The Official Cricket '07/'08 thread!!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Status
Not open for further replies.

cobl04

45:33
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
59,306
Location
East Point to Shaolin
Well this thread will prolly fall in a hole, considering how bad the World Cup was, but I love my cricket still, and enjoy talking about it muchly. Plus, there's plenty to chinwag over. Including:

  • The controversial Indian breakway league
  • The current England v India series
  • Whoever else is playing at the moment
  • Australia's ridiculous schedule for the following year
  • Why England are so pathetic
  • The World Cup
  • The upcoming Twenny20 world cup
  • County cricket
  • Shane Warne's list
  • Shane Warne wanting to become a German
  • and so on.

So join me if the World Cup didn't completely destroy your cricketing fandom.
 
:love: My God, I was gunna open a cricket thread for this summer :up: ... Despite the crappy WC i'm desperate for some Australian cricket action :drool:
Can't wait for the tests, should be great to see how they handle the post-Warne/McGrath/Langer era...
 
New Zealand's going to win.

Yeah, take that ... SOMEONE!
 
Well, Warnie said he wasn't all of a sudden gonna become "Adolf Warne", so yeah, what a legend.

If Hodge doesn't play for Australia, I will support whoever is playing Australia.

Looking forward to more days at the domestic one dayers at an empty MCG, basking in the sun on level 3. Great way to chill out in summer.
 
intedomine said:
Well, Warnie said he wasn't all of a sudden gonna become "Adolf Warne", so yeah, what a legend.

If Hodge doesn't play for Australia, I will support whoever is playing Australia.

OK, I'm out of the loop. What's all this about?
 
There was talk of Warnie applying for German citizenship, as a means of allowing him to play for English counties for an extended period of time or something. How that works, i dunno, but it's kinda funny to imagine Warnie as a German.
 
I'd assume it's due to the freedom of movement Warne would get thanks to being a citizen of an EU member - I take it he has German relatives, so that'd make it easiest for him to attain citizenship there? Still rather bizarre though.

And regarding your other comment, why wouldn't Hodge be playing for Australia?
 
Acrobat Angel said:
:love: My God, I was gunna open a cricket thread for this summer :up: ... Despite the crappy WC i'm desperate for some Australian cricket action :drool:
Can't wait for the tests, should be great to see how they handle the post-Warne/McGrath/Langer era...

:up: :up: :yes: That's gonna be the really interesting part... I think we'll be vulnerable. We won't have Warne or McGrath to fall back on.

Regarding Hodge, I don't think I'd go that far, but yes he bloody well should be playing. He has an average of 58 from memory, he made an unbeaten double century. From what I hear he'll either be batting at number four or opening.

Who is the best Australian player ever?
 
Yeah Warnie's Mum is apparently a bit Deutsch.

Yeah well, Hodgey hit that double century against the South Africans in Perth and although his next test was a bit ordinary, scored 22 and 18 i think, that's still no reason to drop him, especially for the has-been that was Martyn, who was already as good as washed up by then anyway.

It's like dropping Dizzy after his 200 against Bangers!

Best Aussie player ever. You'd have to say Bradman statistically, but then you also gotta consider that cricket was a very different sport back then. And from all reports Bradman was supposedly a bit of a wanker as person. Warnie was a magician with the ball, and McGrath was just the most perfect pace bowler. Impeccable line and length.
 
Best Aussie player :hmm: hard to compare eras, but Bradman would have to be up there obviously, maybe Steve Waugh for guts and determination...
Current players- Ponting and Gilchrist will be remembered for generations...
As a bowler myself, I think McGrath and Lillie were brilliant...
 
Statistically, Bradman's not just the best Aussie cricketer, but the best sportsman full stop, leaving even people such as Pele choking in his dust.

My personal favourite is McGrath though. Whatever shreds of respect I had for the Aussie cricket team have vanished since his retirement. I can't stand most of the current crop of Aussie cricketers. Ponting should just go step in front of a freight train. Warne should've about 15 years ago.
 
intedomine said:
Yeah Warnie's Mum is apparently a bit Deutsch.

Yeah well, Hodgey hit that double century against the South Africans in Perth and although his next test was a bit ordinary, scored 22 and 18 i think, that's still no reason to drop him, especially for the has-been that was Martyn, who was already as good as washed up by then anyway.

It's like dropping Dizzy after his 200 against Bangers!

Best Aussie player ever. You'd have to say Bradman statistically, but then you also gotta consider that cricket was a very different sport back then. And from all reports Bradman was supposedly a bit of a wanker as person. Warnie was a magician with the ball, and McGrath was just the most perfect pace bowler. Impeccable line and length.

:yes: Dropping Hodge was a disgrace. The only things that he doesn't have going for him, really, are that he takes a while to get himself in, much like Martyn, and has questions hanging over him when a bowler delivers him a ball right outside off stump. Otherwise he deserves to be there.

I always liked Martyn myself. I was shocked and just downright disappointed (not in him) when he retired. I really wish he'd been there for the win in the Ashes.

