Cricket Thread

168-8

Jadeja with the wicket

201-9

Jadeja again

Sehwag :bow: :bow: :bow:

India win by 153 runs

Decent partnership at the end by WI pub teamers one who got 90 odd

Sehwag :bow:

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Test squad: AJ Strauss (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Davies, Steven Finn (wkt), Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wkt), Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott

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England squad v Pakistan

Panesar :bow:

India 235-3 off 44 overs

They were 1-2

Rahane and Patel both out first ball. Sehwag not playing :doh:

Tiwary got 104 and is retired hurt

Kohli in the 80s

New Zealand won the second test against Australia by seven runs. Some finish to that one apparently. Highlights are on at 1:30.

Aussies. :haha:

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

New Zealand won the second test against Australia by seven runs. Some finish to that one apparently. Highlights are on at 1:30.

Aussies. :haha:

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Amazing match.

I watched days 3 and 4 but missed it last night :doh:

Finally got round to watch the highlights.

Very amusing when they brought up the poll of who would win the test. 82% had voted for the Aussies, 18% had voted for NZ. Tony Grieg chimes in saying of the NZ voters " yup they're going with their hearts, not their heads". :haha:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

Finally got round to watch the highlights.

Very amusing when they brought up the poll of who would win the test. 82% had voted for the Aussies, 18% had voted for NZ. Tony Grieg chimes in saying of the NZ voters " yup they're going with their hearts, not their heads". :haha:

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:haha: :haha:

Still hasn't learned his lesson?

Although he's a bumbling idiot, I quite like him. At least he's entertaining.

Also - Sky Sports still have commentary from Richie Beneud :bow:

Dravid gave the 'Bradman Oration' this year:

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Originally Posted by Cricinfo

Rahul Dravid believes day-night Test cricket should be seriously considered in an effort to bring fans back to the longer form of the game. Dravid was in Canberra on Wednesday night to deliver the annual Bradman Oration, in which he also urged the ICC to scale back the number of meaningless one-day internationals and instead focus 50-over cricket on major tournaments like the World Cup.
The first foreign player to deliver the Bradman Oration, which has been held since 2000, Dravid spoke of charting a clear road-map for the three formats as one of the biggest challenges facing the game. He said it was clear that the three formats could not continue to be played in equal amounts, but that none should be allowed to die out.
"Cricket must find a middle path," Dravid said. "It must scale down this mad merry-go-round that teams and players find themselves in: heading off for two-Test tours and seven-match ODI series with a few Twenty20s thrown in."
Dravid described Test cricket as "the gold standard" and the form that the players most wanted to play, and T20 as the cricket that fans wanted to see. To encourage spectators back to Test grounds around the world is a challenge for cricket administrators, and Dravid said it was important to keep the fans in mind, hence the potential of day-night Test cricket.

"Test cricket deserves to be protected, it is what the world's best know they will be judged by," he said. "Where I come from, nation versus nation is what got people interested in cricket in the first place. When I hear the news that a country is playing without some of its best players, I always wonder, what do their fans think?

"People may not be able to turn up to watch Test cricket but everyone follows the scores. We may not fill 65,000 capacity stadiums for Test matches, but we must actively fight to get as many as we can in, to create a Test match environment that the players and the fans feed off. Anything but the sight of Tests played on empty grounds.
"For that, we have got to play Test cricket that people can watch. I don't think day-night Tests or a Test championship should be dismissed. In March of last year I played a day-night first-class game in Abu Dhabi for the MCC - and my experience from that was that day-night Tests is an idea seriously worth exploring. There may be some challenges in places where there is dew but the visibility and durability of the pink cricket ball was not an issue."
Dravid also said that a Test championship would encourage every team and player to deliver strong performances in every match, with context provided for every Test. At the moment, there is an ICC Test rankings table but the inaugural Test championship will not be held until 2017, when Dravid will be 44 years old.
The ICC had hoped to bring the championship forward to 2013 and use it to replace the Champions Trophy, but commitments to the broadcaster and sponsors meant that could not be done. Dravid said he was against the idea of scrapping ODIs altogether but believed that events like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy should be the focus, with other ODIs contributing to rankings for those events.
"Since about, I think 1985, people have been saying that there is too much meaningless one-day cricket," he said. "Maybe it's finally time to do something about it ... Anything makes more sense than seven-match ODI series."
More context for matches might also help draw crowds back to the game. Dravid said he had been surprised to see the lack of spectators at an ODI series featuring India this year and he described the sight of empty stands as "alarming".
"India played its first one-day international at home in November 1981 when I was nine," he said. "Between then and now we have played 277 one-dayers at home; the five-match series against England in October was the first time our grounds were not full for an ODI featuring the Indian team.
"The India v England ODI series had no context, because the two countries had played each other in four Tests and five ODIs just a few weeks before. When India and the West Indies played ODIs a month after that, the grounds were full but this time matches were played in smaller venues that didn't host too much international cricket. Maybe our clues are all there and we must remain vigilant."
Dravid said that even if fans were watching on television, the experience was not the same. And that, he argued, could have consequences in the long term.
"Whatever the reasons are - maybe it is too much cricket or too little by way of comfort for spectators. The fan has sent us a message and we must listen. This is not mere sentimentality. Empty stands do not make for good television. Bad television can lead to a fall in ratings, the fall in ratings will be felt by media planners and advertisers' looking elsewhere.
"If that happens, it is hard to see television rights around cricket being as sought after as they have always been in the last 15 years. And where does that leave everyone?"

