The Cricket Thread

[capriccioso 2,545]

England need 253 to win from 39 overs. It's not impossible, especially as we play CB40 and chase these totals down every week. COME ON!

Not a chance. Unless your line up is like this:

Jayasuriya

Hayden

Ponting

Lara

Tendulkar

Gilchrist

Sehwag

Jayawardene

Gayle

Even then, I'd say impossible, and those are the most well known test match big hitters of their generation. But then again, with Imran Tahir on the bowling team, you never know.

[Ollie 4,400]

Fucking hell, KP shoulda smashed that. It's still not impossible, far from likely but not impossible. If we lose 2 more wickets soon, we need to just play the draw. Real shame, that ball was there to hammer.

[Ollie 4,400]

Why is that out, he dislodged it with his elbow, that can't be out, surely, tell me why that's out?

Anyway fuck it, time to defend. Brave to go for it but if you get out stupidly, fuck off.

Bett and Trott the defensive duo top hopefully see out the draw. Hopefully....

[capriccioso 2,545]

Is this the worst game of cricket ever played?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65220.html

[Madmax 9,219]

Delighted for Yuvraj Singh. Braveheart.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Victory for Australia u-19s in the u-19 World Cup against England. A crushing, 6 wicket win with 89 balls to spare.

We're coming back

Delighted for Yuvraj Singh. Braveheart.

Is he back playing first class cricket?

[Madmax 9,219]

Victory for Australia u-19s in the u-19 World Cup against England. A crushing, 6 wicket win with 89 balls to spare.

We're coming back

Is he back playing first class cricket?

Better, been selected for the squad that'll go to Sri Lanka for the t20 wc.

And dafuq, how many nations do you support?

[capriccioso 2,545]

Better, been selected for the squad that'll go to Sri Lanka for the t20 wc.

And dafuq, how many nations do you support?

I would support India as well, but there are too many dislikeable characters that play(ed) for India like Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Ganguly etc. If only they had a team of 11 Dravid's

So basically I support Sri Lanka as it's my semi-country of origin, and Australia as I was born here. I also like the West Indies

[Madmax 9,219]

I would support India as well, but there are too many dislikeable characters that play(ed) for India like Harbhajan, Sreesanth, Ganguly etc. If only they had a team of 11 Dravid's

The first two I can understand and even empathize with you .. talentless fools who think too much of themselves. Ganguly though - legend. I can understand other teams' dislike for him though - competitive, plays hardball and is confrontational yet has (or had, for the most part, anyway) the goods to back him up. i suppose he's the kind of guy only his own fans love. Much like Ponting or Pietersen (think the latter's shenanigans have upset the Poms a fair bit recently, mind.)

[capriccioso 2,545]

The first two I can understand and even empathize with you .. talentless fools who think too much of themselves. Ganguly though - legend. I can understand other teams' dislike for him though - competitive, plays hardball and is confrontational yet has (or had, for the most part, anyway) the goods to back him up. i suppose he's the kind of guy only his own fans love. Much like Ponting or Pietersen (think the latter's shenanigans have upset the Poms a fair bit recently, mind.)

Ponting is starting to be seen through here, now that Clarke is captain and goes about his business in a much less cunty way. Clarke isn't liked here because people think of him as a bit of a playboy type (even though he's not, its all because he had a model girlfriend and wore an earring a few years ago), people think Australian captains should be the 'strong, silent, type'; but his popularity is growing as he's the opposite of Ponting- professional, fair to the opposition, sportsmanlike etc.

I remember Ponting's outburst at the 2005 Ashes when he was run out by a sub fielder, that was disgraceful, he should have been stripped of the captaincy right then and there. And then there were his antics at the Sydney test against India in 2008, where even Australian journalists felt he turned the team into a pack of dogs.

Kohli too, appears to be quite aggressive, but all accounts say that he's a very nice guy off the pitch. So I'll put him in the Glenn McGrath/Brett Lee category of aggressive on the field but not an idiot off it.

