Cricket

Just watched the last afternoon of the Hampshire v Lancashire country championship match. What an ending. What an end to the CC season actually.

Had to laugh at No. 10 Blatherwick's inexperience in taking the single off the last ball of Dawson's over when Dane Vilas was down the other end. Don't worry, skip, I'll knock these off.

Thankfully for the lad Lanky got over the line.
 
Had to laugh at No. 10 Blatherwick's inexperience in taking the single off the last ball of Dawson's over when Dane Vilas was down the other end. Don't worry, skip, I'll knock these off.

Thankfully for the lad Lanky got over the line.
That was one of those whoa moments, and Vila having just lost a partner to a run out probably couldn't believe what was happening. Made for a great ending though.

A bit of a shame the matches aren't all ending on the same day really. Come on Somerset :lol:
 
That was one of those whoa moments, and Vila having just lost a partner to a run out probably couldn't believe what was happening. Made for a great ending though.

A bit of a shame the matches aren't all ending on the same day really. Come on Somerset :lol:
I don't think they'll do it. They were good with the bat to deny the bonus point but the rate they've conceded runs second innings isn't filling me with hope that their hearts are really in it.
 
That was one of those whoa moments, and Vila having just lost a partner to a run out probably couldn't believe what was happening. Made for a great ending though.

A bit of a shame the matches aren't all ending on the same day really. Come on Somerset :lol:
Yeah, I'll be cheering them on tomorrow. As a long time Lancs fan it would be great to see another championship title after the 2011 success.

It was a great ending to the match, and is an amazing ending to the title race. After the nightmare of failing to defend 22 off 4 balls earlier in the season, I was still nervous when needing just 19 with 4 wickets left and it looked like it was going to turn into another disastrous ending. Thankfully Vilas saw us over the line.

It'll be awful to see it snatched away at the death if Warwickshire win, but the one consolation would be our dramatic victory gets us into the Bob Willis Trophy final and another chance of silverware (but its the traditional county championship title I primarily want to see Lancs win).
 
I can't see Warwickshire not forcing the victory tomorrow unfortunately.

Somerset are going to need to bat out 60-70 overs. They're the worst batting unit in Div 1 by a mile and have nothing to play for.

I'll be at Lords next week for Lancs though.
 
This Warks game is so nerve wracking.

Not only am I a Lancs fan so I'm nervous as hell about winning the championship, but I've also got a soft spot for Notts* so I've got the tantalising prospect of a Lancs v Notts Bob Willis Trophy Final if only Warks fail to win.

*My fondness for Notts dates back to when I was a kid and Tim Robinson was my favourite cricketer. I was at Old Trafford with my dad and older brother and talking about him while he was batting and the Notts coach, who for some reason was out and about, overheard and invited me to visit the dressing room at lunch time to meet Robinson. That was one of my best memories as a kid, and they also gave me a bat signed by all the players. They've been my 'second team' ever since. :)
 
Not looking like a day for miracles .

Or as the BBC says,
Warwickshire v Somerset 71-4 (Target 273)
Somerset need 202 runs off 52 overs if they are to pull off an unlikely run chase. The required rate is closing in on four runs per over.
At what point does unlikely become impossible?
 
If you want a snapshot of Moeens test career just look at this summer.

Brought in out of nowhere, consequently struggled for wickets or runs, made Vice Captain - retires.

Flashes of brilliance throughout his career but mismanaged and a talent not fully utilised.
 
If you want a snapshot of Moeens test career just look at this summer.

Brought in out of nowhere, consequently struggled for wickets or runs, made Vice Captain - retires.

Flashes of brilliance throughout his career but mismanaged and a talent not fully utilised.
I think a victim of his own bowling talent. I’m not sure he was going to be successful as a batter in test cricket, but once he started bowling so well, he had to sacrifice his game for the team for his entire career. Can’t remember anyone else to whom this happened.
 
Good decision from Moeen. His confidence has looked shot for 2 or 3 years at test level, and it was starting to tarnish his previously great record.

He was only called back up recently due to Stokes being out and him being seen as someone who can balance the side, but it wasn't the right decision IMO. It might be a blessing in disguise for England tbh, a new approach is needed.
 
Honesty that id expect from Moeen. Despite his streaky form he will always be one of my favourite cricketers, a real joy to watch when he’s on form
 
England should not have moved Moeen down the order and kept him at 7 or 8. So where do England turn to now for the Ashes. Liam Livingston finally? Leggies tend to be more effective down under and Livingstone seems to have a decent orthodox batting technique as well. Certainly an argument to give him a try on his batting alone.
 
England should not have moved Moeen down the order and kept him at 7 or 8. So where do England turn to now for the Ashes. Liam Livingston finally? Leggies tend to be more effective down under and Livingstone seems to have a decent orthodox batting technique as well. Certainly an argument to give him a try on his batting alone.

Assuming Stokes is out I would love to see Livingstone play. He could bat 6 with Bairstow at 7 or vice versa. Then just play the 4 best bowlers.

Otherwise it's trying to fit in two or even three bowlers who can bat a bit to try and balance the side. Curran and Woakes both don't appear likely to perform well in Australian conditions and you wouldn't back either of them as genuine number 7s at test level with the bat.
 
Not a chance Livingstone gets picked in red ball Cricket this year. He's barely played and picked the IPL rather than the CC over the last month.

And on top of that his form is pretty awful.
 
