Cricket Thread

[InsaneAsylum]

I haven't seen anyone saying Aussie were undeserving, only some comments on the poor sledging, Banter whilst playing is definitely part of the game...after you've got someone out is unnecessary

you cant argue with how clinical that performance was, but i cant help thinking it would have meant more if someone else had managed to get up, a bit anticlimactic, just another world cup for Aussie, five of the last six...

Yeah, bit of crap coming from both sides to be honest mate. Some of the Kiwi jornos just need to let it go and stop being whiney by pointing out such irrelevant things. And as for some Aussies; some of the cockiness is laughable and the sportsmanship equally poor. But that's the internet for you.

Still disappointed personally, but nowhere near the levels as I would be for a Rugby World Cup. I have been an occasional cricket watcher up until now, but I'd love to start learning more and watching more. I would say there are about 5 teams who could win the rugby world cup if they stepped up on their day, with Ireland now also entering the fray and Wales with the ability to spin out some surprises. Not quite the element of openness of who could win it as Cricket, but still not too bad.

Thankfully the maturity levels on this forum are above the average general population. there's a pic apparently showing "the difference between two countries" which depicts NZ as a selfless country and Aus as a pack of dogs which is only offensive because it's incorrect. if you strip it down, Aus and NZ are almost cut from the same cloth, I don't understand the hatred particularly around sport.

 

[MotherRucker1]

Yep, I notice those too. Some of those pictures and memes are taken way out of context, and as sports fans we aren't innocent little angels. As a smaller nation I think we love beating big brother. Which is healthy is some ways, at least we aren't defeatist or fatalistic. But when we fall of the wagon we just have to let things go and realize the sun will still come up. Which it has today I'm pleased to report!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I really like aussie, have some very good mates who are aussies, in fact i just book a trip to go and visit some in sydney, i say this because i want to make sure anything i say is only in reference to the specific members of the cricket team and not the nation as a whole.

there seem to be some real dicks in that team...more than you would expect in general, just read some comments from the day after press conference. Clarke has taken the over protective mother stance of "if there was any sledging i didn't see it but it must have been provoked *my poor baby wouldn't hurt a fly*" and Haddin has admitted to it but feels it was deserved because the Black Caps were so nice to them in Auckland it made the uncomfortable...i can only assume he is still drunk

 

[RoosTah]

there seem to be some real dicks in that team...more than you would expect in general, just read some comments from the day after press conference. Clarke has taken the over protective mother stance of "if there was any sledging i didn't see it but it must have been provoked *my poor baby wouldn't hurt a fly*" and Haddin has admitted to it but feels it was deserved because the Black Caps were so nice to them in Auckland it made the uncomfortable...i can only assume he is still drunk

I heard Haddin make those comments on Triple M this morning - he was clearly still drunk and also pretty clearly just having a laugh. The sledging that went on out there yesterday was pretty tame by most standards and there was very few heated moments between the players. Certainly a lot less ill-feeling than there was between India.

At the end of the final there was no ill feeling between the teams - they all had a beer together in the sheds and were pretty friendly and jovial, so I wouldn't let the media outrage machine trick you into thinking there was some nasty stuff going on out there, because the Black Caps weren't buying into it.

Also, I know Australia cops a bad wrap in Cricket because of how aggressive their style is and their sledging can be a bit much at times, but it's a pretty working class game here in a lot of ways (Haddin is a country boy from f##ing Cowra and Warner went to the same ****ty state school I went to and couldn't afford bats growing up for instance) and whilst they can be rough on the field they're not all bad blokes.

In the India semi-final there was a moment when the ball went right up into the face of Yadav and half the Aussie team came in to check if he was alright, which to me says they're not actually dreadful human beings even if they can carry on a bit some times.

 

[MotherRucker1]

Perhaps if there is one thing the Blackcaps could work on it's the mongrel side of things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying they should stop their good sportsmanship or become exactly like Mitchell Johnson. God no. But a little more aggression here and there on + off the field. I guess McCullum took steps towards that in his captaincy, constantly in an attacking mindset, but the Mr Nice Guy might let us down sometimes. I dunno, that's just speculation and I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong. But I think we've earned the right to be more aggressive. You don't become that overnight, but I believe in these guys and clearly they have made major inroads. I did remember how even the All Blacks have writing up in their hotel saying "most dominant team in the world" or something. Just a thought.

 

[RoosTah]

Perhaps if there is one thing the Blackcaps could work on it's the mongrel side of things. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying they should stop their good sportsmanship or become exactly like Mitchell Johnson. God no. But a little more aggression here and there on + off the field. I guess McCullum took steps towards that in his captaincy, constantly in an attacking mindset, but the Mr Nice Guy might let us down sometimes. I dunno, that's just speculation and I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong. But I think we've earned the right to be more aggressive. You don't become that overnight, but I believe in these guys and clearly they have made major inroads. I did remember how even the All Blacks have writing up in their hotel saying "most dominant team in the world" or something. Just a thought.

