England Cricket 2023

[surreybrowncap]

Stream anyone?

It's on ECB site...

The home of the England and Wales Cricket Board

Follow, watch and read the latest from England Cricket, the domestic game and find support for recreational cricket.

www.ecb.co.uk

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Good to see Saqib Mahmood is bowling - England have a lot of pace options if he and Archer can actually stay fit.

 

[Petcha]

There's ridiculous depth in English cricket at the moment, in all formats. Except for - the captaincy. Stokes isn't even in great form really but his captaincy alone is priceless. I can't see a successor on the horizon. And his knee is fucked.

Joss Buttler doesn't really convince as a captain.

 

[Idaho]

Stream keeps stopping for me... Annoying.

 

[Petcha]

The pirate one I sent is fine?

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Michael Vaughan denies using racist language: ‘That’s not what I am about’​

Michael Vaughan denies using racist language: ‘That’s not what I am about’

The former England captain gave evidence to the Cricket Discipline Commission on a day when Azeem Rafiq was accused of playing ‘the race card’ by Matthew Wood

www.theguardian.com

If he had just held his hand up and said he fucked up, he’d be well on the way back to his lucrative media work unhindered. What an absolute dipshit.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

This absolute cracker as well…

I don’t know of a time when I could put my teammates in a bad state of mind to go out and win a cricket match. That’s not what I’m about

Michael Vaughan denies using racist language: ‘That’s not what I am about’

The former England captain gave evidence to the Cricket Discipline Commission on a day when Azeem Rafiq was accused of playing ‘the race card’ by Matthew Wood

www.theguardian.com

One Johnny Bairstow just choked on his cornflakes.

Those innings, which set up victories against India and New Zealand, had come after Bairstow’s very public row with the former England captain Michael Vaughan. It is a war of words the 29-year-old is clearly keen to move on from, even if it appeared to have had the desired effect on a player who always seems to reach greater heights when he has a point to prove.

England’s Jonny Bairstow keeps his hair on after Michael Vaughan spat

Jonny Bairstow is playing it cool after his superb form led England to the semi-finals after a close shave with World Cup exit

www.theguardian.com

 

[Petcha]

This still rankles me.

The two sides' wives hang out together and their kids play together.

Next stop the Ashes, as England learn to love Test cricket again

Joyful tour of New Zealand ends in historic defeat, but buoyant mood is the ultimate takeaway

www.espncricinfo.com

Bring on the Ashes please.

 

[Petcha]

They should just play the Test team in white ball cricket. Or at least get McCullum to oversee it. He looks like he doesn't really have much to do chilling on those balconies.

Pathetic from England.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Bangladesh have been incredibly strong at home in white ball cricket. England's victory in the odi series was Bangladesh's first home defeat in an odi series for several years. Some credit due to Bangladesh here. It's not a surprise that they won, and they were fielding more or less their best team, while England weren't.

 

[Idaho]

Yeah but Petcha is never happy with anything.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

“He might have the urge to do it and with his knowledge it would be stupid not to. But he can be a really grumpy bastard, so he probably wouldn’t make the dressing room all that much fun.”

David Saker on Jimmy Anderson playing bowling coach.

David Saker agrees to be England’s fast bowling coach for Ashes

Australian David Saker has said he was approached by Ben Stokes at the T20 World Cup to return to role he filled from 2010 to 2015

www.theguardian.com

 

[WhyLikeThis]

And we’re off!

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Oh dear.


I’m hoping this is just an effort to strengthen his legs rather than dropping Foakes.

Foakes is twice the player of Crawley.

 

[Petcha]

The problem Baz has given himself is that his constant insistence on loyalty will obvs backfire now and then. If he jettisons Crawley, that sends the wrong message out to the rest of the squad. Although how much longer can he last, I mean, really. Bairstow should be a straight swap. That ankle's gonna need quite a bit more time though I would have thought.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Foakes averages 38 with the bat under Stokes. And most of his runs have been important ones made under pressure.

He doesn't just average higher than Crawley under Stokes. He averages higher than Pope.

Sometimes it feels like him being clearly the best keeper out of all the options actually counts against him.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

There are obviously limits to the loyalty thing aren't there and I'm sure the players are aware of that. I think they gave him a fair shot but Alex Lees has been pretty clearly binned off - I wouldn't expect to see him any time soon. When (more when than if I think) they do finally drop Crawley I doubt any of the other players will look at it as unfair.

Foakes will be in for the summer now I'd think.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Crawley's selection was a hunch. I don't mind that, but if anything a player without big first class figures to back him up should get less of a shot rather than more.

At its worst, this kind of continued selection can start to look like a group of people not wanting to admit they were wrong.

And in terms of fairness, this is representative sport so it is zero-sum. Crawley playing means someone else not playing. Eventually his continued selection starts to become unfair on those who are not selected.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Crawley's selection was a hunch. I don't mind that, but if anything a player without big first class figures to back him up should get less of a shot rather than more.

At its worst, this kind of continued selection can start to look like a group of people not wanting to admit they were wrong.

