The Official Cricket Thread

[Nashwan]

Jesus! England all out for 81 in their first innings against Sri Lanka in Galle today. I saw the first four wickets to fall and the only one who could legitimately claim to have been unlucky was Kevin Pietersen, who copped an absolute bugger of a delivery. The rest? A "Keystone Cops" comedy routine!!! Ordinarily, I might have been a bit pissed off by the batsmen's abject surrender but, to be honest, some of it was pure comedy, particularly the self-inflicted run outs!! I think it's fair that in not winning this test match, England will drop from second to fifth in the world rankings. No way in the world are we currently the world's second best cricketing nation. At this rate of deterioration, even the Kiwis must be rubbing their hands at the prospect of England's visit later this winter.

[gdn]

Nash, I felt so bad when I saw the score. Sigh. How do they go from so good at home to so awful overseas?

[gdn]

Oh my lord...couldn't they have gotten someone other than Jayasuriya to be a commentator?

[Nashwan]

Oh my lord...couldn't they have gotten someone other than Jayasuriya to be a commentator?

Nice guy, awful commentator! I know, when I tuned in at the start and I heard him muttering away, I thought: "Oh Gawd! Hide all the sharp instruments. I can't take too much of this"!!

[gdn]

Nash, I gotta say, some fine batting there by Cook. Vaughn looked very out of sorts and I'm rather impressed by Ian Bell. If only your batsman could be consistent.

What do you think of the young lad?

It seems as though you guys might be able to squeeze out a draw!

[Humph]

Jesus! England all out for 81 in their first innings against Sri Lanka in Galle today. I saw the first four wickets to fall and the only one who could legitimately claim to have been unlucky was Kevin Pietersen, who copped an absolute bugger of a delivery. The rest? A "Keystone Cops" comedy routine!!! Ordinarily, I might have been a bit pissed off by the batsmen's abject surrender but, to be honest, some of it was pure comedy, particularly the self-inflicted run outs!! I think it's fair that in not winning this test match, England will drop from second to fifth in the world rankings. No way in the world are we currently the world's second best cricketing nation. At this rate of deterioration, even the Kiwis must be rubbing their hands at the prospect of England's visit later this winter.

Correct me if I'm wrong , Nash, but we put the Sri Lankans in after winning the toss. I always thought that , unless conditions are heavily in the bowlers' favour, batting first is the only choice .

Sri Lanka scored 499 for 8 dec in their 1st innings which indicates that conditions weren't heavily in the bowlers' favour.

A bollocks up from the start, methinks.

[Nashwan]

Correct me if I'm wrong , Nash, but we put the Sri Lankans in after winning the toss. I always thought that , unless conditions are heavily in the bowlers' favour, batting first is the only choice .

Sri Lanka scored 499 for 8 dec in their 1st innings which indicates that conditions weren't heavily in the bowlers' favour.

A bollocks up from the start, methinks.

Succinctly put, as usual, Humph. Yes, the conditions overhead at the time of the toss were thought to favour the swing bowlers, of which Hoggard is one of the best exponents. Unfortunately, the bowlers got over-excited by the conditions and bowled everywhere except the slots they were supposed to get the ball into! The new ball only swung for about the first 20 overs, which was probably only what the Sri Lankans needed to skittle us out for 81. Stupid run outs, dropped catches, everything went pear-shaped in this game. We have been outplayed in every facet of the game and if England even snatch a draw it will be rough justice on the Sri Lankans, who have played very well. Rant over!

[Nashwan]

Nash, I gotta say, some fine batting there by Cook. Vaughn looked very out of sorts and I'm rather impressed by Ian Bell. If only your batsman could be consistent.

What do you think of the young lad?

It seems as though you guys might be able to squeeze out a draw!

I agree, gdn. The inconsistency of the batting is enough to drive you to drink! Cook is a talented lad and continues to make good progress. Vaughan needs a score - he keeps getting starts but then finds ways to get himself out. He was playing pretty well this morning until he took a swipe at a ball he didn't need to play and succeeded only in giving the excellent Mahela Jayawardena a nice catch at slip. I think that England must have another re-think about the wicketkeeping, though, because Prior is just a liability. His batting is reasonable but he can't catch a cold, never mind the ball! I think they also miss Flintoff, not only for his catching at slip but his all round ability with both bat and ball. Be interesting to see who's selected when they pick the team to tour New Zealand during the second part of the winter. I certainly hope that they leave both Prior and Bopara, to name but two, behind when they set off for the Antipodes.