I have to go with Bradman as well. Statistically, as Axver said, he blows every sportsman out of the water. To finish with and average of 99.96, four runs off 100, and score almost 7000 runs, is impeccable. Remember he had to deal with Bodyline as well.

My personal favourites are the Waugh brothers. I loved them so much. Mark Waugh because he was the best-looking player when he was up and going, and Steve because as AA said, he was the definition of guts and determination. Amazing player.

I'm not sold on Ponting either. He seems like a bit of a prick to me as well. Sensational batsman, no doubt, but he's got an air of arrogance about him.

Meanwhile, in the Eng/Ind one-dayers, England lead 3-2 in the seven game series, with India just winning their second game with four half-centuries.

This thread is phailing. :( :lol:
 
We need an Australia vs New Zealand series to fire this thread up. :wink:
 
intedomine said:


Or another farce of a cricket world cup

Another one of those and cricket will be dead in the water. The ICC bloody well better wake up to itself.
 
Just how bad was it? THink of everything that went wrong.

Bob Woolmer died, and the police and media went crazy for about two weeks with these unsubstatiated claims about his death, and so on.

Pakistan accused of tanking.

All the big nations were pretty crap.

Australia kicked the shit out of every team it played.

90% of the matches were interrupped by rain.

Flintoff and co.

Tickets being incredibly overpriced with many locals unable to afford them.

Any fun banned.

And then the final! It was just such a fitting ending! An absolute disgrace of a tournament, and then the final made it even worse!

It's officialy a set of guidelines to all those out there: 1001 don'ts when running a tournament.
 
COBL_04 said:
Just how bad was it? THink of everything that went wrong.

Bob Woolmer died, and the police and media went crazy for about two weeks with these unsubstatiated claims about his death, and so on.

Pakistan accused of tanking.

All the big nations were pretty crap.

Australia kicked the shit out of every team it played.

90% of the matches were interrupped by rain.

Flintoff and co.

Tickets being incredibly overpriced with many locals unable to afford them.

Any fun banned.

And then the final! It was just such a fitting ending! An absolute disgrace of a tournament, and then the final made it even worse!

It's officialy a set of guidelines to all those out there: 1001 don'ts when running a tournament.

Meaning no one was there, the stands were empty and there was no atmosphere.....cricket seems well and truly stuffed.
 
The ICC was just so far up its own arse that it didn't even see most of those - and I wonder if it has figured out what went wrong yet.

The whole Bob Woolmer controversy was seemingly unavoidable, but the catastrophically bad planning and moronic rules should never have happened.

I must admit, I'm a bit baffled at how Australia managed to walk all over everybody considering that they'd just lost a series at home to England and away to New Zealand. The losses that needed to happen? Perhaps.
 
That's what I thought. I thought, well we've just lost two series in a row? What the hell? Ah well. Maybe that'll make the World Cup more interesting. No. Boring as hell. I must be the only supporter of a team where winning all the time is a bad thing.
 
Well, form in ODI cricket is never really a good means of backing a winner.

Because cricket is more of an individual sport than a team sport, if all the individual batsmen have a bad day, than the team will fail. That's merely what happened in that bore of a tri-series we had out here with Nz and POM.
 
Hmm, that's pretty true actually. Although I agree it can be boring to watch sometimes. The games where the bowlers aren't getting wickets and the bastmen aren't scoring are dreadful.
 
intedomine said:
Well, form in ODI cricket is never really a good means of backing a winner.

Because cricket is more of an individual sport than a team sport, if all the individual batsmen have a bad day, than the team will fail. That's merely what happened in that bore of a tri-series we had out here with Nz and POM.

Yeah, that's a fair call. I've maintained for a while now that the problem with the New Zealand cricket team is not a lack of talent, but a lack of consistency. On a day where everyone performs to the peak of their ability, New Zealand's cricket team is as good as any out there - after all, we are the only country to have ever beaten Australia by 10 wickets. But it's rare to find a game where both the batters and bowlers fire, rarer still for the team to maintain that consistency over the length of a tournament, and rarest (re: hasn't happened yet!) for the tournament in question to be the World Cup.

If New Zealand could maintain the consistency that the Australian team has usually had over the last decade or so, we would have converted the high we got from destroying the visiting Aussie team into a World Cup victory. But we don't have that consistency, and for that reason, I do not believe New Zealand will ever win the World Cup. We'd need a team of Martin Crowes, Sir Richard Hadlees, and Daniel Vettoris led by a Stephen Fleming to do that.
 
COBL_04 said:
How long ago was that 10 wicket loss? :hmm:

I love Daniel Vettori. Gun.

The 10 wicket win was earlier this year! Second-proudest I've ever been of the Black Caps. Proudest was when I saw them come from behind to beat South Africa at the 'Gabba in ~2001. I had my head in my hands at the 30th over, then Chris Cairns hit the tonne of a lifetime. The entire carriage of the train back to the Gold Coast - yes, Gold Coast, Queensland - sung the Kiwi anthem apart from two South African guys opposite me who looked like they wanted to throw themselves under the train!

