Plus, at the end of this piece, another “On This Day”
Dmitri, and I’m starting to talk about myself in the third person so beware, is a curmudgeonly old soul. He’s also been round the cricketing block when supporting England. As have many of you. We’ve seen many a bright starlet hit the ground running, only to struggle to maintain that as world bowlers look at you, think about how you bat, and target accordingly. We’ve seen many a resilient England performance, battling against the odds, only to be followed by a dreadful subsidence in a following fixture, or a comprehensive defeat. We live in post-Strauss captained England, one where it doesn’t really matter if we lose certain test matches, as long as we win the ones that are appointed to matter. We live in an instant gratification world, where a half decent debut is extrapolated out to those with all time great careers, and where one of the blogging cognoscenti can call me out for being unreasonable in pointing out how silly this looks. So just as Dhaka is now in the books, where a result can be ignored because there was a better one after it, and an opener who was praised can be ignored because there was a better show after it, we can consign Rajkot Boulevard to the memory banks and wander down the Vizag Vista for match number two. For those of you not aware of the fact, in amidst the fan boy accolades and the hyperventilating hyperbole from the first test, we didn’t win it. The score is 0-0.
It might be worth a walk down memory lane to see how England have fared in first and second test matches against India in the sub-continent. Back in 2012 we lost in Ahmedabad (and you’ll get nonoxcol going with that one) but did so fighting back in the second innings with a great innings by Cook and a good one by Prior too. We took that momentum into the second test and won. Some bloke played a reasonably good innings, backed up superbly by another Cook ton and some top spin bowling.
Our previous tour was that blight on world cricket, a two test series. We lost the first, in 2008, at Chennai as we walked into a Sehwag whirlwind and a Tendulkar masterclass, but we were, again, extremely competitive. We drew the second in a weather affected bore in Mohali, enlightened by some bloke making a reasonably decent hundred to ward off any threat. Wonder what happened to him?
In 2006 we drew the first test in Nagpur. You might recall a certain Alastair Cook making a half century in his first innings and a century in his second, and still Matthew Hoggard got to ride the post-match motorbike as man of the match. That was arguably a winning draw for England, much like Rajkot was, but we followed it up by losing on a spin-friendly track in Mohali before clawing back the series in the Ring of Fire test in Mumbai.
Back to 2001 and again in Mohali, we lost the 1st test of the series, with Dees Dasgupta, the legend, making a key century. That may have been peak India in terms of bowling spin, as Harby and Kumble put us to the sword, covering for two very inexperienced opening bowlers. England acquitted themselves well in the next two tests, although Bangalore was very badly rain affected.
There’s been a total randomness to how we’ve hit the ground in India, but it’s not unknown for us to over-rate the opposition and then, after we play them in the first test, re-adjust expectations. We usually are 1-0 down – 2006 being an exception (we lost the first tests in 1992 and 1984) and trying to claw back series. So yes, we are better placed. It also better places the doomsayers who had this as a 5-0 whitewash!
I’ve been doing this blogging lark for too long now. I keep feeling that things I’ve said before I have to say again. This England team has far too many unreliable parts. By putting together ONE batting performance in the first innings that wasn’t exclusively relying on Cook or Root, or a Bairstow / AN Other recovery job, England’s top order strung scores together and made a formidable total. A forward step, but with pretty much the same personnel, do you think this is a solid base or an outlier? Let’s put it this way, the evidence points to the latter.
We’ve seen many decent performances followed by annoying lapses. Grenada by Barbados, Cardiff by Lord’s, Edgbaston by The Oval, Abu Dhabi by Dubai. The way the performance at Rajkot has been reported, you’d think all our problems are over, and England now stand a decent chance of doing well. The realist believes that the only time you might see a road like Rajkot is if India hold a one test lead going into the last match…. (at this point I must point out that India produced a truly dreadful dirge of a pitch when we were 2-1 up last time out). England can be good, they can be bad. One swallow does not make a summer.
