Cricket thread

[T4tomo]

So SRI scored 74 runs in the powerplay, but for 5 wkts, and now find themselves 105 for 7 after 19.

they could well be sliding below NED after this if NZ give them the expected massive hiding they should do from here...

 

[Donger]

So SRI scored 74 runs in the powerplay, but for 5 wkts, and now find themselves 105 for 7 after 19.

they could well be sliding below NED after this if NZ give them the expected massive hiding they should do from here...

Yep. This game should do it for us. The only potential banana skin is that it will force Pakistan to try to massacre us to get above NZ on net run rate. Cue an onslaught from Rizwan.

 

[T4tomo]

Yep. This game should do it for us. The only potential banana skin is that it will force Pakistan to try to massacre us to get above NZ on net run rate. Cue an onslaught from Rizwan.

may work in our favour, If NZ cruise to a win here (caveat its early days in their reply but going well) the margin Pakistan would have to beat us by to move ahead of NZ could be such that attempting it would be suicidal, and they could end up being out cheaply chasing a huge run rate

 

[T4tomo]

may work in our favour, If NZ cruise to a win here (caveat its early days in their reply but going well) the margin Pakistan would have to beat us by to move ahead of NZ could be such that attempting it would be suicidal, and they could end up being out cheaply chasing a huge run rate

NZ seem hell bent on setting them a very very tough target - they aren't hanging around..

 

[AndyRM]

I've been quietly mulling things over throughout our drip by drip fall from grace in this World Cup. Does anyone else think we have been resting on our laurels somewhat of late?

OK, you can always get one or two players right out of form (Bairstow and Buttler's batting, Curran's pie chucking), but this team was built on flexibility, with a number of top quality all-rounders (Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, Sam Curran) all able to step in and keep up the batting onslaught or provide bowling relief and diversity. Of these, Stokes is injured and unable to bowl and Moeen has announced his upcoming retirement. None of our all rounders has appeared to be bang in form. We have been playing with two wicket keepers in the side because of their batting reputations, and have been unable to call on Stoke's bowling. Root and Brook are both great red ball batsmen, but showed little form in the 50 over format in the months leading up to this World Cup. You would think there was nobody else that could have made the squad.

Personally, as a Bears fan, I would have loved to see Sam Hain in the squad as batting cover, as he is one of very few emerging stars who is capable of being included. I honestly can't identify an all-rounder who is capable of stepping up at the moment, and the wait for Joffra Archer to be fit enough to return as our chief bowling threat seems interminable. David Willey looks like he has had enough of being treated shoddily, when this is actually the form of cricket that he is best at. We may be about to lose him. Why are there so few genuine contenders to replace our ageing squad (or at least keep them on their toes)?

The Sky Sports own expert pundits will never mention it, but just look at the state of the 50 over game in English domestic cricket. Sky Sports' flagship event "The Hundred" has been run concurrently with the 50 over one day cup competition for the last two years. The result? Nearly all the best white ball cricketers have been taken away from their clubs to play for Hundred franchises in a form of cricket that nobody else in the world plays. This looks set to continue in 2024. The One Day Cup games have then ended up being played by a mixture of those senior professionals not picked for the Hundred and second team squad members. Up and coming youngsters trying to learn the ropes of 50 over cricket have either been drafted into the Hundred instead, or have been denied the opportunity to play against (and learn from) the best. This could easily turn out to be much more than a mere dip in form, but actually more of a prolonged slump. Thoughts?

Sums up how I feel about the situation pretty much. The Hundred, while I respect it for the inclusivity aspect, has knackered our ODI side.

 

[T4tomo]

Afghanistan can reach the semi finals today......if they beat SA by a mere 440 runs!

 

[tom73]

Sums up how I feel about the situation pretty much. The Hundred, while I respect it for the inclusivity aspect, has knackered our ODI side.