I miss Chris Cairns so much. What a batter. But Vettori is my favourite cricketer of all time, and a worthy successor as captain to Fleming. Danny's a fucking legend.
 
Axver said:

I do not believe New Zealand will ever win the World Cup. We'd need a team of Martin Crowes, Sir Richard Hadlees, and Daniel Vettoris led by a Stephen Fleming to do that.

I reckon New Zealand have as good a chance as any other of the elite 8 cricketing nations at winning a ICC World Cup, but again, your consistency has been severely lacking in recent years.

But it's ODI cricket, Wierd shit happens (ie. Kenya making '03 Semi Finals. Ireland defeating Pakistan in '07, Bangers defeating Australia in '05.)

New Zealand can consider themselves doomed if they don't resurrect the career of Chris Zinzan Harris.

And as brilliant as Carins was when he went the hack (same league as Gilchrist & Klusener), his bowling ability significantly deteriorated towards the end of his career.
 
intedomine said:
I reckon New Zealand have as good a chance as any other of the elite 8 cricketing nations at winning a ICC World Cup, but again, your consistency has been severely lacking in recent years.

Lacking in recent years? I don't think New Zealand cricket has ever had consistency! Actually, no, I take that back. Before the 1950s, we were consistent: consistent losers. It took us over 2 decades to win a bloody test match! Kiwi cricket has come a long way, but not far enough. Oh well, at least we've made the World Cup semis more often than not.

And ugh, don't remind me of Kenya. If New Zealand hadn't forfeited their match against Kenya, that would have been us in the semi-finals instead. What were the Black Caps thinking?!

I think the important thing for New Zealand over the next two years is to develop a bit of depth. We can usually field a world class XI with a 12th man, sometimes a 13th, and in good years a 14th. But we don't truly have great depth. Our series in last Dec/Jan against Sri Lanka illustrated that - if we have half the team out for various reasons, we're woeful even in games we should win. So before the next World Cup - or perhaps, more long term, before the 2015 World Cup - we need to focus on having more solid reserves.

And I think keeping Shane Bond healthy is even more essential than Chris Harris, as brilliant as Harris is. Shane Bond is the best bowler in the world with the possible exception of Vettori. I certainly don't see any Australians who could match him, McGrath included. Hard to believe that New Zealand hasn't had more success with such a lethal bowling attack. Our batting attack's inconsistency lets us down so bloody often.
 
Ah, the start of the cricket season!!!

Warmer days, BBQs, racing in from outside, another room or whereever to watch the replay of someone getting out. Falling asleep in front of the telly as another batsman defends his wicket.:drool:

:sad: Will miss Ooh-Ah who was a brilliant bowler.

Have to agree about the Waugh brothers.

Axver - poor old NZ :lmao: You can't have it all - All Blacks anybody???
 
Shane Bond the best bowler in the world? With the possible exception of Vettori? Sorry can't agree on that one. Bond is terrific, and definitely up there when fit and firing, but not the best. At the moment there is no doubt that belongs to Murali. One of the few bowlers who you can almost trust to deliver a wicket. And Vettori's very good, but not possibly the best bowler, not even close. Niether of them have passed the 500 mark!

Good to see you here Tania. The start of cricket season is great for all those reasons you just mentioned. Warm days and barbies especially. :drool:
 
COBL_04 said:

This thread is phailing. :( :lol:

I'll help you out with a post. (well, a rant)

I honestly thought that after a fairy tale start this season (especially given the way we dodged relegation last year by the skin of our teeth) maybe, just maybe Yorkshire might actually win the County Championship but lately we just seem happy to throw it all away. WTF happened at Sussex for crying out loud?! If we had to win one match it was THAT one and we just hand it to them on a plate :grumpy:
 
COBL_04 said:
Shane Bond the best bowler in the world? With the possible exception of Vettori? Sorry can't agree on that one. Bond is terrific, and definitely up there when fit and firing, but not the best. At the moment there is no doubt that belongs to Murali. One of the few bowlers who you can almost trust to deliver a wicket. And Vettori's very good, but not possibly the best bowler, not even close. Niether of them have passed the 500 mark!

OK, I'll concede Murali is a better spinner than Vettori, but there's no way he's better than Shane Bond (though it is mightily hard to really compare a pace bowler to a spinner). Three things to consider:

1. Shane Bond's bowling average is considerably superior. His average is 19.32; Murali's is 22.68.
2. Shane Bond, in terms of amount of deliveries, is the fastest person to ever take 100 wickets. (In terms of amount of games, he was one behind Saqlain Mushtaq.)
3. His action is a hell of a lot less controversial than our "chucker" friend! (No, I don't think Murali's a chucker. I'm surprised you don't though, as almost every Australian I know does.)

And who cares if he's taken 500+ wickets or not? Whether you even get the chance to achieve that is pretty much dependent on getting to play a hell of a lot of games. And with Shane Bond's seemingly continual injuries, I think the man will be lucky if he makes the next World Cup, let alone takes 500 wickets. It's a tragedy, really. Even if he isn't the best, he's one of them and his action is beautiful to watch.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom