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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2015 20:26:12 GMT
Amid all the meaningless guff coming out of the England camp, I thought this comment from Moores was rather good:
"Everybody can sing in the shower but not everybody can sing on the stage. You have got to be able to get it out of yourself to become a top-flight player".
The implication is that he suspects some of his squad can hit the high notes like Caruso when they're in the buff but turn tone-deaf the moment they put pads and helmet on.
I wonder which of his 'developing players' he fears might not develop much further... Finn and Woakes, who seem scared to try the yorker in case they get it wrong? Moeen, who loses all composure against any bowler who gets it above 140 kmh? Ballance? Buttler, who after a promising start is starting to look a little out of his depth as a batsman (although his keeping, which was initially regarded as suspect, has been fine).
Looking around at how the best teams play and how conservative England look in comparison, I wonder if he's now wishing he had the likes of Stokes, Jason Roy, or even Sam Billings, in his squad? All of them are inconsistent. But all of them play fearless cricket, in contrast to England's world cup squad, who look like startled rabbits caught in the headlights...
Hales also plays fearless cricket and needs to replace the disappointing Moeen at the top of the order v Scotland tomorrow. (Although ironically if Moeen plays he could well cane Scotland - with nobody remotely quick in their attack, they have just the kind of unthreatening bowling he excels against...)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 13:48:12 GMT
After India's trouncing of South Africa today, I realised that every game so far in which one of the 'big eight' has played another of 'the big eight' has been utterly, boringly one sided:- NZ vs Sri Lanka - 98 runs Aus vs Eng - 111 runs Ind vs Pak - 76 runs Eng vs NZ - 8 wickets Windies vs Pak - 150 runs Ind vs SA - 130 runs It's the so-called 'minnows' that are providing the excitement. I wonder if we are in for a close one tonight ?  |
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Post by mrsdoyle on Feb 22, 2015 14:23:08 GMT
I'm fiercely patriotic and usually hate losing to Scotland at anything but I'm hoping Scotland beat us, and Machin gets a century, because I don't believe anything short of total abject failure at the World Cup will make England take the good, long, hard look at themselves that is needed. Take last winter, after all that happened as far as the ECB was concerned it was all down to KP! Please don't think I'm a KP groupie, I would have dropped him last winter because although he was better than most of the team he was poor in relation to his capabilities, and appeared to need a wake up call, although it transpired he was injured. But sacking him and shutting the door on him for ever, just vindictive, stupid, short sighted and grossly unfair on the paying public.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 21:38:22 GMT
And still Chris Jordan and Alex Hales can't get a game. An unchanged XI!
Like Mrs D, I won't shed any tears if Scotland win, although I don't think even England can screw this one up.
Mind you, they've just screwed up by announcing the team before the toss,in breach of anti-corruption rules - so is that an augury?
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Post by coverpoint on Feb 22, 2015 21:48:41 GMT
Root average 81.5 in his first 8 ODI's and 21.78 in his next 14
Ballance 32.83 in his first 7 and 14 in his next 7
Finn 23.43 in his first 20 ODI's and 31.93 in 34 since
Hales 40 and 42 in his first 2 ODI's and an average of 8.8 in 5 ODI's since
Stokes bowling 28.87 in his first 15 ODI's and 62.75 in the last 9
Since June 2014 England's top 6 3,029 runs in 19 matches average 28.57 below Bangladesh, Ireland and Afghanistan.
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Post by hhsussex on Feb 23, 2015 8:08:53 GMT
The win over Scotland seems to have been praised with faint damns. Did anybody watch it?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2015 9:43:26 GMT
The win over Scotland seems to have been praised with faint damns. Did anybody watch it? Went to bed when Machan was out at 54-3. The Scottish bowling was awful - second XI county stuff, or even club standard with nobody getting the ball much above 130 kmh. At one point Machan and Koetzer were bowling, neither of whom bowl for their counties. Davey, Wardlaw and Evans have all had spells with county sides but not opne of them became a first XI regular. Moeen Ali predictably made hay. Bell was dreadful. Batted for 30 overs and hit two boundaries. At 172-0 after 30 overs, Botham, Knight etc reckoned England should have got 360-370. Bumble said they'd be disappointed not to get 400 from there. Instead they made 131-8 from the last 20 overs againsdt a powder puff attack. I'd say we learnt nothing we didn't already know but it will be good for the confidence, I suppose. Whether dogged occupation of the crease by Bell against the mighty Scottish attack will have unshackled him to maul Malinga and company in the next match we shall have to wait and see. Broad and Finn looked better. But then they weren't bowling at McCullum or Warner or Maxwell or Sangakarra ... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2015 10:38:54 GMT
Bell's horrible innings getting mixed reviews.
"Bell was the chief culprit here, batting as if enjoying net practice," says Mike Selvey in The Guardian.