Not a chance Livingstone gets picked in red ball Cricket this year. He's barely played and picked the IPL rather than the CC over the last month.

And on top of that his form is pretty awful.

He’s the only player out there I can think of who will come close to filling Stokes’ boots. Especially if they’re going to play one of Anderson or Broad, a fast bowler, Robinson and Woakes (which they’ll almost certainly have to do). Livingstone is one of the most talented white ball batsman in the World and he can also play straight, so if we’ve been picking the likes of Sibley & Lawrence anyway why not gamble on one of the most destructive batsman in World cricket?
 
He’s the only player out there I can think of who will come close to filling Stokes’ boots. Especially if they’re going to play one of Anderson or Broad, a fast bowler, Robinson and Woakes (which they’ll almost certainly have to do). Livingstone is one of the most talented white ball batsman in the World and he can also play straight, so if we’ve been picking the likes of Sibley & Lawrence anyway why not gamble on one of the most destructive batsman in World cricket?
Jason Roy says hello.
 
So Morgan thinks Ashwin shouldn't have run after the ball hit Pant's arm and went off, invoking the spirit of cricket, but happily took the runs in the WC final when it hit Stokes' bat effectively changing the result of the match.

The hypocrisy and sanctimonious posturing of some people in cricket when it comes to 'spirit of cricket' is pretty unbelievable.
 
So Morgan thinks Ashwin shouldn't have run after the ball hit Pant's arm and went off, invoking the spirit of cricket, but happily took the runs in the WC final when it hit Stokes' bat effectively changing the result of the match.

The hypocrisy and sanctimonious posturing of some people in cricket when it comes to 'spirit of cricket' is pretty unbelievable.

That’s the way it has always been in cricket though, when the ball goes to the boundary it’s out of the batting team’s hands while when it stays in the field the batsmen don’t run . Whether you like it or not spirit of cricket is a thing and has always been there .
 
That’s the way it has always been in cricket though, when the ball goes to the boundary it’s out of the batting team’s hands while when it stays in the field the batsmen don’t run . Whether you like it or not spirit of cricket is a thing and has always been there .

It’s fictitious nonsense that is used by primarily English and Australian cricketers for performative posturing. If spirit of cricket was always there, why are so many batsmen nicking to the keeper and sticking around? Can we expect the entire English team and Australian team to walk as guardians of the spirit of cricket?

why is it ok to not walk, literally steal 30-40 runs on average but not ok to run a guy out stealing a run?

It’s a game, and there are rules for everything and if this isn’t legislated, it’s the fault of the ICC. People like Warne known for being absolute pricks on the field, part of teams that indulge in umpire bullying talk about the spirit of cricket.

Write down the rules, and if you haven’t, don’t come crying.

The fact that people are saying Stokes thing was within the rules of the game but Ashwin two days ago wasn’t because the rules are written so dreadfully is some serious mental gymnastics. Missing the forest for the trees.
 
Might be doing us a major favour and get rid of Michael Vaughan. Although he’ll probably end up presenting on GB news
 
Vaughan also defended himself against a claim from Rafiq that he suggested Yorkshire should sign the batter Kane Williamson as a T20 player because he could also bowl some off-spin.

In the report, Rafiq said: “When Michael Vaughan retired, he took up the position as advisor and would often come to YCCC giving his opinion and captain-coach options which particularly were aimed at moving me out of the team. One such recommendation was for Kane Williamson to be signed and he categorically said he bowls ‘off-spin’ really well too.


This is odd to me. It's one of those things which in isolation can make it be like "what's he complaining about that for?" but sometimes a string of seemingly trivial events can have a single malicious intent which only the person affected knows. We won't know which is why without context, but I can already see people knocking Rafiq online for saying this.
 
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Yeah, impossible to tell with things like that. If he got the impression Vaughan had it out for him he was likely right though, whether or not he was right about specifics like that. You can tell someone's trying to get rid of you without it being easy to come up with obvious examples that prove it.
 
I'd imagine the ban on England matches, at a time they've lost sponsors, is enough to bankrupt them before long. So they're gonna have to throw some people under the bus sharpish to give the impression they've learnt their lesson.
 
I'd imagine the ban on England matches, at a time they've lost sponsors, is enough to bankrupt them before long. So they're gonna have to throw some people under the bus sharpish to give the impression they've learnt their lesson.
What they demonstrated with their report was that they continue to be institutionally racist.

After that, chasing down individual players or even coaches doesn't cut it. It's almost irrelevant which ones said the worst things. What mattered was their ability to recognise what had happened, apologise for it and say what they were going to do next - including individual sanctions, codes of conduct, training etc.

The fact that they even dared to excuse any of it as banter etc is extraordinary. The board and anyone else who went along with that report have to go.
 
What they demonstrated with their report was that they continue to be institutionally racist.

After that, chasing down individual players or even coaches doesn't cut it. It's almost irrelevant which ones said the worst things. What mattered was their ability to recognise what had happened, apologise for it and say what they were going to do next - including individual sanctions, codes of conduct, training etc.

The fact that they even dared to excuse any of it as banter etc is extraordinary. The board and anyone else who went along with that report have to go.
Absolutely. They've totally obliterated any trust that they take racism seriously in the two years since this became public.
Was waiting for this to happen after seeing he'd decided to deny saying it rather than just apologise.
 
Another player has come forward with allegations:



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No words. Absolutely disgusting.