The main source of debate going into the match, other than where to place Haseeb on the genius steps (above Cook, about level with Sanga, maybe a notch down from Sachin, but compare HH and SRT’s debuts), is will Anderson play or not? I’m past caring. If Jimmy breaks down, leaving us a bowler short, then on his head be it. Newman’s almost messianic pushing of Saint Jimmy of Burnley has been bizarre, but he’s been given pause for thought by a solid bowling display by England in the first match. Now we’d have to leave out someone from the “best all round team performance” that Bayliss had seen from an England team in his time. Such great performances, if precedent is to be believed, have the “no vacancies” sign put up like a B&B in peak summer. But now there’s talk of letting Woakes have a rest, and while I might not quite believe it, I don’t know who is briefing who here.
The other matter is the wicket. Now here we are being given all sorts of doom and gloom, based, it seems on the recent ODI between India and New Zealand, which saw the visitors crushed, and Mishra take five wickets. Here are your Ranji Trophy games this season at Vizag:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2016-17/engine/match/1053467.html
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2016-17/engine/match/1053497.html
Both quite low scoring.
It doesn’t appear as though the ground hosted any first class cricket last year. Certainly it would appear there were no Ranji Trophy games.
2014/15 there appeared to be one much higher scoring match…
http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2014-15/engine/match/775677.html
Who knows what we will get? We are set for an interesting test match. Was Rajkot a blip? Will KL Rahul make a difference? Will England revert to a mean, or was that the benchmark for the series, and perhaps something we might improve upon? And whatever happens, will the print and TV media be able to keep their heads, or will they respond to the match as if they are Taylor Swift fans and she’s about to release another voice amended, pile of old dirge masquerading as music? There used to be Bad Blood indeed.
Enjoy the game.
ON THIS DAY….
Let us wander back 18 years and the Far North Queensland town of Cairns. England were preparing for the upcoming Ashes with a match against Queensland, which started on the 13th. Within a few minutes of the start, Matty Hayden had been put out of action with a broken hand. It was a sporty wicket, a low scoring one, and these were the days when the Aussies put out full strength teams to mentally disintegrate the tourists.
So to Day 4, the 16th of November. England had been set 142 to win, and were doing their usual hard job of it. Starting at 74 for 5, Ramprakash fell with the score on 89, and the writing appeared on the wall. Mike Atherton was batting at 8, for some reason, and his presence with Dean Headley took the score over 100. With the score on 101 Headley was bowled by Mike Kasprowicz, and shortly after Atherton was stumped off the bowling of Paul Jackson, who, if I haven’t told you before, I’ve played against! When Darren Gough was bowled by Kasper, England were 36 runs short, and Robert Croft was joined by Alan Mullally. The Leicestershire man’s batting would be a standing joke on this tour, but on this day he found his mojo. Run by run they eked England closer and closer. Derek Pringle, then of the Independent, has his report relatively easy to find online:
But if Croft was steadfast, Mullally was a revelation. Like all fast bowlers Mullally fancies himself with the bat. Until Monday morning there had been little evidence that he even knew what a bat was let alone familiar with shots like the hook and the sweep, both of which he played with great verve in his unbeaten 23. Dean Headley, another of the bowling fraternity, also weighed in with a useful 20, which included two of the nine fours struck in England’s second innings.
“I’m determined to have a good tour and do well,” said Mullally, once of Western Australia but now of Leicestershire. “If me and the rest of the tail-enders can make 20 or 30 runs each with the bat, it will help us enormously.”
As pure cricket goes, this match has been generally dull and attritional, though the drama as the last pair inched their way towards the 142 required was undeniable.
The unbelievable scoreline is here…. that Queensland team wasn’t bad.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/442641.html
Back to the second test. Please put any comments you have below.
Being Outside Cricket 
Well, who’s astonished?
