Give me a cricket tidbit!

[angryboy]

Rankings can be a bit off.If a team plays the Bangers,Zimbabwe etc. more than stronger teams it
will give a bit bit of a skewed result.The rankings don`t allow for that.
I think England is the best overall team.
Definitely T20 is affecting cricket.The players are all chasing the big bucks and not concentrating
on the longer forms.A lot are becoming real rock stars about it too.
T20 crowds have been down lately and the gloss is starting to wear off so here`s hoping it will
even out soon.

[Wage Slave]

Another test match, another good day for England. India skittled out for 220 odd and England 80 without loss in reply. They are starting to like like they are in a different league to the rest.

[Wage Slave]

456 for 3 at stumps day two in reply to India's 224. You can say that world cricket is crap at the moment but you can't deny that England are a whole lot better than the rest.

[MacGyver]

You can say that world cricket is crap at the moment but you can't deny that England are a whole lot better than the rest.

This is why I hate it when the poms are at the top. Start crowing and saying yer the greatest team ever after you've been at the top for a couple of years and have won against all opponents in all conditions. Not even number 1 yet (officially) and already the poms come out of the woodwork saying how great they are. Not even number 1 yet and already I'm praying for the day you eat humble pie.

[Wage Slave]

C'mon. Surely it's dodgy umpiring, no Poms in the team, best of a very bad bunch .......There has to be a rationale.

[MacGyver]

:rotfl: C'mon. Surely it's dodgy umpiring, no Poms in the team, best of a very bad bunch .......There has to be a rationale.

Nope never said that (I don't think its good for pommy cricket for you lot to play Saffers, Irish, or anyone else who isn't a pom but it doesn't really bother me. You play against whoever is put on the park in front of you) although I do think there aren't many (any?) good teams going around at the minute (and I'm far from the only one who thinks this). If in 2 years or so you are still #1 come back and talk to me. Until then you are just prematurely ejaculating.

[Wage Slave]

Well lets look at the results achieved, shall we? This team thrashed Australia 3-1 at home, beat Sri Lanka convincingly (The weather was the real winner) and then thrashed the top ranked team, India, by 200 runs, then 300 and in the third test bowled them out 224 on the first day to declare on 7-710 leaving time to have India 35-1 at the end of day 3.

[Wage Slave]

And England wrap it up by an innings and 242 runs. Mac, here is the record since May 2009:

Beat West Indies 2-0 (home)
Beat Australia 2-1 (home)
Draw 1-1 with South Africa (away)
Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (away)
Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (home)
Beat Pakistan 3-1 (home)
Beat Australia 3-1 (away)
Beat Sri Lanka 1-0 (home)
Lead India 3-0 (home)

Hardly a recent flash in the pan.

[RalphWiggum]

There really is no point discussing English cricket with Macgyver. We could be the best in the world for 10 years and he'd never admit it. I was entertained by his conspicuous absence during the last ashes series - now that you're back mate, how about your thoughts?

[Wage Slave]

There really is no point discussing English cricket with Macgyver. We could be the best in the world for 10 years and he'd never admit it.

It does not compute!

[MacGyver]

A text from a Kiwi buddy (and fellow cricketer) I received Saturday night: Apparently this is the best England side that anyone has ever seen.

I have to laugh tho when I hear poms bang on about cricket. "Graeme Swan is the best off-spinner ever produced by England." Fark me that's just ignorant.

And looking at those results, they're hardly impressive. Only teams they have beaten away are Oz and Bangladesh. Considering the poor state of Aussie cricket, that doesn't mean much. Unfortunately for world cricket, Oz won't be getting better any time soon either. The administrators have made a real hash of it (and don't believe me; that's what the coach of PNG was banging on about). But I digress. We're talking pommy cricket. So yeah you need a long spell of sustained excellence to impress me. What was Oz's record? 16 wins in a row? 10 years of dominance (or was it 15?)? 3 WCs in a row? See if you can match some of those numbers and then tell me how great England are.

[Wage Slave]

Another test match and another innings win against India and the series won 4-0 in a comprehensive whitewash. Swann got 6 for 108 off 38 overs but he can't be any good cos he's a Pom. After all, Indian batsmen are famously crap against spin bowling.

[RalphWiggum]

And it's a 4-0 whitewash with another innings defeat. England haven't lost a series for 3 years. I don't expect England to beat Australia's records through the late 80s to the early 2000s - I don't think any side will dominate world cricket like that for a long time - but to deny that they're a very good side is sour grapes.

[wilde_oscar]

I have to concur with the Poms on this thread - to a certain extent.

The England team is a good unit with some solid batsmen and some very good bowlers, but to claim Swann is the best English spinner (Laker, Lock and Verity all spring to mind - Giles does not ) is as ignorant as the ESPN online poll that had Bradman as the only non modern player included in their all-time First XI. Rather, the English do well as a unit and have enough depth to ride out injuries of key performers. They seem to respond to Strauss' captaincy and he can get the best out of his team.

England is now number one so good on them for that. The quality across the board seems pretty low but they are top of the heap. As there is not too much in it these days I expect that this honour will do the rounds with South Africa, India and England all being number one at some point in the next few years. I do not, however, see any one team holding onto the position as Australian and West Indian teams of the past did.

