The Official Cricket Thread

[Yozzer]

Absolute madness from Herath. Should have stood even if he had punched it to Prior, with hand on bat obviously.

[Son of L8]

Fucking hell. Test cricket. What a game.

[Yozzer]

FUCKING HELL, UMPIRE YOU MEFF.

[Jairzinho]

Fuck sake.

[Son of L8]

Bet theyd sell their souls for another few overs of bowling now!

 

Five days on one of the flattest tracks you'll see, and the result is on down to the very last ball. Amazing.

[Yozzer]

Why couldn't the Sri Lankans be as obtuse as the Indians and not allow DRS? Would have won that game then.

[A_S]

How many runs did England score in that last 30 minutes of day 4? I'm sure they were crucial in the end!

[Jairzinho]

How many runs did England score in that last 30 minutes of day 4? I'm sure they were crucial in the end!

 

Oh come on, Sri Lanka only fell 189 runs short.

[Son of L8]

I never thought we'd get that close to bowling them out in ninety overs. Brilliant effort with the ball.

 

It's easy to say "we should have had half an hour last night" after coming so close, but of course people were saying that last night... And been saying it for years to be fair. Spy Bee is right in that you can't assume things would have played out the same if Cook/Moores made different decisions; change the course of the game, and anything could have happened. For me though, the thing is: in Test cricket, often you have to risk defeat if you want to win. When you go to bat a team out of sight, the closer you get to taking defeat out of the equation, the further you put yourself away from the victory.

 

That balance between risk and opportunity is a core skill of captaincy and team management, and England for some years have made not-losing the primary objective in those situations. Fair enough if that's what the team has chosen to value, but you're also going to win fewer tests playing that way.

[Spy Bee]

I do agree that Cook is not an aggressive enough captain by the way. I think he takes too long to put in attacking fields or to mix things up in general. I just think that the decision not to declare was the right one, and that only maybe Michael Clark in world cricket would have declared earlier.

[stringvest]

Some terrible decisions in there yesterday.  It was exciting, but it wasn't good cricket.  

[Guest LFD]

and that only maybe Michael Clark in world cricket would have declared earlier.

 

So the best captain in the World would have declared earlier!

[Jairzinho]

Find it genuinely bewildering that anyone can say it was the right decision to declare when he did.

 

There is no fucking way South Africa do in that situation either. Doubt India would. Pakistan are one of the most aggressive teams around, so doubt they would either. In fact the only team that it would have make any sense are the likes of Bangladesh where nicking a draw is a good result. Although, I'd imagine if they got a sniff of a win, even they wouldn't be as shithouse as us.

 

I'd really like to know who's decision it was. Because if Moores had a big influence then we've presumably got a couple more years of this turgid, negative, shithousery to come. I'm hoping it was mainly Cook, because then hopefully there is some chance he can be fucked off as captain in favour of someone who isn't just a clueless, ECB patsy, that starts every fucking utterance with "Aaaaaaaaaaarm", then precedes to trot out the same tedious, contrived, clichés about how we "put it in the right areas", and can "take the positives". Really disappointed with Atherton as well post match, and he's someone I think is generally pretty ace, properly let him of the hook there. Allowed him to wriggle his way out of accepting any responsibility for England's cowardice. 

 

On a different note, does anyone know why, with a half empty ground, people were being turned away at the gates yesterday afternoon?

[Spy Bee]

So the best captain in the World would have declared earlier!

The best captain in the world? Fuck off, Captain Caveman is well better!

[Guest LFD]

On a different note, does anyone know why, with a half empty ground, people were being turned away at the gates yesterday afternoon?

 

Really?

[Jairzinho]

Really?

 

Yeah, I was watching the other sport so was following the cricket on the BBC page where people text/twitter/email etc. Someone was saying they went there after work and were turned away.

 

Utterly bizarre.

[A_S]

And Cook just had salt rubbed into the wound by being fined for not being a further over ahead....the over he would have given anything to have at the end, despite his cautious declaration. I just see it as England having a very decent new-ball attack which could have fully exploited the early declaration.

[lifetime fan]

Naved Arif : ECB ban Pakistani cricketer for life

 

Former Sussex and Pakistan 'A' cricketer Naved Arif has been banned from the sport for life after he admitted breaching the England and Wales Cricket Board's Anti-Corruption Code.

 

More to follow.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Can't say i'm shocked Col. 

[lifetime fan]

Naved Arif: ECB bans ex-Sussex & Pakistan A cricketer for life

 

Seam bowler Naved Arif has been banned from cricket for life, a month after he was charged with match-fixing by the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB].

 

Arif, 32, admitted six breaches of the ECB anti-corruption code in relation to when he was playing for Sussex in 2011.

"Today's announcement sends out a very clear message that the ECB has a zero tolerance approach to corruption," said ECB chief executive David Collier.

 

"It will root out and punish those who pose a threat to the game's integrity."

 

The Sussex match under scrutiny was a 40-over game at Hove in August 2011, which Kent won by 14 runs.

 

Pakistan-born Arif played for Sussex in 2011 and 2012, qualifying as a non-overseas player through his Danish wife, and represented Pakistan A, but never featured at full international level.

 

The ban prevents Arif from playing, coaching or participating in any form of cricket which is recognised or sanctioned by the ECB, the International Cricket Council or any other national cricket federation.

Arif expressed his regret and apologised for his actions in a statement

through his lawyers.

"He is deeply ashamed of his actions and, consequently, bringing the game of cricket into disrepute. These actions were unacceptable and Mr Arif has no excuses," the statement read.

 

Arif's former Sussex team-mate, Lou Vincent, was also charged last month with 14 offences under the anti-corruption code.

 

Vincent's charges arose from the same CB40 game against Kent, and a Twenty20 contest against Lancashire in the same month.

 

The 35-year-old former New Zealand Test batsman is reported to have provided evidence to the ICC of fixing involving 12 matches around the world between 2008 and 2012.

 

He has since agreed to co-operate with the game's authorities.

[lifetime fan]

It's just the tip of the iceberg, loads of them are at it, I'm convinced.

[Ian Sea]

It's just the tip of the iceberg, loads of them are at it, I'm convinced.

Without doubt.

[Spy Bee]

I'm going to the second test Friday and Saturday. I might go dressed as flight MH370 so you can all recognise me!

[AJBlaikie]

New Zealand are pulling some proper embarrassing shit in their test match with the West Indies at the moment.

[Son of L8]

Oh dear. Prior. What the fuck was that...?