Comments on today’s play below. Will England cap off a fine series or play dead in a “dead rubber”?
Also the Stars meet the Scorchers in the BBL semi and NZ are playing Pakistan in a T20 match as I write. Comments on this and anything else here. …
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Being Outside Cricket 
That James Taylor catch was bloody ridiculous. Incredible.
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Chris Woakes is an adminriable cricketer but he really is neither fish nor fowl. Not quite quick enough despite having increased a yard of pace, gun-barrel straight deliveries despite an original start as a swing bowler. Also not quite a middle order batsman despite his original promise.
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Right, I’ve seen enough of Woakes now. Just not good enough.
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Agree, Woakes is the new Irani / Ealham – Bits and pieces personified.
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Flintoff on big bash commentary taking the rise out of KP for being a show pony. What a hypocrite, his wicket celebrations especially during the 2009 ashes were really modest weren’t they?
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That’s exactly when and why I went off him. Still (2002-08) comfortably top ten material in my favourite England players of the last 35 years, but really not a fan of look-at-me panel-show yet-another-Sky-vehicle celeb Flintoff at all. Low point was when he slagged off Atherton for criticising Cook, and used his lower average against him as if it was conclusive evidence, regardless of the top-class new-ball attacks Atherton had to put up with year after year.
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Your not wrong especially about the Atherton comments.
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Now I’ve mentioned it in passing, I couldn’t resist (and I haven’t made a list for a while, so indulge me…)
My top 10 favourite England players since 1981 are, in order:
1. Ian Botham
2. David Gower
3. Graham Thorpe
4. Robin Smith
5. Kevin Pietersen
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Marcus Trescothick
8. Michael Vaughan
9. Graham Gooch – only an imperial phase like that could temper my general feelings about rebel tourists
10. Graeme Swann
Honourable mentions just missing out (in alphabetical order): Michael Atherton, Angus Fraser, Darren Gough, Alec Stewart, Andrew Strauss.
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Derek Randall played in 1981!!
Gooch wouldn’t be there as a favourite after his SA shenanigans and what he did to Gower.
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He played in the 82/3 series in New Zealand.
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Here’s my top ten post 1981
1 David Gower
2 Mike Atherton
3 Ian Botham
4 Marcus Trescothick
5 Kevin Pietersen
6 Graham Thorpe
7 Allan Lamb
8 Angus Fraser
9 Michael Vaughan
10 Jack Russell
Honourable mention should go to Nasser Hussain, Darren Gough, Graham Gooch, Andrew Flintoff and Mathew Hoggard
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To repeat a Flintoff quote in interview not long ago “drinking turns me into an idiot”. Do they have booze available in the commentary box?
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I quote it often but Gideon Haigh’s bemusement at the way the media reported on Flintoff and KP in 2009 spoke volumes.
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Seems to me that Selvey was tying himself in knots trying to reason out the picking of Woakes over Footitt. All he had to do was say, “I’ve heard they prefer Woakes”, instead of making himself look daft talking about ” they don’t give out caps willy-nilly ” when he’s the walking proof of the opposite.
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From CI: Melbourne Stars have erased memories of their past, where they kept stuttering at the semifinal stage. Tonight, they’ve been clinical and have set up a final date with Sydney Thunder on Sunday. Elation on one side, dejection on the other. Perth Scorchers came into the game, looking to make it a hat-trick of titles, but they bow out of the semifinals following a comprehensive defeat. The man who made the difference tonight – Kevin Pietersen. Took the pressure off the Stars after they lost an early wicket. He was authoritative and the swagger that he’s known for didn’t leave him at any stage.
Thanks Strauss, Clarke, Cook and Flower.
Thanks a lot.
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‘Success is the best revenge.’
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So for all the ignoring him in the promos and so forth, the unspeakable one guides his team to the final.
It’ll be matches of a poor standard anytime soon.
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So the idiot selectors finally picked a specialist opener. Well done.
Will be interesting to see if Stephen Cook can accumulate a higher aggregate than St. Alastair.
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Certainly looking forward to this Cook-off.
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He’s three quarters of the way there atm.
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Outcome of this game really doesn’t matter. If England win this then it is more proof that they are the best side ever. If they lose then well series is already won, nothing left to prove, etc etc.
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Amla has trundled his way to 100 (t’other Cook high 80’s). Pretty damn impressive & maybe an indication of what a good batsman can achieve by recognising that the captaincy is not for him (nudge nudge, first Cook).
He has an average nearing 100 at centurian!
I know the usual crap about waiting for both teams batting & dead rubbers, but England are looking poor, and it’s becoming a habit. comments suggest Anderson is looking not at it, Woakes is poor etc. Why not try people like Footit…
I can almost guarantee that we will struggle with the bat, and it will be scoreboard pressure that should have been avoided by england going for teh throat and not just coasting to the end of the series.