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/1066559.html
Plus a couple of fun facts about Australian batting woes – they survived only 558 balls in Hobart which is their lowest in a home loss since Bradman’s debut in 1928 and the 16 batsmen dismissed for single-digit scores is their joint-highest ever in a Test (equal to 1912 when they were bowled out by S.F. Barnes and Frank Woolley).
Any connection between Cook staying as captain and Australia’s troubles is of course entirely coincidental.
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At least Strauss doesn’t say it’s up to Cook when he goes. He says if he is not right to lead the team forwards then we (Strauss and ?) will discuss his position, so a slight change from what the media normally pump out, i.e it’s up to cook. But does not mean much really, when he should have been sacked after the ‘difficult/airbrushed winter’ in 2014…..
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The cynic in me thought “oh yes, how very comma of him to be interviewed after a good performance.”
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Doubt Comma will be fronting up tonight. “Take this one, Trevor love…”.
The 1912 Australia side has some interesting stories attached. It was a notoriously wet summer and they were without six first-choice players who refused to tour (Trumper, Hill, Ransford and Armstrong from the batsmen).
One of the players, poor Gerry Hazlitt, had a heart condition and died of a heart attack in 1915 aged only 27. Their keeper was the magnificently named Barlow Karkeek. However Dave Smith made up in off-the-field antics for what he lacked in the name department – he was reportedly drunk for most of the tour and swore at and fought with English amateurs. He refused to attended the post-tour kangaroo court and never played the game again.
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Had Mr Smith morse coded instructions to the England players how to get the Aussie captain out?
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I heard the Anyalist on 5 live pushing for Jimmys return and Woakes to be dropped. (Rotated is the politically correct term.) he tried so hard to make it sound like an original idea. It’s really funny that they all push exactly the same party line. There is never any difference between them.
He then tried to pull a Ritchie by claiming the last thing the Indians would want is the return of Jimmy, so therefore we must to exactly what they want least. Which is to pick Anderson. If he plays, and breaks down or is a bit rusty, who takes the blame for this? Not the Anyalist or Newman, or Cook that’s for sure.
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Oh, my logo has changed colour again. Part of your housekeeping I guess.
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That’s a great logo colour Mark. I think it correlates to the quality of the comment.
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I don’t think Woakes deserved to be dropped. Although a break from front line action might not be such a bad thing, that in itself does not justify his omission. I hope we don’t end up missing his batting as he won’t be able to play his part in the rescue mission if we (when?) have a collapse.
LCL made the point on a previous thread that Broad was actually dropped on the previous India tour. Well, four years ago decisions in team ECB were perhaps slightly more likely to be made for simple cricketing reasons. We obviously had a far more potent spin department then and Finn was still deemed part of the future. Besides which, with Swann and Prior still around, the alleged dressing room clique was fully intact and they could afford to leave out one member without upsetting the prevailing order.
I suspect bringing back Jimmy (who may or may not be fully match fit) at Woakes’ expense while retaining Broad might be partly about putting the old band back together – or as much as is still available – so that Captain Marvel feels secure and validated by their presence. With team selections, What Cookie wants Cookie usually seems to get – regardless of whether it really serves the wider interest.
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It may well be that they are rotating players as the series/South Asian tour goes on. With Woakes having played 4 tests on the bounce maybe there was a reasonable case of giving him a match off to recover and wouldn’t be surprised if Stokes and Broad were to miss games later in the series given the quick bowler workloads.
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Broad is carrying an injury in this Test, which has resurfaced after a dive in the field. Not sure how debilitating it will be. Not ideal of course. As said on a previous thread, I would have picked Woakes instead of Broad, if I had to play Anderson (which is a gamble).
Back to the game – Kohli won the toss, J. Yadav makes his debut and replaces Mishra. Rahul suffered from the commentator’s curse and went for a duck (to Broad), to an awful looking shot. Vijay got himself dismissed from a very good short ball of Jimmy, inside 5 overs. So Kohli and Pujara need to do a bit of a repair job after the first hour (45/2).
