Feel free to comment, and that includes all the journos who had to fly home because their newspaper budgets don’t stretch to watching the denouement of a major world tournament because England have been knocked out. You want an indication of how cricket is falling out of our fabric of sporting life?
Still, never mind. We were never any good at this one day lark.
Enjoy proper players playing properly because they aren’t paralysed with fear and their coaches aren’t in love with Moneyball. Well at least until South Africa come out to bat, but then again, they are there at least.
Comments below.
Being Outside Cricket 
That’s not very good is it? Still for this old gal two interviews by George Dobell with Aussie lady kept me going. He’s very handsome!!!
No news from ECB Towers or his highness Lord Darth Vader Clarke? My he is such a shrinking violet at the moment. I suppose they are all chewing it over until Graves takes over in May? I hope we are not all heading for a “graveyard”. You know a lot of people are dying to get in there!!! Love you me Lord. Thanks for you brilliant writing and willing to listen to this mumbling old gal who loves her cricket.
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SL won toss and bat. Game over? Pitch said to be good and unlikely to change during the day. Chance of storms later and doesn’t seem to be a reserve day. Anticipated crowd of 30 000.
Teams: SL give debut to Kaushal who’s been portrayed as a Murali-like mystery spinner. McCullum didn’t find much mystery on his Test debut and carted him. SA prefer Abbott to Philander and depend on Duminy/ABDV as fifth bowler (that was a disaster against Pakistan but Sydney might help Duminy more).
Apart (!) from history, both SA’s losses in the tournament have been chasing to sub-continental teams. SL though have lost twice to SH seam-bowling dominant teams.
Game on!
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SL to bat, they have moved Perrera top open. Brave!
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SL innings halfway: 87-4. Very odd so far. Kusal Perera opening for the first time in the tournament swung at everything and eventually got a nick. De Kock diving in front of first slip caught it at the second attempt. Dilshan nicked one from Steyn and well caught low down by FDP at second slip. Steyn’s celebration one of the moments of the match (great pic on Guardian OBO).
Sanga completely becalmed. Only innings of any fluency from Thirimanne but he chipped Tahir for a return catch. Jayawardene unable to get going and couldn’t read Tahir at all (his record against him is astonishingly awful). Eventually, he tried to pull a faster one and gave an easy catch to mid-wicket.
Only good news for SL is there is some turn and a little bit of swing.
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I’m assuming that the heavy shower that hit after Sanga was out, with accompanying rainbow, was God paying homage.
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and a sign for the Sunrisers…?
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Well, as everyone predicted the SL batting stagnated and then crumpled….. and to the SA spinners. Can’t quite believe it.
Heavy showers about. At last one of the comms has said there is a reserve day and the forecast is good tomorrow if needed
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Agnew being so falsely polite and jocular with KP on TMS about an hour ago…. KP actually very informative as summariser
Such a shame that SL batsmen didn’t turn up today
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As an aside, it’s interesting to note that NZ have appointed Dimitri Mascarenhas as bowling coach for their brief visit to England in May/June – why haven’t England made use of his ODI/T20 knowledge?
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Mascarenhas didn’t go to the right school and has tattoos?
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Oh sorry – of course! He has an earring too! Thanks for confirming our selection policies…
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Aggers/KP round two jousting with feather gloves just about to start on TMS
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Smallest sign of an England reprieve and KP immediately reverts to management speak!! It is like an infectious disease:
“Hopefully they will learn from it and better things will happen for England going forward”
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Better things in KPs mind? Selecting KP?
😉
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More seriously, given that there’s no sign of England dumping Moores or Whitaker, if KP hopes to get back in the team, he knows he has to keep his head down on commentary.
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KP’s appearance on TMS has produced a predictable outbreak of unpleasantness on Twitter from a certain well-known fan of TMS and non-fan of KP.
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There is no way that KP coming back under Moores and Whitaker can work. (I am sure someone can drop the “h” from James’ name, and come up with something punny?)
The problem is not even primarily selection (other than playing players who would be better off taking serious rest / undergoing operations), but this corporate management BS.
The players get the joy of playing coached out of them. They get their brains coached out of them. The only Plan B, England seem to have has to do with getting people involved at the grassroots level (from the ECB-participation video that was linked a few weeks ago).
Stronger egos can resist longer, there is a limit to the amount of resistance they can put up as well. More likely, they will get scapegoated and humiliated by the coaches. Again and again. This never leads to sustained meaningful results, no matter what the field of endeavour.
The management don’t even believe the bollocks they utter themselves. They certainly have no inclination to apply the faintest whiff of “meritocracy” to themselves, Everybody but them is responsible, and yet make certain they get paid the big bucks, because they tell us that they are in need of such salaries, since they bear responsibility.