[Nashwan]

So, England got out of jail again today with a drawn game in Galle. When the Heavens opened the ground quickly became a swamp, and there was never any chance of further play after that. Congratulations to the Sri Lankans for their deserved series win. A 1-0 series defeat is flattering to England, who were horribly outplayed during the whole tour.

[gdn]

Well, well. Now that was an interesting first day's play. 330-odd for 9 wickets? Evenly poised, one could say. I don't think the Indians did as well as some are making it out to be, but the Aussies certainly performed slightly below average. I think a whole bunch of them just threw their wickets away (Hayden, Clarke, Symonds, Gilchrist). I think only the first three were genuine bowlers' wickets.

It will be interesting to see how the bowlers respond tomorrow. Zaheer bowled a terrific opening spell and Kumble did his bit. Lee, Johnson and co. will have to reply in kind.

[Nashwan]

Well, well. Now that was an interesting first day's play. 330-odd for 9 wickets? Evenly poised, one could say. I don't think the Indians did as well as some are making it out to be, but the Aussies certainly performed slightly below average. I think a whole bunch of them just threw their wickets away (Hayden, Clarke, Symonds, Gilchrist). I think only the first three were genuine bowlers' wickets.

It will be interesting to see how the bowlers respond tomorrow. Zaheer bowled a terrific opening spell and Kumble did his bit. Lee, Johnson and co. will have to reply in kind.

Thanks for the report, gdn. After all the lead up, guess who fell asleep when the meaningful action began?!!

When I saw the scorecard this morning, which had a decided lop-sided look to it, it kind of matched your description (above). I would agree that the Indians have given themselves a fighting chance in this one and it will be interesting to see the Australian bowlers' response tomorrow.

[gdn]

And there you have it. Some terrific bowling by Clark (I really like him) and Lee overcame some fight from Tendulkar. End of the 2nd day and the Aussies already lead by close to 200 runs. This may not be pretty.

[Blokee]

I actually watched most of the Day 2 action despite being here in England. I thought India's openers were absolutely woeful - what was it - 31 runs scored in the morning session? Lee is devistating and Clark can be the next McGrath in terms of line n length and bowling smarts.

[gdn]

I actually watched most of the Day 2 action despite being here in England. I thought India's openers were absolutely woeful - what was it - 31 runs scored in the morning session? Lee is devistating and Clark can be the next McGrath in terms of line n length and bowling smarts.

More than India's openers being awful, credit must go to the Aussie bowlers. That has to be one of the best bowling performances I have seen in a very long time (bar Hogg). All three of their seamers were fantastic and it just goes to show how accuracy can be just as deadly as speed.

[Nashwan]

More than India's openers being awful, credit must go to the Aussie bowlers. That has to be one of the best bowling performances I have seen in a very long time (bar Hogg). All three of their seamers were fantastic and it just goes to show how accuracy can be just as deadly as speed.

Did Rahul Dravid forget why he was carrying a bat? I doubt that I've ever seen such a pedestrian "inning"! It was a merciful release when he was trapped l.b.w.! I agree that credit goes to the Aussie Bowlers, gdn, and one again they proved why they are the best at what they do. I think that the Indians' lack of technique on a truer, faster surface readily found them out (again) and only Tendulkar, always the class act, seemed to come to terms with the quicker wicket.

I happened to tune into the South Africa/West Indies game and one has to be fair and say that the Windies thoroughly outplayed the hosts throughout the day's play. It certainly didn't look a 122-5 surface, the score reached by the home side at the close of play on Day 2. Could be an interesting few days play left in this one.

[Blokee]

More than India's openers being awful, credit must go to the Aussie bowlers. That has to be one of the best bowling performances I have seen in a very long time (bar Hogg). All three of their seamers were fantastic and it just goes to show how accuracy can be just as deadly as speed.