The IPL and its cash does seem to have had a detrimental effect on cricket and Australian administration (including and especially the selectors) almost seem to be trying to undermine the side from within. The new Australian T20 'big bash' has moved away from state teams and has a bunch of manufactured new teams with silly names "Heat", "Scorchers" and "6ers" which do not inspire much interest or loyalty in me.

Finally, as regards sportsmanship, a few seasons ago I was run out while waiting for the umpire (a team mate - we umpire ourselves in z-grade) to adjudicate on an lbw decision. I thought it was a bit rum to do that but it was within the laws of the game and I should have know to regain my ground while the ball was still alive. The team that did it were the biggest pack of c*nts I have played against for a while. Lots of sledging, snide comments on umpiring and generally being pricks. Surprisingly enough (or maybe not) they were a christian team from some happy clappy evangelical church.

[BergKatse]

It just occurred to me: You never see DVDs of full games of cricket for sale. It's always highlights of the tour or series, and never the whole game.

I know there's no huge demand for it, but there must be a couple of cricket otaku out there who want whole-game coverage...

[Wage Slave]

but to claim Swann is the best English spinner (Laker, Lock and Verity all spring to mind - Giles does not ) is as ignorant as the ESPN online poll that had Bradman as the only non modern player included in their all-time First XI.

The only person, hand on heart, that I have heard say this is Mac. Although he claims all the England follows are saying it, I have never heard it. We must get our information from different sources I suppose. To claim that Swann is nothing out of the ordinary seems to me be equally false. He's very good. He can win and has won test matches. His career still has a long way to go. We will see.

[RalphWiggum]

It just occurred to me: You never see DVDs of full games of cricket for sale. It's always highlights of the tour or series, and never the whole game.

I know there's no huge demand for it, but there must be a couple of cricket otaku out there who want whole-game coverage...

Potentially thirty-odd hours of play (if you're talking about a test)? I don't think even the hardest of hardcore cricket geeks would want to sit through all that if they already knew the outcome of the game!

[wilde_oscar]

Here's one I forgot to add.

After a 12 year wait my sister was accepted for SCG membership (my application must have been 'lost'). We have decided to go for a double membership and now have access to all cricket at the SCG - with two guest passes!

We went along for the new member orientation (Take home message was 'wear a collar or don't bother coming') a couple of weeks ago and in between wandering about the place had a very brief chat with Stuart MacGill (a SCG trustee).

I looked him up later on Wikipedia and knew about his refusal to tour Zimbabwe, but did not know that he refused to appear in KFC (a major cricket sponsor) ads.

Wandering around and seeing the history of the place, like honour boards that go back to the 1870's was pretty awesome.

Looking forward to some quality times in summers to come at the test and one dayers.

[MacGyver]

A bit of a hike for you to go regularly though mate? Or have you moved to the big smoke from our bush capital?

[wilde_oscar]

A bit of a hike for you to go regularly though mate? Or have you moved to the big smoke from our bush capital?

Still have family in the Big Smoke so we stay with the on a pretty regular basis. Will be up for the festive season and stay for the test.

It's only just under 300kms door-to-door so not that bad. With the little guy was find we have to stop halfway and do more than refuel and abloute. Lots of quality time in Golburn and Berrima so far.

The SCG has reciprocal membership with all major gounds in Austrlaia (and a lot overseas too) but not Manuka Oval!

[angryboy]

Aus. Sri Lanka series done and dusted.Pretty uninspiring effort by the Lankans and
Aus. were promising I suppose.
Hussey took man of the match in every game of the series.I`m sure it`s been done before
but it must be a pretty rare feat.

[angryboy]

Graham Dilley dead aged 52

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 35177.html

[MacGyver]

Damn....No more "Lillee, caught Dillee bowled Willy" jokes I spose...Poor bastard. 52 is too young.

[BergKatse]

Man, still a week to go before the SA vs. Australia test. In the meantime, we get to watch Zimbabwe vs. NZ and Pakistan vs. WI -- real heavyweights

[MacGyver]

A good read for those interested.
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/ ... 1mgc1.html

[BergKatse]

Here is a cricket tidbit: Brett Lee plays bass in a band alongside four other NSW cricketers.

[angryboy]

Here is a cricket tidbit: Brett Lee plays bass in a band alongside four other NSW cricketers.

I can`t quote a source but I did hear or read once that Brett Lee has made more money in India from music
than he has in his whole cricketing career.

[MacGyver]

The Japan women's team heads to Bangladesh in a few days to play in the WC qualifiers. This is the last stage until the big one itself. Not sure exactly what they have to do to qualify (although 4 spots are up for grabs) but if they do well, they'll be playing on the world stage in 2013! The girls are actually pretty good and considering there is a lot less depth in women's cricket as compared to men's, they may just qualify. I doubt they will but you just never know....

http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seaso ... 11-12.html

[Wage Slave]

Thanks for that Mac. Will keep an eye on their progress.

[BergKatse]

Bloody hell, Australia are doing the business in South Africa. All out for 96