I expect the pitch to crumble a lot faster than the one in Rajkot, so England can’t allow themselves having to chase a big target.
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The match report I read also indicated that Broad was hobbling badly at the end of play and his feet were really giving him jip (can’t remember if it was TMS or guardian/other).
Also heard Wokes was carrying a knock (the reason for his rest presumably), but if broad was carrying a knock coming in as well it really doesn’t bode well for the bowlers!
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37 overs in and Moeen still has not had a bowl. I know there are two right handers at the crease, but it is not like these batsmen have proven infallible against offspin …
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I am sure “Operation Blame Rashid” has resumed after Rashid dropped Kohli of the bowling of Stokes in the 43rd over.
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Well on the BBC TMS commentary, one of them, think it was Vic Marks, really got into Rashid after the drop. Made comments that it was well known that Rashid was England’s weakest fielder and that if it had been Anderson he would have taken the catch etc. Although he did say that as they know Rashid is weak, they should not have put him in that position to field when the plan was to get the ball to go there. Then they questioned how the drop might affect Rashid’s fragile state/mind etc.
Very poor in my opinion……….by all accounts it was a difficult chance and most would have struggled to take the catch, poor Rashid cant get any respite from this nonsense.
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To be fair to Vic Marks, in the report on the Guardian he basically says it was a difficult catch and that since it was a pre-planned tactic, Cook should have put a better fielder there. Which makes it Cook’s fault. I can live with that 🙂
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Second session, the wheels came of for England. 118/0, with Ansari and Moeen (who only got a bowl in the 40th over) getting hit for quite a few.
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And can we please do a bit about this nonsense of substitute fielders? There are 3 subs on, no injuries, and we have just played 57 overs. I am all for injury substitutes – but then there actually have to be injuries (such as what happened to Steyn in Perth, or earlier in the innings with Broad). So runners are banned because they offered an advantage to the batsmen, but you can play specialist fielders effectively? Okay … that is sensible.
If it is not a play-limiting injury, the fielding side should be just penalised by not having the fielder for the first 10 minutes. And suddenly 90% of the injuries have disappeared.
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Given you are watching the play, D, was thinking you might write our match report!
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I missed the first hour or so (play starts at 7 AM where I am). So it is almost ideal for me to watch the games, power and internet provider permitting. And the first half hour was the undoubted highlight from England’s POV.
As I am writing this, England finally have a breakthrough – Pujara, having scored another ton, gone chasing a wide one from Anderson. Mind you it is 248/3. Maybe England can string some good overs together now, but otherwise it has been as dismal a performance as you have seen in years from England. Hardly any threat, other than Rashid dropping Kohli of the bowling of Stokes.
The pitch is starting to act up a bit as well. A few balls keeping low, footmarks becoming more pronounced, cracks becoming more pronounced and some turn available as well. Batting in the last innings won’t be that easy.
A lot of puzzling bowling changes as well. You have the openers dismissed, so you go with Ansari as first change bowler? Moeen not getting a bowl until the 40th over? Broad just bowling 6 out of the first 52? After 70 overs, Rashid has bowled 21, Ansari 8, and Moeen just 7.
Oh and Cook’s remark after losing the toss: “It looks like a good toss to win, but we have nothing to lose”, should not make it into motivational speaking books.
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Useful stat for when losing the toss gets blamed:
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Can’t access that. He blocked me a while back.
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Wasn’t Simon Wilde the one who said Cooks declaration in the first test was “generous?”
May have been another one. They all sound the same.
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Looks like a rather desperate game for England now with such a poor afternoon session. I suspect this game isn’t going to be lasting into day 5.
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Rahane out. New batsman in. 2 BLOODY SLIPS!!. New batsman immediately edges straight to where gully would have been. FFS. Can blame captain, but couldn’t the bowler (Jimmy) have said something?
