England chased down a testing total, not without a few scares here and there, to win the series. According to the stuff I have read, Ben Stokes played a very mature innings to see us home. Hallelujah to that, just what we want, especially on slow surfaces against spin where he’s been found wanting in the past.
This is really a very short post. I am incredibly snowed under at work at the moment, and yes, it doesn’t happen too often, so posting is going to be tricky at the best of times. Chris and Sean are in similar positions too at the moment. But I want further comments to come on the back of a victory posting rather than more misery. It is amazing how the press are trumping up a series win in Bangladesh when they probably expected a whitewash by the visitors before our departure (and ignoring the results that the Bangladesh team had achieved). I can’t help but thinking there’s an itty bitty agenda behind that.
A message from your local station, as they say in the States. Mr Newman, I presume…
And they did it without their regular top four one-day batsmen after Jason Roy was ruled out through injury to join Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan in being absent from the decider.
Ah. As if we didn’t know that Hales and Morgan weren’t there.Note also, starting a sentence with the word And…. horrendous. You never get me doing that.
I come to praise Rashid, not bury him…
Yet three of those wickets came from bad balls and Rashid was a little flattered to record figures of four for 43 on a ground that is not conducive to the modern dynamic brand of one-day cricket being played worldwide.
And just in case you might have forgotten…
But the calm figure of Woakes joined Stokes to sensibly see England home to what is – with their captain in Morgan choosing to stay at home and others missing – an against the odds and hugely satisfying one-day triumph.
I sometimes wonder if he writes for his goldfish, so short a memory he expects of his readership.
Now, of course, Oliver Holt was over there, on a little flying visit to confirm the security was OK and that the stayaways were wrong. I call Holt by the name Mr Sanctimony. It was once said by Mark of this parish that the “Hold the Back Page” generation were the first set of journalists to gain TV prominence. Mark once said, and it’s a line I love, that they turned up on Sunday morning TV, with a leather jacket, often unshaven, and they thought they were Keith Richard.
He (Holt, not Mark) had a little snip back at yours truly at the weekend for an observation I made about a lamentably researched piece on the Minnesota Vikings stadium (a standing joke in the U S on the way it was financed) just to bash West Ham and their move to the Olympic Stadium. It was agenda driven claptrap. I cannot wait for his piece on his journey to Chittagong. The old fisking keyboard may be brought out for one more go. You do wonder how Newman thinks when old superiority bollox flounces in to Bangladesh, has his say, and then flounces out again, like some modern day envoy from the FO. “Natives a bit restless, showed ’em a flash of the old double barrel, a couple of tanks, kept ’em in line, no bother at all.” Let’s wait and see, eh?
Meanwhile India are world #1 test team and Australia have been whitewashed in an ODI series by South Africa. International cricket, bloody hell.
Being Outside Cricket 
A word on Rashid. It was a curate’s egg of a performance with some rank bad balls (including most of those that took his wickets) being broken up by some truly exceptional deliveries. It was the amount of rip that he got from his leg-spinners that made me think our batsmen would struggle against their twirlers.He adds welcome spice and variety to the middle overs (remember when it was only non-spinning offies and medium pace dibbers?). His fielding has looked damn sharp this series as well.
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So Stokes won 2 of the ODIs with his bat. Just as well the ECB have decided to destroy Durham county cricket club for the next 2 years. After all, they only helped raise him, just as they have other young talents. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
This of course has meant that ENGLAND have won the series. It is more important to the ECB in house media who can now take pot shots at Morgan and Hales for not touring. The fact that England did miss both of those two and Root in the top order will be overlooked. But a win is a win even if the catching and fielding of Bangladesh was school boyish. We all know if this series had ended 3-0 to Bangladesh , which it easily could of done, the media would have written it’s significance off as meaningless.
