It perhaps shows the ODI fatigue of ourselves at BOC that it wasn’t until 9 o’clock this morning that someone even thought to ask “Is anyone writing today’s post?” Having the day off today (as part of my normal rota, rather than actively making sure I could see an England game), I drew the short straw.
With Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies falling by the wayside over the past week, the arithmetic is now quite simple for England. If they win today, they go through. If they draw or tie today, they will almost certainly go through on Net Run Rate. If they lose today, then they will still go through unless Pakistan beat Bangladesh on Friday. New Zealand are also technically vulnerable, although they would have to lose by a very large margin today to allow Pakistan to catch them on Net Run Rate.
The stories this morning about the teams’ fitness seem to be playing into England’s hands. Roy and Archer have both been declared “fully fit”, which must have surprised the Indians after Roy was considered physically unable to field a single ball just three days ago. For their opposition, New Zealand’s dangerous fast bowler Lockie Ferguson is being rested as a precaution due to having a tight left hamstring.
In other news, Sky have completely ruled out any possibility of airing the final on Freeview, even in the event that England are playing. This would seem to make a mockery of the claims Sky and the ECB made when the latest TV deal was signed, when both declared themselves partners in trying to increase participation and interest in cricket. Or, to quote Sky Sports’ Managing Director Barney Francis:
“[This TV deal] extends our partnership with the game into a third decade and will see us work with the ECB to excite and engage cricket fans of all ages. We will continue to innovate in our coverage and make it accessible across our channels, products and services. And drawing on our experience of getting millions on their bikes with our successful 8-year Sky Ride initiative, we are committed to working with the ECB to help grow the game at all levels.”
Back to today, with a close loss for New Zealand still virtually assuring their place in the semi finals it seems unlikely that the Black Caps will bat with the same intensity that they might in a more important game, so England really should be able to win this game against a team who are already looking forwards to their own semi final. But, as any English cricket fan will tell you (particularly after the last few weeks), England have a tendency to make things difficult for themselves and their supporters at times and you can take nothing for granted.
As always, please comment on the game or anything else which catches your attention below.
Being Outside Cricket 
Part of the linked tweet reads:
“Final likely to be broadcast on Sky One, as well as Sky Sports, if England are involved to enhance audience reach.”
My aching sides.
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The so called much trumpeted “partnership” seems more like a hostage/ kidnapper relationship. Although which one is the hostage and which one is the kidnapper?…..is open to debate.
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I doubt too many people believe that Roy and Archer are “fully fit” but there is no choice but to play them and cross all 20 fingers and toes. I think we can win but pressure can make players do funny things. But even if we loose, this team got to number 1 in the world which is amazing when you consider how bad they were four years ago. (but I really, really want to win – you people have no idea what it is like to live amongst bogan Australian cricket fans)
Is there any news about Jimmy?
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England were seeded first for the 2015 World Cup. Which must have meant that they were #1 ranked at the cut-off point, which I guess was somewhere in 2013.
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You should add concerns about Rashid. It seems a while since he bowled more than 6 or so overs and has not generally been as effective as usual.
I wonder if Roy will do any fielding? If he is allowed to have a sub then you know there is something wrong with the competition. Spirit of cricket anyone? Morgan’s concept of team spirit seems to involve a highly personal and flexible approach to ethics, more akin to the mafia than general society.
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That’s a bit harsh on Morgan, since the abuse of substitute fielders is pretty widespread. Even in the same game, Jadeja (arguably India’s best fielder) seemed omnipresent in the field despite not being in the starting XI.
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Of course it’s harsh but Kohli doesn’t preach about trust and all that values stuff, does he? I don’t think he cares about peace and harmony in the dressing room. I imagine the Indian room is full of passion and disagreement and argument, which turns into a focus on winning when they are out in the middle.
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I just can’t take the whole “spirit of cricket” thing seriously at all. Doesn’t matter which country it is. For some, sledging is against the spirit of the game. For others it’s taking sandpaper out, and doing a bit of DIY. For others it’s over zealous appealing. For some reason England have a bee in their bonnet about Mankading despite the fact it’s legal.
As to the issue of players not fielding I’m with Michael Holding. Players can go off and on the ground as much as they want, they can go off to the movies if they wish, but they don’t get a substitute.
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At least they got rid of “runners” – I can’t quite remember Healy’s sledge to Ranatunga but it was something along the lines of “you don’t get a runner just because your fat”.
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Honestly, just ban substitute fielders, barring obvious injury (broken legs, concussion), and make whoever is being substituted out ineligible for at least two weeks, if not four.
If batsmen can’t have runners for legitimate injuries, because most of the runners were taken for frivolous reasons, then I don’t see why you can’t ban substitute fielders in its entirety either.
