General Cricket Thread (It's Come Home)

Yeah, I'd agree England's bowling attack isn't all that great right now. Aside from Broad with some flashes of brilliance from Tremlett I can't say they've left me all that impressed this match.

Well, I'm here for the first few overs.  Will be up to bed soon, but so far, I'm just happy that they haven't lost any more wickets!

EDIT: Spoke too soon.  KP, what are you on?  

Also, the Test Match Special lot are saying that there's been a hell of a lot of Pom-bashing in the Aussie press.  Kinda immature if you ask me.

Well I've just woken up (late again) and so far England are still hanging in there with a steely determination to hang in there which I'll admit I didn't think they had (then again they are one of the stronger sides in the world I believe).  Cook at the time of typing was on with 57 having just got a hard earned 50 and Bell was on 26.  Of course there is a long way to go yet, and as the commentator just said all it takes is one well placed ball.  

As for the media I wouldn't know as it's been a long time since I followed any media besides the ABC, but immature is a term I'd agree with.  That said the things I've heard about some of the English press aren't all too flattering either.

And just before I press post Bell finally falls, Siddle worked his magic and sent him one that flew from his bat edge to Haddin.

Edit: NO, bad rain!  You do not interrupt yet more circket matches Australia are poised to win, you do not do that!  You just. . . can't do that. . .

Edit 2: End of play early because the rain returned with a vengeance.  But not before Australia destroyed the rest of England, taking out another four wickets.  Australia now need two wickets to win, with both of them being tail enders.  A good half hour is all they need at this point, and so the match will come to its inevitable conclusion tomorrow, probably before I even wake up.

Edit 3: And of course the storm passed like the previous one and the match resumed after I stopped watching assuming because the broadcast was ceased and reruns of old american sitcoms nobody probably even watches the match was done for the day.  Moaning aside Australia predictably took the last two wickets they needed and have ended this on day four sometime between tea and end of play, when exactly I can't say because of the aforementioned ceasing of the broadcast, looking at the final scoreboard I missed a treat with Johnson getting a caught and bowled at the end.  But either way the gauntlet has been thrown down, and Australia has made it very clear to England with this match that this is a different series and won't be going the way the last Ashes did.  A great ending to a great match, and hopefully the start of a hard fought series of matches.   Australia is now 1-0 in the series.

Now time to grab a softdrink from the shops and get ready to catch the rerun of The Day of the Doctor.

I don't know how hard-fought this series will be now, to be honest. On paper, England still seem like the better team, but they've been shattered twice and several of their batsmen have problems. Cook may be on the ascendancy, but the unknown Carberry, Trott, and Prior are all big fat question marks. And of course Mitch is on the ascendancy as well. It's all about spirit and attitude, and had England managed to reduce the deficit to 200 they might have gone into the next match feeling a bit better, but if they bring that mindset to Adelaide and especially Perth, well...

There's a tendency in the cricket fan to overreact, I think, and I don't want to do that. I'm not going to say that it'll be a rerun of 2006-7, or even that England will lose the series. But they need to sort out a lot of their problems: in addition to the above, Swann and Anderson are looking shaky. Ironic, that Tremlett's so far made a better case for his inclusion than either of them!

And now for some controversy, captain Clarke has been fined 20% of his match fee for sledging after yesterday.  



So, thoughts?

I'm not a fan of sledging in general, nor of not walking, nor of general "bad sportsmanship".  If you're going to intimidate the batsman, do it with good bowling and fielding.  I have no problem with Clarke being fined for that, just like I wouldn't have a problem with a certain fast-medium-pacer being fined.  And, well, it's in the rules (according to the BBC), which he as captain should know.

That said, it is claimed that the comment was brought on by a remark of Anderson's (by SHA-EEN, so pinch of salt), which if true puts a different spin on the affair.  Either way, I'm not a great Telegraph fan, but this sums my feelings up rather well. What do you think, Athrun?

EDIT: Crap.  Poor poor Jonathan Trott.  Hope he recovers.  In the meantime, the English batting line-up is looking even weaker.

