), etc?
There is really only one, which is the men's series over five, five-day test matches. They just made another one up to stop the girls moaning. I think the Australian's wanted to call it The Sheila's Cup, which would have been more appropriate.

It used to be 6 test series. Another retrograde step.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 11:10 Sun 26 Jan 2014

SHOCK! England lose game of cricket that they could have won! 6 required from 3 balls and they lose their last wicket.
I bet they can't wait for the meaningless T20s!

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 12:07 Wed 29 Jan 2014

djewesbury wrote:I bet they can't wait for the meaningless T20s!

I bet they can, they just lost the first one. Meaningless.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 12:13 Wed 29 Jan 2014

LGTrotter wrote:
djewesbury wrote:I bet they can't wait for the meaningless T20s!
I bet they can, they just lost the first one. Meaningless.

ENGLAND WIN ASHES!!!
Well done Charlotte Edwards. Clearly the best England team out there.

benread · Post by **benread** » 17:58 Wed 29 Jan 2014

djewesbury wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:
djewesbury wrote:I bet they can't wait for the meaningless T20s!
I bet they can, they just lost the first one. Meaningless.
ENGLAND WIN ASHES!!!
Well done Charlotte Edwards. Clearly the best England team out there.

Debate: England Men vs England Women. Who would win right now?

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 17:59 Wed 29 Jan 2014

benread wrote:
djewesbury wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:
djewesbury wrote:I bet they can't wait for the meaningless T20s!
I bet they can, they just lost the first one. Meaningless.
ENGLAND WIN ASHES!!!
Well done Charlotte Edwards. Clearly the best England team out there.
Debate: England Men vs England Women. Who would win right now?

I think I know the answer. And I think the result would put Derek's earlier comment about keeping the girls from moaning into perspective!

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 23:12 Wed 29 Jan 2014

Just watching and enjoying the Ashes highlights.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 23:14 Wed 29 Jan 2014

LGTrotter wrote:Just watching and enjoying the Ashes highlights.

Didn't expect to write that did you?

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 23:18 Wed 29 Jan 2014

djewesbury wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:Just watching and enjoying the Ashes highlights.
Didn't expect to write that did you?

No perhaps not. Being wrong is ok.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 23:19 Wed 29 Jan 2014

Sure is.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 23:21 Wed 29 Jan 2014

Has Derek fallen down a well or something?

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 23:22 Wed 29 Jan 2014

LGTrotter wrote:Has Derek fallen down a well or something?

Derek is alive. But he is in London, poor soul.

Post by **DRT** » 13:19 Fri 31 Jan 2014

I can confirm that I am still alive.

It appears the long knives are out.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 16:40 Fri 31 Jan 2014

DRT wrote:I can confirm that I am still alive.

It appears the long knives are out.

Ashley Giles???? Noooooo

Post by **DRT** » 17:19 Fri 31 Jan 2014

You can console yourself in the knowledge that you will have some light relief in 2015

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 01:05 Sat 01 Feb 2014

djewesbury wrote:
DRT wrote:I can confirm that I am still alive.

It appears the long knives are out.
Ashley Giles???? Noooooo

They can't let that happen. Gilo is hapless. Derek was in conference with Paul Downton of course. Took Alex I shouldn't wonder.

Post by **DRT** » 11:58 Sun 02 Feb 2014

LGTrotter wrote:
djewesbury wrote:Ashley Giles???? Noooooo
They can't let that happen.

111 all out and 84 short of the target in the final T20 probably eliminates the risk of that happening.

When will the slaughter begin?

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 21:17 Tue 04 Feb 2014

DRT wrote:When will the slaughter begin?

Just started, KP over and out. Wow, I never thought they would do it.

Post by **jdaw1** » 21:25 Tue 04 Feb 2014

LGTrotter wrote:Just started, KP over and out. Wow, I never thought they would do it.

The BBC, in an article entitled [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/26040475]Kevin Pietersen: Batsman's England career over[/url], wrote:Kevin Pietersen's England career is over after he was told he is no longer in their plans.