Oh I agree - great spell of pace bowling by all three of them. However Dravid didn't want to play a shot and does not want to open - he made that clear. They need to bring Schwag back into the side to open - Jaffer and Dravid are too similar.

[gdn]

Oh I agree - great spell of pace bowling by all three of them. However Dravid didn't want to play a shot and does not want to open - he made that clear. They need to bring Schwag back into the side to open - Jaffer and Dravid are too similar.

Schwag

Are you watching it now? Hayden is a beast - out to a decent delivery, but still poor shot selection. I can't help but notice that the Aussies are getting themselves out. If they applied themselves, I don't really think the Indians could get them out (save perhaps Ponting's dismissal on the first day).

[gdn]

Whoops. There goes Ponting again. Another poor shot. They're just bored out there, it seems!

[Tabata]

Well the Australia/Pakistan tour is all but dead now.

Oh, and R.I.P Bhutto

[Blokee]

Schwag

Are you watching it now? Hayden is a beast - out to a decent delivery, but still poor shot selection. I can't help but notice that the Aussies are getting themselves out. If they applied themselves, I don't really think the Indians could get them out (save perhaps Ponting's dismissal on the first day).

Sehwag - it was near enough...

I saw the first session and when Hayden holed out and Ponting played a loose one - India had a chance as Hussey looked very uncomfortable. 499 is far too much for this team to get against that bowling attack - as those annoying ChiSox announcers would say - 'You can put in on the board'

[gdn]

So Cricinfo has this nice piece on some year end "awards"

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/revi...ry/327749.html

This made me laugh out loud:

The Kamran Akmal award for services to wicketkeeping
Despite stiff competition from Matt Prior, Akmal retained the title for the second year running, one best summed up by the following conversation on a satirical TV show in Pakistan:

Anchor 1: "It's time Kamran Akmal caught a bus to take him away from Pakistan cricket." Anchor 2: "It is likely he will not catch that either."

[gdn]

I'm also a little curious as to why Ponting chose to declare when the target was 499. Why not score another run and set India a target of 500? 500 seems far more intimidating than 499. The psychological advantage would have been greater. Or perhaps he does not believe that.

[Nashwan]

So Cricinfo has this nice piece on some year end "awards"

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/revi...ry/327749.html

This made me laugh out loud:

This is certainly a good one but perhaps a tad harsh on Akmal. I witnessed some of Akmal's recent "antics" against India and he did drop a few clangers. However, exactly the same can be said about Matt Prior during the recent series in Sri Lanka so the two of them should really share the award!!

499 or 500 needed to win by India. Does one run, apart from the psychology factor, mean anything here? India will have to bat out of their socks to even have a chance at drawing the game and if the Aussies get Tendulkar cheaply, the game should be wrapped up pretty smartly in the usual, efficient Australian manner. Sorry, gdn!

[gdn]

This is certainly a good one but perhaps a tad harsh on Akmal. I witnessed some of Akmal's recent "antics" against India and he did drop a few clangers. However, exactly the same can be said about Matt Prior during the recent series in Sri Lanka so the two of them should really share the award!!

499 or 500 needed to win by India. Does one run, apart from the psychology factor, mean anything here? India will have to bat out of their socks to even have a chance at drawing the game and if the Aussies get Tendulkar cheaply, the game should be wrapped up pretty smartly in the usual, efficient Australian manner. Sorry, gdn!

No, it doesn't, but I have an affinity for round numbers, so 500 sits better with me.

India certainly will have to play out of their skins to win this one - is winning even an option here? - and I certainly look forward to watching the first session's play

[Nashwan]

No, it doesn't, but I have an affinity for round numbers, so 500 sits better with me.

Ah! A man who likes round numbers! Fair enough.

India certainly will have to play out of their skins to win this one - is winning even an option here? - and I certainly look forward to watching the first session's play

You certainly seem to be watching a lot of cricket these days, gdn? Made a subscription or something?

I see that, despite a second innings capitulation, the Windies are in a strong position in the first test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. Will the Windies confound their critics, me included, and actually win a meaningful game? I wouldn't put bad money on it because if there's one team consistently capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it's the Windies!!