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And they didn’t bother with a night watchman with less than 2 overs left.
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Jimmy sets his own fields, so probably nothing to do with Cook 🙂
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Kohli fact flashed up on TV:
1st 7 100s – none over 120.
Last 7 100s – only one under 140.
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Impressive. There was a poll on the BBC TMS feed as to who was the best batsman, Root or Kohli? When I completed it, 66% had voted for Root, really? I would have though it would be much closer, I would have Kohli over Root at the moment…….
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A somewhat good end to the day for England. New ball taken after 88 overs, and Anderson gets Rahane to nick off to a widish one. Silly shot. There was no need to play at that. Especially not with less than 2 overs to play in the day.
Also, they nearly got Kohli on review (last ball of the 80th over) – umpire’s call on hitting leg stump, off the bowling of Moeen. Did not look out to the naked eye – and of the spinners, Moeen was the most threatening.
The less good news is that Broad is obviously carrying a major injury. And I am not sure how matchfit Anderson is either (he has been going on and off the field a few times). So worrying signs for England, also looking forward to the last 3 Tests.
Batting has also become harder as play went on. Not just because England bowled a bit better than in the afternoon session (which was dreadful), but also because of the pitch.
Still, 317/4 at stumps and India will be happy with their efforts. Kohli unbeaten on 151, and Ashwin on 1. 107/2 is not a bad session result, no matter how much you want to spin it. India will be looking to bat big – so as to reduce the number of runs they need to get in their second innings.
England need to find a way to bowl India out for say 430-ish. And then bat well, just to remain in the game. This does not look like a pitch you will find it easy to bat on on Day 4 or 5, if the game goes that far.
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I suspect Yadav was given a cap because he can be accurate while Mishra as a leggie is bound to be a touch more expensive. That and a small matter of too many lefties in the English lineup.
Either way, I think the Indians have started well and would look to score quickly tomorrow before the pitch becomes too hard to bat on. I would love to see Ashwin bowl on this wicket where he will get some purchase but Jadeja might be the one picking wickets with his wicket to wicket lines and balls keeping low.
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FICJAM has shared his views on the US election.
Should you want to know, they’re in the usual place.
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Absolute toilet.
When’s the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party? I want to see him get what *he* deserves.
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Not even going to bother reading that one.
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Oh perhaps you should. It’s a hoot. Up there with Botham’s nonsense on Brexit in the Mirror. In both cases they wander beyond their remit.
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At least Botham didn’t bother with the token attempts at virtue-signalling.
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Nor me, can’t face it
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SimonH, please ply us all, with the link
I’ve missed FICJAM and his iconoclastic prime pink…
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New Statesman.
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Can also get a direct link through his Twitter page.
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@SimonH – Sadly, the Plagiarist that is Ed has blocked me on twitter, presumably for being a crap wordsmith too! 🙂
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The Bogfather……….
I find that priceless he has blocked you on Twitter. Makes all his ” thinking out of the box” lectures even more idiotic.
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Is it me being too cynical, but, I smelt a rat over bowling selection yesterday, and I still smell it!
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So
Woakes had a strain?
We’ll give Jimmy a game!
But hiding a Broadstroke off the wrist
Bloodied, yet with av 120+, must persist
Who’s now limping at both ends off-pitch and yonder
It does make you ponder…
And at a Stroke, a hobbling Stokes
Asks the question – who picks the bowlers?
As Mo’ enters the attack after 40 overs
And filed placement by numbers
Makes the bowlers howl and fielders feel numb…err?
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https://twitter.com/TheCricketGeek/status/799214466407825408
England seamers with better averages in Asia (min. 20 wickets): Gough, Lever, Foster, Willis, Botham.
Also averaging under 30: Hoggard, Old, Harmison, Flintoff.
