Cricket Thread

[saulan]

I was pretty shocked to see on Twitter yesterday that the first game of the Cricket World Cup had taken place. I thought it was only kicking off after the RWC ended. Who thought it would be a good idea to play that tournament at the same time as the RWC when many of the biggest teams are invested in both sports (SA, Eng, NZ, Aus - it doesn't seem like much but the Cricket World Cup only has 10 teams).

In general though, cricket is pretty dead to me. So much politics/corruptions and stuff ups in the running of the Proteas, the weird ring fencing of games/tours to benefit the largest commercial teams and many small domestic tournaments with large bank accounts diluting/weakening the internationals themselves. There was a point in time I'd say cricket and rugby had similar-ish levels of support in SA, now the cricket stadiums are empty for most domestic league games that weren't that new T20 tournament while rugby is becoming the sporting heart of the nation.

Wondering what the feeling is in other countries? Is it a similar feeling of the sport being in decline or is it just my jaded SA mindset of all the insane mismanagement at both the ICC and CSA levels?

 

[ncurd]

Wondering what the feeling is in other countries? Is it a similar feeling of the sport being in decline or is it just my jaded SA mindset of all the insane mismanagement at both the ICC and CSA levels?

Cricket is weird in the UK its pretty has a backbone in international cricket which is still immensely popular.

The domestic game has issues, First Class is mainly played in spring and barely in the summer to make way for shorter forms. We don't play List A anymore because of the hundred (great for womens cricket, **** at everything else) so downgraded one day id played during that without the top players. Our T20 tournament (the first!) is still pretty damn good, a good mix of domestic/international talent but its schedule had also been screwed by the hundred.

The Hundred is the base of problems,

Internationally yup outside the big 3 the ICC has a lot of really bad idea.

The CWC is a ******* mess of a schedule, the group stage goes on forever, apart from a few match ups the games aren't that exciting and you can lose enough games that it takes forever for games to 'count'.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I do not follow limited overs cricket at all and the cricket authorities get stick for reducing the number of nations competing at the world cup. I am not trolling England fans but this cannot pass without comment. What the heck is world cricket doing right that can make this happen?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67115466

A fairly technical sport too (even if ODIs less so than tests) that I wouldn't think such huge upsets possible. Are they even allowed to play cricket in Afghanistan? Or is the team filled with re-badged Pakistanis?

Anyway, I stumbled across the headline and felt like I'd been abducted into a parrallel universe.

 

[BrokenWing]

I suppose it's what can happen when Bazball backfires.

 

[ncurd]

I suppose it's what can happen when Bazball backfires.

Its the ODI world cup he isn't even the coach and a different captain.

 

[ncurd]

I do not follow limited overs cricket at all and the cricket authorities get stick for reducing the number of nations competing at the world cup. I am not trolling England fans but this cannot pass without comment. What the heck is world cricket doing right that can make this happen?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67115466

A fairly technical sport too (even if ODIs less so than tests) that I wouldn't think such huge upsets possible. Are they even allowed to play cricket in Afghanistan? Or is the team filled with re-badged Pakistanis?

Anyway, I stumbled across the headline and felt like I'd been abducted into a parrallel universe.

Nope quite popular in Afghan although yes quite a few of Pakistani heritage. they're also an emerging nation in terms of Cricket and will be more competitive in a few years.

Its disappointing but this team is far from firing on cylinder's and it just look like they aren't quite up for it like they were 4 years ago.

These results happen Ireland and Netherlands have in the past given top teams bloody noses at the world cups. Cricket is slightly more variable than Rugby sometimes your batters just are on one or they're not and it produces a freak result.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Nope quite popular in Afghan although yes quite a few of Pakistani heritage. they're also an emerging nation in terms of Cricket and will be more competitive in a few years.

Its disappointing but this team is far from firing on cylinder's and it just look like they aren't quite up for it like they were 4 years ago.

These results happen Ireland and Netherlands have in the past given top teams bloody noses at the world cups. Cricket is slightly more variable than Rugby sometimes your batters just are on one or they're not and it produces a freak result.

Yeah, I remember some Canadian years ago got a century in about 70 balls.

Also, no disrespect to Afghanistan, I know they really started pulling away from the likes of Scotland & Netherlands so its not like if it was the same nations playing football. I'm glad theyve got something to cheer.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Our Dads Army of an ODI team getting blown away again, this time by Sri Lanka.

34, 36, 32, 32, 33, 30, 36, 34, 33, 35, 33. Sadly not the scorecard, but the ages of the team.

 

[ncurd]

Our Dads Army of an ODI team getting blown away again, this time by Sri Lanka.

34, 36, 32, 32, 33, 30, 36, 34, 33, 35, 33. Sadly not the scorecard, but the ages of the team.

And we've downgraded our List A domestic competition whilst the top players play a format nobody else plays that is just made up os established players of our (pretty competitive) T20 competition.

Brook whos out youngest player in the squad and "the future" has played on 15 matches at professional level before his ODI career.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

To think Atherton was bigging up England to win back to back. I'm not a cricket fan, but I looked at where it was being played and I thought that's unlikely.

 

[ncurd]

To think Atherton was bigging up England to win back to back. I'm not a cricket fan, but I looked at where it was being played and I thought that's unlikely.

The issue isn't where is being played we've gone in massively undercooked and it's showing.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

The issue isn't where is being played we've gone in massively undercooked and it's showing.

It doesn't help that this is not played in England this time though right? Like look at the football team never got to a final of a World Cup or Euros outside of England and Wembly. Makes the 2003's achievement of winning on foreign soil all the more remarkable.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

And you thought England were having a bad World Cup…..Sri Lanka currently 14-6 against India chasing 358.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

come on england , beat Pakistan

 

[ncurd]

I wouldn't have much hope in that were conspired to lose a lot of matches this tournament.

Bangladesh not going to win the spirit of cricket award though. Disgraceful decision to appeal.

Mathews timed out - how it happened, reaction and vote

Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews becomes the first batter to be timed out in international cricket, but how did it happen, what do the Laws say and what has the reaction been?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Sometimes it's just your day.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Not a good day for hosts.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

The Bazball roller coaster goes on. Ridiculous win.

Great innings from Pope to give us a sniff. After being hit for 6 in his first ball in tests it could literally only get better for Hartley, but I don't think anyone thought 7-62 better!

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

England heading for a massive defeat.

Root, rightly, taking a load of flak for his first innings dismissal. In no sense when you're more than 200 behind is playing a premeditated ramp shot to a 90 mph bowler a good idea. He's better than that - it's just dumb and shifted the whole momentum of the game.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

England heading for a massive defeat.

Root, rightly, taking a load of flak for his first innings dismissal. In no sense when you're more than 200 behind is playing a premeditated ramp shot to a 90 mph bowler a good idea. He's better than that - it's just dumb and shifted the whole momentum of the game.

When I wrote that 80 minutes ago we were only 4 down and now it's all over. Feeble.