At this rate, Giles Clarke was right: the 5-0 whitewash was not an ebb. It may well prove to be a spring tide. How utterly depressing.
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I did give Witless a name back on 9th March here –
“GO NOW!
FLOWERPOT, MOORESTHEPITY, THETWO-PETULAS, FFSAKER, RAMPRAKRASH, WHITLESSKER, BROADSWORDLESS, ANGRYANDERSON, BELL-END…AND COOKIECRUMBLES TOO…”
he wasn’t even worth dropping the H…
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Sorry, missed that thebogfather.
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@D’Arthez – no prob – I can’t keep up with some of the wonderful comments here, including yours!
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Just love the names Bogfather. Very good indeed. Really made me smile.
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Bizarre game, that was surprisingly one-sided. I honestly had not expected anything like this. Admittedly, Sri Lanka made a few strange calls (Kusal is a walking wicket most of the time, and has only one innings of more than 30 balls outside of Sri Lanka), and were certainly not helped by the injury to Herath.
But SA spinners taking 7 wickets between them? Strange ..
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Two ways to look at it:
1) Sri Lanka got caught by the “C” word, rather the SA, this time.
2) The pitch looked better than it was, SL’s batting weaker than it appears, SA bowled well.
One suspects also that with the pitch looking good, and SL very aware of SA’s ability to go big (400+ !), they were playing for a high score, and as soon as they fell behind the internal pace clock, started to make mistakes.
We see this happen so often to England we assume it’s a unique failing to the ECB team, but it’s actually a widespread part of ODI psychology. SL felt especially vulnerable because Malinga has never really fired in this tournament. They obviously felt they needed a big score to put SA under pressure.
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Apart from Kusal’s thrashing, I never felt SL were pushing for that large a score. It felt like they were aiming for 250-270 and then relying on scoreboard pressure and SA’s own history to do the rest.
Dilshan’s wicket is more important to SL than is often acknowledged. Also, the SA seamers (especially Steyn and Abbott) bowled really well and they built the pressure that the spinners cashed in on. All that said, against Pakistan when Duminy came on Sarfraz ran down the pitch and whacked him for three sixes in an over – nobody tried to shift the momentum like that.
SL have suffered from a large number of injuries (five players have dropped out) and a lack of strength-in-depth with replacements. However, there were some strange selections. Kusal opening and Thirimanne demoted, Kushal instead of Senanayake, no Lakmal – all felt very wrong. Mathews has been out of form since the ill-fated India tour and I doubt that he is anywhere near fit with a leg injury.
In the end, SL’s big, experienced players had a shocker. So sad their careers ended on such a note.
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Maybe SL were trolling Dave ‘competitive’ Richardson…..
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Disappointing all around, Sanga’s and Jaya’s ODI careers end with a complete damp squib of a showing. Maybe SA have a chance with a complete looking bowling attack. Tahir is a real boon for them in one day cricket, despite having bowled a lot of junk when he’s played for the test side.
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That England squad should be the final nail in Downton’s coffin.
When Yorkshire play England selector Mick Newell’s Notts in the second week of the season Yorkshire will be without SIX players on England duty, including Yorkshire captain Adam Lyth who will likely be carrying drinks for England in the second test instead of the Aussie born Robson who was widely touted to retain his place in the squad as cover but will instead be playing for England selector Angus Fraser’s Middlesex.
Downton appointed both selectors despite the obvious conflict of interest. This could and so easily should have been avoided.
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The uncomfortable truth is that kp’s last test ton is more recent than cook’s.
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As is Robson’s.
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ECB/CEW/Waitrose squad for Windies…. oh dear, no rest for the wicketless (Broad/Anderson) – wont we really need them for a possible last hurrah this summer – rested and fit? Why Bell too? At least they’re not risking Moeen, but why not Willey as an outside (oops sorry -bad word) bit of thinking? Trott to open with Cook…perhaps six day tests not reduced to four? No Taylor???
Seems like a short-term covering backsides selection rather than forward planning?
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That’s way to logical for England.
Point is they have to pick Anderson and Broad because they can’t take the risk that the tour goes off the rails and leaves Cook/Moores with loads of egg all over their faces.
It’s the we ‘must protect Cook/Moores at all cost tour.’ By the end of the summer Anderson and Broad will probably need life support. Its a huge indictment of the standard of fast bowling in county cricket there is so little back up.
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Then you’d expect them to pick a spinner, who bothers to average at least on the right side of 40 in the long form of the game. Tredwell, over the past two years (15 games, 28 wickets at 49.6), has not done so.