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/conte...ry/545358.html

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Dravid :bow:

Most underrated batsman (along with Kallis) of the modern game.

I would love test the idea of Day-Night Tests but I can't see it taking off. I get the feeling the red ball would do all sorts of shit under humid conditions under the floodlights.

Syn :tiphat:

DSL here. What do you think of India's chances in Australia? I was looking forward to it (still am, to be fair) but both teams have borrowed Arsenal's med staff.

Johnson, Cummins, Marsh, Watson, Harris, Ishant Sharma, P. Kumar and Aaron are all either out or doubts for the first Test.

India's attack looks very tame now.

SA destroy SL by an innings in their first test

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Originally Posted by Dennis Bendtner

Syn :tiphat:

DSL here. What do you think of India's chances in Australia? I was looking forward to it (still am, to be fair) but both teams have borrowed Arsenal's med staff.

Johnson, Cummins, Marsh, Watson, Harris, Ishant Sharma, P. Kumar and Aaron are all either out or doubts for the first Test.

India's attack looks very tame now.

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DSL :bow:

Hope all’s well.

Yeah, the injury to Aaron is a big shame. For the first time in...well, ever, India were looking as if they had 3 bowlers who could bowl 90mph+. Now it might only be Yadav who isn’t really as quick as Aaron but probably more accurate. It's important that Ishant is fit to play. I don't know what to expect from Zaheer...probably another injury a few overs in.

The batting line-up with the old guard nearing retirement still looks as strong as ever. But unless Ashwin/Ojha start turning the ball, it could be some really long days in the field. That’s the edge England have over the rest atm. If a key bowler is out, they get someone like Bresnan straight in. Whereas India have medium pace crud like Kumar or Sreesanth.

Should be a close contest between 2 well-matched sides. I’ve got a sneaky feeling Laxman will call it a day after this Test Series - he looks in good touch and it’d be a fitting way to go out.

Likewise. :tiphat:

Can't disagree. I think Yadav looks really good, but you need depth. More reliant than ever on Zaheer Khan.

Apparently the medium pace backup filth for this tour is Vinay Kumar and Mithun. That's a lot worse than Sreesanth, to be honest. More than likely they will be needed, too.

Hopefully if VVS does bow out it's with something as epic as the 281. Well, doubt it, but he loves Aussie-bashing. Hard to see the series outcome really.

the india aus test series will be close, given recent series in tests, both teams have been shit. aussies have made some big changes to their side and some look good but while they still use johnson and co they will win fuck all. india can win this if they give a shit, play and look like they did in england then they will be thrashed

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Originally Posted by ollie the optimist

the india aus test series will be close, given recent series in tests, both teams have been shit. aussies have made some big changes to their side and some look good but while they still use johnson and co they will win fuck all. india can win this if they give a shit, play and look like they did in england then they will be thrashed

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Well Johnson is out of the series, which is a start. Australia have been progressing positively actually. James Pattinson looks good along with Cummins. The next step is kicking Ponting the fuck out - did you know he averages 38 in his last 51 Tests? I was surprised. Then I lolled.

As said, the issue holding India back is injuries and a lack of depth in the bowling. It will probably tell in a four-match series. A draw would be good, but a bit disappointing given India ought to have won at least one of the last two tours there, against the Aussie killing machine rather than these lot.

Think Kohli's just pipped ahead of Sharma in the battle for the no.6 spot. Scored nearly half the team's runs with a solid 132 in the tour match against a decent selected XI (including players who are/were in the Aussie team recently including Bollinger, Khawaja, Warner and Hughes).

In other news, Pakistan are beating Bangladesh as if they were their wives. They're one fast bowler short (which would've been Amir if he wasn't caught in the betting scandal) but otherwise reasonably strong. Should be a great contest vs England in a month's time.

