The Cricket Thread

The 1st Test between England and Sri Lanka starts at Cardiff tomorrow. I am happy about this. Sri Lanka are no mugs and I would hope that the seamer friendly conditions in England at the start of the summer will give us a slight advantage.

By "us" I mean England.

I confess to not being a cricket fan at all so I shall avoid this thread and perm my hair or something, but why are England playing in Cardiff?

GOB wrote:

I confess to not being a cricket fan at all so I shall avoid this thread and perm my hair or something, but why are England playing in Cardiff?

Because we are grown up and not small minded and insular.
Have you still got enough hair for a perm ?

Pissing down in Cardiff yesterday. Win the toss and stick those little Sri Lankan fellas in to bat !

Was gonna see if I can get across there for the 4th or 5th day; working the rest of the time. Will depend on weather, state of the game, etc.

The Lanka batting line-up has a few characters but I don't see enough in their bowling to get us out twice!

Anyone know which tv channel has the rights......Sky ?

Tringreen wrote:

GOB wrote:

I confess to not being a cricket fan at all so I shall avoid this thread and perm my hair or something, but why are England playing in Cardiff?

Because we are grown up and not small minded and insular.
Have you still got enough hair for a perm ?

Pissing down in Cardiff yesterday. Win the toss and stick those little Sri Lankan fellas in to bat !

I have a few but they are situated in the emmm, lower regions!

Anyway, I'll leave you guys to it and slam my tit in the car door for pleasure!

Byeee !

Tringreen wrote:

Anyone know which tv channel has the rights......Sky ?

Tis indeed Sky,Ceylon 31-0 after a rain affected start.

Greenskin wrote:

Tringreen wrote:

Anyone know which tv channel has the rights......Sky ?

Tis indeed Sky,Ceylon 31-0 after a rain affected start.

My old man got malaria in Ceylon during WW2. A rare piece of useless information

Sangakarra just out rather controversially via review,didn't seem to touch it visually,given out on an apparent noise.Hmm,oh well,darned good player to get out.90 odd for 2.

Too dark for cricket here. Just right for the pub though

Trott and Cook both make tons,carrying on from last winter.I must say the standard of bowling is pretty mediocre in test cricket at the moment though.Can't think of too many truly great bowlers around these days-Steyn,Harbajhan possibly,i think the best prospect was the young Pakistani who got banned.Not a bad time to be a batsman in test cricket-not to take anything away from Trott and Cook though,fill your boots while you can.

Greenskin wrote:

Trott and Cook both make tons,carrying on from last winter.I must say the standard of bowling is pretty mediocre in test cricket at the moment though.Can't think of too many truly great bowlers around these days-Steyn,Harbajhan possibly,i think the best prospect was the young Pakistani who got banned.Not a bad time to be a batsman in test cricket-not to take anything away from Trott and Cook though,fill your boots while you can.

Doesn't help that every pitch these days is geared towards the Chief Executive - that is to say, they're 100% guaranteed to last 5 days. Even 5-10 years ago someone average like Steve Harmison could bend his back and get some life out of things. I'd agree on Steyn, and the Morkel chap is handy too. Apart from that the Pakis have a couple of decent bowlers but they're no Wasims/Waqars, India have Zaheer who is good but no more...The Windies have no-one of note. Australia have a vast collection of average players (I rate Siddle a bit more than the rest). I think it's fair to call England's bowling unit the best around - but our back up is the mediocre Steve Finn! There's not even many decent spinners about now Warney and Murali have gone - Swann is rated the best in the world but he's not up to that much really. There's not much between him and Singh/Vettori etc.

I said yesterday that if Trott and Cook get going they'll amass huge runs on this pitch. I thought there was still a chance of a result if we got two full days play, but I'm not so sure now. England will need to bat and bat quickly, potentially declaring tonight to have any chance of bowling them out tomorrow. A draw looks the likeliest result.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Greenskin wrote:

Trott and Cook both make tons,carrying on from last winter.I must say the standard of bowling is pretty mediocre in test cricket at the moment though.Can't think of too many truly great bowlers around these days-Steyn,Harbajhan possibly,i think the best prospect was the young Pakistani who got banned.Not a bad time to be a batsman in test cricket-not to take anything away from Trott and Cook though,fill your boots while you can.

Doesn't help that every pitch these days is geared towards the Chief Executive - that is to say, they're 100% guaranteed to last 5 days. Even 5-10 years ago someone average like Steve Harmison could bend his back and get some life out of things. I'd agree on Steyn, and the Morkel chap is handy too. Apart from that the Pakis have a couple of decent bowlers but they're no Wasims/Waqars, India have Zaheer who is good but no more...The Windies have no-one of note. Australia have a vast collection of average players (I rate Siddle a bit more than the rest). I think it's fair to call England's bowling unit the best around - but our back up is the mediocre Steve Finn! There's not even many decent spinners about now Warney and Murali have gone - Swann is rated the best in the world but he's not up to that much really. There's not much between him and Singh/Vettori etc.

