Why are we bickering?
MS Dhoni did a very noble thing and I am grateful to him for upholding the spirit of cricket.
MS Dhoni did a very noble thing and I am grateful to him for upholding the spirit of cricket.
Cricket:India's tour of England 2011
- Thread starter The Taurean
- Start date
It isn't. Demonstrably in tennis where the challenge is fairly simple since the ball doesn't bounce. Even more alarmingly so in lbw where their shitty software has no clue whether the ball is hitting or going over the stumps.
Harbhajan injured. Good stuff.
edit: I don't wish injury upon him, but it's good that he won't probably be playing the next test. Couldn't give a shit about his injury.
edit: I don't wish injury upon him, but it's good that he won't probably be playing the next test. Couldn't give a shit about his injury.
Strauss has always been very sporting, apart from the Matthews incident he also let Australia replace their keeper in 2009 when the teams had already been announced and there was no need for him to do so.
I'm going to take the opportunity to do a little gloating. Think the only thing I've got wrong was Dravid, who I did think was past his best and has proved resoundingly otherwise.
PS Sorry for that but absolutely ridiculous assessment.
Prior being the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world. Gambhir not coping in English pitches despite playing well on South African against far better pace bowlers.
You're stuck in the past with your naysaying Pete.
I thought it was bloody stupid from Bell, should have been out. Luckily it didn't influence the game too much.
I'm happy to stay in the past until they sort the technology out rather than fanny it and show no video replays to preserve the illusion that they 'tell the truth'.
They show the replays in cricket over and over again. I don't watch crap sports like tennis.
Apart from the Prior thing(fair enough on that), there is really feck all to gloat about.
Trott and Cook hasn't had great series so far. Raina has played well in the first test. Gambhir was injured in the second innings of the first test, so I don't know it proved your point right. Rahul Dravid's comment as you've said was wrong.
Also can't see how you can say that India doesn't have any chance of winning the test, when we were clear favorites after two days here and after this test there are two tests to play. Although your scoreline prediction could be true.
But yes, carry on with your gloating.
My predications for this series so far:
1. Tendulkar won't score any meaningful runs - so far so good
2. Bell will score a big hundred today - check
3. Yuvraj would score runs if he came in - check
4. England to win the series - looking good
5. India have pathetic bowlers - check
1. Tendulkar won't score any meaningful runs - so far so good
2. Bell will score a big hundred today - check
3. Yuvraj would score runs if he came in - check
4. England to win the series - looking good
5. India have pathetic bowlers - check
That's because they can't conclusively prove Hawkeye wrong as they do in tennis. Of course, Hawkeye is wrong much more often in cricket since it has a much harder job to do and appears to be programmed by idiots.
Problem?
I'm with the Holding, Atherton et al, Bell was out, and should've stayed in the pavilion.
Hawkeye may not be 100% reliable but DRS was introduced to get rid of 'howlers' such as the ones that Billy Bowden made in the last test. Also Broad would not have had a hat-trick yesterday had India allowed DRS for LBWs, since Harbajan got his bat on the ball.
For my money, those three decisions justify the use of DRS. It's a fairly new thing and is under constant review but to dismiss Hawkeye as "shit" is a bit simplistic.
And the Bell incident - Yeah he was an idiot, but as Rahul Dravid has said, India wouldn't want one of their batsmen out like that so in my opinion they did the right thing.. It's tainted the match, sadly, as India seemed to let their heads drop after that.
Sunil Gavascar also saying on TMS that the phrase "it's just not cricket" has lost some of its shine in recent years and that India's actions will have done a lot to bring some of it back.
It gets even more of them wrong, and spoils the live spectator aspect of the game since you have to wait around to find out whether it's really out or not.
Where's your evidence for that? Hot-spot has been shown to be almost useless but not Hawkeye.
In tennis where Hawkeye has a relatively simple job to do it gets so many wrong that they don't show video replays any more. An lbw call in cricket is massively more complex (and importantly for Hawkeye can't definitively be called wrong even if many of them are - particularly the ones going over the top of the stumps).