Also I thought Ganguly was unpopular in India because he was a prince/millionaire or something?

[Duppy Conqueror 1,494]

Great to see Yuvraj Singh healthy and back in the game. hope he stays healthy and lives a long and good life.

KP and the ECB has sorted out their differences now and he is back in the fold at all forms of international cricket.

[Madmax 9,219]

Also I thought Ganguly was unpopular in India because he was a prince/millionaire or something?

Don't know where you got that from because the guy's adored among those of us who followed India's rise after the absolute nadir of the match fixing scandal circa 2000. You get people comparing every decision Dhoni makes to something Ganguly would have done when he was captain. He gave us belief, confidence and a 'take no shit' attitude.

[capriccioso 2,545]

England have dropped Pietersen. Time for Ravi! :lol:

World number 1 should go in a few days, then. And that's how hard it is to maintain number 1 status in ODIs and Tests. Someone will come for you.

[Ankit 3,176]

England are struggling to replace a decent but far from exceptional player like Collingwood. And they think they will replace KP!

KP is one of the few batsmen outside the subcontinent(esp from England) who can actually play spin. Wonder whats goin on in that camp?

[capriccioso 2,545]

England are struggling to replace a decent but far from exceptional player like Collingwood. And they think they will replace KP!

KP is one of the few batsmen outside the subcontinent(esp from England) who can actually play spin. Wonder whats goin on in that camp?

Apparently he was sending dissenting text messages, and Flower/ECB didn't like that.

Also it's surprising just how poor England are against spin, considering their coach is one of the greatest players of spin of all time, and certainly the greatest player of spin not from the subcontinent. He once scored 550 runs against India, in India, in just 4 innings, and he was only dismissed twice

[Ankit 3,176]

Apparently he was sending dissenting text messages, and Flower/ECB didn't like that.

Also it's surprising just how poor England are against spin, considering their coach is one of the greatest players of spin of all time, and certainly the greatest player of spin not from the subcontinent. He once scored 550 runs against India, in India, in just 4 innings, and he was only dismissed twice

Why would he send dissenting messages about his team/board? Certainly doesnt look like that kind of a chap!! May be there is a second side to the whole story.

Regarding Andy Flower, I gotta be honest he was a constant pain in the arse for every indian everytime we played Zimbabwe. It was always the case of getting him out and winning the match and most of the times he found some good partner(Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower) and would play the spin so comfortably and spoil the party.

Flower was the best batsman from the nation and was the only one who could stand against any attack anywhere.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Why would he send dissenting messages about his team/board? Certainly doesnt look like that kind of a chap!! May be there is a second side to the whole story.

Regarding Andy Flower, I gotta be honest he was a constant pain in the arse for every indian everytime we played Zimbabwe. It was always the case of getting him out and winning the match and most of the times he found some good partner(Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower) and would play the spin so comfortably and spoil the party.

Flower was the best batsman from the nation and was the only one who could stand against any attack anywhere.

Haha, in total, he scored 1138 runs against India at an average of 94. Which went up to a mind boggling 117 whenever he played in India. Funnily he struggled in Pakistan (relatively) and Sri Lanka.

Pietersen apparently sent texts criticising Flower, Strauss and other team mates in a derogatory manner to the South African team.

Cricinfo have a great little piece on it:

May 31, 2012

Kevin Pietersen retires from all international limited-overs cricket with immediate effect because of "the intensity of the international schedule". He remains available for consideration as a Test match player. The news comes four months before England defend their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka and follows failed negotiations between the England officials and Pietersen during the Lord's Test against West Indies. The sticking point is England's insistence that Pietersen must be available for all ODIs, as required, as well as Twenty20.

