I’m not going to lie, none of the writers are particularly enthused by this ODI series. It feels like the ECB are punishing us once again, for the many that love Test Cricket, with as much white ball stuff as you can shake a stick at (sorry Sri). There is a ready made excuse that these are vital games in the build up to the 2019 World Cup, but many of us see this as a ruse to make some more money by advertising the fact that the ‘cheating’ Aussies are in town. Mind you, they do seem to have suddenly got very thin skinned over the course of the winter.
Still, whilst Malcolm Conn gloated his way in advance of the first ODI, Australia performed like the Scottish 2nd XI with the bat, only for England to do their best to try and grab defeat from the jaws of victory. A 3 wicket victory might well have pleased the English management but it was hardly a performance to write home about, my favourite moment being Moeen trying to launch the bowler into the Thames and majestically failing when a run a ball would’ve been easy enough to secure victory. Brave new England and all of that malarkey.
I doubt I’m going to see much of the game tomorrow, but for those that are bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and better at coming up with bad analogies than me, then please do comment below…
Being Outside Cricket 
Don’t worry Sean. I am not enthused about this series either. India is not playing and it is not a world cup either.
But, I do track what happens out of curiosity just as I watch the boys in my apartment complex play cricket. Tracking cricket daily is a long term bad habit.
😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can’t say I am able to watch much of it, let alone feeling that I’m missing out. I struggled to even keep up with much at the moment. Haven’t even watched a ball of Afghanistan’s test debut although there wasn’t much to miss, sadly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course, if I had been an English or Australian fan, I would have displayed more interest in the series as I usually spend some time watching India play any cricket match be it played with a red or white ball.
LikeLike
“Your better than that @AlisonMitchell ?” Well, eh, yes she probably is. She has an adequate command of spelling and grammar too, unlike Boof. How nice to see the new culture on display.
LikeLike
The worst thing about the Ali dismissal, apart from the fact that just like in the Scotland game he had given it away yet again having been completely in control was the moronic commentary of Broad in the commentary box.
Why does Sky think giving a platform to a fellow team mate offer anything but bland clap trap? So anyway….. Broad says something like…..paraphrasing……. ”I don’t mind seeing Ali get out like that playing his shots.”
Really? When they only need about 25ish with a lots of overs left. This obsession broadcasters have with the cretinous opinions of players or ex players is making sport unwatchable. I find Most ex players don’t even know the basic rules to their own sport these days. (Mind you, in fairness in cricket the authorities change the rules so often it must be difficult keeping up.)
And in other news after last nights game betweeen Spain and Portugal I see we have another bout of …..” the greatest game ever…….” idiocy. The BBC have already told us it will be the greatest game of the tournament. How do they know?
LikeLike
What are you complaining about? Channel 9 have David Warner in the studio for this game. Fortunately, in the absence of subtitles, I can’t understand a word he says.
LikeLike
Yes I saw that. The broadcasters have total contempt for their audiences. I wonder if the governing bodies put pressure on for this? I doubt it to be honest. But they do seem to want a more Pravda coverage rather than independent thought.
However, Warner is freak show. People will tune in just to see if he starts flinging his own shit. Mind you as channel nine have lost the broadcasting rights maybe they think this a a giant middle finger to cricket Australia?.
Who knows?
LikeLike
I’d love it to be a giant middle finger to cricket Australia. However, I suspect it is just part of the PR campaign to ensure that the Australian fans welcome back Smith, Warner and Bancroft with open arms.
LikeLike
Many people in England also consider Pietersen a freak show. The few commentary stints he had were quite good in all fairness. Certainly not as brainless or thoughtless as the MSM stooges and the ECB desperately try to paint him as. He certainly comes across like someone who could teach many current players a thing or two about the game.
Well, the most recent shit-slinger in the comms box recently is now Cricket, Director (albeit that he has stepped down temporarily to deal with grave family matters; I wish a speedy recovery for Mrs. Strauss) – it was among Selvey’s cricketing highlights of 2014 after all. And I don’t think he is the only “polished” shit-slinger that has been on commentary in England in the last decade or so.