Tennis, tennis, tennis... go moan in the tennis thread.
So Hawkeye should be dismissed outright because they don't use it in tennis any more? You telling me Hawkeye got those two Billy Bowden decisions wrong where the ball was going to hit the middle of the middle stump? Or where Harby clearly got an edge but was given out LBW?
Hawkeye shouldn't be used because it doesn't fecking work (demonstrated in tennis and worse in cricket).
Hawkeye probably will work eventually with technological advance but at the moment with most tv camera's working at 25 frames per second (I think) the tracking will not be as exact as people would ideally want. However I think it gets more decisions right than the human eye would, and with the DRS being set up as to give the benefit of the doubt to the umpires I think the fact that it is not perfectly accurate matters less.
It seems one of the fielders was very verbal in asking the ball to be thrown when Bell started his initial jog. Big feck-up by Bell not to have returned to his crease to signal end of his run. He knew he made a mistake. A lesson learnt for him.
BTW, what is everyone's thoughts on Vaughan tweeting that Laxman had used Vaseline on the bat to evade detection by hotspot technology. Absolutely ridiculous. I would have given him a verbal lashing of my own. The man seems to have more trust on technology than a esteemed cricketer's dignity.
BTW, what is everyone's thoughts on Vaughan tweeting that Laxman had used Vaseline on the bat to evade detection by hotspot technology. Absolutely ridiculous. I would have given him a verbal lashing of my own. The man seems to have more trust on technology than a esteemed cricketer's dignity.
When did England's lower order get this good?
I'm enjoying the tests for now - we'll get trouned in the ODI's as per the norm.
I'm enjoying the tests for now - we'll get trouned in the ODI's as per the norm.
England look good to win the series. Yes we threw away some incredibly good positions but can't complain if we lose. We haven't really been at the races so far. If we do end up losing the series and the no.1 ranking I hope we respond equally well when England tour India and win that one.
And Stuart Broad - take a bow.
And Stuart Broad - take a bow.
The tourof India is the new tour of Australia, basically. England have done excellently. Yes, Zaheer is injured and India are missing a number of players, but you can only beat what is in front of you.
If I were Strauss I would not declare and push on to try and score 6 an over until we are bowled out. The lead could be close to 500 by lunch if luck is with the batsman.
If I were Strauss I would not declare and push on to try and score 6 an over until we are bowled out. The lead could be close to 500 by lunch if luck is with the batsman.
They don't tour us for another 16 months. We'll be a completely new side.
Vaughan is basically a rent a quote...but the Ihni binni dimi diniwiny anitaime on twitter were way across the line with the abuse they gave him yesterday and the day before, so he had a bit of fun winding them up.
I think this vaseline stuff is a joke, wouldn't the vaseline get on the ball? Would the bowlers not complain to the umpire? Would vaseline make a difference? I think it very very unlikely Laxman would have done something like this.
However the dignity or integrity of cricketers, no matter how esteemed is not set in stone.
Tendulkar
Dravid
Athers
Half of Pakistan(ok not that many)
Have been cited and fined for ball tampering, which is after all a form of cheating.
What do you reckon the (probable) starting XI would be then zing?
I'd throw in Ian Bell for the DRS 'gamesmenship' at the SCG too.
Not sure if in 16 months, but eventually I think we will see this.
Mukund, Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Laxman, Raina, Dhoni, Harbhajan(yes, him), Mishra, Ishant, Sreesanth
The most gifted of the lot is Rohit Sharma, but he hasn't got the temperament for test cricket. Doesn't even have the temperament for ODI cricket, although that seems to be changing..
Mukund, Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Laxman, Raina, Dhoni, Harbhajan(yes, him), Mishra, Ishant, Sreesanth
The most gifted of the lot is Rohit Sharma, but he hasn't got the temperament for test cricket. Doesn't even have the temperament for ODI cricket, although that seems to be changing..
Sachin won't retire in tests in 16 months... Dravid might..
What happened to Pujara BTW? I thought he showed promise in SA.
Indeed.
The way the beeb had described it on the website was that the Indian team had been a bit naughty in making out that the ball had gone for 4 but when I watched the highlights last night it was nothing of the sort.