"An innings that lacked any sense of purpose other than a dogged refusal to give up," says Nick Hoult in the Telegraph.
Kimber on cricinfo reckons that during Bell's innings, "time actually stands still. The game of ODI cricket has an out-of-body experience and watches itself in a coma."
Andy Zaltman on cricinfo reckons Moeen was left by his fellow opener to "fight a lone battle."
But the Warwickshire fan boy on cricinfo reckons Bell was "one of the key differences between these teams", and hails a Birmingham Bears triumph of "wisdom...patience and humility."
I guess the truth is that if you use up 60 per cent of the innings as a net and hit only two boundaries in 30 overs, it's fine if you turn it into a platform to accelerate in the last 20 overs and end up with 130 runs alongside your name in the scorebook. But if you end your net by getting out with 50 to your name and only 20 overs left - and as a direct result completely bugger the power play - then you're going to get pelters.
Let's face it. If Bell bats like that against anybody but Scotland in this World Cup, then he is going to ensure that his side loses the match.
ps: As for "wisdom...patience and humility", it sounds like Bell is more likely to be appointed the next Dalai Lama than he is to score the runs that will win the World Cup!!!
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Post by leedsgull on Feb 23, 2015 15:03:26 GMT
Dobell and his craven utterings deserve their own thread surely? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2015 19:00:06 GMT
Dobell and his craven utterings deserve their own thread surely? Wouldn't that be conferring a recognition that his inconsistent rantings do not justify? I actually agree with some of what he says. But what drives me mad is that the following day he will argue exactly the opposite. No two pieces he writes are ever joined-up. One piece says England are on the crest of a wave after the Tri-Series ("golden days"). One defeat later and the next piece slags them as a bunch of useless no-hopers who are frightened to "express themselves". No cliche is left unturned and when anyone points out the preposterous inconsistencies, he gets terribly precious and - judging by some very aggressive tweets -on occasion downright nasty and vicious. Everything Dobell writes is either black or white. England are either "living their dreams" or they are not fit to wear the shirt. There is no nuance, no subtlety, no recognition of shades of grey and that there may sometimes be two sides to the same story. But that's what they teach young pups like Dobell in journalism school in these dog-eat-dog digital days. If you want to be heard, be strident in as many Janus-like directions as you can, because you don't get many 'clicks' (the new measuring stick that has replaced what we used to call 'readers') by being reasoned and rational... |
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Feb 23, 2015 22:15:09 GMT
GD is the new breed of 'reactionary journo' that has been created by Twitter, the nemesis of intelligent journalism today. 'Cricinfo'
encourages him to be this 'black & white' journalist. It helps GDs name and career and helps 'Cricinfo' gain further
page views and thus higher advertising revenue as Bm points out.
Twitter is a loathsome creature for not only destroying journalism but turning the written word into cheap and highly emotional
soundbites. The saturation of tweets and blogs is so great that the only way someone can stand out amidst this growing cacophony is to become a black & white cardboard cut-out of inane rantings. A reactionary soundbite is so much easier than a thoughtful, intelligent viewpoint that matures over time. BOOM, BOOM!!!!!
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Post by hhsussex on Feb 24, 2015 7:19:33 GMT
Spectacular stuff from Gayle and Samuels this morning against Zimbabwe, reminding us that, when the motivation fires, West Indies have destructive firepower to equal any shown by their predecessors. It should be too much for Zimbabwe and should carry them through the group phase. If Ireland are going to make progress now they are going to have to do some serious giant-killing. The hitting of Gayle should also encourage other bastman who have so far far to live up to billing. In the two matches prior to this he appeared listless and unconcerned, scoring 40 off 79 balls; here he scored 212 off 147.
Also memorable is Cricinfo's ball-by-ball summary of the end of the innings and the unusual "punishment" meted out by the umpire to the offending bowler :
Chatara to Gayle, (no ball) 1 run, another full toss which is clubbed away straight to cow corner, and this one is also over waist height, as Chatara has been pulled off by the umpire for bowling two beamers in the over.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2015 9:46:57 GMT
I see that cricinfo's veneration of Bell's "wisdom, patience and humility" has attracted attention on another county's message board where England's soporific-but-saintly opener has been dubbed 'the Bellai Lama'!!!
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Post by flashblade on Feb 25, 2015 9:55:51 GMT
Ireland looking a bit rocky against the UAE - 120 for 4 after 30 overs - chasing 279. Could get very interesting . . .
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Post by hhsussex on Feb 25, 2015 14:05:17 GMT
Ireland looking a bit rocky against the UAE - 120 for 4 after 30 overs - chasing 279. Could get very interesting . . . That did the trick for Ireland, fb! The WI v SA game now looks very interesting, and could be the belwether for this group. |
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