Hales will probably be allowed back, after a period of petty punishment. But Morgan may have to start thinking about following in KPs footsteps on the 20/20 circuit of jet setting and champagne. At least he can earn a small fortune, and extend the middle finger to to media morons. Morgan has always been viewed as suspicious by the Colonel Blimps of the media. (See Pringle) He replaced the holy one as ODI captain, and he is Irish. And worst of all he has never been quite as vindictive to KP. Even when he was encouraged to do so by Skys version of the Spanish Inquistion,Nasser Hussien.
Thanks to the boss for his kind words about my views on the Hold the back page generation. They thought, just for a brief second they too were rock stars, with their new best mate Beckham, and the golden generation. Actually the comparison with the golden generation of players and their failure is an apt comparison with the media. Holt’s emergency flight in for this series is a kick in the face for Newman. The Mail obviously doesn’t think Paul is quite up to the task of delivering the kind of beating the absent players will now get. So they have flown in Holt to carry out the execution. How little they value your skills Mr Newman? The irony of course is that Mr Santimonious Holt is always banging on about players being allowed to express themselves, and have opinions of their own. But as soon as they do, and say “we are not touring” he wants to jump on them. Talk about hypocritical?
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Good read on the BCCI:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1061392.html
It hasn’t been reported much (at all) in the UK media that the BCCI were threatening the destruction of their own domestic competition. That threat, like sending NZ home or pulling out of ICC tournaments, turns out to be (surprise!) less than wholly credible.
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Number of Selvey Tweets commenting on Rashid’s ten wickets in the series (or any aspect of his performance).
The same number as he has Tweeted about Durham.
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Anyone see Tahir’s celebration for South Africa whenever he took a wicket or when he helped run out Warner in the last ODI. (Just watched the highlights on Sky sports) Not sure what was going on but he was celebrating like a mad thing running all over the place jumping in the air. David Beckham would have been proud. His South African teammates thought it all highly amusing.
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That is how he celebrates every wicket no matter what the situation.
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There had been a bit of aggro between Tahir and Warner earlier. Not sure what it was all about.
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Surprised this development on Durham hasn’t appeared here yet:
– Kent believe the ECB is in breach of contract
– the ECB may have decided Durham’s fate as early as May
– Graves and three other ECB officials allegedly blurted out full details of the Durham bail-out during a loud and indiscreet train conversation on September 15
– in the same conversation they audibly declared that the end of the season would be a “good time to bury bad news” as fewer people would be talking about cricket.
Not really sure why the person writing the article was included in the OC50 ahead of Andy Bull… 😉
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OC#6’s initial response is splendid, by the way. Really makes you scratch your head as to why the ECB get away with so little scrutiny.
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Yeah, I thought including Lizzy on the list was a bit harsh. She’s one of the few print journalists in English cricket who seems to have a real passion for the county game and who appears worried about what the ECB seem to have planned for it.
Then again, it wasn’t my list, so hey ho.
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Lizzy is good at her job but I just reread the list and her inclusion was because she does seem to have a problem with accepting other points of view.
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Which is a fair assessment of her.
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Good time to revisit Mori. Professions least trusted by the public to tell the truth (2016):
1. Politicians generally
2. Government ministers
3. Estate Agents
4. Journalists
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On Adil Rashid yes it was a bit of a mixed bag but that was the reason he got the wickets there was a few unplayable balls which got into the batsmen mind. He will always go for a few but he will take wickets and that is always the best way to keep the run rate down.
I must agree that from the first innings the Bangladesh total looked daunting as the wicket was taking pronounced spin, and England did well in the run chase with sensible batting . However the changing of conditions (dew to the outfield and also making the ball skid on) made batting a tad easier.
In summarising a good series win the oppo have won the last 6 series at home. The only sour thing is certain journalist wanting to make a big thing of the Hales and Morgan thing. They will both be back as they have “done it” over a longer period but it is pleasing to know that we have younger options moving forward so if Morgan fails over the next few series dropping him is not a major issue.