Bangladesh are in a struggle to save the match against Pakistan. It's day 5, two sessions left but Pakistan should wrap it up.

Harris and Shane Watson out of the boxing day Test against India.

India likely to be at full strength since I Sharma and Zaheer came through ok in the warm up came.

Sehwag lasted 20 balls in the 2 innings. I was then going to go into a rant about how he will struggle on bouncy Australian wickets but then checked he averages 59.50 in Test matches in Australia in 14 innings. No doubt the fat fuck will fail this time.

The rant should be about seaming conditions, to be fair. I think his averages in South Africa and England are rock bottom. Pub team filth. Aussie wickets have been flat for a while, so he could be alright. They'll be wary of juicing them up too much given their own troubles against swing e.g. the New Zealand match.

On that subject.

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Australia squad for first Test against India: Michael Clarke (capt), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Ben Hilfenhaus.

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Who the fuck is Cowan tbf? Scored a hundred in the warm-ups. Not exactly young, so might be another Chris Rogers.

Good move bringing back Hilfenhaus.

Aussies 68-2Rain stopped play. Yadav with both wickets

Australia closed on 277-6. Aussies were 205-3 at one point. :lol:

333 all out

Zaheer with 4, Ashwin and Yadav with 3 each

Zaheer got Mr Cricket first ball btw

:lol:

Indians 42/1 in reply to Australia's 333. Gambhir is an absolute liability right now. And I've put money on Sehwag pissing away this good start and getting out before 50 on Ladbrokes.

Jesus...Sehwag has been dropped 3 times and survived several close shaves. And he has made it to 58 so far. The jammy fat fuck.

India 214-3 Sehwag got 60 odd :bow: Tendulkar was bowled on 73 in the last over of the day.

Decided to make a go of it last night/this morning. Did quite well. Knackered, but a good day. Tendulkar was phenomenal. A technically textbook genius. All this 100th hundred stuff is unfortunately overshadowing all the good at the moment.

Tony Greig is a clown.

A solid lead is on the horizon if India see off the first hour with just the nightwatchman out. Come on cricket.

Decent day. Tendulkar was indeed brilliant. Seemed to enjoy that glance over the slips. Dravid was surprisingly shaky and was very lucky not to be out. Not ony was he dropped but also bowled off a no-ball. Don know why Tony greig was going nuts over that...the Indians didn't complain about it - the umpire wanted to go upstairs.

Don't trust anyone after we are 5 down. Dhoni onwards are garbage. Up to dravid, laxman and kohli to add another 250 runs to the team total.

They all have a bee in their bonnet about DRS. It helps if you know what it actually is. DRS isn't and never has involved checking no-balls...that's umpire common sense. They seem to think limiting technology should mean no technology at all, which would make run-outs a bit of a farce.

Watching the highlights atm

What an innings by Sehwag. Unlucky to be out the way he was.

Dravid looks to be having a shocker

Just seen the no ball wicket

Aussies :haha:

Dravid's got bowled early here. 215/4 and now it looks like India might not even get to Aussies 333.

The commentators are having a full-on argument live on air. Tony Greig is going mental. THe other commentator called him on his pointless whining yesterday. "What were you moaning about yesterday? It was a no-ball. I don't know why you were moaning". "I wasn't moaning", "Yes you were" "You need to get your hearing aid switched on"... :lol:

Then the other commentator walked away and somebody came in quickly to replace him and apologised for the tension. Greig says: "He's been away for a while so you need to let him warm up".

:popcorn:

Just sack the old shit.

Laxman goes for 2. This is a disaster.

edit: Kohli's in now and just hit a glorious cover drive. He's treating this like a one-day game which is probably the best way to go about it being one of the best ODI batsmen in the game right now. Almost a shot a ball right now. But even if he sticks around, he's going to run out of partners the way 'experience' is getting out.

282 all out :doh:

Ashwin the only one to put up some resistance with 31

Everyone from Tendulkar down in the score card were awful

Hilfenhaus with 5 wickets

Aussies 34-4

Any of you know where to get links for this?

I have access to Sky right now so I'm not relying on streams but usually I just google 'cricket streams' and something'll come up.

What an amazing day of cric. 15 wickets going down. If India can get the target to under 250 (i.e. if they can take the last two Aussie wickets for 20 runs), I will fancy their chances...otherwise it'll be very tough. The pitch is deteriorating fast.

Aussies 179-8 at the close

Hussey still there on 79

SA v SL 2nd Test going on as well

All SL atm

338 and 256-7

SA 168

SL lead by 426