It's knackered every part of the game. Only a matter of time before the whole set up brakes into different parts. with players free to play the types of format they want. Bypassing the current pathway into the game. The ECB need's to grow a pair and admit they have no interest in trying to keep the game going as we know it. It's been that way for years and it shows.

 

[AndyRM]

It's knackered every part of the game. Only a matter of time before the whole set up brakes into different parts. with players free to play the types of format they want. Bypassing the current pathway into the game. The ECB need's to grow a pair and admit they have no interest in trying to keep the game going as we know it. It's been that way for years and it shows.

Sadly I agree. The whole "Bazball" revolution has come hugely unstuck. I fear we may be looking at a return to the doldrums for a good few years.

 

[Sterlo]

I've said the same for virtually all sports in this country, we go for quantity over quality. Why play 30 games when we can play 40, it will improve the players. No it won't they'll all be too tired as it means either playing virtually non stop or over an extended season. This is also the reason we seem to be seeing more injuries, they're getting no time to heal and rushing back too soon.

 

[tom73]

I've said the same for virtually all sports in this country, we go for quantity over quality. Why play 30 games when we can play 40, it will improve the players. No it won't they'll all be too tired as it means either playing virtually non stop or over an extended season. This is also the reason we seem to be seeing more injuries, they're getting no time to heal and rushing back too soon.

Equally many players are happy to rush back as way too many are sadly only in it for the glory.

 

[T4tomo]

The fundamental problem with The Hundred was that it was as well as the T20 Nash not instead of, and a format that no-one else anywhere plays.

I'm not against a franchise model tournament attracting money into into the game, but t should have been a revamped T20.

 

[AndyRM]

Afghanistan finish on 244. Not bad when they were 116/6 at one point.

 

[Donger]

I must admit I do have a grudge against the Hundred anyway. Being a Warwickshire/Birmingham Bears fan, I'm getting rather fed up of seeing many of our best white ball players (a particularly good crop of players brought through the youth team at Edgbaston along with some really good recent acquisitions) being farmed out to other franchises for the competition, leaving only two or three of our own players to represent the "Phoenix". I feel almost no affinity to the "Phoenix" and hate to see our own players taking wickets or scoring runs against a "Birmingham" side. The organisers have clearly tried to make the competition a big city affair, leaving large parts of the country without any local representation. And all of that while the unwanted white ball players and a few red ballers are left to fill out the team sheet in the 50 over games at the same time of year.

The whole "Bazball" approach of the England side has been great to watch, but I fear it will be short-lived. A particular magical mix of players of a certain age have blended extremely well and taken the world by storm in the two longer forms of the game ..... tests and 50 over. However, the "Marginal Gains" policy of Dave Brailsford led to a brief period of a few years of total dominance and amazing success for cycling's Team Sky, but when everyone else started taking their regime seriously and copying what they did everyone suddenly started to catch up. It is noticeable that India, South Africa, Pakistan and Australia have all started playing Bazball in the 50 over game, and playing it better than us. I think we will soon start seeing our main test rivals going along routinely at 5 runs per over in test matches too. How are we going to find bowlers who can bowl 20+ overs of accurate line and length day in, day out? They will not be created by bowling in only the Hundred and the Big Bash. As nobody else plays the Hundred, I think it is time to ditch it altogether.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Netherlands facing an impossible chase, shame as been good competitors, that win over SA?
India look unbeatable to me but i'm rooting for NZ in the semi and hopefully final. 2019 super over payback?

 

[matticus]

The whole "Bazball" approach of the England side has been great to watch, but I fear it will be short-lived. A particular magical mix of players of a certain age have blended extremely well and taken the world by storm in the two longer forms of the game ..... tests and 50 over

Are you sure?

What is Bazball?
In cricket terms, this is a very new phrase and came into existence in 2022, when Brendon McCullum was appointed England's new Test head coach and Ben Stokes was made captain.

... and England won the World Cup in 2019