Funnily enough this is exactly how I feel about the Wallabies with regard to the All Blacks. The Wallabies always come across as being too in awe of the All Blacks and just don't seem to have anything like the mongrel and aggression necessary to actually trouble NZ or generally push big sides around.

 

[Rich Taff]

Well, I didn't see that coming vs NZ.

 

[Amobokoboko]

NZ played a good game, pity they didn't win it.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

how the hell did england win that!

 

[MotherRucker1]

2nd innings blues. We've had that problem for a long time now, but you have to give the English bowlers credit for their comeback as well.

 

[SelimNiai]

Superb test match. A great contest between bat and ball on a good pitch in good weather. This is why test cricket is the ultimate form, result in balance until last session on last day.

 

[squirrel]

Always a risk sending the opposition in to bat though at 4-30 I thought things were looking good.

 

[SelimNiai]

Always a risk sending the opposition in to bat though at 4-30 I thought things were looking good.

I left work at just before tea thinking "this is going to be a draw", turned my phone on and all those text alerts with wickets game through.

 

[Every Time Ref]

That test match, especially day 4, may well turn out to be the watershed moment where I started falling back in love with English cricket. Having been a fanatic all my life, my love for cricket has taken a serious battering over the last couple of years, in large part related to this England omnishambles at the Ashes and since then - but over the course of that test I've come back to being the England supporter who follows the score at work and who feels the emotions when a wicket goes or someone reaches their ton.

Cook getting a slow, controlled, inevitable-feeling big ton again, young talents taking the game by the scruff of the neck, a century that will go down in history, a lightening quick youngster with a weird action, most importantly a whole team taking a battering twice (once batting, once bowling) and coming back from both to get back on top - the right attitude, the right skill, the right belief, and the right decisions. Everything to love abotu English cricket during its best years was there again. Even if we hadn't won the game, those qualities all combined made me really, really happy about cricket for the first time in a long time. It wasn't about whether England won, per se, but it was about the fact that I cared whether England won - when we lost to Bangladesh in the WC I didn't' see the game, but when I saw the result I was shocked to discover that I genuinely didn't give a toss, and it worried me that I'd lost that part of my life forever. Now I'm back, so when it all goes to ****, it'll actually hurt.

What with Bath's epic win as well, it was quite the sporting weekend for me!

 

[Tony Manx]

That test match, especially day 4, may well turn out to be the watershed moment where I started falling back in love with English cricket. Having been a fanatic all my life, my love for cricket has taken a serious battering over the last couple of years, in large part related to this England omnishambles at the Ashes and since then - but over the course of that test I've come back to being the England supporter who follows the score at work and who feels the emotions when a wicket goes or someone reaches their ton.

Cook getting a slow, controlled, inevitable-feeling big ton again, young talents taking the game by the scruff of the neck, a century that will go down in history, a lightening quick youngster with a weird action, most importantly a whole team taking a battering twice (once batting, once bowling) and coming back from both to get back on top - the right attitude, the right skill, the right belief, and the right decisions. Everything to love abotu English cricket during its best years was there again. Even if we hadn't won the game, those qualities all combined made me really, really happy about cricket for the first time in a long time. It wasn't about whether England won, per se, but it was about the fact that I cared whether England won - when we lost to Bangladesh in the WC I didn't' see the game, but when I saw the result I was shocked to discover that I genuinely didn't give a toss, and it worried me that I'd lost that part of my life forever. Now I'm back, so when it all goes to ****, it'll actually hurt.

What with Bath's epic win as well, it was quite the sporting weekend for me!

........and talk of that KP is now at an end one hopes!!!

 

[SelimNiai]

........and talk of that KP is now at an end one hopes!!!

I doubt it, with him being as vocal as ever and his big gobbed mate Morgan banging away on Twitter we'll never be free of it.

 

[Tony Manx]

I doubt it, with him being as vocal as ever and his big gobbed mate Morgan banging away on Twitter we'll never be free of it.

That was what I feared!!!

 

[Every Time Ref]

It'll never be over.

I imagine the issue was done to death on here, as everywhere, with nothing of interest gained, no-one's opinions changed, and a lot of pointless shouting and bad feeling on every side ... and it probably will be again constantly for the forseeable future ...

 

[GarethEWilliams]

I do worry that Australia will roll over the English batsmen too easily this summer. Also the bowlers need to up their game to take 20 wickets. Agree with Vaughan that we need to be aggressive in our cricket like in 2005.

 

[Rich Taff]

Blimey, if that's the shape of things to come, I'm going to be watching a lot more one day cricket.