With Henry

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf0iy6cgRE4

 

What a fantastic test match - world record knock by a no 11

 

World's greatest game at it's best

Edited July 12, 201311 yr by Laurence

Regardless of the outcome, you've really got to applaud these nations for reaching the final of the Ashes, time after time.

Regardless of the outcome, you've really got to applaud these nations for reaching the final of the Ashes, time after time.

Especially with such difficult qualifying rounds to get there every year

It is by far the greatest game about.

Love the tiny wee trophy the winning team gets!

With Henry

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf0iy6cgRE4

 

What a fantastic test match - world record knock by a no 11

 

World's greatest game at it's best

Laurence... in a word, most (but definitely not all) cricket is tediously BORING. Test matches last for nearly a week with breaks for their lunch and their tea every day and then - even if it doesn't p!ss down with rain (*) sending them all scampering for cover -  the game as often as not ends as a DRAW. What that actually means is that even the best part of a week wasn't enough for them to finish it.

Basically, test cricket is nine people watching ten people watching three people doing very little for hours and days on end. Now that's not really much of a test.

Even in club cricket, when Highland scored 224 and disposed of Northern Counties for a pitiful 19 in Inverness the other week, it still took Highland almost 20 overs to bowl NC out. That means that of the 118 balls, in about 100, nothing whatsoever happened.... apart from that slow handclapping they do when nothing happens (which is usually)!

 

Now this Twenty20 is a very different matter and a whole lot more like fun! That is REAL entertainment and rapid, quickfire action with full on aggression. Bring it on! So cricket really is a potentially very good game but woefully mismanaged by the people that run it.

 

(*) a few years ago did England not make almost as much fuss about winning the ashes as they did about 1966 when the reality was that they only won because is started to pee down so instead of coming back to finish the game on a nicer day, they just called it a draw?

Edited July 13, 201311 yr by Charles Bannerman

Charles, not true. Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport. As an analogy I suppose you'll agree that the only track event worth watching is the 100m as it's quick and exciting. The 10,000m must be rubbish as nothing happens for almost 25 identical laps before they sprint for the line......

Like watching test cricket, the 10.000 mtr race is a test of endurance, as for being the pinnacle of sport, thats like saying croquet is the most popular ball bat and ball game in the world.

Cricket is shyte, except of course the 20 20 when the buggers have move a bit quicker.

Well, if I think about it, poor kids in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. often can be seen playing cricket rather than footie. Why is this? cricket has no violence and I haven't heard much about sectarianism or discrimination in cricket. I don't think they are earning 120,000 quid a week either. And not many clubs are tax dodging or setting up again after sacking staff and leaving creditors out of penny

Don't get me wrong, I have never even watched 2 mins of it on TV, but each to their own, and they way football is going, we are all living in the preverbial crystal palace.

One of my least favourite sports (I think that was partly due to the BBC coverage of the cricket as an alternative to a test card in the 70s) but I have been to a number of test matches over the years. Can't actually say that I have not enjoyed any of them and at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne a few years ago I can still actually remember that I watched some cricket although as it was the first phase of a stag party it was never going to a boring day.

Cricket though is not a major sport in Scotland but I completely understand why people brought up with it love it so much. Living in Qatar I see a lot of workers from the countries listed in Kirishima's post above who make up the majority of the countries workforce use their Friday mornings, afternoons and evenings in any available space (disused carparks, wasteland etc) playing cricket and then they are back to work the next day. Where I always go for a haircut is run by a Bangladeshi crew and they always want to talk about cricket and if I try to turn the conversation to football they never seem that interested and get it back to cricket. The way I see it is when I was a kid all I wanted to do was play football and talk football and for many billions around the world (Laurence included) they have the same love of cricket.

Oh and by the way what the young Aussie kid did was a bit special - only hoped he had got a few more ;-)) you never know he has been moved up the batting order today so maybe lighting might strike twice but it is a tough one to follow. Still won't be watching it though ;-))))

To quote George Bernard Shaw - "The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented
cricket to give them some idea of eternity."

 

The problem is that they do have a game which is potentially interesting and exciting (ie in its Twenty20  or other limited over format) but they seem to prefer to adopt this five day borefest which as often as not ends in a draw, not because the teams are remotely similar in standard but because they just haven't got the thing finished!

Great to see a spectacle where the winners are the cheating, lucky bestards.

Great to see a spectacle where the winners are the cheating, lucky bestards.

 

Aye, agree there. The batsman should have 'walked' yesterday and the Aussies would have won it today! Can't believe I was shouting at the radio this afternoon - I don't even follow cricket much!