It isn’t quite the impossible feat he’s Implying:
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?bowling_pacespin=1;class=1;continent=2;filter=advanced;orderby=bowling_average;qualmin1=10;qualval1=wickets;team=1;template=results;type=bowling
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You know who also averaged 28 in Asia with the ball? Shane Watson (9 Tests in India, 3 in Sri Lanka). When will Peter Miller mention that?
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Seems Mr P Miller is the belle of the ball here. I prefer mainstream media targets myself.
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But sometimes he almost seems to welcome it.
https://twitter.com/TheCricketGeek/status/799231828095799300
Come on. Your piss has been plenty boiled too in the past.
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And? Shane Watson was a tremendously skillful and underrated bowler, especially in Asian conditions. He was probably the most skillful of any Aussie bowler since McGrath/Warne era. He could use conventional swing, reverse swing or simply a nagging line and length to contain batsmen and pick up wicket.
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Another attention seeker best ignored.
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Who the frig cares? It’s just another meaningless, dreary list of the top 10 whatever’s……..voted on by people who’s opinions I do not value. You might as well go and ask a variety of drunks in the street. At least the drunks won’t have an agenda.
The top 10 fridges.
The top 10 conifer trees.
The top 10 porcupines.
The top 10 pedestrian crossings.
The top 10 toilet rolls.
The top 10 English players born after the war, who’s mothers name was Mary.
The top 10 cheeses.
The top 10 parrots.
The top 10 bowlers who’s eyes were blue.
The top 10 captains who say “um ur um” before evey sentence.
Nobody gives a shit.
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My point is simple: no one would argue that Watson is an all time great in non-Asian visitor to Asia based on that stat, though obviously he contributed a fair bit more with the bat than Jimmy has.
That is not to knock Jimmy – it is more a comment of frustration with many journalists and commentators who seem to be intent to big certain players up, by providing stats shorn of any context.
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I find it a bullshit argument to claim that England have to rotate their bowlers because they have played so much cricket they are tired. They played two tests in Bangladesh. First of all we were told how great this was because it would act as good preparations for India, now we are told it has tired them out. Perhaps if you turn up for a major five test series against India it’s not a great idea to fit in two test matches with another country just before.
How about turning up fresh and having some more controllable warm up games? No,silly me, that is not profitable. As Anderson has got 3 of the 4 wickets to fall today it’s going to be a justified decsion. I have no idea if Woakes has a serious injury or not and the term ” rotated” seems to be a wonderful way of not revealing if a player is dropped or rested.
England look as if they have to knock over the remaining six wickets pretty quickly tomorrow. If India get that score above 450 with all the talk about the pitch breaking up it looks like problems.
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The players who play all formats do have a heavy workload. Those who don’t, not so much.
The amusing thing is that having rotated/rested/dropped/whatevered Woakes it now looks as if Broad and Stokes are carrying injuries.
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I remember one fast bowler saying that playing with injuries was more or less a fact of life, and he’d been carrying something most of his career (might have been Lee, someone like that).
If England has enough of them to rotate, and keep those on the field close to full fitness, that might be a reasonable aspiration.
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The scene was being set yesterday with Woakes, with the talk of his injury that is not really an injury. I’ll accept this if Anderson or Broad are rotated in this series as well. They’ve been great but they should not be seen as automatic starters as a duo in these conditions.
The biggest effect of Anderson’s match-fitness and Broad’s injury (albeit just a cut apparently) could be on the workload for Stokes, not least if he bowls many more spells of trying to bounce out the Indians.
Talk of early pitch marks which might suggest this is a a wicket that will not last like that of the 1st Test. If so, England have big problems unless they can get into the tail quickly.
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So, ‘Splinters’ nearly fell off the fence and accused Cookie of a moment of Craptaincy… Sometimes Victor’s little digs do point to something nearer a sink-hole!
