General Cricket (not the chirpy kind) Discussion Thread

[Aryavartha]

i think the english players have the strokes..almost everybody at that level knows how to hit.

the confidence to do so at every opportunity, is what makes a great odi batsman.

look at raina - came into the first match with all sorts of questions on his technique etc, along with the terrible indian performance in last three tests, and he just backed himself to play his shots and pulled it off.

it is hard to think of anybody in england ODI team doing that sort of thing consistently.

[Uitbregen]

Good to see Jason Roy making his England debut. I reckon he'll hit one good boundary then get out.

EDIT: totally called it...

[Uitbregen]

Dhoni is absolutely mad...not taking a single with five needed off two...going for the six...

[The Nihilistic view]

IPL kings, eat your hearts out!

[Uitbregen]

Just thinking....England aren't going to win the World Cup, no matter what we do. The time between now and the end of the WC is what, 7 months? Teams change over that time. 7 months ago, Finn was unselectable, Michael Carberry was opening the batting and Gary Ballance was just a county player. Why not just have a gamble and go with an attacking, expansive side with the likes of Taylor, Roy and Vince? They'll probably come into the ODI side anyway, but only after Cook and Bell have shuffled off due to retirement. Sure, it may crash and burn and we'll be 40-4 every game, but hey, it's a damn sight more interesting than 120-3 off 30 overs. And besides, we're going to (most probably) get trounced anyway, so why not blood the youngsters and have some fun.

Also, re-done line-up for the WC:

1. Hales, 2. Vince, 3. Ballance, 4. Root, 5. Taylor, 6. Morgan (c), 7. Buttler, 8. MM Ali, 9. Broad, 10. Anderson, 11. Finn.

Decided against Roy, for more stability, but that's still a pretty potent line-up, especially with the power in the openers slot.

[Goram]

Just to get away from the impending doom that is England's World Cup, for a moment...

"In 1991, two nuclear submarines surfaced near the North Pole so that the crew could play cricket. HMS Tireless and USS Pargo managed to find a level ice floe, and laid out a rope matting pitch. Despite this, the bowlers' run-ups and the out field were treacherous. It was difficult to work out how many runs were scored, mainly because the crew of the USS Pargo had little idea of the Laws of cricket, we know that an appeal against the light was turned down on the quite reasonable grounds that the sun had not set in two months, and was unlikely to do so for several weeks to come. The crowd of about a hundred submariners and a few seals may have been cold, but they outnumbered the crowds to be seen on the Thursday morning of some county matches in England."

[Democratic States of Fenbar]

So Ajmal's action is illegal....

Can we get the 3-0 defeat in 2012 nullified?

[Liventia]

England contracts list:
Central contracts (new contracts italicised) —
MM Ali (Worcs)
JM Anderson (Lancs)
GS Ballance (Yorks)
IR Bell (Warks)
SCJ Broad (Notts)
JC Buttler (Lancs)
AN Cook (Essex)
ST Finn (Middx)
CJ Jordan (Sussex)
JE Root (Yorks)
BA Stokes (Durham)
CR Woakes (Warks)

Incremental contracts (for single- or two-format players) —
RS Bopara (Essex)
AD Hales (Notts)
EJG Morgan (Middx)
LE Plunkett (Yorks)
JC Tredwell (Kent)

Test players who've lost contracts:
Graeme Swann (retired), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire)

[Liventia]

Durham's Chris Rushworth takes 15 wickets in a day (match figures 15/95 in 20 overs) as Durham beat Northants inside two days (day three; first day abandoned without play). 15/95 is the best Championship match bowling in 14 years.

Scorecard: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/o36833

Meanwhile, suspended Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale has become the first cricketer charged by the ECB for using racial language.

[Liventia]

England squad for seven-match ODI tour to Sri Lanka:
Alastair Cook (Essex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Harry Gurney (Nottinghamshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

England Performance Programme (batting and spin bowling):
Zafar Ansari (Surrey), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Adam Lees (Yorkshire), Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Stephen Parry (Lancashire), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Adam Riley (Kent), Jason Roy (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Tom Westley (Essex)

England Performance Programme (fast bowling):
Jack Brooks (Yorkshire), Matthew Dunn (Surrey), Mark Footitt (Derbyshire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)

[Liventia]

Twenty20 at the Asian Games has thrown up some amazing things:
• Kuwait 20 all out in 13.5 overs v Nepal; Nepal 21/1 in 2.5 overs
• China off-spinner Zhong Wenyi taking four wickets in four balls in a rain-shortened game against South Korea – and his team still lost.

[Barunia]

Twenty20 at the Asian Games has thrown up some amazing things:
• Kuwait 20 all out in 13.5 overs v Nepal; Nepal 21/1 in 2.5 overs
• China off-spinner Zhong Wenyi taking four wickets in four balls in a rain-shortened game against South Korea – and his team still lost.

