littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Now effectively 131-5. Sri Lanka are right in this.
England Cricket 2024
- Thread starter littlebabyjesus
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littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Vishwa Fernando, who has been a major disappointment up to now, has suddenly turned up.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
woop. 6 down
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
70/6 lol lol lol
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
My stream is about 30 seconds behind yours.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
People with tickets for tomorrow now getting worried.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Sounds serious for Chandimal. 
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Smith is impressive. Took his time before breaking the shackles and somehow England now lead by 200+. Harry Brook (in particular) take note.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
219 to win then.
I'd rather be SL, but the game is well set up.
(((The fifth day of test matches)))
I'd rather be SL, but the game is well set up.
(((The fifth day of test matches)))
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
94-1 at stumps.
England have totally lost the plot in this match, not taking it seriously perhaps starting with the selection of Hull.
Barring something remarkable tomorrow morning, sl will win this.
Two horrible days from England with bat and ball. They've lost 17 wicket for 250 runs and deserve to lose.
England have totally lost the plot in this match, not taking it seriously perhaps starting with the selection of Hull.
Barring something remarkable tomorrow morning, sl will win this.
Two horrible days from England with bat and ball. They've lost 17 wicket for 250 runs and deserve to lose.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Watching the highlights, Paul Collingwood sent out to give the interview. Says it all really. He defended England's performance by referring to Duckett's first innings!
I like Kumara's send-off to Lawrence. "Do you think it's T20?" Hope he doesn't get fined for that. It was a fair question.
SL batted beautifully at the end, as did Smith briefly. Can't see anything other than a SL win tomorrow.
I like Kumara's send-off to Lawrence. "Do you think it's T20?" Hope he doesn't get fined for that. It was a fair question.
SL batted beautifully at the end, as did Smith briefly. Can't see anything other than a SL win tomorrow.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Sri Lanka's more than capable top order has finally shown up. If they had shown up in session one of the first test, this series could have gone in a very different direction.
QueenOfGoths
Fuck you Dave!
I don't mind Hull being picked as I think it was a good opportunity to give one or two new players a chance. It's regular players like Lawrence, Brook, Duckett and even Root who just, well, haven't been bothered it seems.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Fair enough. I think the selection of Hull must have been a bit galling for someone like Sam Cook, though. He averages under 20 in the County Championship. Yes, he's only 80 mph and not tall, but so is Asitha Fernando, who was the pick of the SL bowlers in this series.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Century for Nissanka and this will be over very shortly. England have just tossed this match away in the last couple of days. But credit to SL for taking full advantage.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
One thing we've learned. Ollie Pope is not captaincy material.
Sorry, I'm moaning a lot about a team that's just won the series, but had SL been given the extra warm-up match they asked for, they might well have won the series. England came into this with a clear advantage in preparation in addition to the home advantage.
Sorry, I'm moaning a lot about a team that's just won the series, but had SL been given the extra warm-up match they asked for, they might well have won the series. England came into this with a clear advantage in preparation in addition to the home advantage.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
The team won the summer tests 5-1 with the only loss being this dead rubber match.
Yes England have been complacent and lacklustre by recent standards in this game, but really, what more do you want?
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I would contend that England got lucky in this series by catching SL underprepared and cold, both literally and metaphorically. I'm not impressed by the way England have played this series. It's a lucky series win imo.
To properly celebrate a series win, you need first to have given your opponents a fair chance to prepare. England didn't do that. Not the players' fault, but a mark against the collective 'England'.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Presumably you were chafing furiously at a couple of fielding slip-ups during the Ashes win in Australia in 2011
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Presumably you're not reading a single fucking word I write.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
temper, temper
FWIW I do agree that this has been a strange summer with little pleasure taken from victories over a vastly inferior West Indies team. Sri Lanka's lack of preparation really is a matter for them and they were chronic for 80% of the first two tests. It would have been nice to have a clean sweep but it's hardly the end of the world that it hasn't materialised.