A poor example for Charles to choose as the most exciting climax to a test match materialised. I just don't think you understand it fully, although I have to say cricket is a better game to play than to spectate. Meanwhile, American 100-meter record holder Tyson Gay has tested positive for a banned substance and says he will pull out of the world championships next month in Moscow. 

 

This jogging lark seems to be full of cheats.

I agree DT and us cricketers must stick together not many of us around here!

Oh my..............It's getting worse.

 

Asafa Powell among five Jamaicans to test positive. Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell is reportedly among five Jamaican athletes to have tested positive for taking banned substances.

It's the finality of cricket that I used to love. I was not a good player, but there are few moments in sport when you are sitting with your old pads buckled up waiting to go out to bat. Suddenly the guy before you is out, the adrenalin rushes, you pick up your bat and start the long walk to the crease. You might get a little clap from the few people present or a remark , but you are aware of the pressure of the moment and the expectations of your team mates. you realism on a glorious high. You take your guard, the ops know you are nervous they crowd round you,

You are aware of the score , yOU KNOW WHAT IS NEEDED, A GREAT BIG HULK OF A FAST BOWLER COMES IN ON A LONG RUN, YOU JUST GET INTO LINE AND YOU HOPE LIKE HELL YOU WILL GET YOUR BAT DOWN IN TIME, THE BALL CATCHES THE EDGE AND SOARS THROUGH THE SLIPS FOR FOUR. WHISPERS OF LUCKLY BARSTEWARD eminate all around. You survive to fight another day

You have one chance and one chance only to show your mates you can do it.
I played in one game for the Lancashire County fire Service against the West Midlands at Blackpool, I was batting at No 11. I went in at 38 for 9 , at the other end was No 10.  . The West Midlands fast bowlers kept steaming in at me , I got through on a wish and a prayer, we got to seventy odd when the lad at the other end holed out. On returning to my team mates our fast bowler came over and gave me the biggest of hugs. He told me  I had given him a target he knew he could get them out for and he did.

.

 

It's the finality of cricket that I used to love. I was not a good player, but there are few moments in sport when you are sitting with your old pads buckled up waiting to go out to bat. Suddenly the guy before you is out, the adrenalin rushes, you pick up your bat and start the long walk to the crease. You might get a little clap from the few people present or a remark , but you are aware of the pressure of the moment and the expectations of your team mates. you realism on a glorious high. You take your guard, the ops know you are nervous they crowd round you,

You are aware of the score , yOU KNOW WHAT IS NEEDED, A GREAT BIG HULK OF A FAST BOWLER COMES IN ON A LONG RUN, YOU JUST GET INTO LINE AND YOU HOPE LIKE HELL YOU WILL GET YOUR BAT DOWN IN TIME, THE BALL CATCHES THE EDGE AND SOARS THROUGH THE SLIPS FOR FOUR. WHISPERS OF LUCKLY BARSTEWARD eminate all around. You survive to fight another day

You have one chance and one chance only to show your mates you can do it.

I played in one game for the Lancashire County fire Service against the West Midlands at Blackpool, I was batting at No 11. I went in at 38 for 9 , at the other end was No 10.  . The West Midlands fast bowlers kept steaming in at me , I got through on a wish and a prayer, we got to seventy odd when the lad at the other end holed out. On returning to my team mates our fast bowler came over and gave me the biggest of hugs. He told me  I had given him a target he knew he could get them out for and he did.

.

Didny understand the last paragraph, but it sounded like you had a great time -good on ya,

I heard today's the day Bannerman gets his bus pass 

Maybe he should use it to get along to one of the four remaining ashes tests,although I suspect he may find tickets at a premium.

 

Cricket may not be everyone's cup of tea and has largely failed to catch on in Scotland perhaps at least partly though our climate. Nevertheless, for those who enjoy, understand and appreciate it there is no doubt whatsoever that test match cricket is the finest part of the game with it's twists and subtle nuances.

 

Yes it can last for up to five days or fifteen sessions each longer than a football match but each day or, indeed as the match just ended has demonstrated superbly, each hour can be wholly different from the last or the next. Typically during the course of a match skills of batsmanship, bowling and fielding, while important, can be eclipsed by the guile and ingenuity of the captains.

 

Frankly, while twenty twenty cricket has a place, to prefer it over test cricket is like saying you prefer the drama of a penalty shoot out  over the tedium of the 90 or 120 minutes that go before it.