The 33-year-old batsman, England's all-time leading run-scorer across all formats, was informed this week by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

ECB managing director Paul Downton said: "The time is right to rebuild not only the team but also the team ethic."

Pietersen said: "I will continue to play but deeply regret that it won't be for England."

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 22:05 Tue 04 Feb 2014

Ian Bell. Or do I mean; Ian Bell?

Post by **DRT** » 00:02 Wed 05 Feb 2014

LGTrotter wrote:Ian Bell. Or do I mean; Ian Bell?

He's got to go. As do Cook and Bresnan. Broad should be subjected to some sort of psychiatric test. If he passes he could one day be captain. If no, which is more likely, he should just go now.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:29 Wed 05 Feb 2014

As Ian Bell's sole representative on Earth, may I just say Noooooooo!!!
May I also add that I had the privilege to witness some incredible KP innings. Thanks be to God he's gone.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 18:10 Wed 05 Feb 2014

A few thoughts on the demise of KP:

I don't understand why so many commentators are so strongly in favour of Pietersen and baffled by his dropping. Even Tom Fordyce, for the BBC, acknowledges that KP made only 294 runs at an average of 29 in the last 12 months, and that in the short form, even Jimmy Anderson averages more than him. And when someone says, as KP has, that

I won't change the way I play for anybody because I think I've been pretty successful. It's not a case of can't. It's just there's something in me that says if there's a ball to hit then you've got to hit it. And it works.

well, first you have to say does it really? And then you have to wonder what he thinks the rest of the team are for, exactly.
I disagree with Michael Vaughan about what the ECB need to tell us. They don't need to tell us anything, they've terminated an employee's contract. Vaughan's a journalist now, not a member of the set-up.
There seems to be much gnashing of teeth from the same people who were lamenting Kevin's recklessness only recently. Any thoughts?

Post by **DRT** » 18:19 Wed 05 Feb 2014

I agree. I heard on Five Live today that KP is walking away with £300k compensation for the termination of his contract. That sort of arrangement normally comes with restrictions on both sides as to what can and cannot be said publicly about the reasons why it happened and to prevent them slagging each other off in the press. We will never know, so it is best to move on.

I still think Cook should be sacked. He is a useless captain. Utterly useless.

RAYC · Post by **RAYC** » 18:32 Wed 05 Feb 2014

djewesbury wrote:
And when someone says, as KP has, that
I won't change the way I play for anybody because I think I've been pretty successful. It's not a case of can't. It's just there's something in me that says if there's a ball to hit then you've got to hit it. And it works.
well, first you have to say does it really? And then you have to wonder what he thinks the rest of the team are for, exactly.

I have a certain sympathy with this, although i do question whether it is a case of "can't". Pietersen's gift or skill with the bat must have been at least partially down to instincts and semi-conscious reactions. Even if you can work on technique etc., I can see there's a strong argument that it would be less fruitful in the long run for him to counteract those instincts / reactions than to play his "natural" game.

LGTrotter · Post by **LGTrotter** » 23:55 Wed 05 Feb 2014

DRT wrote:I still think Cook should be sacked. He is a useless captain. Utterly useless.

Well yes, hard to argue with the evidence of his captaincy. He will go on being useless for a while yet I fancy.

RAYC wrote:I can see there's a strong argument that it would be less fruitful in the long run for him to counteract those instincts / reactions than to play his "natural" game.

Except that when he did curb his 'natural game' (I think it was Melbourne) he did rather well, as he has done in the past. But simply to say that you are going to play dumb shots and that's it leaves management with little choice but to ditch him. Shame really.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 00:02 Thu 06 Feb 2014

LGTrotter wrote:But simply to say that you are going to play dumb shots and that's it leaves management with little choice but to ditch him. Shame really.

Quite. It's a team game. Even the fact of it being about individual confrontations does not negate that. Pietersen is incapable of playing for a team. 294 runs in 12 months is not 'my natural game', it's a shambles.

Post by **DRT** » 01:04 Thu 06 Feb 2014

I also heard today (whilst driving past The Bung Hole) that Ashley Giles will be given the job having been told that Cook must be captain and KP cannot be selected. I know little about Ashley Giles but what I do know is that if he (or anyone else) accepts the job with those conditions he is (or they are) not the man for the job.