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There must be some serious doubts about Broad surviving 3 Tests in the Windies, purely on his form. If the pitches are as slow as 2009, he’s in trouble with his current line & pace.
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@D’Arthez
Yes, it’s really bizarre how England treats spinners.
“Tredders is good in the limited overs games, so let’s rest him for the WC and play him in the Tests.”
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Who is the workhorse in the bowling unit? Ali, by the end of the summer, could be trusted to hold up an end. Woakes can do that job too. Broad and Anderson can’t be risked with too many long spells.
There’s going to have to be a lot of short spells if we do get some flat pitches. Depends how Rashid adapts.
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Oooh you are so witty. I went to bed early and missed all this fun. Love it.
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News seems to be trickling in that Pietersen will play for Surrey this summer. Coupled with Cook’s interview with cricket Badger, things are about to get interesting.
Would love to have been a fly on the wall when Paul Downton heard that news…
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Cook comes across as very petulant in that telegraph article. Isn’t it a 1st degre felony to criticise the ECB if you are a player? That’s what KP did and look what happened to him.
There is also a degree of petulism from Newman with his ” don’t they know how journalism works” line.. Sounds close to “don’t you know who I am. ” these people seem to live in a world of entitlement.
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Of course Cooks outburst will be played down.
“Cooks anger is understandable considering how he was treated……….blah blah blah”
“A man of Cooks intellect is going to be sensitive to being treated with disrespect”
How can he possibly work with Moores now?
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Could be a little awkward if Cook and Morgan are ever in the same team again after the implied criticism of Morgan’s captaincy.
Could Cook be re-integrated?
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The double standards in Ali Martin’s reporting of Cook’s comments are nauseating. It was, as you say Mark, a hanging offence for KP. Yet Cook speaks “openly and honestly”. Cook’s words are “encouraging”. Why? “Cook will need all the fire he can muster”. He seems “up for a scrap”. Yes – a scrap with his own board, not the opposition. Unbelievable.
There are also curious references to “the ECB’s behind-the-scenes string-puller Andy Flower” and faux surprise at the selection of Stoke because “reports from his Lions tour in January suggesting his enjoyment of life off the field continues unabashed”. Martin seems fully signed up to the idea players are selected on grounds other than their playing ability. We could all compile lengthy lists of England cricketers who would have had considerably fewer caps if Ali Martin had been a selector – including more than a few greats. Not impressed, sorry.
Selvey’s popped up BTL with his comments of the touring party. He makes his usual criticism of Rashid and has a bob each way on Trott
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Cookie having a strop! Promoting his ‘leadership’ pfft ffs….. and now discounting any chance of KP returning…
Go herd your lambs you sad sheep!
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Not in your league Bogfather but here is a minor attempt..
There once was a captain called Cook
Who was handed a very thick book
It was the ECBs disciplinary manual
But Cook ignored it and instead went and bought a spaniel
Criticism of his bosses was not desired
Cook found his captaincy had expired
So he whistled out to his spaniel
And the dog ripped the manual to shreds
Called to account Cook prayed to the heavens
He told his bosses he named his dog Kevin
Immediately the charges were dropped
And Cooky was rightly held back aloft.
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Boom boom! Very good.
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Pat Murphy vs. James Whitaker:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02m8dcg?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_test_match_special&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=radio_and_music
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There are few words in my possession to adequately describe that. No pressure on Gary Ballance then.
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Great interviewing from Murphy. Whitaker another one like Downton who is clearly short on media skills.
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As close to unanimous as it is possible to get BTL at the Guardian re Cook. Even posters like TheUtican aren’t defending him. GuiltyLionelCosgrave aces it out of the park:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/18/alastair-cook-slams-england-selectors-captain#comment-49103536
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Just when I thought it was safe to have sympathy for the dauphin.
He really is as pathetic as he seemed in his lowest moments last summer.
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Even him
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Wow wow wow
Just heard Cook on 5live. He was talking on a Foreign radio station.
“I had my chance taken away from me by the selectors, which in hindsight they got wrong”
I would say that is a declaration of war against the selctors and the coach.
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Maybe Cooky thinks the selectors are all on their way out? With the coach? Either that, or he might find a few awkward silences when he rocks up in the Windies with “the lads.”
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Tweet of the day in my book. /Users/annieweatherly-barton/Desktop/Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 21.38.58.png
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Oh bugger I don’t know how to put this on. I will just put on the Tweet itself.
Mark Biggs @Minhosa27 2h2 hours ago
Sod the cricket can’t we have the @ECB_cricket take on @westindies to see who are the most shambolic administration?! #WIvEng
Made me laugh.
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