English Cricket Thread

[Durhamfootman]

Is he not actually slow left arm orthodox , rather than a leggie ?

apologies

I've re-read it.... they said best spinner in the division, rather than my piece of old nonsense about them saying the best leggie in county cricket

or maybe it was edited?

more likely to be me at fault

[Durhamfootman]

ECB have confirmed that subs will be trialled this year for injury, illness and significant life events. It might include England matches as well as county matches, I haven't worked that out yet

There will be no limit to the number of substitutions a team can make and no cut off point beyond which subs cannot be made. Nor will there be an opportunity for the opposition side to substitute somebody in response, which was part of Cricket Australia's trial

I haven't seen anything to suggest that it would have to be a like for like substitution

To try and prevent gaming the system, any player being replaced will be made automatically unavailable for selection for a period of 8 days for all competitions except the Centiball, so expect a raft of tactical injury subs in the last round of CC matches in July

[Durhamfootman]

Lawrence Booth in his editors notes for this year's copy of the Wisden almanack

"England arrived for the Ashes hell-bent on making history, and ended up being laughed out of town,"

"England were feckless, reckless and legless. A trip supposed to define an era, described by Brendon McCullum as 'the biggest series of all our lives', descended into dilettantism. What a waste. What a shame.

"In the game's long history, it is hard to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned. A successful assault on Australia requires blood, sweat and tears, not dribs, drabs and vibes."

[Durhamfootman]

I had to look up dilettantism

the cultivation of an activity, art, or subject as a pastime rather than a profession, often characterised by a superficial, amateurish, or dabbling approach.

I'd like to say that this is harsh, but actually it feels pretty accurate

[sussexpob]

Lawrence Booth in his editors notes for this year's copy of the Wisden almanack

Someone needs to have a quiet word with Booth and remind him that the single biggest contribution to Bazball mythology came in the form of a 368 page propaganda piece he wrote by his own hand, inside which he sells us the idea that Bazza is some revolutionary, innovative, untouchable genius, and that everything he does is pushing the boundaries of possibility.

Considering the total 180 on opinion here, I guess we can conclude that Booth's book was thoroughly researched, witnessing McCullum's genius up close.... and wasn't, you know, just a fluff piece based on things in his imagination, with his subsequent turnaround occurring when actually being exposed to the amateurism of it. Nah, can't be true. He seen the same things in both cases, and just took completely different conclusions randomly.

Maybe the reason no one cares about Wisden anymore, considering the level of journalistic integrity on display here. ECB clients...

[Durhamfootman]

I didn't know about that

good info

[sussexpob]

Ben Stokes has finally come out of his post-Ashes hiding to give his own debrief at ECB Towers. The entire 25 minute interview can be generously described as "incredibly dull", but for one brief minute in the middle of the interview when asked to expand on the point about small changes the management need to adopt, he zig-zags between contradictory reasonings, not looking full comfortable as he talks.

To sum up his point, he firstly goes to say that the management need to be clearer about the style the team wants, he then checks the point mid-sentence to phrase it as a point the media and not him were making, goes on to then say teams under his leadership need to display more situational awareness in matches, immediately after contradicting this by saying players should never be asked to adapt their game and should play the way they play, says players will not be faulted for their approach playing naturally, then finishes his explanation by saying if players approach loses England games then "pah" so be it, but (and its hard to hear what he says as he mumbles at this point) saying something about "even if I have a problem with it (the approach)".

I get the impression that this is a plea for help. Half mentioning what he thinks in between long monologues following the party line. At points when he is doing the latter, there is an uncomfortable smile that washes over his face numerous times. Watching this, I dont get the sense Ben is a true believer in Bazball.

[Durhamfootman]

how was his face looking close up?

[sussexpob]

how was his face looking close up?

Seems to have healed well, but they whack on a fair bit of make up for the camera, so I don't know if that hides any scars or bruising he might have. If anything, I thought he might have lost a bit of weight, looked quite thin in the face compared to normal.

By the sounds, the cheekbone is the issue for him now and he just needs that to heal enough to play. He said his aim is to get back to Durham for the 08/05 game against Worcestershire, and then the following away day in Kent the week after. He then said he aims to play for the Lions vs SA, and will take it from there depending on fitness.

Don't think he will make it to CLS this year sadly for you guys.