Post by Wicked Cricket on Apr 4, 2016 12:59:43 GMT
Twitter is a wonderful litmus paper for an immediate emotional response to either success or failure on the cricketing field. It has this raw gut instinct that no other social media portrays.
STOKES CHOKES and DON'T POKE STOKES - ENGLAND ARE STILL HEROES, vied with each other for several hours, until the big Twitter guns like Vaughan and Piers Morgan to Bumble and Pietersen sided with Ben Stokes. "Stokes put his hand up to bowl that final over; he should be applauded for his courage. Don't knock the guy..." was the establishment line and, of course, it would be unfair to criticise Stokes at such a highly charged emotional time. Come on, it was a great final - another fantastic T20 match. It had everything and once more portrayed cricket to the sporting outsider as a truly exciting game to follow. What better publicity and marketing could there have been?
Yet, the reaction, once more, portrayed the English to be past masters at representing the heroic failure - a trait which manifested during the Victorian era. Captain Robert Scott would be deemed a failure in many other countries. He was beaten to the pole by Roald Amundsen and then died with his men on the return journey. Yet, future generations were told at school of his amazing courage. He was a hero to be emulated. The Charge of the Light Brigade is viewed as the bravest act known to man, yet, closer scrutiny suggests it was an act of insanity - just like much of WW1.
Perhaps, Ben Stokes can now be added to that lengthy list of heroic failures? In the cold light of day his final over was a calamity. His first two balls were almost identical leg side half volleys, sitting up to be smashed for 6; and in fact, given his poor bowling, no doubt exacerbated by the pressure of the moment, Brathwaite might well have hit him for 6 sixes in that over. Where was the slower ball; the wide off-side yorker, the slow bouncer?
One has immense sympathy for Stokes. That over may haunt him for the rest of his career. At just 24 years-old he has so much more experience to gain and England supporters are willing him to do well, as they want, even need, another Freddie Flintoff to grace the field and Stokes is the closest thing they have.
If there is a person to blame it must be Eoin Morgan. While the decision to use Joe Root for the second over was pure genius, deciding before the match Stokes would bowl the last over showed inflexibility and lack of imagination. Whilst Willey and Jordan were bowling out of their skins, Stokes was not having his best match. The hero against New Zealand, like so many youngsters, Stokes inconsistency dogs him and surely Morgan realising that he was not in his top groove, the Captain should have changed the pre-match plan and asked either Jordan or Willey to bowl that final fateful over and rejigged the order. Too late now; but it will be interesting to see, once the dust settles, how history may view the T20 World Cup 2016 final.
Meanwhile, it is rumoured that there won't be another T20 WC until 2020 which only adds to yesterday's hurt.
STOKES CHOKES and DON'T POKE STOKES - ENGLAND ARE STILL HEROES, vied with each other for several hours, until the big Twitter guns like Vaughan and Piers Morgan to Bumble and Pietersen sided with Ben Stokes. "Stokes put his hand up to bowl that final over; he should be applauded for his courage. Don't knock the guy..." was the establishment line and, of course, it would be unfair to criticise Stokes at such a highly charged emotional time. Come on, it was a great final - another fantastic T20 match. It had everything and once more portrayed cricket to the sporting outsider as a truly exciting game to follow. What better publicity and marketing could there have been?
Yet, the reaction, once more, portrayed the English to be past masters at representing the heroic failure - a trait which manifested during the Victorian era. Captain Robert Scott would be deemed a failure in many other countries. He was beaten to the pole by Roald Amundsen and then died with his men on the return journey. Yet, future generations were told at school of his amazing courage. He was a hero to be emulated. The Charge of the Light Brigade is viewed as the bravest act known to man, yet, closer scrutiny suggests it was an act of insanity - just like much of WW1.
Perhaps, Ben Stokes can now be added to that lengthy list of heroic failures? In the cold light of day his final over was a calamity. His first two balls were almost identical leg side half volleys, sitting up to be smashed for 6; and in fact, given his poor bowling, no doubt exacerbated by the pressure of the moment, Brathwaite might well have hit him for 6 sixes in that over. Where was the slower ball; the wide off-side yorker, the slow bouncer?
One has immense sympathy for Stokes. That over may haunt him for the rest of his career. At just 24 years-old he has so much more experience to gain and England supporters are willing him to do well, as they want, even need, another Freddie Flintoff to grace the field and Stokes is the closest thing they have.
If there is a person to blame it must be Eoin Morgan. While the decision to use Joe Root for the second over was pure genius, deciding before the match Stokes would bowl the last over showed inflexibility and lack of imagination. Whilst Willey and Jordan were bowling out of their skins, Stokes was not having his best match. The hero against New Zealand, like so many youngsters, Stokes inconsistency dogs him and surely Morgan realising that he was not in his top groove, the Captain should have changed the pre-match plan and asked either Jordan or Willey to bowl that final fateful over and rejigged the order. Too late now; but it will be interesting to see, once the dust settles, how history may view the T20 World Cup 2016 final.
Meanwhile, it is rumoured that there won't be another T20 WC until 2020 which only adds to yesterday's hurt.
