Random Cricket Thread (International Cricket)

[Slipstream]

What's the situation with Duncan Fletcher and India, I've not seen him at games and not head he's left his job.

I also was wondering but his contract ended March 15 and was not renewed.

[Aidan11]

What's the situation with Duncan Fletcher and India, I've not seen him at games and not head he's left his job.

I also was wondering but his contract ended March 15 and was not renewed.

I think he has left and Ravi Shastri is overseeing team affairs.

[Dr Cricket]

Shastri gone as well but chances are he will get it again no big coach wants to manage India because of the workload

[Alviro Patterson]

Test purist will be cringing now that ECB will be promoting all bilateral point system this summer.
Good decision.

I suppose a points system to determine an overall tour winter will give the limited overs matches more meaning, especially whenever they are played after Tests. Sometimes an ODI series after a high profile Test series seems irrelevant from a spectator point of view.

For a bilateral points system to work, LOIs must be played before Tests in order to avoid a dead rubber. I prefer tours to start with LOIs before Tests, makes for a good curtain raiser and gives the opposition time to acclimatise to conditions, therefore improving the standard of Test cricket.

[The Professor]

Kaushal Silva has been airlifted to a Colombo hospital, after being struck on the head during a practice match

[wtachetna]

I don't know why but after knowing about the England batsman, James Taylor I have been very sad. He said his world has been turned “upside down” by the discovery of a serious heart condition. Life comes without guarantees.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Must be still in shock over what happened with it being so unexpected. Disappoining for all of us who enjoyed watching him play and wished him well. But awful for him to have his natural gift stolen from him.

[GarlicJam]

However, in the grand scheme of things, his loss is very minor.

He still has his legs, he still has his vision, he still has his health (in the majority), he still has his freedom.

Worse things happen to many, many people, every day.

[sussexpob]

However, in the grand scheme of things, his loss is very minor.

He still has his legs, he still has his vision, he still has his health (in the majority), he still has his freedom.

Worse things happen to many, many people, every day.

I dont think the "its another day for you and me in paradise" argument is particularly of relevance or good taste here. I find the above remarks seem to downplay both the serious nature of his illness and the loss he faces.

In terms of the context of normal western society, I am not sure there are many things worse than nearly dying, waking up in a hospital, and then being told you have a condition that means you have to give up everything you ever worked for.... and that if you continue, or if you ever put stress on your body, you increase the realistic likelihood of sudden death as a result.

I mean you might say a range of things are worse, but then again Im pretty sure having heart that beats like a ticking time bomb is really up there on the Sh*tty things to be born with scale.

[Arthur Crabtree]

However, in the grand scheme of things, his loss is very minor.

He still has his legs, he still has his vision, he still has his health (in the majority), he still has his freedom.

Worse things happen to many, many people, every day.

Well that's true. And it's to be expected that the memory of Phil Hughes will pass though your mind in comparison. Yet, it is still a considerable loss, and it is hard for the individual, especially so young, to contextualise their loss in this way, not just the sudden removal of their career, but the uncertainty over future health. I did think about worse destinies before I posted, but decided that the sentiment was still appropriate.

[GarlicJam]

I dont think the "its another day for you and me in paradise" argument is particularly of relevance or good taste here.

Bad luck does not counter for personal tastes. It just is.

and my comment is extremely relevant.

I find the above remarks seem to downplay both the serious nature of his illness and the loss he faces.

Oh well.

He has lost what promised to be a fulfilling and financially rewarding career. He will need to make changes to his living habits and have to be careful of his health from now on - but (according to my understanding) he should be able to live a relatively normal, and long, life. I refer you back to my remarks.

you may think it trite, or even of little comfort, but a saying/s I often use that DOES comfort, is "it could be worse/there are plenty people worse off".

I am sure that Taylor has thought this more than once this past week or so. As devastated as he probably was, I imagine that this would ease moderately quickly, as he has his life to get on with. I am sure that he would prefer this than losing his eyesight, or the use of his legs, for example.

[Alviro Patterson]

Must be still in shock over what happened with it being so unexpected. Disappoining for all of us who enjoyed watching him play and wished him well. But awful for him to have his natural gift stolen from him.

Not being surrounded within the team environment is the biggest mental change to overcome and something that will take a lot of getting used to. Having to retire on medical advice, just as the English season has got underway and intending to cement a place in the Test side with a view of returning to the ODI/T20 side is one big hammerblow.

[Dr Cricket]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica ... 03263.html
pathetic south african government strikes again.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Test purist will be cringing now that ECB will be promoting all bilateral point system this summer.
Good decision.

This reminds me of work. Because of monetary constraints, services are run with suboptimal numbers of staff. Problems that arise in quality of service are usually down to issues relating to this lack of staff, but because that problem will never be overcome, that issue is ignored. Problems are ascribed to other issues, ones that are less costly to put right, ones that can be addressed by a management initiative. This doesn't work, because the problem is in numbers of personnel, so after the scheme fails, you get yet another management project (which further stretches the already struggling staff).

Similarly, cricket in the UK suffers from a lack of visibility. The ECB feels short of cash so they sell the cricket to a satellite company with a small reach, mostly extending to the fans of a different sport. This shrinks the audience, but the ECB can't do the thing that would broaden the appeal of the game most successfully, put it on universal access tv, so it decides to introduce a contived points system in order to attract interest. This fails to stir and extend the small audience, so rather than taking cricket back to terrestrial tv, it introduces a different gimmick, maybe a change to the rules, or only playing the same two sides over and over.

[hopeforthebest]

The ECB's point system comes under fire:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/m ... st-cricket

I haven't taken much notice of this story till now and it really shows that non-cricketers have the hands on the tiller and around the throat of tradition and history. Anything goes where money's concerned.