Just back from a day trip to France, so not had a chance to comment on anything today.
Here’s the game thread for the game today as UAE bat first.
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Being Outside Cricket 
No sleep until Khurram Khan’s out. 35* and going nicely…..
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Boo! Khurram Khan slashes the impressive Chitara and is well caught by Williams.
Stadium DJ playing:
ICC critique?
Meanwhile, ‘enjoy’ Swann taking the UAE quiz on The Tuffers and Vaughan Cricket Show. (The Show does have a good interview with Ireland’s Chairman of Selectors and Gooch gives some pretty damning insights into what has been going on with England’s bowling in recent times. Also credit to the presenter – Mark Chapman? – who sounds genuinely outraged at the treatment of Ireland)/
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Cricket according to the ICC:
FM = Full Member
Associate vs Associate –> Waste of time
Associate beats FM –> Full Member messed up
Associate beaten FM –> Waste of time
FM vs FM –> Competitive cricket, even if the game was dead before 20 overs in the chase.
So eight games in, and we have had the following winning margins:
Aus – England –> Competitive, 111 runs
BD – Afghanistan –> waste of time, 105 runs
SL – NZ –> Competitive, 98 runs
India – Pakistan –> Competitive, 76 runs
SA – Zimbabwe –> Competitive, 62 runs
Scotland – NZ –> waste of time, 3 wickets and 151 balls
Ireland – WI –> WI messed up, 4 wickets and 25 balls
Zimbabwe – UAE –> waste of time, 4 wickets and 12 balls
Is it me, or are matches between Full Members more one-sided than those between Associates and Full Members?
If anyone is criticising Scotland, they should not ignore the fact that England reached the giddy heights of 6/92 in a chase of 343, or entertain the notion that 5/103 for Pakistan was an excellent platform chasing 301, especially considering their tail’s batting proficiency. If anyone tells me Scotland were reliant on just one partnership for runs, they did score more 50s than say Sri Lanka against the same opposition.
It takes something special to make FIFA look like well-organized visionaries, but the ICC is succeeding. And you don’t even have to think that the ICC are even trying at the moment.
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Nice analysis. It looked like these two teams were enjoying themselves too.
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Oh, and if we thought Scotland was terrible against New Zealand, England were far worse.
If you’d pick on the basis of the scorecards which of the two was the full member, not many people would think England would be the full member. But rest assured. Scotland won’t be there in 2019, England will. Meritocracy, ICC style.
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Zimbabwe have been my favourite team of the tournament so far. They were under considerable pressure to justify their full-member status (which was only ever endangered by the ZCA – not the players) but have played two fine matches so far (on top of good performances in the warm-ups).
I’ve loved seeing Hamilton Masakadza making the most of his long-delayed WC chance, Tendai Chatara is an impressive opening bowler and Solomon Mire is an exciting all-rounder (his six off Morne Morkel was enormous – pity the TV coverage didn’t plot the distance!).
I’m looking forward to their games against WI and Pakistan – they can push both teams really hard. The match against Ireland could be a virtual shoot-out for a QF place.
Zimbabwe were largely written off as no-hopers before the tournament. The fact that they beat Australia (without Warner and Johnson but otherwise at full strength) only six months ago seems widely forgotten.
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