I think the game was worth it for having a look at Hull but it's been end-of-term stuff from England with the batting collapses in both innings reminiscent of bad old days.
However having watched England destroyed by all comers in the late 1980s home and away, humiliated by New Zealand at home in 1999, I am one to be relatively satisfied with a 5-1 in Tests over the summer. The side is in transition, is a work in progress, and to come through to complete two series wins is a good outcome.
I am not convinced by our opening pair and I will be interested to see how Gus Atkinson does in much less favourable conditions- despite his good figures he has yet to convince me he's up to Tests and I am sure the Australians and Indians won't be having sleepless nights over facing him.
Bashir, Mark Wood, the return to form of Root, and Smith have all been big positives however. Fair more to be pleased than worried about IMO.
If only the county and test game weren't so embattled by shortening attention spans and a packed one day calendar. Problems that won't be resolved easily or soon.
FWIW I do agree that this has been a strange summer with little pleasure taken from victories over a vastly inferior West Indies team. Sri Lanka's lack of preparation really is a matter for them and they were chronic for 80% of the first two tests. It would have been nice to have a clean sweep but it's hardly the end of the world that it hasn't materialised.
I think the game was worth it for having a look at Hull but it's been end-of-term stuff from England with the batting collapses in both innings reminiscent of bad old days.
However having watched England destroyed by all comers in the late 1980s home and away, humiliated by New Zealand at home in 1999, I am one to be relatively satisfied with a 5-1 in Tests over the summer. The side is in transition, is a work in progress, and to come through to complete two series wins is a good outcome.
I am not convinced by our opening pair and I will be interested to see how Gus Atkinson does in much less favourable conditions- despite his good figures he has yet to convince me he's up to Tests and I am sure the Australians and Indians won't be having sleepless nights over facing him.
Bashir, Mark Wood, the return to form of Root, and Smith have all been big positives however. Fair more to be pleased than worried about IMO.
If only the county and test game weren't so embattled by shortening attention spans and a packed one day calendar. Problems that won't be resolved easily or soon.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
This is factually wrong. They asked for an extra warm-up match and England refused. If you'd read my post you might have gathered that.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
Okay, I'll leave you to sulk about how awful a summer it's been. Weird stuff from you.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Weird stuff from you. You're factually wrong. At least have the grace to acknowledge that.
If test cricket is going to thrive, this stuff matters. And given the mess SL were in after the first hour of the first test, that extra match could easily have made the difference in the overall result.
Not my fault you didn't know that.
steeplejack
trapped lbw for a duck
"grace"?
if me auntie were me uncle she'd have balls. a weird focus. England refused the extra warm up as was their right. SL could have focused more intently in their practice as to how to play in English conditions, and appear not to have done so effectively.
if me auntie were me uncle she'd have balls. a weird focus. England refused the extra warm up as was their right. SL could have focused more intently in their practice as to how to play in English conditions, and appear not to have done so effectively.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I wouldn't necessarily say it's the main thing to focus on but I do think the practice match matters. It's a much more general point than just this one as well. For a sport to flourish it needs to be competitive and test cricket is very heavily weighted in favour of the home team at the best of times, which produces too many one-sided matches and that can't be good for anyone. There should be a mutual agreement to put out decent opposition for warm up games - so could be the equivalents of the Lions team and the County Champions - and no nobbling the conditions. I'm sometimes sceptical of the 'game for gentlemen' stuff about cricket's past but there's a self-interest element here too that goes beyond just winning the immediate series.
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littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
'Game for Gentlemen' was always bollocks. WG Grace was a notorious cheat.
But yes, a fairer and more level playing field is in everyone's long-term interests. And the fact remains that SL asked for an extra match and were refused it. That's not 'on them'. It's 'on England'.
But yes, a fairer and more level playing field is in everyone's long-term interests. And the fact remains that SL asked for an extra match and were refused it. That's not 'on them'. It's 'on England'.