Well as far as my views on sledging go I think it's an inevitable part of the game, but there's a line that really shouldn't be crossed that should be fixed, smart pithy remarks and one liners to play mind games are one thing but personal insults and threats are another thing entirely.  As far as my views on Clarke go, he got what he deserved, even if the comments were provoked physical threats aren't something that should be treated lightly or as acceptable.

As for Trott, that really sucks, mental illness is not pleasant to go through.  I can only wish him well and a quick recovery.

Looks like it may be Bell at 3 and Bairstow at 6.  Although I've heard numerous other ideas, from Root at 3 to Stokes at 6.  The latter in order to give Panesar a chance on the flat pitch at Adelaide.  England hoping for a repeat of the India series?

EDIT: Another piece about sledging.  Slightly more light-hearted, this one.

29th EDIT: The heck has happened to Prior? Honestly, the poor man is suffering. Give Bairstow the gloves and let him get some rest.

...half a year ago, if you'd said I'd be wanting Bairstow back in the team, I'd have ridiculed you.

I was totally embarrassed by the Australian Cricket team. It is great that we won, but a win that is soured by poor sportsmanship has little gloss to it. I think sledging is fine and is a natural part of sport, but there is a line and the Australians not only crossed it, but they went so far past it, they would no longer be able to see it. Sledging should be non threatening and strictly related to the game itself. If a player has shown a weakness, exploit it, but don't be disrespectful. Australia needs to have a coach for behaviour, as they clearly don't know how to behave.

Warner's said he's very sorry, and neither Anderson nor Broad (nor Root for that matter) seem to mind that much.

Anyway, it's looking like Big Tim Bresnan might be coming back into the team. Frankly the tail-end's batting could do with bolstering, although I'm not sure how much he'll lend to the bowling line-up. Seems better than Finn or Rankin, at any rate. And it sounds like Root will be batting at 3 - ehhhhhhh.  

Balladeer wrote:

Warner's said he's very sorry, and neither Anderson nor Broad (nor Root for that matter) seem to mind that much.

They would say that though, as they are showing class and sportsmanship  

I wouldn't say that saying you'd like to punch someone in the face counts as class or sportsmanship! Although Broad whistling the latest Aussie insult song did make me giggle.

Balladeer wrote:

I wouldn't say that saying you'd like to punch someone in the face counts as class or sportsmanship!  Although Broad whistling the latest Aussie insult song did make me giggle.

Haven't heard it .... what song is it?

I don't know the song, but the quote is, "I’m glad my mum wasn’t in the stadium but, to be honest, I was singing along at one stage. It gets in your head and you find yourself whistling it at the end of your mark."  So presumably a little rude - but then, all the best cricket "songs" are.  Now, what's that one about Johnson...?  (Not that it applies at the moment.)

In other cricketing news, I'm vaguely following NZ v. WI, first test.  It's almost as depressing as the first Ashes test.  WI being steamrolled so far.

EDIT: Ben Stokes?  What.  The hell.  

Welp, take care of that urn, Australia.  Who knows how long you'll hold onto it for?

...although if your opener will try to play like it's an ODI...

Well, I just woke up after sleeping for 23 hours and it seems like this match is still well and truly anybodies game.  Australia are at 4 for 225, but both Bailey and Clarke seem to be stepping up to the plate so it could go on for a fair bit longer.  That said all it will take is another wicket before the 300 mark and the mental edge will go back to England.  Either way it's looking like a good competitive game of cricket is ahead.

EDIT: Bailey is coming good it seems, he's now on 53 runs.  It won't be long before Clarke joins him sitting on 38 runs.

EDOT 2: And Bailey is gone, for 53.  England's done well to tie up the run rate and Bailey has fallen for it.  Of course this isn't over yet as Haddin takes the crease and Clarke is still out there.

EDIT 3: Day three wrapped up with nothing more major happening. Australia has a respectable score, but given the pitch they could have had more, meanwhile England had a few opportunities to devastate Australia that they failed to capitalize on with drops. The day ends with the potential for something big happening on day two.