There is nothing wrong with having a thinking player / ex-player on commentary, provided they share real insights into the game. Whether that is football, chess, cricket or whatnot. Spouting platitudes and / or thinking one is running a comedy skit however are not on.
And that is precisely where many of these ex-players fall short. Because at times you’re just left wondering whether Nasser and Vaughan are commentators or cheerleaders. It just takes gross incompetence from England to occasionally get a bit of quality commentary from those two.
LikeLike
KP didn’t start commentating until he was thrown out of the team, and had absolutely no way of ever get back in the dressing room. Big difference, he has the freedom to be more honest. He was also by then a complete outsider so it didn’t matter what he said as far as the other England players or selectors or management thought.
He also hadn’t been embroiled in a cheating scandal where other players were encouraged to tamper with the ball. Also, he hadn’t a reputation for screaming in the face of opponents. I maintain my claim that Warner is a freak show. I don’t think it sends a great message to other players that you can do all these things and then be rewarded with a media gig.
I used to have a lot of respect for Nasser both as a captain, and as a commentator. Very honest and forthright. Then he became Cooks stenographer. As to Vaughn I not sure what he believes in because he just seems to say the first thing that comes into his head.
I agree with you about Strauss, terrible pundit. But Sky seem to have a policy that if you were an ex England captain you must be a great commentator. Gower, Atherton, Nasser, Botham, Strauss, Willis. Only Bumble never captained England. (They never hired KP mind. Too many haters.) No doubt Cook will to be given a nice plum job when he retires. Thank goodness for the mute button!
LikeLike
Next ball tampering incident / saga in the West Indies, where Sri Lanka have refused to take the field at the start of Day 3 – and the rumour is that they’re not happy when the umpires asked Dhananjaya de Silva a bit about how he polished the ball.
Wonder if they’ll bother to show up eventually.
LikeLike
It has been an hour now, still no progress.
LikeLike
So finally, 2 hours after the scheduled start of play, play has resumed. Not sure what the ramifications are (for Sri Lankan players in particular), but that may just as well have killed the chances of this Test having a decisive result, since there is bad weather forecast on Day 5.
LikeLike
Really enthused about this series. Thank you ECB!
LikeLike
Yeah, non-competitive matches are the future for cricket. Especially in games / series that the public has only witnessed 3 dozen times in 9 years.
England to win by 100 runs or so. How compelling, especially when there will be more of the same.
LikeLike
England footballers have been rehabilitated with the news that Iceland have held Argentina.
This World Cup is going to become very tedious mind you, if it its only about Ronaldo vs Messi.
LikeLike
What a buffoon Ben Young’s is….”He steps up to give an interview to Sky Sports and gives a one sentence response and turns and walks away.”
And people wonder why England rugby is seen as arrogant.
Sir Clive Woodward on Sky Sports: “I really, really don’t like that. Ben Youngs isn’t that sort of person, it shows just what mentality this England team have. I’m astonished by that. You shouldn’t do that to anyone in the media – I’m surprised and disappointed.”
LikeLike
“Joe Marler and Mike Brown are having words with fans in the tunnel as a dejected England side come back into the dressing room. Their heads are down, they look cross and extremely angry and it’s proving hard to hide.”
Pathetic, although I’m sure it will be spun as how much they care.
The wheels are coming off.
LikeLike
Eddie Jones “We’re missing 25 players from this tour, the players here are making a great fist of it and we’re going to keep at it and keep working.”
Not much point going then if you are going to complain about all the wrong players being there.
By the way, Aus need another 130 off 13 overs if anyone is interested.
LikeLike
Was pleasantly surprised to see highlights were on Channel 5 tonight. I’d just assumed it’d be exclusive to Sky. Given that the game was still going when the show started the production team must have worked quickly to get it edited. It’d be nice to think that some FTA cricket might entice a few viewers away from the football.
Nice to see Roy making a big score, but was shaking my head at Moeen getting out to the same shot for the third game running.
LikeLike
Chandimal charged with ball tampering. It is going to be interesting how the ICC handles this now given the Smith Warner bancroft show
LikeLike