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The thing about newman et al including comments about Hales & Morgan is that I can perfectly understand it to be mentioned in a ‘series’ wrap up. But (big but), that is only if it has not been really mentioned since the reporting that they originally decided not to go.
As Newman et al have been on about it every opportunity – it purely comes across as sniping and bitter.
Mention it as a summary, not as the topic everytime….
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One player takes 10 wickets at 14.5 and scores 33* in his only innings.
Another takes 1 wicket at 143 and scores 11 runs in three innings.
There was 0.07 between the Economy Rates of the two players.
How can there only be two marks between them if we’re going to play the nonsense of player ratings?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/10/13/england-player-ratings-from-odi-series-against-bangladesh—who/
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You mean to say, that Moeen got an 7 and Rashid got a 5? That would be quite a Selvey-esque player rating …
Oh Holt accidentally got the order right. Pathetic ratings. And it is not like Moeen gets his wickets in Tests with good balls only … not that that is ever factored in by these “experts”.
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Turns out Rashid’s 10 wickets are the equal best ever for a spinner in a three-match ODI series:
goo.gl/pFxVZk
7/10?
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Second ever pink-ball Test under way.
The colour of the ball (and any other gimmick the ICC could come with) isn’t going to make much difference to the West Indies being embarrassingly bad.
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Well, Pakistan managed more runs for the first wicket in the first innings of the Test than they have managed in entire series in the recent past…
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406/2, nothing can save the West Indies in this Test now. Azhar has made his double century, and Babar Azam looking good for a substantial score as well – but mind you if you don’t look good against the West Indies, you should not be playing Tests.
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Guardian thread on Morgan shaping up to make the replies to Oliver Holt’s Tweet look like an Amnesty International convention.
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Haven’t posted for ages but always checking in. Thanks to you all (site owners and posters) for keeping my dying love of cricket alive…just…because it’s an absolute disgrace what’s going on. I got excited by Non-Ox’s post about Kent suing the ECB but 20 mins later realised it won’t (I still hold a candle though) make one iota difference.
Anyway thanks simonh for pointing me in the direction of the G – good grief. I’ve posted. It’ll last 2hrs I suspect.
Postscript: just logging in and my handle gets autocorrected to “honest”! I’ll take that
Haha! Just logging in
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Just read a quick snippet of an Ollie holt article when he was working at the mirror. Apparently it was the Liverpool fans’ right to boo the national anthem back then….how things have changed in his mind
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When did singing the National Anthem become a shibboleth? I don’t recall Brearley, Illy, Cowdrey, David Lloyd, Gooch, Gatting, Gower ever having to sing it. I don’t remember Bobby Moore doing anything more than listening to the band. Bill Beaumont didn’t move his lips when it was played. So why all this virtue signalling and micro aggression about Corbyn and Eoin? It is a micro aggression on its own account.
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Supposing Morgan had been on camera enthusiastically singing the British national anthem – he would have been accused of impertinently singing an anthem he had no right to. Or called a hypocrite. Not to mention getting beaten up next time he went home to Ireland.
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I remember my mum giggling when Daley Thompson whistled it when receiving Olympic gold.
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Not to delve into politics too much, but this whole “anthem” thing is mostly to give people the impression that their way of life is under siege from whatever convenient scapegoats can be found (it has been a complaint for decades with the Dutch football team – usually does not seem to hinder their performances that much). From the distance it looks like Corbyn might undo some of the damage wrought by Blair and his accomplices.
Problem is of course that those who have been promoted to privileged treatment don’t want to give up the gains they have made by screwing everyone else over – and thus they’ll try to destroy the likes of Corbyn and whomever can be used as a scapegoat in cricket – it avoids uncomfortable questions about their own “accomplishments”, not to mention covering their friends’ backs (usually management). As we saw in the “difficult winter” – where no one apparently did anything wrong except for Pietersen.
For every person you listed above not singing the anthem, ask yourself: who were the cricket writers reporting in their days? Did they follow the county game (other than the team they might have played for in their playing days)? What was their pay like, what side benefits did they get? What were the times like?
