The Cricket Thread

[Paddingtonwolf]

Interesting few posts, doesn't seem like there is an easy solution.

I agree with you. Solutions aren't obvious. I do think finishing the blast with a finals weekend before the hundred rather than having the hiatus seems a bit of a no brainer. Make it an early season competition - I don't think that would do it much harm. And the overseas players counties sign could be available for the whole competition in most cases.

Of course, that still leaves the big chunk of the season where the hundred must now take precedence because the ECB need it to be that way. My views on that don't really add anything as my skin in the game is hating it up front, so I hold my hands up to it. I think the 50 over competition probably will have to be pitched into the long grass and the calendar continues with two short formats maybe? The blast gives all the counties funding and the 50 over really doesn't now, especially as a 2nd XI competition because of the Hundred draft requirements. I like 50 over cricket, a lot, but I do sort of have to be realistic that it is the likely casualty of trying to make the summer calendar work.

I fervently wish the Hundred hadn't been created. But it has, and it won't be leaving the calendar. Therefore, the calendar has to be worked to make the best of the situation, both for the counties and the international teams. One thought is that the evening format and short timescale of the Hundred actually lends itself to the end of the season rather than the middle. It doesn't need the light in the early evenings in the same way as the four day game or 50 over could benefit. But September it is competing with football. All rather a muddle.

We now the fifty over is the poor relation, so perhaps that could be an early season affair, with games fitting around the early season of the county championship, and an early final at Lords say in late June, and then the late season is blast, hundred, and the conclusion of the county championship?

Dan has it right though - there is a fairly short weather window, and now the ECB are trying to fit four competitions in a space where there were previously three.

 

[Tony Towner]

The ECB is committed to The Hundred being during the kids holidays. That's not changing. The Big Bash seems to coexist with Test cricket in Australia, the stars play the odd game and they have a reasonable but not elite selection of overseas players. The ECB won't do that because of the notion that Test players need to be available for it. Seems contradictory to me as if your target audience is kids then they aren't interested in whether Joe Root is playing in a format that doesn't really suit his skills or not, they are there for the spectacle and the razzmatazz. Because cricket has been behind a paywall for so long the average 10 year old won't even know who he is and if they do they'd go to a T20 game anyway so that's not the new audience you are looking to attract.

They need to stop deluding themselves on that, the way I think it'll go is as a UK based IPL in a T20 format, with the Oval Knight Riders and the Southern Superchargers etc with no Tests concurrently as that's what the new Indian based franchise owners will stipulate.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The stars play more than the odd game in the big bash. Last season Warner and Smith were helicoptered from their Sydney teams to join Convict CC and then flew back to both play big bash semi finals before returning to Australia duty the next morning. Hazlewood did similar to get back to the Heat in Brisbane for the semi final.

I hate it, but I agree with your second paragraph. The BCCI and the money brokers behind the IPL teams are fucking satan for cricket worldwide, but they won't give a shit as long as their crap competition is in precedence with Ravi Shastri commentary making the rest of us scromit in the background.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

290/4 -> 325 all out. Bit careless but you would fancy our attack to do well in these conditions.

 

[Dinowolf]

You would fancy our attack in these conditions, trouble is no-one told the bowlers.
All very average.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Not that he was likely to get picked again anyway but Mo has retired from international duty.

Did us a good job as a bowler (especially as it was very much his second suit when he first got picked) and his batting was a joy to watch in his first 4-5 years in the team when he was on song.

Goes without saying but an incredible guy too.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Lead of 62. Work to do but handy enough after throwing away wickets yesterday, not being able to bowl seam for a portion of the innings and Atkinson not taking the field today.

 

[Squeak]

Back to throwing wickets away mode by the look of it. Let's hope Root and Brook get this lead to 250 otherwise we're in great danger of throwing this game away as well.

 

[Squeak]

70-6 lead of 132.... good bowling from Sri Lanka after lunch. England need another 100 from somewhere....at least.

 

[jd1981]

70-6 lead of 132.... good bowling from Sri Lanka after lunch. England need another 100 from somewhere....at least.

Anything over 180 chase would put England well in the game.

 

[Squeak]

Anything over 180 chase would put England well in the game.

Not sure about that with Atkinson's groin strain effectively knocking him out of the bowling attack. Let's hope he can score some runs to give us more to play with.

 

[Squeak]

Fantastic from Smith to hammer a crucial 67 but c'mon man, you have to use your brain one ball before tea. 202 lead now.

 

[Squeak]

156 all out. Michael Vaughan warned not to "take the mickey out of the game" and you can certainly understand his sentiment watching that innings. Thankfully Smith put some crucial runs on the board and that should make it a very tight game. Seems Atkinson is warming up so hopefully that is a good sign.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's a patchwork team, no proper captain, Lawrence opening, very inexperienced attack bar Woakes

But we've not applied ourselves well in this game and it shouldn't be written off

 

[Tony Towner]

It's a patchwork team, no proper captain, Lawrence opening, very inexperienced attack bar Woakes

But we've not applied ourselves well in this game and it shouldn't be written off

We've picked a bowling line up (Woakes aside) for Sydney in December, not London in September. I'm not going to go too far down the Bazball road again because Boycott blah, blah, but in this series we have largely married the desire to be aggressive with being sensible. Not in this Test though and the way both openers got out just isn't acceptable and shouldn't be indulged

 

[Carrotdude]

The openers played as if we were 200 ahead not 60

 

[Dinowolf]

More crap bowling from England. Far too wide.

 

[Squeak]

Well played Sri Lanka. Superb performance to come back and win that game.
Hopefully a lesson learned for England. There is reckless and there is reckless.

 

[Carrotdude]

Tbf apart from the openers they weren’t stupid shots yesterday really, just good bowling and some poor batting.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Fair play to Sri Lanka, they've battled hard all series and took advantage of the opening we handed them in the first innings. 261/3 and we were well in command...and then we weren't.