I do wonder if this is the test match which finally leads to the ICC properly clamping down on time-wasting. The amount which the umpires have let both sides get away with this test match has been appalling. I've never been someone who insists that 90 overs must be bowled every day without exception. The quality of cricket is more important. If I've spent the day in the stands, watching a great day of cricket, I'm not going to care if a few overs have been lost - in fact, I probably wouldn't even know if it wasn't for the media pointing it out at every opportunity. But there's a difference between a few lost overs over the course of the day, and constant breaks in play. Stop, start, stop, start. Break here, break there. Crawley was perfectly entitled to do what he did to waste time, because so many others (Pant especially) have also wasted time in this test. The current penalties of deducting world championship points, and handing out the odd post-match fine, don't solve the issue.
I quite like George Dobell's idea. Work out the percentage of overs that aren't bowled and refund the spectators that amount of their ticket price. Once the ECB, BCCI etc start getting hit in the pocket the problem would soon go away.
I feel like this is a massive innings for Crawley. We have been extremely patient with him but I think they may take a look at someone else soon with a view to having them in place for the Ashes. I'm not sure how many more chances he has left.
The good... Another brilliant win. We're 95% qualified. The chances of both Sussex and Kent overhauling our NRR are slim - especially Kent. That one Middlesex no-ball feels like it has totally transformed our campaign.
The bad... It's infuriating. And, worse, it's favourtism. Orr has to wait ages for a game. He finally gets a chance, but when he fails he gets dropped instantly. Whereas Prest seems to get unlimited chances. If I'm Orr, I'm asking to leave. It can't be justified giving Prest so many chances. We treated Donald poorly in the past, and he's now having an excellent campaign with Derby. Assuming that we do make the KO stages, then hopefully we'll be back up to two overseas players - meaning that Prest will lose his place again. But the question is who those overseas players will be? The KO stages clash with a white ball series between SA and England; the QFs clash with the 50-over part of the series, whilst finals day clashes with the t20 part of the series. Furthermore, that series comes immediately after SA have a white ball series in Australia. I don't know who agreed to their schedule, but successive away series on two different sides of the world seems odd. They might even announce two different squads. Either way, it'll be a while until we know if Brevis and/or Pretorius are available. Meanwhile, with Cartwright, the Australian domestic season I believe starts either the weekend after finals day, or the weekend after that. If it's the weekend after finals day, then Western Australian might not make him available. No such issue with Lynn, who only plays Big Bash and so should be available if required. The frustrating thing about finals day clashing with the t20s vs SA is that we would almost certainly be without Dawson. And he is irreplaceable for us. But hey, we need to get there first!
Great three wins on the trot. Unfortunately. To your point selectors always have favourites. You only need to look at Hampshire and test selectors over the years: Trevor Jesty, Mark Nicholas in the 80's when they needed leadership, the early discard of the judge in the 90's, the non selection of Shaun Udall until he was 36, the continual non selection of Dawson
Even a comfortable Kent win with 11 balls to spare has only increased their NRR from -0.53 to -0.39. The smart money is that we'll be getting a QF away to the 2nd place side in the north group. But that group is so tight, that any of the top seven could yet finish 2nd!