That should've been the end of Bell (pun intended) and he should be more than a little embarassed at the whole furore over it. Credit to India for appeasing the baying mob.
It's India and England, right? That's what matters, not the individuals. Beating them on their own patch last time was bloody sweet. Hardly matters if it's the same team or different to me.
Dravid described it best yesterday....yes by the laws of the game he was out, and in most sports that's all that matters. But cricket seems to be different, and intentions etc etc, come into play.
Dravid rightly said, he/they didn't want to open up a pandora's box, where the rest of the series, you had bowlers chucking the ball at batsmen, and batsmen jumping out of the way in the air to avoid it, only to be 'run out'. It would be a legitimate wicket, but not very sporting...
or the more likely scenario where, batsmen defend the ball at their feet, and then hand the ball to the fielder at silly point or short leg, only for them to start appealing for handling the ball(again by the laws of the game, it would be a legit appeal, and the decision would be out).
Ian Bell has rightly been called an idiot by many, because it was his absentmindedness that allowed this to happen. But when you look at the video clips, even the umps thought it was a boundary, with Asad Rauf very casually holding out the jumper for the bowler, who too was meandering back...so this was a clusterfcuk of a situation, and it was right of India and Dhoni to call him back.
This series has had a bit of needle, which is good, but if decision hadn't been reversed, the rest of the tour would have been toxic. Though it was a shame, the decision, seemed to take so much out of India, they completely capitulated post-tea.
Having not seen it live, that's the part that bemused me when I finally caught the highlights. The fieldsman obviously lost sight of the ball and clearly thought it had gone for four.
Are you implying that the sole motive for India to reinstate Bell was in order to avoid a near-riot? Geoff Boycott said on TMS last evening that England had reinstated a batsman under similar circumstances back in the seventies, but only for that very reason.
It's sad if that's the case, but I'd prefer to believe Dravid's account, which suggests that the dismissal "just didn't seem right" to the Indian team, and they sportingly decided to rescind the appeal.
As for this whole 'spirit of cricket' thing, yes I think it's fantastic that cricket is a sport that has that but I agree with Michael Holding. It should apply in certain circumstances where it makes complete sense. In this particular case Bell is being rewarded for being daft. He actually did run for the 4th and then randomly started jogging off. Yes the spirit of the game is important but at the same time, this is the international stage not some gully cricket where you can jog off as and when you like.
Holding was spot on when he said that if the spirit of cricket (which he like me is in favor off) can apply to a situation like this then shouldn't bowlers not appeal for LBW's when they know there was a huge bit of bat involved (ala the Harbhajan dismissal)?
And I'm not aiming this at England or anything. Every team appeals when they KNOW 100 per cent that the batsman isn't out and are glad they get the decision their way. Isnt' that against the spirit of cricket?
For me personally I reckon cricket is first an foremost a sport which has to be played in a competitive manner with teams going for the kill. It does stand out amongst the rest of the sports in the spirit in which it's played but that doesn't apply to circumstances like this one, or shouldn't at least.
Holding was spot on when he said that if the spirit of cricket (which he like me is in favor off) can apply to a situation like this then shouldn't bowlers not appeal for LBW's when they know there was a huge bit of bat involved (ala the Harbhajan dismissal)?
And I'm not aiming this at England or anything. Every team appeals when they KNOW 100 per cent that the batsman isn't out and are glad they get the decision their way. Isnt' that against the spirit of cricket?
For me personally I reckon cricket is first an foremost a sport which has to be played in a competitive manner with teams going for the kill. It does stand out amongst the rest of the sports in the spirit in which it's played but that doesn't apply to circumstances like this one, or shouldn't at least.
Personally I'm in favor of him retiring soon. He's achieved the two biggest dreams he had - to be the no.1 in test cricket and more importantly to win a WC. So I really don't see what he has to gain now apart from a hundred hundreds which will come sooner rather than later. But there's nothing to prove anymore. He certainly isn't going to get better as a batsman. Surely at 38 that is beyond even him.