Treat them all like tube station ticket attendants, I say - put the whole lot of them "at risk" and make them apply for the new jobs in a better team or invite them to sling their hook.

I miss Maggie.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 09:06 Thu 06 Feb 2014

DRT wrote:I also heard today (whilst driving past The Bung Hole) that Ashley Giles will be given the job having been told that Cook must be captain and KP cannot be selected. I know little about Ashley Giles but what I do know is that if he (or anyone else) accepts the job with those conditions he is (or they are) not the man for the job.

Treat them all like tube station ticket attendants, I say - put the whole lot of them "at risk" and make them apply for the new jobs in a better team or invite them to sling their hook.

I miss Maggie.

Now now. Let's not descend into partisanship. It's cricket after all.

Post by **jdaw1** » 21:20 Sun 09 Feb 2014

The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Professional Cricketers’ Association wrote:It has been a matter of great frustration that until now the England and Wales Cricket Board has been unable to respond to the unwarranted and unpleasant criticism of England players and the ECB itself, which has provided an unwelcome backdrop to the recent negotiations to release Kevin Pietersen from his central contract.

Those negotiations have been successfully concluded and whilst both parties remain bound by confidentiality provisions the ECB would like to make the following comments.

The ECB recognises the significant contribution Kevin has made to England teams over the last decade. He has played some of the finest innings ever produced by an England batsman.

However, the England team needs to rebuild after the whitewash in Australia. To do that we must invest in our captain Alastair Cook and we must support him in creating a culture in which we can be confident he will have the full support of all players, with everyone pulling in the same direction and able to trust each other. It is for those reasons that we have decided to move on without Kevin Pietersen.

Following the announcement of that decision, allegations have been made, some from people outside cricket, which as well as attacking the rationale of the ECB’s decision-making, have questioned, without justification, the integrity of the England Team Director and some of England’s players.

Clearly what happens in the dressing room or team meetings should remain in that environment and not be distributed to people not connected with the team. This is a core principle of any sports team, and any such action would constitute a breach of trust and team ethics.

Whilst respecting that principle, it is important to stress that Andy Flower, Alastair Cook and Matt Prior, who have all been singled out for uninformed and unwarranted criticism, retain the total confidence and respect of all the other members of the Ashes party.

These are men who care deeply about the fortunes of the England team and its image, and it is ironic that they were the people who led the reintegration of Kevin Pietersen into the England squad in 2012.

Also see the BBC article entitled Kevin Pietersen: ECB explains why batsman's England career is over.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 23:38 Thu 20 Mar 2014

Might I post here, for your edification and enjoyment, a link to an excellent documentary on the history of cricket in Ireland:
http://vimeo.com/m/58626675
I was surprised to discover that prior to the foundation of the GAA, cricket was the most popular game in the country.

Post by **DRT** » 06:44 Fri 21 Mar 2014

For posterity, but perhaps not worthy of further comment…

: Screen Shot 2014-03-21 at 06.42.44.png (53.47 KiB) Viewed 6812 times

mpij · Post by **mpij** » 12:11 Fri 21 Mar 2014

Chapeau the Netherlands.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 18:49 Fri 21 Mar 2014

mpij wrote:Chapeau the Netherlands.

Now that's timing.

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 16:54 Thu 27 Mar 2014

This is England everyone, England!

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 17:05 Thu 27 Mar 2014

Two Fours from Bopara as soon as he arrives, better than that Zummerzet boy Buttler could manage...

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 17:17 Thu 27 Mar 2014

I need to find a pub with Sky Sports...

djewesbury · Post by **djewesbury** » 17:18 Thu 27 Mar 2014

Too late, we won with 4 balls remaining. Hales scored two Sixes off the penultimate over to bring up his century and then, as we need 6 off 5, hammered it over the boundary once again.

Post by **Alex Bridgeman** » 17:27 Thu 27 Mar 2014

Oh well. I'll console myself with having missed England's only win of 2014 with another glass of Taylor 1992. Or shall I go for the Smith Woodhouse 1997?