As for toilet breaks, have them coincide with drinks breaks, since those take 5-10 minutes anyway. Problem solved.
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I suspect that will happen at some point. For ODIs/T20s to begin at least. It’s been heading that way for a while, with the restrictions becoming ever more stringent. If a player gets injured, that’s just tough luck I would suggest. I never get the fairness angle on such things, it’s hardly fair to be batting under cloud cover when the day before it was sunny, no one suggests we do anything about that.
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And the reason the restrictions have had to become more stringent is because too many players/captains/coaches abuse the concept.
The very same people who talk piously about the “spirit of cricket.”(When it is in their interest)
The amount of faffing around in Test cricket these days with players going on, and off the ground is ludicrous. Let players go for a pee if they want or a drink or even a lie down for thirty minutes, but they get no replacement. Sure,there will be the genuine case of injured, but it will quickly put a stop to all the fakery.
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An alternative might be to permit a number of subs but that’s it, as in other games. So if Roy was smoking it as a batter but you don’t want him to field, you have to sub him before the end of his innings. And, if he is subbed as a fielder, he has to be a sub in the next game
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Roy & Bairstow making the most of the toss so far.
Some riding their luck going on… but that’s part of how ODI cricket works.
Interesting however as here in 8th over the shine is off the ball a bit and the batsmen’s timing is suddenly slightly off.
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Was any reason given for why Gower, Botham and Lloyd are commentating? (several come to mind but none printable)
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sorry – meant “aren’t commentating”. I assume the coverage in Australia is bought from Sky.
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At the World Cup? It’s a central pool of commentators decided by the ICC/Sunset + Vine. Same commentary for all English speaking markets around the world.
Those three weren’t chosen. Sky just take the main feed and add the presenting stuff.
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I figured it was something like that but I wondered if anything was said about why they weren’t chosen. I assume they will be back for the Ashes.
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I find the ICC hand picked commentators very bland. The Michael Holding incident didnt show the broadcasters or the ICC in a good light. It all sounds like some state broadcaster out of a banana republic.
Just another reason I use the mute button on my tv these days, and have a bit of music on. I want to be enlightened or educated or entertained. I don’t want ICC/ECB Pravda.
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Very good knock from Bairstow but what a pity he didn’t kick on.
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Not cricket related but I know you like constructive feedback so I wanted to say that I like the LUISAVIAROMA adverts
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Nowt to do with us. The only ads on here are WordPress ones because we’re too tight to pay for the ad-free version.
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Wheel falling off a bit. I wonder if they thought about not hitting the ball in the air?
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Obviously I was referring to New Zealand’s wheels.
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Amazed that Nichols didn’t review that!
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England can’t complain about the umpiring. Again.
Why not automate the umpiring, since the standing ones average 1 howler a game at best. But I suspect the number is closer to two, and that is still discounting the rather dubious non no-ball calls.
Is Roy fielding?
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yes
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Wonderful catch by Buttler. I’m starting to feel al little better
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So, I thought it was a sporting nonsense yesterday and it’s a nonsense today, as much as running out Williamson is probably a good thing for England. (And yes, like yesterday I have no practical proposal for how you’d write a run out law that excluded this fingertip business…)
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Spare a thought for Pakistan. From the looks of it, they need a massive win against Bangladesh to qualify (and that may well go wrong for them. A win by 50 runs won’t suffice. And the weather gods certainly contributed to that. New Zealand lucked out by getting a washout against strong opposition, Pakistan suffered one against weak opposition.
Idiotic running by New Zealand. Pakistan’s best hope is that New Zealand lose by 150+ runs.
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Is Ross Taylor the first ever batsman to lose out by gambling against Rashid in the field? Perhaps.
Still, NZ in big trouble now.
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England now putting salt in the wound by bringing Root into the attack.
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140 off 11 overs with only 3 wickets left, NZ probably better off just batting out their 50 overs and improving their run rate.
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Pakistan need to win by 300 runs or so against Bangladesh for New Zealand to miss out. Not going to happen. So losing a point to Sri Lanka (they had never lost to them in a World Cup) proves to be decisive (New Zealand had a washout too, but against India). The ICC got what they wanted, and all is well.
(and since Pakistan have to play for an outrageous win, expect them to collapse in a heap because of that).
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I suspect the ICC would have preferred Pakistan in the last four instead of NZ. That would be the big three plus the potential of a Pak Vs India semi or final.
Their ideal would have been Eng Vs Aus and India vs Pak as the two semis.
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Whoo Hoo!
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Well, since the Banglas have missed the semis, I’m glad England are there.
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