And more sinister: how hard would it have been in those days to distinguish say the Guardian from the Mail?
But back to cricket: it was a good performance by England to win the series in Bangladesh, though obviously, Bangladesh did not really grab their chances in the first and third ODI. England do deserve some credit for exploiting openings when they get them, but if the roles had been reversed, Bangladesh would not be getting any credit from the English MSM. Cricket writing is less and less about the actual sport, and more and more national cheerleading, as evidenced by the bizarre Guardian purges.
That saddens me.
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So, with the first Test next week, a two day warm up is considered sufficient, and with the first day washed out it is likely England will go in with a top three who haven’t had any time in the middle -Cook, Hameed (on debut), Root, as well as another rookie in Duckett at four… Hmm
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It’s ok because the first test is nothing more than a warm up for the India tour. They won’t admit of course.
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It’s ok because the first test is nothing more than a warm up for the India tour. They won’t admit that of course.
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Yes they are. It seems that these tests are cheap as far as England are concerned. One other problem is that Bangladesh haven’t played a test since July of last year so many of their players are hardly going to be match sharp in the longer form of the game.
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Lawrence Booth on possible use of DRS for the forthcoming India series:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-3837002/India-set-end-TV-umpire-boycott-ahead-five-match-series-against-England.html
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I don’t have BT Sport and don’t plan on getting that, but I wonder how Swann and Pietersen will get on in the same room?
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Kevin Pietersen will be in Australia whilst Graeme Swann will be in the London studio – so they’ll be half a world away!!
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I suppose it would be too impertinent of the cricketing mags and hacks to run a story like this about #1’s financial jiggery pokery eh?
https://www.facebook.com/saveourcounties/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf
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Mental meltdown on where to start with this one:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/1061730.html
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Good grief!!
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We all know non-Big Three countries make their money from ICC tournaments and India tours.
Is Clarke going to tell India to roll back the 22% of ICC revenue they’ve been getting since 2014, starting with the 6% that Manohar pledged and that had “Not-One-Percent” Thakur throwing his toys out of the pram? And is he going to tell India to honour their 2014 promise to play Pakistan? (Yes I know the PCB were bloody stupid to believe it – but the main responsibility for a lie lies with the liars).
Or are his solutions going to involve:
1) Playing Pakistan’s players into the ground in a way that only benefits those who have shares in that lovely cortisone.
2) Selling TV rights to some company that can pay short-term mega-bucks but no-one watches so that in ten years the next Misbah is less well-known than the guy who works down the chip shop and swears he’s Elvis.
3) Find a dodgy Texan millionaire with a rented helicopter.
What does Clarke’s track record suggest?
It’s like calling in Fred Goodwin to sort out their banks. The sheer f***ing shameless of these people is almost impressive.
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Fascinating read on the use of cortisone in cycling:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/100-tours-100-tales/2016/oct/14/cycling-history-cortisone-wiggins-lance-armstrong-nobel
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England ODI batting records since the start of the ODI revolution:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;spanmin1=01+may+2015;spanval1=span;team=1;template=results;type=batting
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And the bowling:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;spanmin1=01+may+2015;spanval1=span;team=1;template=results;type=bowling
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Speaking of mental breakdowns, and not knowing where on earth to begin….there is this!
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/1061517.html
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I’d be wondering who’d be the first to link Durham to the “need” for a city based tournament – and am only astonished it’s him in the sense that he appears to have beaten Simon Hughes to it.
The ECB are “brave”! They’ve written a letter to Durham’s creditors! They used to give out VCs for that!! The ECB are “wiser” as well! He didn’t get where he is today by speaking truth to power.
I like the way he attributes all the ECB failings to the old regime. Did he say that to them at the time? Does he mention that Graves was Clarke’s deputy after 2013 and didn’t say a dicky bird that showed any disagreement with Clarke? Does he mention that Clarke is very much still around? No, no and no.
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