And in terms of fairness, this is representative sport so it is zero-sum. Crawley playing means someone else not playing. Eventually his continued selection starts to become unfair on those who are not selected.

Yeah, from the outside there looks to be a weird sort of logic that says 'we want an opener who will play aggressive shots and we don't mind if he doesn't have those traditional opener's skills. Hence Zak Crawley gets forgiven when Alex Lees doesn't.' Except what you're describing there is a middle order batsman isn't it, and if England want to play a middle order player as an opener then fine but surely the case for Crawley in particular then disappears.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Vaughan’s legal team have successfully got their client off. The smear job worked. Well done turning the clock back to the 1970s. Cunts.

 

[Petcha]

Vaughan’s legal team have successfully got their client off. The smear job worked. Well done turning the clock back to the 1970s. Cunts.

Um, what smear job?

Rafiq's a vile racist himself, fully proven, but doesn't seem to have faced any disciplinary hearing. The whole thing stinks. I hope Vaughan takes Rafiq to court given he lost a pretty lucrative job over the false allegations

 

[Petcha]

I watched his hearing before the select committee. I think it was when he made the bizarre claim that he was forced to carry his miscarried baby directly from the hospital to the graveyard that I gathered he was a bit of a fantasist. I mean.. really? I highly doubt that would have been allowed by the NHS or the graveyard in question, and no idea what relevance that had to allegations of racism by a cricket board.

"I carried my son from the hospital to the graveyard.

"The way I was treated was not right - there was a problem not just at Yorkshire but across the country.

"My wife has struggled and continues to. The last 15 months, my two kids have not really had a dad - all I've been worried about is Yorkshire."

 

[WhyLikeThis]

Um, what smear job?

Rafiq's a vile racist himself, fully proven, but doesn't seem to have faced any disciplinary hearing. The whole thing stinks. I hope Vaughan takes Rafiq to court given he lost a pretty lucrative job over the false allegations

The smear against Rashid, fucking disgusting. Rafiq held his hand up for his racism and learned from it. Vaughan dug his heels in and refused to cede ground using expensive lawyers. He’s a cunt.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

I watched his hearing before the select committee. I think it was when he made the bizarre claim that he was forced to carry his miscarried baby directly from the hospital to the graveyard that I gathered he was a bit of a fantasist. I mean.. really? I highly doubt that would have been allowed by the NHS or the graveyard in question, and no idea what relevance that had to allegations of racism by a cricket board.

Have a word with yourself.

 

[Petcha]

Have a word with yourself.

About what? Vaughan was found to be not guilty. By an independent panel. Rafiq openly admits he's anti-semetic. I'd be dragging the fucker through the courts if I was Vaughan - hes ruined the guy's post cricket career as well as his reputation.

Er, I'd have a word with yourself my friend. I highly doubt Vaughan is a racist and I simply do not believe anything that guy says. He was a mediocre cricketer who lost his livelihood because he wasn't that good and now makes far more giving after dinner speeches against racism when he's the one who is actually on record being a racist. Does the irony of that not hit you?

 

[Petcha]

The smear against Rashid, fucking disgusting. Rafiq held his hand up for his racism and learned from it. Vaughan dug his heels in and refused to cede ground using expensive lawyers. He’s a cunt.

I'd love to see the actual report

 

[Petcha]

The panel found “significant inconsistencies” in how the two key witnesses – Rafiq and Adil Rashid – had recalled the precise wording of the second half of the phrase allegedly used by Vaughan in 2009. The panel was also not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the first part of the alleged phrase – “there’s too many of you lot” – was said either, having taken into account all the relevant evidence.

^^ That my friend is not very subtle language for saying Rafiq was lying through his teeth

 

[strung out]

I highly doubt Vaughan is a racist

 

[littlebabyjesus]

^^ That my friend is not very subtle language for saying Rafiq was lying through his teeth

Not really.

This kind of dispute is always a mess.

Even if you remember a slight made to you, or to someone else, or by you, years ago, it's very likely others present will remember it a little differently. What actually happened is lost in time - it exists now only in the unreliable memories of those present. So it's quite possible that nobody is lying about what they remember from that day, that everyone is remembering something different, and that we can never know what the truth is.

Only losers in this process, from what I can see.

 

[redsquirrel]

Vaughan’s legal team have successfully got their client off. The smear job worked. Well done turning the clock back to the 1970s. Cunts.

I absolutely think Vaughan is a racist prick and a total scumbag on all kinds of levels.

But while I'm not a lawyer, I have done disciplinary hearings as a union rep and if the employer's case was as weak as the ECBs was I'd be feeling pretty confident on getting a member off.

For example, the ECBs huge own goal in not interviewing other people present when Vaughan is alleged to have made the comments. I'm not sure CDC works on same standards as a disciplinary but any employment disciplinary investigation must try to establish the facts, it should look for evidence of innocence as much as evidence of guilt. Then there was the fact that Rashid was a pretty terrible witness.

I think Vaughan is a racist and I can very well image him saying what he was accused of (or something very like it), but the case presented was no slam dunk. And considering that Vaughan was always going to defend it vigorously the ECB should have made sure every they'd dotted and crossed everything.