June 13, 2012

Pietersen receives support from an unlikely corner:his England team-mate Graeme Swann. "There comes a time when you get towards the end of your career, into your thirties, when something's got to give," Swann says. "You can flog yourself to death and fall to pieces or you can start to be quite wise and make a pragmatic decision. I can understand where he's coming from because there's certainly times I look at a schedule and just think: 'How can I do this? My body's killing me. I haven't seen my kids, my wife is ready to get up and walk out because I'm never here.' We're human beings at the end of the day."

July 13, 2012

After making a scintillating unbeaten 234 for Surrey at Guildford, Pietersen tells ESPNcricinfo that he would "love to play all forms of cricket for England for another three or four years" and reiterated his desire to be included in England's World Twenty20 squad. Pietersen, fresh from meetings with ECB officials, including Hugh Morris, the managing director of English cricket, complains: "I needed to get away from the schedule. I cannot keep playing every single day's cricket. I've never been looked after."

July 15, 2012

Days before England are due to announce their initial squad of 30 for the World Twenty20, England's director of cricket, Andy Flower, offers Pietersen little hope of a way back. "The situation is the same as it was when he first approached us," he says. "The ECB are determined to protect all three formats of the game and part of that is not setting a precedent of allowing players to retire from one-day cricket alone. The intent behind it is that we are serving English cricket in its entirety. We have to take personalities out of the equation."

July 18, 2012

Pietersen, who was Player of the Tournament when England won the World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010 - the only global trophy they have ever won - is omitted from England's provisional 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September. But it is confirmed that players can be brought into the final 15 from outside the squad with good reason.

July 28, 2012

Starved of all forms of England one-day cricket, Pietersen is believed to be considering a deal to play in Australia's Big Bash League, with the Melbourne Renegades and both Sydney sides - the Sixers and the Thunder - contesting his signature. Mike McKenna, Cricket Australia's commercial general manager and the project manager of the BBL, said: "He is definitely one of the top three or four global cricket stars at the moment. He's an explosive batsman, can bowl, and he would bring a charisma to the Big Bash League."

August 4, 2012

Pietersen plays one of Test cricket's greatest attacking innings. An audacious unbeaten 149 against South Africa on the third day of the second Test at Headingley lifts England's spirits. They go on to draw the second Test to stay 1-0 down in the series with one to play. Pietersen becomes the quickest player, in terms of time, to 7000 Test runs.

August 6, 2012

Pietersen is enticed into an extraordinary press conference after the Headingley Test in which he says he cannot give any assurances that the next Test at Lord's won't be his last. "I'd like to carry on but there are obstacles that need to be worked out. There are other points I'm trying to sort out in the dressing room," he says. Implied criticism of his England team-mates attracts heavy criticism in the English media and tips many cricket followers into heated pro and anti Pietersen camps.

August 8, 2012

Another twist in an increasingly unlikely saga as Pietersen is revealed to be upset over a parody Twitter account @KevPietersen24 - which mocks his egotistical style and which he suspects emanates from the England dressing room. Documentation seen by ESPNcricinfo proves that the account is not directly managed by a player. The account is later closed.

August 10, 2012

Another sub-text in a story that is careering out of control. Pietersen's texts to South African players after the Headingley Test hint at his growing isolation in the England dressing room. English newspapers claim that the captain, Andrew Strauss, was criticised, but provide no evidence and South African officials describe the texts as "just banter." But England players and selectors are quick to take offence at any imagined slight.

August 11, 2012

Pietersen goes to the extrordinary lengths of issuing a video interview on YouTube in which he expresses full commitment to England and makes himself available for all three forms of the game. The England selectors respond by delaying the announcement of their squad for the final Test against South Africa at Lord's, due at 9.30am the following day, by five hours.

August 12, 2012

England leave Pietersen out of the squad for the Lord's Test, saying that he had been unable to provide an undertaking that he had not sent text messages to South Africa players that were "derogatery" about people in the England set-up. Hugh Morris, managing director of England, said: "The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust."

[Madmax 9,219]

This thread is cap's bitch. He posts when we wants.