I said yesterday that if Trott and Cook get going they'll amass huge runs on this pitch. I thought there was still a chance of a result if we got two full days play, but I'm not so sure now. England will need to bat and bat quickly, potentially declaring tonight to have any chance of bowling them out tomorrow. A draw looks the likeliest result.

Thank you Bob Willis.

Used to like, Johnners "And now for his expert comment here is Fred Trueman" Fred "I dont know what is going on out there"

More rain this morning - game over.

I notice the Green Taverners played an Argyle fans' XI at Plymstock. Cant imagine why, I would have thought that Plymouth Cricket Club up at Peverall would be the ideal place for them to mend a few ties, perhaps arrange the use of their facilities as a base through the season for Argyle fans...the bar-takings in return would help improve the facilities for them? Maybe not. Still, a good day out by the sounds of things.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

More rain this morning - game over.

I notice the Green Taverners played an Argyle fans' XI at Plymstock. Cant imagine why, I would have thought that Plymouth Cricket Club up at Peverall would be the ideal place for them to mend a few ties, perhaps arrange the use of their facilities as a base through the season for Argyle fans...the bar-takings in return would help improve the facilities for them? Maybe not. Still, a good day out by the sounds of things.

Not game over! Dang me,that was a turn up for the books! Ceylon capitulated against a bowler short England.It was an awkward period for them to bat,bit of a no win situaton,nonetheless they should have batted time out comfortably.All credit to Englands bowlers,Tremlett softened 'em up,Swann went in for the kill.Unbelievable stuff,can Sri Lanka recover? I doubt it somehow.

And Trott has a Test average of nearly 70! Amazing.

A bit of a quandary regarding selection with the injury of Anderson. This oik Dernbach does not fill me with confidence. For a start he has ghastly tattoos and his first name is Jade - how on earth is he going going to fit in with ertswhile chaps of the Shires like Strauss (Radley) and Broad (Oakham)? Thought Onions might have been a shout as he offers a different type of bowling to Broad and Tremlett and has looked good for England before - perhaps a Test too soon and they'll allow him to get some overs under his belt up at Durham first. Maybe even Woakes who's started the season averaging 18! Shame Finn seems to have played himself out of contention a bit, didn't perform for England 'A' but surely his solid upbringing (sturdy yeoman from the Home Counties) should be taken into consideration?!! This chap is no oik!

Mock Cuncher wrote:

A bit of a quandary regarding selection with the injury of Anderson. This oik Dernbach does not fill me with confidence. For a start he has ghastly tattoos and his first name is Jade - how on earth is he going going to fit in with ertswhile chaps of the Shires like Strauss (Radley) and Broad (Oakham)? Thought Onions might have been a shout as he offers a different type of bowling to Broad and Tremlett and has looked good for England before - perhaps a Test too soon and they'll allow him to get some overs under his belt up at Durham first. Maybe even Woakes who's started the season averaging 18! Shame Finn seems to have played himself out of contention a bit, didn't perform for England 'A' but surely his solid upbringing (sturdy yeoman from the Home Counties) should be taken into consideration?!! This chap is no oik!

Have seen Finn playing club cricket as a lad with village club Kings Langley I think, about 10 miles from Tring. More 'Emel 'Empstead than Home Counties I reckon.

The 3 early wickets has meant Sri Lanka were always going to be in the game on day one, but England now ekeing out runs with Morgan, Bell and particularly Cook impressive. Despite there being no huge partnership so far, should still hit 350-400 and then wait for the clouds to gather tomorrow afternoon! Morgan's attack of the spinners so far has been refreshing on otherwise quite a slow day!

I think the world would be a far better place if Kevin Petersen was given his own planet and a mirror to keep him company ...and Geoff Boycott should be crushed for hardcore to lay a new road in the interests of the Trans Pennine peace process.

I have got a horrible feeling that we have seen the best of KP and his career is on the decline.

penzancepirate wrote:

I think the world would be a far better place if Kevin Petersen was given his own planet and a mirror to keep him company ...and Geoff Boycott should be crushed for hardcore to lay a new road in the interests of the Trans Pennine peace process.

Two singular,if contrasting, personalities,for sure.I must admit that Boycs was my hero when i was a bhey,fantastic player,good to watch even when he was scoring slowly because of his style and technique.KP needs some runs urgently to maintain his place in the team,i'll stick my neck out and say he will come good,Cook has shown in the past year that its possible to emerge from a nightmare.

342-6,England's day in the end,i'd have thought.There's a bit of depth in the England batting these days,a few years ago it was all over after number 7.500 still a realistic target,450 plus would be formidable.

I pine for the days of Ted Dexter, Edrich, Snow and Hanif Mohammed. Give me Sobers, Gibbs and Wes Hall.
Now Warne, Mcgrath and the Waughs have gone, no more heroes anymore.