Cricket

summerisle said:
Disappointing day so far for Lancashire : tea, Notts 218-1. Other news, M S Dhoni And Suresh Raina have retired.
Click to expand...
Yes really poor. Notts finished on 268-2 before bad light ended play. That's off 71 overs so they can bat another 49 before their innings closes, so 400 is well withing their grasp. Slater finished on 111no, while the talented but underachieving Duckett scored a sparkling 116 before Lancs best bowler, Bailey, trapped him LBW. Wood bowled OK, Balderson showed some promise with his medium pacers, Hurt improved after a terrible start, but both bowl too many bad balls to be regular 1st team players at the moment. There was nothing in the pitch for the spinners. bewildering decision to put them in.

Must confess I switched to the Hampshire v Surrey game for a while where wickets tumbled as Surrey staggered to 75-5, a recovery from 36-5. The game is being played at the lovely Arundel ground in Sussex and the commentary from long time Surrey commentator Mark Church and former Hampshire and Middlesex all-rounder Kevan James was excellent.
 
BigMick said:
Yes really poor. Notts finished on 268-2 before bad light ended play. That's off 71 overs so they can bat another 49 before their innings closes, so 400 is well withing their grasp. Slater finished on 111no, while the talented but underachieving Duckett scored a sparkling 116 before Lancs best bowler, Bailey, trapped him LBW. Wood bowled OK, Balderson showed some promise with his medium pacers, Hurt improved after a terrible start, but both bowl too many bad balls to be regular 1st team players at the moment. There was nothing in the pitch for the spinners. bewildering decision to put them in.

Must confess I switched to the Hampshire v Surrey game for a while where wickets tumbled as Surrey staggered to 75-5, a recovery from 36-5. The game is being played at the lovely Arundel ground in Sussex and the commentary from long time Surrey commentator Mark Church and former Hampshire and Middlesex all-rounder Kevan James was excellent.
Click to expand...

I think Lancs can write off the Bob Willis trophy, they've been up against it since having to select such a weakened team last time out. Surely now their only interest is in giving younger players valuable experience as any remote chance of qualifying went West in their very first fixture. The younger players may benefit in the long run but seem very busy showing they're nowhere near good enough at the moment.
 
catcherintherye said:
They both fulfil different functions to me. However on TMS you do ofte get some really interesting discussions and if I was just listening to either in the background Id take TMS over Sky.
Click to expand...

The late and great broadcaster Richie Benaud knew his trade inside out when to say something and when to stay silent. His long silences were legendary because he didn't speak unless it was absolutely necessary, or to both add to and inform the viewer about what they could see right in front of them. He once related a tale about when he was just starting out in commentary and he was told the great difference between TV and radio -> With television the viewer can see what's happening and it's not as necessary to describe it, knowing when to speak and when to stay silent has to be learnt as there's an art to it - don't talk just for the sake of it - it's not radio - there is no dead air time.

To compare TV and radio to me isn't really comparing like for like at all or even comparing commentary teams doing the same job. TMS almost made its reputation despite the cricket, in days gone by the rain breaks were often more entertaining than the action. Their first great anchor Brian Johnson was from a light entertainment background, he was a very funny man with a host of amusing stories and a line in gentle ribaldry that was his forté. He would gently probe his more serious cricketing colleagues always looking for fun and laughs. I think it was his generation of broadcasters who popularised TMS even amongst so many who didn't even care for cricket.

Television is a completely different animal altogether and rainbreaks offer a whole host of cricket viewing from both past tests, ODI's and t20's to fascinating documentaries and even on occasions, test match coverage from elsewhere. There they may have a short discussion or an extended coaching section on aspects of batting or bowling, with pictures and a TV screen so much more is possible, plus a whole archive of matches and documentaries to choose from - the rain break is filled quite differently.

So commentary on the action very much depends on the media you are doing it for and rain breaks similarly, I wouldn't compare the two as to me it's apples and pears.

Agree on Nick Knight - bland is as good as he gets but he doesn't do test matches, Ward is an anchor no more really and nothing special.
 
Last edited:
Looking at the forecast it's possible we might with a lot of luck get two full days play, the odds are still against it but it's possible. The weather looks warm-ish if only 22 or 23 and not 10 degrees higher, with the possibility of showers or thunder fairly late on both days. That light meter reading may act against any long days and the overwhelming probability is a draw. Both teams have next to zero chance of winning but they'll go through the processes to finish the game without anyone in the ground and virtually noone watching at home.

Would it be more sensible to call it a draw and play an exhibition one day game? Possibly you may get a few more watching at home, a dead end game serves no purpose anyway as any personal records or milestones reached will always have that asterisk next to them as devalued and meaningless.

Steve O'Shaughnessy's fastest ever century in 1983 (at the time) is a case in point when the Lancastrian hit a contrived 105 against Leicestershire when murdering dolly bowling which was provided by part timers in an effort to reach an agreed declaration and make a game of it. That record became infamous because of the false circumstances surrounding it, not like with like but there are similarities in the falseness bit and similar might apply today.
 
Chris O'Connor said:
Looking at the forecast it's possible we might with a lot of luck get two full days play, the odds are still against it but it's possible. The weather looks warm-ish if only 22 or 23 and not 10 degrees higher, with the possibility of showers or thunder fairly late on both days. That light meter reading may act against any long days and the overwhelming probability is a draw. Both teams have next to zero chance of winning but they'll go through the processes to finish the game without anyone in the ground and virtually noone watching at home.

Would it be more sensible to call it a draw and play an exhibition one day game? Possibly you may get a few more watching at home, a dead end game serves no purpose anyway as any personal records or milestones reached will always have that asterisk next to them as devalued and meaningless.

Steve O'Shaughnessy's fastest ever century in 1983 (at the time) is a case in point when the Lancastrian hit a contrived 105 against Leicestershire when murdering dolly bowling which was provided by part timers in an effort to reach an agreed declaration and make a game of it. That record became infamous because of the false circumstances surrounding it, not like with like but there are similarities in the falseness bit and similar might apply today.
Click to expand...

What is really frustrating, is the time ridiculously lost to bad light has probably stopped what would have been a really fascinating match.

How England approach this will be fascinating. For me they need to be very positive with the bat, try to get close to Pakistan as quickly as possible and get out there in swinging conditions again. This is really not the time for Sibley/Burns to go into their shell. They need to be positive, and probably treat it as a one day game.
 
catcherintherye said:
What is really frustrating, is the time ridiculously lost to bad light has probably stopped what would have been a really fascinating match.

How England approach this will be fascinating. For me they need to be very positive with the bat, try to get close to Pakistan as quickly as possible and get out there in swinging conditions again. This is really not the time for Sibley/Burns to go into their shell. They need to be positive, and probably treat it as a one day game.
Click to expand...

To me it doesn't matter one jot what they do, score a hundred in 10 minutes and it'll be a draw, both out first ball and it will be a draw, vanish in front of our eyes and it'll be a draw.

Any achievements are devalued as are any dismissals unimportant - success or failure when it hardly matters isn't important, they may as well try to iron out any problems and use time in the middle, but these aren't really true test match conditions, only in name only.
 

Welcome

Join the Everton conversation today.
Fewer ads, full access, completely free.

→ Log in 🔑 Register
🛒 Visit Shop

Support Grand Old Team by checking out our latest Everton gear!
Back
Top