Kuwait were all out for twenty runs...not a surprise.
That the team that did that were Nepal...surprising.

[Uitbregen]

Twenty20 at the Asian Games has thrown up some amazing things:
• Kuwait 20 all out in 13.5 overs v Nepal; Nepal 21/1 in 2.5 overs
• China off-spinner Zhong Wenyi taking four wickets in four balls in a rain-shortened game against South Korea – and his team still lost.

Glad I'm not the only who'd had a sneaky look at the Asian Games competition.

But what I find is the dramatically low scores. I don't think I've seen a score over 90. Would terrible bowling and terrible batting not create an equal game, or does it show that bowling is ultimately dominant?

Also, South Korea face a Sri Lanka side which features several international players. Good luck to them.

[Barunia]

Twenty20 at the Asian Games has thrown up some amazing things:
• Kuwait 20 all out in 13.5 overs v Nepal; Nepal 21/1 in 2.5 overs
• China off-spinner Zhong Wenyi taking four wickets in four balls in a rain-shortened game against South Korea – and his team still lost.

Glad I'm not the only who'd had a sneaky look at the Asian Games competition.

But what I find is the dramatically low scores. I don't think I've seen a score over 90. Would terrible bowling and terrible batting not create an equal game, or does it show that bowling is ultimately dominant?

Also, South Korea face a Sri Lanka side which features several international players. Good luck to them.

As someone who's played cricket with children - it doesn't matter how bad the bowling is, if the batsmen's no good he'll either miss completely, or mishit it.

[Liventia]

Dun dun dun…

[Goram]

Dun dun dun…

This might get interesting. And by interesting, I mean terrible.

[Aryavartha]

no discussion on KP's allegations?

nasty politicking it seems.

[Uitbregen]

no discussion on KP's allegations?

nasty politicking it seems.

I'm just sad the bureaucracy has prevented England's most talented player in a generation from ever playing for England again...

[The Eastern Antarctic State]

I'm excited, it's almost test season in Australia!

[Liventia]

Lots of List A records smashed today. A day for batsmen.

First, the highest partnership for ANY wicket in List A cricket, 367* between Morne van Wyk and Cameron Delport for the first wicket as Dolphins made 367/0 from 50 overs against Knights (who made 342/7). Van Wyk and Delport are only the second pair since List A cricket began in the 60s to bat through a 50-over innings. That match was also the first List A match to have three individual scores of 150+, and two partnerships of 250+.

Then, Queensland chased 399 to make only the second 400+ List A score batting second to win (after South Africa's famous 438 v Australia) as they posted 402/3 to beat Tasmania (398/1) with an incredible 16 balls to spare. Ben Dunk made 226* for Tasmania – the third-highest individual score ever, and the highest in a losing innings.

The two matches combined produced 1509/11 in 197.2 overs, or 137.18 runs per wicket at 7.64 runs per over.

[Liventia]

Jonathan Trott is expected to be included in the England Lions side to tour South Africa this winter.

[NoblePhnx]

Just thinking....England aren't going to win the World Cup, no matter what we do.

Nope England ain't winning, let's talk which teams realistically have a chance one of Australia,India,South Africa or Sri Lanka perhaps.

Unless Windies or Pak go on a miraculous run which somehow I doubt.

[Aryavartha]

what type of tracks are going to be put up?

if these are not pacy bouncy ones, indian batters have a good chance of doing what they do...put up big scores or chase them down. in ODI, india has got that pat.

If it bounces, i would pick maybe aus and SA as favorites as they got pacers to rattle the opposition and batsman who can score on bouncy wickets.

eng don't know how to play ODIs. pak is not consistent two games in a row and even within the same game. windies same issue on a smaller scale and can implode under pressure. NZ should play well in their pitches with their weird boundaries etc, not sure if they can carry it to Aus. SL youngsters are yet to mature (chandimal, thirimanne etc). that's my prelim assessment..

[Liventia]

England Lions squad to tour South Africa (three FC, five List A):

First-class team:
Jonny Bairstow (wk) Gary Ballance
Sam Billings (wk) Jack Brooks
Alex Lees Adam Lyth
Craig Overton Liam Plunkett
Boyd Rankin Adil Rashid
Adam Riley Sam Robson
Jonathan Trott James Vince

List A team:
Jonny Bairstow (wk) Gary Ballance
Sam Billings (wk) Jack Brooks
Alex Lees Adam Lyth
Craig Overton Stephen Parry
Samit Patel Liam Plunkett
Boyd Rankin Adil Rashid
Jason Roy James Vince

[KoloToure]

Good to see Trott back. There was a good interview with him in The i today.