Any cricket aficionados on here ? I have been glued to TMS for the last 5 days following the ridiculous decision to give the TV rights to niche BT Sport. It was a cracking Test for the first three and a half days, but quite a few of our players flopped or underperformed and the Aussies look to have better quicks and a better spinner, even if he is a horribly gobby little dog. James Anderson is the the most over rated Pie thrower in the history of English Test cricket - he always does sweet FA in Australia and should stick to taking wickets off Zimbabwe and West Indies in the mist at Headingly. Alistair Cook now has slower footwork that Reams in a pub. This series will end either 4-1 or 5-0 if we have no rain.
Totally right, Ball is a a county pie thrower at best. Looks like they will give Overton a go next. TMS were pretty scathing about giving the lad Mason Crane a 4 month sunny holiday as well, there is no chance that they will play him.
As far as I can tell cricket is not played at most schools in the cities outside of Yorkshire. Even in Kilmarnock we used to get cricket in the summer term.
The Aussies declare after being put in to bat. You can't see England seeing out the night without losing a wicket or two.
It’s going to be 5-0 if the weather holds. Michael Vaughan (the best pundit IMO) was particularly damning in the tea interval- Hazelwood is steaming in at 93mph on the same pitch as Overton has just bowled at a pathetic 74mph. On the hard Aussie pitches you have to take a least one genuine quick if only to bowl out the tail. We will never take enough wickets to win a session, let alone a Test. Why were Mason Crane (pie thrower) and little Jake Ball selected ?
Where is the long term investment in sports in this country? Putting a tax on sugar is an absolutely pathetic cop-out response to the problem of youth obesity. The Government should be encouraging young people to play all kinds of sports - football, cricket, whatever they enjoy - in order to improve health and well-being for future generations (as well as improve our National teams). But as usual our power crazed politicians are only interested in touching each other up and fiddling their expenses. Every sport is now being played less and less in schools and parks. Grass roots leagues are disappearing. All that seems to matter to Sport England (or whatever it's called now) is how many Gold Medals can be won at the next Olympics by a tiny elite of cosseted athletes. Health, Police, Care services, all at breaking point for lack of support and proper leadership. Why should sport be any different? This country is going down the toilet. I'm not surprised our cricket team is getting a spanking.
The ECB is awash with money @lardiman Other than India, we have the wealthiest cricket set-up in the world. The problem is that we have bowlers who can skittle average sides at home when the weather is cold & cloudy and players are wearing three sweaters to stay warm - as soon as we come up against a decent side away from home the pants come down We will lose this series because of the selections. Bayliss Out.
100% this. Even in the backwater of Kilmarnock we played cricket at primary and secondary school, yet FHB jnr never held a cricket bat in his hand right through school. England may be a big country, but they are only picking from a small base of cricketers. We had excellent full-time PE teachers who put us through our paces, and it was the real thing, with circuit training, and all schools had their playing fields. The whole subject was taken seriously. Not now- the whole culture has changed, playing fields are a luxury most schools can't afford. The top athletes are highly motivated individuals, like Andy Murray or Mo Farah, but the average youngster benefits from being given a bit of a push, and this doesn't happen.
Another England batting collapse in the second innings, so predictable. They may as well play the Barmy Army, at least they've got a bit of spirit.
It's embarrassing watching this non contest. If it was a boxing match it would have been stopped hours ago. Next two Tests play the youngsters. Cook, Broad, Anderson etc are coming to the end of their careers. We need to build for the future. Also it is time for Farbrace and Bayliss to go.
BT Sport must be gutted. They have paid millions for the cricketing equivalent of Man City v Charlton.
