Yes, that is a very fair point. It's not fully consonant with the idea of competition to have more than one winner. Otherwuise, as AML says, you risk ending up with sports day-type prizes for everyone. Not sure Clive of the Kremlin cares much for cricket, which he probably regards as elitist, but I wonder if his collectivist principles soften him towards the idea of joint winners.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/16/england-world-cup-andrew-strauss-cricket Sad about his wife but irrelevant to cricket. Wrecking ball Strauss using emotional levers to push his controversial 100 ball format. A gimmick which will degrade first class cricket, English test cricket, T20 cricket & prevent us from competing seriously in future within 50 over cricket. The Farage of cricket?
The Gentlemen vs Players fixture ended in 1962 & nowadays all of the players use the same gate to enter the field of play. Some of us barely recognise the modern game. More tellingly in their 15 year heyday, the Windies were the most successful black team ever.
Speaking of which has he commented on the win as I believe the bloke is a big cricket fan? Or probably think it doesn't count as not all of our players were born here... I notice Reece Moog used it as an excuse to have a pop at the EU...
Stories in some media this morning that Stokes apparently asked the umpires to declare the overthrows as void.
It was mentioned in the commentary at the time but the umpires couldn't do anything about it as the ball was live when it hit the boundary. Had the ball not hit the boundary, Stokes would not have run again anyway.
He clearly put up his hands in a gesture which suggested either that he didn't want them to count the overthrows, or that he was apologising for the freak occurrence.
Surely apologising. If he tried to cause the umpire to alter his decision then I imagine disciplinary action should follow.
I really hope so. I wonder whether by the end of the Ashes our top 6 might resemble quite closely our one day top 6 (except, of course, Morgan). I'm less confident in Denly & Burns standing up to the pressure.
Looks like the estimable Gregory may well play vs Ireland. Another nail in the Somerset title coffin?
Oh come on, that’s a bit strong. It’s not as if he showed dissent, it was more “I didn’t mean it”. I’m inclined to think it was an apology, though - looked more like that.
It would surprise me if he was picked for the Ashes. Surely several others ahead in the queue. We can afford a few dalliances with England while the T20 frivolity takes place.
I think he actually gave Williamson the finger and if you look closely muttered "wa***r" under his breath. Given his track record that's probably another 6 months on the sidelines. When will they learn ?
Much as I like him, I think it shows our level of desperation TBH. We've tried every red-ball opener so lets give the white-ball guys a go ? Wonder if he will freeze and fail to show any agression paralized by the fear of getting out, rather like Hales did when they tried him (at least he was opening in County cricket as I recall ?).
I reckon Roy's temperament is his main strength vs the 'pure red ball' openers (eg Jennings, Stoneman). If you've performed on a sweaty Tuesday night in Kolkata, a home test vs Oz is straightforward. Same for Buttler. Also, why I would look at YJB as the other opener. I don't believe any of these could 'do a Cookie' & bat 4 sessions but tests these days always finish & it's more simply about total runs. Roy will score more than Jennings.
Yes I hope you're right. I think I read that Bairstow doesn't like to open but will "if he must". You or I would score more than Jennings. Hopefully Roy's temperment doesn't change after 4 low scores. Very different opening against Starc with 4 slips and the remit of seeing the shine off the new ball.
A friend told me he scored his first boundary on Monday for 46 years. Roy plays straight so it's shot selection, rather than technique, which could be the issue. One to watch might be Sibley. Top scorer in Div 1, played for Lions, 'watchful' approach.
I knew Jennings was out of form but didn't realise it was that bad. I never hit a 6. I think that ruled me out of the one-day squad. Yes I saw Sibley scored a few runs and at a 1980's test match rate.
Described by Cricinfo thus: “arguably lacks the pace required to make the grade as an international allrounder”. Probably faster than Ian Austin though.
Woakes-esque, certainly. I hadn’t realised Archer was ruled out of the First Test but still think LG will be lucky to feature vs Oz.
Smith was rather cagey about Archer. He said that he had gone back to Barbados to recuperate. Whereas Wood was a 4-6 weeker. The main news is that Jimmy is back. Him, Broady, Woakesy & Curran would be ample, on top of Stokes. I wonder if Somerset Leach will get a look in. I suspect Rash not be fit enough to play much &, if Moeen gets tonked, MJH might be the man.
Is Broady past it, I wonder? Time will tell. Suspect you have accurately predicted the bowling attack for First Test there.
The historic lack of pace though with woods/Archer absent. Ok for May/June but we need some wet weather between now and the test as a sunny day / dry hard wicket would leave us exposed.
The Express tells us biblical downpours this week but Aug will be a scorcher. Hopefully the message to all groundsmen (maybe via a group WhatsApp) to produce 'English conditions'.
Yes, we need an inch of water on each ground for a minimum fortnight before each test. Pitch should look like this;
much as I dislike KP, he said that Jennings is not good enough and he's spot on. I think I would like to see them stick with Burns and him to open with Roy
