[Frankie]

You know it makes sense, or at least it does to the fuckwits at the ECB. Clear out required so they extend contracts instead.

[bazzap]

Stating the bloody obvious I know but it is the same question that everybody is asking.


How can England's team with so many world-class limited-over cricket players be performing so badly? Not just a couple of them but probably the whole team is playing sub-par cricket, especially by their lofty standards of the last 6-7 years. Nobody stays at the top forever but this is a monumental failure. From World Cup champions in T20 a year ago to running 10th (out of 10) two-thirds of the way through the current WC.


Reading many comments on the usual platforms (BBC website, Facebook etc), The Hundred seems to get the blame for everything whenever England lose a game in any format. Is that really the reason? Other causes to blame seem to be the ECB, the player contracts, the coaching staff, too much emphasis on women's cricket, players being too old, etc etc.


Surely, as an aside, it can't be playing in India being an issue these days, could it? All international cricketers play everywhere these days. I remember Shane Warne complaining that there were no baked beans available about 25 years ago. Dean Jones was physically ill in 1986 in the Madras tied test when Border told him he could not come off

More than once he vomited and, to his acute embarrassment, urinated in his flannels, which were already soaked from such painful exertion. But while he had no control over his bodily functions, his mind somehow remained focused on the task assigned by his captain, Allan Border.

Famously goaded by Border when he sought to withdraw at 174, Jones reached 210 before his body finally ground to a halt and he was bowled by off-spinner Shivlal Yadav.

Source The Disintegrating Hero


Why can't Australian cricket have hard bastards like Border, Ian Chappell, Steve Waugh as captains anymore? These days we get pampering pretty boys and cry babies as our Test cricket captains FFS!!!


My personal favourite was in the 50s & 60s when hundreds of Indians in the crowd would hold mirrors and direct light into the opposing batsman's eyes as the bowler let the ball go.



I digress (as usual). I hope this ODI form loss does not carry over to the English Test team as they have been the in-form team for the last 18 months. An Indian 5 Test tour starting in January will be their next challenge. That will be interesting to watch. Following that, the Poms play Tests against the West Indies and Sri Lanka in the 2024 English summer. Those should be near walkovers. Interspersed with that is a load of T20 and ODI international games plus all the T20 leagues.


While I am dribbling on, the Australian Test summer starts in December with Tests against Pakistan and the West Indies at home followed by two Tests against the Kiwis in NZ. No more Tests after that until the end of 2024. At the moment anyway.


It will be nearly 24/7 live cricket again over the New Year/January/February period plus in April/May the cricket world stops for the IPL.




Getting a bit much for this old fella

[bazzap]

The BIG ONE is on Saturday. I don't care where India & South Africa are on the table or how well they are playing. The main game is on tomorrow.

The Empire vs The Colony

Positions on the table mean sweet FA


England not playing well and is virtually out of it against Australia trying to stay in contention. My man, Mitch Marsh, is out due to"a family issue" which usually means someone is shagging his missus I shouldn't joke as it probably is something serious. Maxwell is also out so there is a couple of blows to the Aussies. I see my other man, Aaron Hardie, mentioned as a replacement for mighty Mitch if needed. Where is Cameron Green then? He must be totally out of form or something.


Anyway, Joey thinks England will win.



From Cricinfo

Joe Root says he is hurt by the fact that England are propping up the group-stage table of the World Cup after five defeats in six games. But he still believes that they are capable of beating Australia on Saturday in Ahmedabad, and said on Thursday: "Man for man I'd have this team every day over the Australians."

"I look at this team and it's more than capable of achieving way more than it has done throughout this tournament," Root said. "The quality of players we have, we should be sat right at the top of this [table]. We all know that, and we're all very frustrated that this isn't the case.

And this

Australia have enjoyed England's plight from afar, though Marnus Labuschagne said on Wednesday that they see them as a "dangerous" team. Root was asked specifically about how he felt when he saw Pat Cummins, Australia's captain, stifling his laughter during a press conference when questioned about England's struggles.


"Let's face it: if it was the other way around, would we be doing the same? Probably," Root said. "It hurts - it always hurts to be in this position to be sat at the bottom of the table. It's not what we expect of ourselves. If it motivates us a little bit more, then great."

Looking forward to it. As per usual, I shall have a lottery ticket on the result of the game with Adam.


Despite all the big races on in Australia and especially the Melbourne Cup next Tuesday, that is about the limit of my gambling these days. New phones, laptops, and especially gold (as usual) are quite pricey these days