Cricket

It's a real shame he didn't get the 200. I remember when Gooch was out for 196 against Australia in 1985. And of course his 333 4 years later.

5 i mean

And he was dropped on 30 by the Indian wicketkeeper

bah, Eng bowling economically with little cutting edge and SA bore on towards a draw...

the problem is it's still a great batting track, SA are going to be much tougher on a second innings, all down to Monty at the moment but this is where you need a Flintoff to get you a wicket or 2.

Yay for the return of The Sheffield Shield!

Freddie definitely playing tomorrow, then.

Did Mark Pougatch's commentary on TMS in the 1st Test annoy other people as much as it annoyed me?

He should stick to football.

He wasn't that bad! Arlo White, now he's a (thankfully absent) disgrace to the profession. None of the BBC lot even approach Talksport's Andrew McKenna when it comes to sheer fist-in-mouth terribleness, though.

Can't we take all this to the series-specific ILC thread?

NO!!!!

Easier to use this thread as a rolling cricket thread isn't it?

Can't we take all this to the series-specific ILC thread?

I don't do other boards, dear boy.

Pougatch was just trying FAR too hard, I AM TALKING LOUDLY ALL THE TIME BECAUSE THIS IS "SPORTS" AND IT IS EXCITING. Boycott such an arsehole too.

Now this is where we're gonna have to fall out a little. Boycott is the best. He's also very, very rarely wrong, and surprisingly progressive/liberal in his thinking.

Cricket chat should be for everyone not sub boards that noone else reads

but, you see, everyone can access the sub-boards, everyone can see what's on the sub-board...it wouldn't be the biggest mental leap imaginable to check I Love Cricket if you wanted to talk about cricket

also if you're not using site new answers by now you're a total stone-age spacker

Boycott: you're right he's rarely wrong, but it's his air of absolute certainty, along with his constantly claiming the wisdom of hindsight, that makes him annoying. Worth listening to when Agnew's winding him up though.

Now this is where we're gonna have to fall out a little. Boycott is the best. He's also very, very rarely wrong, and surprisingly progressive/liberal in his thinking.

Progressive about cricket I take it you mean, certainly not politics! He might know about cricket but he's a charmless arrogant twat

really we only need one cricket thread, no point having a whole sub board for it.

Aggers' sense of humour is sublime

Tom D very OTM here.

(xp) Whereas Boycott's barely exists beyond, "Ha ha, Agnew, you only took 3 test wickets, that's rubbish that is, I wish I'd played against you"

WHAT?! Boycott and Aggers are great together, but for PRECISELY the opposite reason! I like his air of absolute certainty, because I reckon he backs his chat and he doesn't baulk from voicing what he feels, unlike the Sky Sports fudgers.

Yeah I do mean about cricket. I don't think he applies his arrogance to other people. And he's far from charmless, he's very entertaining and I'd say charismatic in his own way.

That sort of baiting isn't representative of Boycott's deepest grasp of humour ffs, it's just a way of keeping Eeyore in check! :D

I have found that when I read a Boycott article in the paper, I can hear his voice in my head. He's great, he walks really fast too, he whizzed past me at Lord's once.

That sort of baiting isn't representative of Boycott's deepest grasp of humour ffs, it's just a way of keeping Eeyore in check! :D

Of course, but it doesn't work because he has so little charm and such little grasp of the mechanics of humour, I agree that he's interesting to listen to however!

Boycott doesn't NEED Aggers' smug public-school nuance and underhand wit, though, because JUGGERNAUT RIGHTEOUS CANT will always defeat the former. And Aggers carries on moaning and being conservative and not understanding spin, and the world stays on its axis.

That's not JUGGERNAUT RIGHTEOUS CANT so much stereotypical blustering bolshy Yorkshire windbagisms, a la Trueman and Illingworth and take yer pick

oh come now, boycott is a completely different animal to illingworth, he's very supportive of all the current players, and their individual techniques, he's a fan of innovation on the game (such as 2020) and expressive strokeplay, he understands all the things that make cricket great, be they dashing innings in limited overs games or tense periods of knife-edge test cricket

Darren Pattinson????

lol australia

Tremlett, Jones, Hoggard, Harmison and about 20 other bowlers must be feeling pretty annoyed right now.

Tremlett - crap + injury prone
Jones - not ready yet
Hoggard - finished
Harmison - should have played here, but you can understand the selectors being thoroughly sick of him by now.

Harmison should never play for England again. There is no forgiveness as far as I'm concerned. The man is a weak-headed idiot and he does not deserve a dime of recognition from the selectors.

Tremlett seems a pretty good prospect to me, was intermittently very good last summer.

Probably agree re. Jones.

Hoggard's home ground, expected to swing, still think he has test match cricket left in him. If they were looking for a horses for courses pick, he would seem to be the metaphorical horse for this course.

Harmison should never play for England again.

SUPER-REAL TALK

I have a lot of time and love for Hoggard (by FAR the best and most interesting personality in recent England teams for a start), and I think he's been unlucky to be ignored thus far. If he really turns it on for Yorkshire over the next couple of months I can't see him being ignored for the winter tours.

I think Hoggard's a bit of a one-trick pony but the competition ain't fierce, y'dig?

NV, as a friend of mine said, "Harmison really is shit. What a total fucking idiot. Send him to Afghanistan."

Trem is the least threatening 6 foot 8 bowler you could imagine - just doesn't have the (controlled) aggression that he needs to make an impact.

x-post Hard to disagree with you on Harmison. I suspect that Vaughan and Moores don't want him, and they're in the best position to judge. He has stayed fit and taken wickets this season though.

I have some sympathy for Harmison, but I figure his head has been destroyed to the point where he will never be a big game player ever again.

Hoggard expanded his range in the last couple of years, though. He bowled very accurately with a bit of cut on unforgiving surfaces and reaped rewards. He's at his best when it swings, sure, but there's no denying his great skill. True, he looked bad against NZ in that one Test but I'm certain that was a blip rather than a permanent loss of bite.

The thing with Harmison is that much as he's stayed fit and taken a few wickets (no five-fer tho) this season, he quite simply doesn't deserve to return after the manifest weak-headedness and run-candy-to-top-level-batsman waywardness we've witnessed over the last three years.

Ambrose at 6 worries me in this match.

Ambrose in at all, an Aussie-born Sussex and Warwickshire player, is of great agony to me. He isn't even that great a batsman. We'll need the runs from our top five and number eight.

Particularly with Flintoff still finding his way when it comes to batting.

But at least Broad will be in at eight.

The world's most irritating sports official fucks up again...

There is that...

Vaughan gone too.

Not sure he should be in the side for the next Ashes.

He certainly needs to get some runs in his next few innings. Changing captain this late wouldn't be very helpful though.