The Cricket Thread, Mark 2

[Cleavy]

these pre-tournament seedings are dumb.  hopefully they never do it again.

[Cleavy]

Afghanistan upsets Australia, and now we might not make the semis

[SirFozzie]

Australia out, having failed to thread the needle (If Bangladesh had won inside 12.1 overs, they would have advanced, if they won but outside the 12.1 overs Australia would have advanced, but Afghanistan won and made the semis (along with SA, England and India)

 

Doesn't feel right to have a knockout stage game without the Aussies.

 

And in other news, Warner retired from international cricket. They should gift him a lifetime supply of sandpaper as a farewell gift

[DangerMark]

12 hours ago, SirFozzie said:

Doesn't feel right to have a knockout stage game without the Aussies.

Doesn't it? Feels pretty right to me.

Of course, I could be persuaded that England don't deserve to be there either, despite what athletes tell you, team sports are never about what's 'deserved.'

[SirFozzie]

The Semi-final of a World T20 is not the best time to have your lowest ever T20 score, Afghanisatan

[The Natural]

James Anderson plays his final Test for England today vs. West Indies at Lord's. Legend.

[The Natural]

21 years, 187 Tests and 700 wickets. Legend.

[The Natural]

Wonder catch by Harry Brook fittingly for a Ben Stokes wicket.

[SirFozzie]

Jimmy's 2-11 over ten overs so far in his last innings

And it will be his last innings, I don't see West Indies getting 171 more runs tomorrow being six down to start the day.

Edited July 11, 2024 by SirFozzie

[The Natural]

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/7/12/3240e2bc-23e3-4aa8-a652-9c9ae899d5a7.jpg

Deserved guard of honour for James Anderson.

[SirFozzie]

They think Jimmy's career is all over.. it is now.

 

(if I'm reading this Cricinfo stat right, he had more Wickets in Test VICTORIES than the previous record owner (Ian Botham) had in TOTAL).

 

And Lords in shambles.. because it finished so early they had to offer a full day's refunds.. if the Windies could have bat for three more overs the crowd would have only received half refunds

[DangerMark]

13 hours ago, SirFozzie said:

And Lords in shambles.. because it finished so early they had to offer a full day's refunds.. if the Windies could have bat for three more overs the crowd would have only received half refunds

Speaking of Shambles, the "Tests Must Be Five Days" crowd (don't make me go into the archives to pull up exactly which ones of us are card carrying members) are in Shambles; when was the last time England made it past a fourth day without the help of rain?

At any rate, what to say about Jimmy Anderson? He was very good for a long time and it's going to be weird without him.

[SirFozzie]

Looks like the 2nd Test might actually go the full five...

[DangerMark]

Yay~

It helps that this has actually be an intriguing game with no rain.

[SirFozzie]

Neeeevermind the full five.

 

[DangerMark]

It was looking good for five days until the drinks break after tea - West Indies 61-0 - and then the trainers must have brought out the bats with the giant holes in the middle.

[SirFozzie]

Really, the Windies need to get a new bat supplier. As well as a new batsman supplier.

 

Although Ireland-Zimbabwe was interesting, as Ireland show testicular fortitude and come back from 20-odd for 5 to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets.

[The Natural]

Ben Stokes hit England's fastest ever Test half century off just 24 balls, as he stepped in to open the batting. Stokes finished unbeaten on 57, nine fours and two sixes. Stokes' shattered a 42 year record held by Ian Botham for the quickest half-century, surfing the wave of momentum generated by Mark Wood’s five wickets spell.

Edited July 28, 2024 by The Natural

[DangerMark]

West Indies' 2-4 weren't great the whole series; and as a team, they didn't put up more than 200 in the second innings in any of the three tests.

Mark Wood, tho.

[The Natural]

Graham Thorpe's family have movingly opened up today saying he took his own life last week as he suffered from anxiety and depression. Much love to them xxx.

[The Natural]

33 test centuries for Joe Root tying Sir Alistair Cook for England centuries vs. Sri Lanka in the second Test. Get in!

[The Natural]

Most Test centuries:

1. Sachin Tendulkar (Ind): 51.

2. Jacques Kallis (SA/ICC): 45.

3. Ricky Ponting (Aus): 41.

4. Kumar Sangakkara (SL): 38.

5. Rahul Dravid (Ind/ICC): 36.

=6. Younis Khan (Pak), Sunil Gavaskar (Ind), Brian Lara (WI) and Mahela Jayawardene (SL): 34.

=10. Alastair Cook (Eng) and Joe Root (Eng): 33.

[The Natural]

BBC Sport:

England stand-in captain Ollie Pope is "not the kind of personality" who should be leading the team, says Michael Vaughan.

Pope, 26, is covering for the injured Ben Stokes, but his form with the bat has suffered - with three single-figure scores to his name since taking over.

On the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's, Pope was caught off an ugly pull for only one - a shot that former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said was "one of a guy who was on 120".

Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests, believes the frenetic nature of Pope's innings should concern the hosts.

"I don't like him as the captain," Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast. "He's not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain.

"He's quite an insecure human being - a great team guy and person but throwing the captaincy on him has added the pressure. He was doing great at number three.

---

"He's quite an insecure human being..."

I'm sure a comment like that will help!

Edited August 29, 2024 by The Natural

[The Natural]

2 minutes ago, The Natural said:

BBC Sport:

England stand-in captain Ollie Pope is "not the kind of personality" who should be leading the team, says Michael Vaughan.

Pope, 26, is covering for the injured Ben Stokes, but his form with the bat has suffered - with three single-figure scores to his name since taking over.

On the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's, Pope was caught off an ugly pull for only one - a shot that former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said was "one of a guy who was on 120".

Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests, believes the frenetic nature of Pope's innings should concern the hosts.

"I don't like him as the captain," Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast. "He's not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain.

"He's quite an insecure human being - a great team guy and person but throwing the captaincy on him has added the pressure. He was doing great at number three.

---

"He's quite an insecure human being..."

I'm sure a comment like that will help!

They’re wearing black armbands in memory of a former England cricketer, Graham Thorpe who committed suicide and Michael Vaughan comes out with “He’s quite an insecure human being”. Tone deaf.

Edited August 29, 2024 by The Natural

[DangerMark]

Michael Vaughan might be right but he can shut his stupid face. He has no opinions on cricket that I care to listen to. His answer to every problem is to play as boring as possible.