I’m expecting to be modded so here’s my little ditty from btl
Cookie’s craptaincy has reached its 50,
Never intelligent nor forethought nifty,
Full of fill the gaps after another lapse,
Placing wrong fielders in wrong places bewilders,
Those fingernails must be so tasty,
Hey, he’s still learning, so let’s not be too hasty…
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You’ll never guess what paragraphs 3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9 of Newman’s match report are about – or perhaps you will.
As for the question picked up upon by Vic Marks, Newman offers this: “quite what Rashid was doing at fine leg when England were clearly trying to force such an error from Kohli was unclear”. What was he doing there? Er…..
Hang on until the end of Newman’s report and I think there may be the first half sentence of criticism of Cook’s captaincy from Newman since 2014 (or possibly ever). Still, when the captain’s had a vote of confidence from Comma that the Redemption tour of 2017/18 is definitely on perhaps such boldness can be safely displayed?
By the way, did anyone else feel that Charles Colvile on ‘The Verdict’ was desperate to discuss everything else but Cook’s captaincy and it was only Bob Willis persisting with the subject that forced an eventual discussion (but safely buried 40 minutes into the programme so it wouldn’t lead the narrative).
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Now the 5-0 has been avoided, mild criticsm will be allowed. As long as it comes from the right sort of people.
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Jeepers. Bloody hell.
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It’s that “To be fair” in paragraph 9 that gets me. Daily Mail 101.
By the way, I don’t know how the Cricketer captains poll turned out, but the BBC one placed Cook fourth behind Comma, Shiny Toy and 1981 and all that.
So, ahead of Nasser Hussain then.
I see Hughes is interviewing Cook in the Cricketer. How *do* subscribers keep their excitement in check? Keep us informed on lambing, being a polite dinner companion, his wife, nearly quitting, inner steel, letting batsmen cross the boundary rope first and all the other classics! On a scale of Frost-Nixon to Morgan-Trump, I know roughly where I expect the interview to land…
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Cook is not in the top 10.
I’ve checked a couple of times and can’t quite believe it, or if there is a reason he’s been left out, but Cook isn’t even in the best of the rest.
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Help. Help. I’ve been Mills and Booned to death by #39.
The rest reads like a love letter. Honestly.
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Good lord, he couldn’t even get in the top 10 of the in house Cook magazine.
Hughes interviewing him again. (YAWN)
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Bingo! Has he managed to omit even one single Cook cliche?
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“Another noticeable trait is his honorable demeanour on the field, never questioning an umpire’s decision – except with a legitimate review – or being drawn into a confrontation with an opponent…..”
I’ll let you lot take that one up….
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Funny.
Especially as they have him write a batting column.
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” cricket was barely mentioned.”
Then why are you wasting your and out time interviewing him for a cricket magazine? If you want to present Countryfile then put your application in.
Funny all this stuff starts to come out when his future is being discussed. I’ll say one thing for Cook. He knows his to use the media for his own ends. He plays Hughes like a Steinway piano.
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Simonh said recently that Australia had a functioning media. I thought that dubious, but having now read this, I’m with him. It’s a bit annoying that Australian writers only write the facts or mock, I wish they’d apply some analysis. Only get that from Chappel these days. But at least Warner and Smith are treated with skepticism and grudging but growing respect, rather than heros.
From the article: “The KP thing was still rumbling on…” I’m not an expert on the English but isn’t it only the upper class who could reduce a person and team mate to a “KP thing”? How contemptuous.
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From the article: “The KP thing was still rumbling on…” I’m not an expert on the English but isn’t it only the upper class who could reduce a person and team mate to a “KP thing”? How contemptuous.
Sorry, but he was your fucking team mate. You sweated blood and tears with him. You beat Australia in Australia with him! You beat India in India with him! He probably collapsed all sweaty and wet all over you during training sessions. You were champions together.
And he’s become “the KP thing”.
I need to work on my empathy skills, I don’t get it.
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Kind of disappointed he didn’t work in an unbiased use of “flounced off” in there.
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