Day three? Either I've missed something, or we're talking about different tests here! Anyway, it sounds like Carberry will be getting some stony looks in the dressing room. As for England, you'd assume that if they can get one of the captain and the vice out quickly, they'll have a good chance of taking this match...

...and then you remember England's batting attack. Bresnan would at least have bolstered the lower order a bit, and I'd have rather seen Ballance than Stokes. Frankly, I can't see England getting anything near 400, but I'd love to be surprised.  

I meant day one. Seems I'm still not properly awake.  

I came into this thread by accident, but I've got to know: how on earth can you sleep for 23 hours?

It's pretty uneventful to be honest, I'd mostly just had bad sleep for the three days leading up to it and then because of commitments like the house inspection on Wednesday I had to stay up for close to 24 hours.  That said 24 hours is unusual when I pull something like that, usually I'm only asleep for about 16 hours.  The extra hours were probably because of some pain medication I took for a really nasty headache when I woke up very briefly in the morning before going back to bed.

EDIT:  

I slept through the day again, and, am I reading this right or am I still sleeping?  England is 1 for 35 chasing a total of 570 after Australia declared?!?   

What insanity is this?  I'm going to take a wild guess and say Clarke pulled off another monster total and Haddin also got a century.  Either way I think it's safe to say the match is well and truly now Australia's to lose.

Where's that quote from you...

Athrun888 wrote:

*Turns television off in disgust*

Ah, found it.  This is pretty much how I feel now.  

I can't congratulate Clarke on his century, after he behaved in the last match.  I just can't.  I will congratulate Haddin, though: sounds like he had a bit of personal trouble prior to the series, so (from a neutral perspective) it's nice to see him get his second big score of the series.

As for Cook...

The only thing that makes me feel slightly better is that the Windies have posted quite a fightback against NZ. Maybe England can do the same? Cough Pietersen cough.

Well this has certainly turned in to a disaster for England.  I wake up to find Australia back in with three wickets for over a 100 runs and Warner closing in on another century.  Looking at the scoreboard England's batting was outright pathetic, with Carberry and Bell being the only two batsmen with scores worth even mentioning (60 for Carberry and 72 not out for Bell), the next highest scorer being Root with 15 runs!  And looking at who took the wickets Johnson was on absolute fire!  He took seven of the wickets!  Four of them being bowled to boot.  All up an awful day for England, and it's not even quiet over yet.

EDIT: End of the day, England is well and truly crushed now. The day ended with Australia leading by 530 runs with 3 wickets down, Warner on 83 runs. I think it's safe to say short of weather intervening this match is properly over.

 

And Cook is out after pulling one really bizarre out of sync shot.  A horrible edge that went strait to a fieldsmen.  A really poor dismissal, one run seven balls from a shot that just left me going "what was that?"

EDIT: And Carberry has gone!

EDIT 2: Well, England is really putting up a fight now.  Pietersen and Root are really putting up a fight, both have now scored over 50 runs each.  This leaves me asking one thing, where was this spectacular batting in the first innings?  Well better late than never, it's quiet the show to watch.

EDIT 3: Pietersen is gone!  I repeat, Pietersen is gone!  Inside edge right in to his stumps!  This could well be the break through Australia needs thanks to Siddle the miracle worker.

Scratch that, I was forgetting the next batsman in was Bell.

EDIT 4: Bell is now gone, a wicket belonging to Smith!  Can England last the next two and a half hours before end of play?  Also it has to be said the fielding from Australia has been nothing short of spectacular.  A fair number of these wickets wouldn't have been caught by other fielders.

EDIT 5: And Root has fallen after a excellent innings.  After batting for almost the entire day and ending with 87 after a miraculous catch by Haddin. The current score is 5 for 171.

Well, what do you know. Every member of England's top six who's played in both tests now has a half-century. That's far from the whole battle (very, very far), but combined with Prior scoring more than thirty, I'm slightly more hopeful than I would otherwise have been: not of the series (that's in the bag for Australia), but of England beginning to rebuild by the end of it, like Aus. did in Blighty.

And that's the match. A good game in the end to be honest, England put up a good fight in the last innings and it bodes well for the match in Perth in a few days. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next time.