Proper 5 day test cricket really is something special.  It may not be to everyone's taste but it is an acquired taste and one that is definitely worth acquiring.  It helps if you've played the game a bit just so that you can appreciate what is involved with a hard cricket ball whistling past your ears at over 80mph and the rest,  Cricket is an extraordinarily complex game in the 5 day version and it is not just the skill of the players, but the tactics and the drawn out drama that is so enthralling.

 

Enjoyment of the game comes with some level of understanding of the way the ball behaves differently depending on the type of bowling, the age of the ball, the condition of the pitch and the atmospheric conditions.  The batsman has to judge each ball and decide whether to risk a scoring shot or whether just to block or leave it.  The captain of the fielding side will be placing fielders either to make scoring more difficult or to provide more men in positions to catch.  Often fielders are absent from a large part of the outfield to tempt batsmen to hit into that particular area in the knowledge that the shot risks catching the edge of the bat.  Then as the game progresses and time becomes more of an issue it becomes a question of do you play for the win or settle for the draw and this changes the dynamics of the game again.  The whole game is a psychological battle, a tactical battle and a battle of skill.

 

To  me there are two very appealing aspects of the game which make cricket pretty unique.  The first is that whilst it is a team game, at any one point it is largely the bowler pitted against the batsman and the pressure is very much on the individual taking centre stage at any one point.

 

The other aspect is that for most of the game, it is often not clear who is winning  and who is losing.  People will have differing opinions as to which team has the upper hand at any one point but it is often not at all obvious.  The picture can change suddenly with 2 or 3 quick wickets but then as a stand develops so the balance changes again.  It is fascinating the way the game swings back and forth and in a close game this creates a building tension.    In football we may feel a bit of tension as our team gets battered in the last 10 minutes whilst we grimly hold onto a single goal lead, but believe me, that is nothing compared to the nervous tension of defending a 300 run lead in the final innings and seeing the opponents total get closer and closer.  As the Australians so brilliantly demonstrated, it's not over till it's over.  The drama and tension of a good test match is without comparison to anything else in sport IMHO. 

 

 

 

 

Laurence... in a word, most (but definitely not all) cricket is tediously BORING.

 

 

  

 

Wrong! 

 

If it was boring, nobody would watch it.

 

It doesn't particularly appeal to me either, but you are wrong to again express your personal opinion as fact.

I have only been to Lords once, It is a terrific place, You could say a citadel , I have been to Wembley and Old Trafford but really nothing can compare with Lords cricket ground.

Sorry Charles because I didn't state it was just my opinion.

Role on Thursday as another 5 days start in Earnest.

Myself I would bring back the Irishman Morgan and drop Bairstow, who seems out of his comfort zone at test level, Morgan is a class act and should be in the team.

Caley 100 said.-

Didny understand the last paragraph, but it sounded like you had a great time -good on ya,

Well, if I think about it, poor kids in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. often can be seen playing cricket rather than footie. Why is this? cricket has no violence and I haven't heard much about sectarianism or discrimination in cricket. I don't think they are earning 120,000 quid a week either. And not many clubs are tax dodging or setting up again after sacking staff and leaving creditors out of penny

Don't get me wrong, I have never even watched 2 mins of it on TV, but each to their own, and they way football is going, we are all living in the preverbial crystal palace.

No, probably a helluva lot more.

 

From the Independant in 2008 when the ECB were trying to play down 20:20. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/salary-leak-places-ecb-on-back-foot-793618.html

Caley 100 said.-

Didny understand the last paragraph, but it sounded like you had a great time -good on ya,

The bowlers in my team were panicking before my innings that we didn't have enough runs to defend.

Because our last wicket stand upped the total to over 70, and it was a good bowling surface , they knew they had a chance to win the game.

TI am a qualified umpire I actually went to umpire the game, but because Lancashire F.B. were a man short, I was asked to play, and another umpire was found from the Blackpool club.

Otherwise I was too old to play. I was a Station Officer and all the other players were Fireman rank, a bit embarrassing to be hugged by one of my own men.

The sad thing about my memory of this match that the lad at the other end sadly died a few days after the game from a heart attack. He had not reached his 36th birthday He was a Retained Sub Officer like me making up the numbers.,

You wonder Laurence why people like me have a go at you from time to time well that highlighted statement is one of the reasons. Here you are involved in a team sport with other team players and yet you still see yourself as a Station Officer and them as lower ranks. That us and then mentality and superior / subordinate attitude is exactly what has destroyed this once great Britian.

 

As for cricket as a spectator sport......give me 220:20 any day