Also, Bairstow has dropped a couple (from the text commentary – I don’t know how hard the chances were). How about we put Taylor back there – seems he can catch everything!
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Breaking news from Agnew: England team and gathered press share a convivial evening at the daily mail’s expense to celebrate Paul Newman’s birthday. Bless.
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Tregaskis will be very content. How lovely.
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Super.
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This a joke right?
But of course it is true. There is no difference between the England cricket team and the media that cover them.
I guess it’s time for another media panel lecture on……..How the press works, and how people like us don’t understand their complex job. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
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FFS. This isn’t even a surprise really is it. Might as well just employ Newman, Agnew, Selvey and Brenkley to their media department and be done with it.
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Top hole. Trebles all round, what?!
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No doubt there’s a really nice reason for this that us outside journalism wouldn’t have a clue about.
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Presumably the mail will be forking out for several bottles of mineral water?
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I wonder what they gave him for a present?
A pipe wrench perhaps……….to fix all the leaks.
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A packet of nuts and a Downton Abbey box set.
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Thanks for the ‘top hole’ NorthernLight71. Haven’t come across one of those in many a year. Glad to see it again.
A bit of press and Team Waitrose shmoozing will fill the old bulls*it tank up again, no worries.
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Amla gone to Stokes….Phew, good job the next man in is rubbish…..
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well shit, de villiers gone for a duck
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Brilliantly done.
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The game is set up nicely. I bloody love test cricket. Just a tuppence, but I think that the worries about the possibility of non big three nations producing great teams is a bit ott. SA. are in transition and have been hit by a rapidly improving england (I wonder if the lessening of influence from Mr Flower, A., might have something to do with that). Even without Steyn, Smith and Kallis they are a good side. NZ are still a pretty good unit. Pakistan are formidable in Asia and, I think, seem to have good talent around to replace Misbah and Younis (Shezad, Azhar, Hafez, Shafiq, Sarfraz, an Akmal or 2 for old times sake could all become bloody good players). Sri Lanka have a big hole in the middle order, but Mathews, the new da Silva and one or two others seem pretty hopeful to me. The big 3 takeover needs taking down, but I see no reason yet to think that it will reduce the quality of cricket outside of the rich boys club,
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Well I hope your right.
But I think there is plenty to worry about going forward. The big 3 stitch up means their players can earn good money playing test cricket. There is no need to rush to play in the blossoming private ODI circuses arround the world.
But it’s not just the money. The reluctance of the big 3 to play the so called lesser nations will only reduce their ability. They are lucky to be granted a 3 test series these days, and they may have to wait many years to play again. Meanwhile there will be endless series between England/Australia/India. If you are a good player from one of the non big 3 do you want to sit arround for years earning little and waiting to play against the big boys or go free lance and earn a good living playing private ODI matches?
I suggest the system they have come up with will insure that a non big 3 team will struggle to challenge the bigger sides to be in the top rankings. Let’s see what happens over the next 2 years but Iam not holding my breath.
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Most of my cricket predictions are rubbish, so this one probably is too. I hope I’m right for the right reasons. I can’t quite believe that the big 3 can manage to play each other indefinitely, but then again, I can’t quite believe that Giles C. exists.
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The Cricketer has arrived, and wow. Just wow. Both Henderson and Selfey discuss the Chris Gayle issue, while the regular section “My Favourite Cricketer” has a, frankly, bizarre choice.
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Ha Ha Ha
Might as well get Derek and Clive to discuss the Chris Gayle issue.
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That’s funny… I cancelled my subscription after many years – the Public School pull-out was the last straw for me. I quite like Turbervill in it, but Hughes and the cheerleaders became too much to bear.
Today’s is the first issue that won’t drop on the doormat. But now I’m strangely missing the prospect of the odious Henderson making a pig’s ear out of the Gayle issue!
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Turbervill is the man behind “My Favourite Cricketer” this month.
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Funny thing is, back in 2014 when Andrew Miller et al were made redundant, it was argued that they didn’t need any permanent journalistic staff any more (Swann and Hughes were appointed in under different auspices) – then, funnily enough, along comes Turbervill as it turns out that a magazine does need some writers working for it.
I’m still holding onto my subscription for now, but the magazine these days isn’t a patch on the Miller or Stern years. It’s even worse now than it was when it was owned by BSkyB (which I *hated* at the time) – and that’s really saying something.
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The thing that saddens me is there is a great cricket magazine out there to be written. Not pretending it’s easy or cost effective.
Some things just grate. Like a perfectly good article on the history of ODIs which has the annoyance of each year being written as a Friends title. “The one where. …”
Selvey’s article was nondescript this month. A real nothing. Henderson compared Gayle to Frank Worrell with the obvious results.
Cheers for the comment, Nicholas.
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Rather like getting the local painter/decorator to write about Salvador Dali. I’ll give it a miss
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The whole thing is bizarre – pictures of old men looking young. Roaming editor in chief of whatever has hair in the mag…”nuff said”
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