Cricket

[Eggs]

Seems the wigs at england hq are sorting the opportunities for that record to fall on Root. (more cricket needs pushing in primary schools, but they've all sold their fields to house building firms - and kids lucky enough to get a bit of summer holidays sports experience can't fall in love with the game in 4 to 6 weeks of pratting about, again, discipline).

….i’ve always loved cricket being brought up in ‘60s/‘70s when there was lots of playing fields but no cricket played.

I once scored 200no with painted wickets on the garage door of Aerial Gray in the streets of Everton but only played once on a proper wicket in secondary school when our team was bowled out for 15.

A bit like tennis, cricket just isn’t on the itinerary of schools. If it was we’d be much better at it. It tends to be something passed through parents to kids and played in local clubs, my own son played a bit at Bootle with young Cockbain but he was never hooked and footy always won out.

 

[Rita_Poon]

….i’ve always loved cricket being brought up in ‘60s/‘70s when there was lots of playing fields but no cricket played.

I once scored 200no with painted wickets on the garage door of Aerial Gray in the streets of Everton but only played once on a proper wicket in secondary school when our team was bowled out for 15.

A bit like tennis, cricket just isn’t on the itinerary of schools. If it was we’d be much better at it. It tends to be something passed through parents to kids and played in local clubs, my own son played a bit at Bootle with young Cockbain but he was never hooked and footy always won out.

the omni spread of football. that the season starts so early and finishes so late only for tournaments or club jollies abroad means football is 52 weeks a year. no break means no oxygen for anything else. Flintoff does his 'finding a future' cricket show, but it needs more. cricket disappearing from terrestrial hurt it a great deal as well.

 

[Hinchcliffe's Corner]

….i’ve always loved cricket being brought up in ‘60s/‘70s when there was lots of playing fields but no cricket played.

I once scored 200no with painted wickets on the garage door of Aerial Gray in the streets of Everton but only played once on a proper wicket in secondary school when our team was bowled out for 15.

A bit like tennis, cricket just isn’t on the itinerary of schools. If it was we’d be much better at it. It tends to be something passed through parents to kids and played in local clubs, my own son played a bit at Bootle with young Cockbain but he was never hooked and footy always won out.

the omni spread of football. that the season starts so early and finishes so late only for tournaments or club jollies abroad means football is 52 weeks a year. no break means no oxygen for anything else. Flintoff does his 'finding a future' cricket show, but it needs more. cricket disappearing from terrestrial hurt it a great deal as well.

I think one of the biggest detractors is that its just so expensive. The gear, the traveling to games, the fees, and there's still an unwritten social divide between the white and blue collar as to who gets opportunities even within the team itself. It's a culture that will probably never rectify itself.

 

[Rita_Poon]

I think one of the biggest detractors is that its just so expensive. The gear, the traveling to games, the fees, and there's still an unwritten social divide between the white and blue collar as to who gets opportunities even within the team itself. It's a culture that will probably never rectify itself.

it can also be an awful lot of effort to get out first ball and then go fielding for a couple of hours doing nothing. I was a bowler, it meant being involved more and 'cos I could catch meant slip duty and again being involved. It can be a very boring time out there picking daisies.
"I can stand around in fancy dress at home playing on my phone..."

 

[summerisle]

the omni spread of football. that the season starts so early and finishes so late only for tournaments or club jollies abroad means football is 52 weeks a year. no break means no oxygen for anything else. Flintoff does his 'finding a future' cricket show, but it needs more. cricket disappearing from terrestrial hurt it a great deal as well.

People banging on about a 'golden age' of cricket are whistling in the wind. Test cricket was on it's arse in 1960s, 70s and 80s. Cricket, for the vast majority of kids, was hardly ever been played in schools,. Played in the street, yes, but not in any organised way. It's always, in the main, been a middle class pursuit, with the obvious exceptions of the league systems in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

 

[Hinchcliffe's Corner]

it can also be an awful lot of effort to get out first ball and then go fielding for a couple of hours doing nothing. I was a bowler, it meant being involved more and 'cos I could catch meant slip duty and again being involved. It can be a very boring time out there picking daisies.
"I can stand around in fancy dress at home playing on my phone..."

I was fortunate to have done well with cricket, but even I was bored to death most days!
Cost of bats these days is insane, you could be looking at 1000 for a top end one now, doubled in 5 years, quadrupled in 15. There are cheaper ones of course, but still going to knock you back a few hundred.
As a teenager I had to leave my development team to join another club as I was being blocked by a lesser talented couple of kids from progressing, I was better but they had the rich parents, social status etc. Was playing mens cricket by 15 and left them behind, but it shouldn't be like that. I'm sure football has similar issues but not at the level cricket does.

 

[slipstream86]

This is why I think Kane Williamson is the best of the generation by the way. If he got to play as many tests as England he'd be threatening Tendulkar.

I remember his masterclass with sky sports on the last Kiwi tour where he talked about visualising hitting the top hemisphere of the ball every time. Any other worldly batsman would be happy enough just looking to make a contact with the ball, but not Kane. Right under his nose, into the ground.

 

[Rita_Poon]

I was fortunate to have done well with cricket, but even I was bored to death most days!
Cost of bats these days is insane, you could be looking at 1000 for a top end one now, doubled in 5 years, quadrupled in 15. There are cheaper ones of course, but still going to knock you back a few hundred.
As a teenager I had to leave my development team to join another club as I was being blocked by a lesser talented couple of kids from progressing, I was better but they had the rich parents, social status etc. Was playing mens cricket by 15 and left them behind, but it shouldn't be like that. I'm sure football has similar issues but not at the level cricket does.

like everything it boils down to money, bats need bowlers to get the time in repeating technique, bowlers need bats to work on disguise and finding that twisting seam. The kids whose dad or uncle had played a bit had better technique (high lead elbow, support hand straight, block up square) much earlier and excelled, and then the kids of the wealthy that had sports club access paid for. money - having male teachers in primary schools prepared with a bit of knowledge to introduce kids to cricket - but secondary school pays better. Dearth of access.
Although not perfect there's something to be said for the us college system that supports their yearly drafts of athletes. cycling, rowing, golfing, snookering, cricketing, even darts, the sooner the kid is introduced and gets a taste for it then that enthusiasm is harnessed and suddenly with a bit of success the options turn up and it can be something more than keeping fit with a hobby...

 

[Hinchcliffe's Corner]

I remember his masterclass with sky sports on the last Kiwi tour where he talked about visualising hitting the top hemisphere of the ball every time. Any other worldly batsman would be happy enough just looking to make a contact with the ball, but not Kane. Right under his nose, into the ground.

The time he has, hes unflappable, he puts his body on the line, he bats for what the team needs. Joe Root is all those things as well, and they're both very classy blokes.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Also, early tutoring, the difference between front foot and back foot batting.

 

[gonetomorrow]

What atrocious batting by both sides. Michael Vaughan described it as a remarkable day's cricket. Well, we've seen so many days like this that it would be more remarkable if someone defended his wicket and built a decent innings.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Philips the danger man tomorrow. Get him early and a great chance of a lead.

England will need to bat well whatever happens. Third innings in tight games can be difficult for the batting team.