[Walddk]

mr1303, on Jun 5 2006, 05:12 PM, said:

Muralitharan has 6-fer. We're not going to win this one...

84-0, 136-8. I'm speechless. Back to the well known English collapse of the past. Full credit to Murali of course, but ....

Roland

[the saint]

Was listening at work. Was quite hopeful at 84-0 even though Banger had repeatedly tried to get out before he actually managed it. That turn an afternoon depressing very rapidly...

[the saint]

Walddk, on Jun 5 2006, 07:20 AM, said:

Some of the fielding positions and other expressions from cricket must sound pretty weird to outsiders:

Third man, slip, gully, night-watchman, googly, chinaman, doosra, protected area, popping crease, no ball, wide ball, byes, leg byes, timed out are just a few examples.

You really should be at a cricket ground and have an expert by your side to tell you about the various details when they happen. TV is ok, but there is no substitute for the real thing.

Roland

Stick the telly on and listen to Test Match Special on the radio at the same time. Works wonders for learning the game.

[the saint]

At lunch on the final day of WI vs India. WI are 72-3. Chris Gayle is 28no off 100 balls. Is this possible? Chris Gayle only on 28 off 100? WTF?

[the saint]

Oh No!! Simon Jones reported as unlikely to be fit for the Ashes. Plunkett and Mahmood had better sort themselves out soon!

[the saint]

I'm off to the Oval on Tuesday.

[FrancesHinden]

I'll be out of the country, which bodes well compared to the lack of success this weekend.

[the saint]

Well we lost. I blame my dad for being a jinx on seeing his first international....

Harmison was superb - 3-31 off his 10, only got hit in his last over. But Sajid Mahmood's poor first two spells gave Sri Lanka momentum and Jayasuriya and Jayawardene took full advantage. We only split that partnership on a comedy run-out and hadn't looked even remotely like doing it ourselves up to then. Dalrymple and Collingwood did well to get any control back when it looked as if Sri Lanka were headed for 350+, but the entire ground is still wondering why Strauss brought back Mahmood, especially when Bresnan had just bowled a couple of tidy overs.

In reply. Strauss and Trecothick seemed to give their wickets away quite cheaply, and although we almost dragged it back on the Duckworth-Lewis comparisons, we just lost wickets at crucial moments, just as we were getting some momentum. Bell and Colly did OK, KP was great considering he was a cripple for most of his knock and Dalrymple at least had the balls to have a go. GoJo got a shocker from Darell Hair. To be honest, we always looked as if we had conceded 30 too many earlier on.

[Walddk]

the saint, on Jun 20 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

To be honest, we always looked as if we had conceded 30 too many earlier on.

What do you expect when you concede 42 and 34 extras (Lord's and the Oval respectively)?

Roland

[the saint]

Walddk, on Jun 21 2006, 02:57 AM, said:

the saint, on Jun 20 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

To be honest, we always looked as if we had conceded 30 too many earlier on.

What do you expect when you concede 42 and 34 extras (Lord's and the Oval respectively)?

Roland

Don't think every England fan hasn't noticed that. The collective groan every time the umpires called a wide was getting more audible with each occurence.

[the saint]

Next Question - will England have eleven fit players by the end of the summer. Colly is a doubt for the remaining ODIs now, Vaughan needs more surgery and KPs knee seems a magnet for errant cricket balls. What next? Trescothick to choke on one sausage too many?

[Walddk]

I suggest that Frances returns to the cricket grounds. It can't get any worse for England.

Roland

[the saint]

We have approximately 1 and a half bowlers. We need 5. We are consistently 30-40 runs behind a competitive total.

[the saint]

On an even lighter note. We have managed to get worse at Cricket.

We now have half a bowler (Dalrymple).

[the saint]

Wahey!! Essex top their group in the 20/20 qualifiers!!

And - soon time for England vs Pakistan!!

[Walddk]

the saint, on Jul 11 2006, 09:38 PM, said:

And - soon time for England vs Pakistan!!

Don't hold your breath. The current English team is not the same as last summer - far from it!. Maybe they will earn a draw because most of Pakistan's fast bowlers are injured.

Roland

[paulg]

I'll be at Lord's tomorrow hoping for a good start.

I did get this last time I was there when we bowled Australia out for 190 on the first day of the Ashes. Of course that day would have been better if we had not been 21-5 a very short time later.

[jikl]

The big talk in Australia right now is whether Glenn McGrath should play the 1st Test of the Ashes having not played at all for many months.

Sean

[the saint]

We got a little lucky (big understatement) with a few dropped catches, but all credit to Cook and Colly for taking advantage. Now we should push on, get 500 and give Hoggy's hand an extra day to heal. Having said that, Strauss got an inside edge on his lbw and KPs was reckoned to be going over the top, so these things balance out a little.

[mr1303]

At the end of the day, if you can't hold your catches, you don't win test matches, something we discovered at the Lord's test.

Having said that, if the weather stays nice I can't see the result being anything other than a draw. Danish Kaneria is no Muralitharan.