I remember the ground at Wargrave but not Twyford ......unless it's just past the railway line where there are lots of boys football pitches too. Used to take one of my estranged sons to play footy there when he was about 10. I was rubbish at cricket. Got selected to play for the class team once. Batted #11 and didn't bowl. Came out to bat for the last ball of the innings, we needed about 40 more to win, and so for a laugh they gave me 9 slips. I edged it for 4 through the slips. 4 not out and a scoring rate of 400.00. Played for EY at Wargrave a few times. Famously got bowled out by a girl. No-one mentions I'd hit her for 4 the ball before.
Twyford ground is just before the bridge going over the railway, just outside the village centre. Its a public space and I believe there is football there in the winter. Played at Wargrave a few times, always incredibly hot, no shade whatsoever
My average this season is above 30 as an all-rounder, and I've had a reasonable strike rate. I feel like that is enough. Few leg spin wickets, including 3 in an over. My average last year was 1.
Yeah that's where I thought it was. My son played for Twyford comets. So many funny memories from Wargrave playing for EY. Best perhaps allowing a German exchange student bowl for us vs a client XI. He raced up to the stumps and instead of bowling just hurled the ball at the batsman striking him on the shoulder ....happy days.
Another great win for England ! Well done to James Vince and Lewis Gregory who really set that up nicely.
I watched the first (women's) game in The Hundred last night and really enjoyed it, helped by the fact it was a close one. I do like the fact that the women look as though they're enjoying themselves at the same time as being competitive (same as in football). I thought the idea of the option for a bowler to bowl a second five balls is an interesting one and could be an important decision for a captain. In general though, being an old traditionalist, I don't really get why this new format is necessary when we already have T20 which could surely be promoted equally aggressively. I found myself constantly recalculating the scoring rate based on 6-ball overs to give it some meaning. One of the stated objectives of this tournament is to make cricket more accessible to newcomers and easier to understand, in which case I think the BBC missed a trick. There were a few short explanatory clips about certain aspects and Michael Vaughn in commentary occasionally tried to explain things like how a player was out stumped, but in general they used the same terminology and language people are only familiar with if they are regular cricket watchers. If I had come to it completely cold I don't think I would have been any the wiser by the end.
I don't really like the format of T20, a sloggathon is not the art of cricket but I understand fully that it brings in money to the game and so can be accepted. The Hundred at first glance seems pointless given that T20 does appear to be successful, however as I understand it, it was formulated in such a way that a Hundred match could be scheduled to be played within a 2.5 hour time slot which would be acceptable to TV companies like the BBC.
I don't see the point of it. I watched a lot of the first game and thought it was pretty amateurish. Anyone who likes cricket will already have enough to enjoy with the existing 3 formats. If it's meant to bring in new viewers to the game then I'm sure it will take more than trying to dress it up American style, with a draft system, funky team names and fireworks. Ultimately it's still people playing cricket with the same old terminology as Willis said. As for the hideous on screen graphics, it was like teletext reborn.
5 minutes of watching last night with the neon green and pink graphics festooning either side of the screen had a similar effect on my eyes to toothpicks.
It took me ages to work out that the balance between green/pink trapezoids under the players names had nothing to do with the state of the game. Just the length of the players names. Was like watching village cricket through the lens of a 1980s arcade game.
Same. Utterly pointless new competition. Presume we will get a 90 ball game added soon with 6 x 15 ball overs ?? I won't be watching the men's either but the quality of women's football and cricket is so low I can't get excited by it anyway. Mrs TuT is delighted that women's sport is getting an equal status with men's sport now, but doesn't watch it, couldn't name a player (unless there's a great social media story attached) and happily watches and is knowledgeable about men's sport.
ECB have sold 11k tickets today off the back of last night... I went to the game and quite enjoyed it tbh.
The pink lettering needs to be changed, as it was very difficult to read. As for the game it was enjoyable enough, but I don't really think it was much different to watching a 20/20 match myself, so why try to fix something that is not broken?
Said on here before, but essentially the ECB were desperate to get cricket back on the BBC. The BBC wouldn't take a T20 competition because the games are too long. They said they wouldn't show anything longer than 2 hours... Hence the Hundred.
Cricket will probably be quite good but won't do much for our test team or the longer forms in the County game. Guess money talks and if the ECB make millions they won't care.
I think women's cricket and football at the top level are way better than they were only 10 years ago.
Genuinely don't think it's about the money. They're spooked by the data on young people and cricket, which is a problem of their own making.
I'm sure they are but still not worth watching as evidenced by the occasional 30 seconds highlights on bbc news bulletins.
I'm not much of a cricket fan but a pal of mine is obsessed by it. The launch of the 100 is the final straw for him and he is now looking to emigrate
This new so called wonder format "The 100" is already in danger of getting boring as it is getting far too much coverage and is in OVER KILL MODE!!!
Reminds me of an occasion when I was watching one of the early T20 games in the bar of a hotel and a work colleague over from the USA joined me, looked at the TV & opined "oh, cricket...like baseball ain't it?". As part of my attempt to explain the rules, I listed the various ways you could be given out, ending up with the more arcane dismissals, such as 'timed out' and 'handling the ball', both of which, I stated with utter conviction, never really happen. At which point, the very next ball, the batsman played the ball, realised it was bouncing with backspin & was right on target to hit the top of the stumps, so instinctively knocked it away with his gloved hand. So; appeal, umpire's finger raised, batsman angrily walking back to the pavilion, cursing & smacking the bat into his pad. "Why's that guy out?" came the question; "handled ball", I replied sheepishly. The look on his face suggested he thought I had been taking the p155 all along. At least the next batsman got to the crease quickly enough to preclude the possibility of a dismissal for 'timed out'. I'm not sure he would have believed anything I told him again had that been the case. Talking of 'out stumped'; have you ever tried to explain the rules governing 'wide ball' and 'out stumped' only to then have to explain why someone has been given out after being stumped off a wide?
Ben Stokes to to take an indefinite break form cricket. https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/2202365 Good luck to him on a full recovery and he comes back refreshed.
England 145-6, only Root is a test quality batsmen. Genuinely think we're starting to plumb mid 1990's depths now. If The Ashes goes ahead this winter it is nailed on 5-0.
Completely forgot it started today because of my new found love for Sailing and Horsey Jumping. Looking at it, if the ECB don't care about the test team anymore, I don't see why I should. Awful stuff.
Words I never thought I would type; Monty Don agrees with @GoingDown. Monty Don @TheMontyDon · 13h The current cricket season is a disaster. All white ball cricket is an entertaining sideshow and should never take precedence over the longer form. Would it be a good idea to interrupt the football euros for 8 weeks of 5 a side, or the rugby 6 nations with 2 months of 7 a side?
