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The Cricket Thread


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1 minute ago, Alex said:

If you take Bradman out of the equation then he is is right up there with the others in terms of all time great test batsmen. He’s really that good. Especially over the last five years. It’s just an incredible run of form. 

 

Needs a ton in Aussie to cement his status, but he could be thevbest ever of modern era. Privilege to watch him.

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2 minutes ago, Toonpack said:

 

Needs a ton in Aussie to cement his status, but he could be thevbest ever of modern era. Privilege to watch him.

I don’t even think that’s true. Practically every batsman ever has a weak spot in their career, re Australia. Although we obviously place a lot of emphasis on the Ashes. I guess a century there would be the icing on the cake though, especially if it’s with a series win. Not saying I think England will win in the winter but it feels like we’re as competitive as we have been in a long time. 
Re: his place amongst the greats he’s the best since Tendulkar I’d say. I’d probably put Lara and Richards slightly higher. It’s always a bit of a pointless debate comparing different eras I suppose. But his record stands up to anyone in recent times. 

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6 minutes ago, Alex said:

I don’t even think that’s true. Practically every batsman ever has a weak spot in their career, re Australia. Although we obviously place a lot of emphasis on the Ashes. I guess a century there would be the icing on the cake though, especially if it’s with a series win. Not saying I think England will win in the winter but it feels like we’re as competitive as we have been in a long time. 
Re: his place amongst the greats he’s the best since Tendulkar I’d say. I’d probably put Lara and Richards slightly higher. It’s always a bit of a pointless debate comparing different eras I suppose. But his record stands up to anyone in recent times. 

 

A ton in Aussie would definitely confirm him in the very upper pantheon (series win or not IMO, both would be good though 😁).

 

Different game through the ages and impossible to compare, even things like the advent of all the protective gear has had an effect on batsmen's mentality, then there's the bat technology and the pitches etc etc etc.

 

Standing up to Marshall, Roberts and Holding wouldn't be as daunting in modern kit but it'd still be scary as fuck.

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Yeah, everything changes all the time. There were arguably better bowlers in Lara and Tendulkar’s era too. More poor sides to play maybe now too. DRS balances things out a bit in favour of the bowlers a bit though. 

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4 hours ago, Gemmill said:

India :lol:

 

300 runs behind and 0-2. 

After that I thought it was going to be an exciting session. Fair play to India but it’s like watching paint dry. The highlight being the Barmy Army finding someone in the party stand that looks like Michael van Gerwin…

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5 hours ago, Gemmill said:

India :lol:

 

300 runs behind and 0-2. 

 

It was all going, even more than, swimmingly until this post 👆

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1 hour ago, catmag said:

After that I thought it was going to be an exciting session. Fair play to India but it’s like watching paint dry. The highlight being the Barmy Army finding someone in the party stand that looks like Michael van Gerwin…

 

Aye it's been DOGSHIT since then. Hopefully tomorrow brings some wickets. 

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15 hours ago, Alex said:

There were arguably better bowlers in Lara and Tendulkar’s era too. More poor sides to play maybe now too.

 

Loved watching Lara bat for his elegance. Man, what a player. But Root is probably closest out of this era. An all time great for sure (as much as it is painful to acknowledge from an antipodean perspective. :lol: )

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I've always had a mental asterisk next to Ponting's numbers because of the side he played in and particularly the attack he played with for just about his whole career, rarely faced scoreboard pressure and obviously never faced McGrath or Warne ( or Gillespie and Lee for that matter).

 

No doubt an extremely good/elite player but not so sure he's a "great" he averages under 40 in India, England and Sri Lanka, but maybe that's just me. Fwiw - Sachin blows him away everywhere and is within 2 runs in Aussie, 58 average v Ponting's 60). As does Root with the exception of in Aussie where he's been relatively dire.

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Tendulkar batted for his average for about the last third of his career also had Dravid at 3 for over a decade though. 

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7 hours ago, toonotl said:

 

Loved watching Lara bat for his elegance. Man, what a player. But Root is probably closest out of this era. An all time great for sure (as much as it is painful to acknowledge from an antipodean perspective. :lol: )

Lara carried that West Indies team for most of his career too. And was as easy on the eye as it gets when he was at his best. Capable of innings of genius at times too, when all seemed lost. That innings against Australia in Barbados, arguably the greatest team of all time, in those circumstances was unbelievable. Literally. 
I don’t think you ever have sporting heroes quite like the ones when you are a kid though. For me the two standouts were Gower and Sir Viv. The former was the best timer of a ball I’ve ever seen. And Richards could destroy bowling attacks in a way that you never really saw back then. 

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4 hours ago, Alex said:

Lara carried that West Indies team for most of his career too. And was as easy on the eye as it gets when he was at his best. Capable of innings of genius at times too, when all seemed lost. That innings against Australia in Barbados, arguably the greatest team of all time, in those circumstances was unbelievable. Literally. 
I don’t think you ever have sporting heroes quite like the ones when you are a kid though. For me the two standouts were Gower and Sir Viv. The former was the best timer of a ball I’ve ever seen. And Richards could destroy bowling attacks in a way that you never really saw back then. 

 

Yeah. 100% I was a child during the 90s, so it was Lara and Tendulkar. I loved Tendulkar too but its always Lara for me. Plus I was partial to Martin Crowe, being a kiwi. Another wonderfully elegant batsman. The modern players are undoubtedly enormously talented but watching as an adult compared to being a child it's a completely different experience.

 

I missed the likes of Viv Richards and Gower and those truly dominant Windies sides, too, unfortunately. That 80s era strikes me as the golden age of test cricket in many ways.

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Martin Crowe is quite underrated and a little bit forgotten mainly due to NZ not playing as much test cricket as some countries. But they had some really good players in that era. Ian Smith and Jeremy Coney who are also great commentators on TV and radio respectively. John Wright was a good player too but the best of course was Richard Hadlee who absolutely tormented the English when, in 86 I think it was, the Kiwis won their first series in England. 

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6 minutes ago, wykikitoon said:

When the score board says 30 extra's is that stuff like no balls?

No balls, wides and byes.

 

There was some very wayward stuff.

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10 hours ago, wykikitoon said:

When the score board says 30 extra's is that stuff like no balls?

What Toonpack said plus leg byes (hits the body, usually the legs, but not the bat). Also penalty runs. The latter is unusual but can be awarded by the umpire for violations by the fielding team. Also, you rarely see it now in professional cricket but in the days before all the support staff you’d sometimes have a helmet that had been worn for close in fielding that had been taken off. To save time/effort an unworn helmet would be placed a few yards behind where the wicketkeeper was standing. If the ball hits a helmet that  is not being worn during play then the batting team is awarded 5 penalty runs that count as extras. Rare but I have seen it happen. Extras were always called ‘sundries’ in Australia but I’m not sure if they still used the term. 

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42 minutes ago, Alex said:

What Toonpack said plus leg byes (hits the body, usually the legs, but not the bat). Also penalty runs. The latter is unusual but can be awarded by the umpire for violations by the fielding team. Also, you rarely see it now in professional cricket but in the days before all the support staff you’d sometimes have a helmet that had been worn for close in fielding that had been taken off. To save time/effort an unworn helmet would be placed a few yards behind where the wicketkeeper was standing. If the ball hits a helmet that  is not being worn during play then the batting team is awarded 5 penalty runs that count as extras. Rare but I have seen it happen. Extras were always called ‘sundries’ in Australia but I’m not sure if they still used the term. 

 

Penalty runs happened in this series, Root deflected a ball from the slips and it rolled into the lids behind Smith. Second test (I think).

Edited by Toonpack
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