The Cricket Thread

[Toonpack 9303]

11 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

oh, I’m still braced for a series defeat. Nothing to see here 

I refer the learned gentleman to his post of 22nd June, stating “we’ll blow them away”.

 

Could he perhaps explain how that equates to bracing for defeat ??

[Gemmill 44539]

The Prediction Stickler rides again.

 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

11 minutes ago, Toonpack said:

I refer the learned gentleman to his post of 22nd June, stating “we’ll blow them away”.

 

Could he perhaps explain how that equates to bracing for defeat ??

my prediction was it would be 3-2 either way but that I fancied us to edge it. I still think there’s a decent chance we win the series but there’s also a good chance we fuck it. The way they’re playing is high risk 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

9 minutes ago, Gemmill said:

The Prediction Stickler rides again.

 

you should get a temporary ban every time you say the word prediction 

[Toonpack 9303]

In the absence of pedantry there is naught but chaos.

1 minute ago, Dr Gloom said:

my prediction was it would be 3-2 either way but that I fancied us to edge it. I still think there’s a decent chance we win the series but there’s also a good chance we fuck it. The way they’re playing is high risk 

Edge it = Blow Away

 

okey dokey

[Dr Gloom 21861]

On 15/06/2023 at 10:18, Dr Gloom said:

bold prediction - no draws all series. england to nick it 3-2 

 

that's based on the bazball approach blowing them away more than anything.

 

i might have to revise the prediction later on as i don't think we have the depth or variety in the bowling attack to win the series if stokes can't bowl. the aussie attack looks very, very good. four proper seamers, a spinner and an all rounder. probably the best in the world at the moment. plus they have labuschagne and the cheating cunt smith, who are both bound to average 50+ for the series

 

 

nothing has changed. 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

Looks like we’re going to have the best of the conditions again today. It’s raining now but forecast to stop by 10 then it’s overcast still brightening up later this afternoon. Got to make it count in this time. 

[Gemmill 44539]

28 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

Bazball means bazball

[Alex 34938]

So you’re saying we’ll blow them away in a tight series we win 3-2 which we might lose? I’m glad you’ve straightened that out. You’re off team Bazball though. No doubters allowed, never question the process. Losses are like wins. Four legs good, two legs bad

[Dr Gloom 21861]

13 minutes ago, Alex said:

So you’re saying we’ll blow them away in a tight series we win 3-2 which we might lose? I’m glad you’ve straightened that out. You’re off team Bazball though. No doubters allowed, never question the process. Losses are like wins. Four legs good, two legs bad

What I’m saying is it’s going to be a tight series because England’s ultra aggressive style is likely to produce wins and defeats and fewer draws (unless the weather intervenes).
 

I still think we will beat them with this style of cricket at least once in the series. Obviously you’d rather be Australia at this stage after winning a tight first test and bossing day one of the second. We’ve got our work cut out from here. 
 

It’ll be a shame if this approach is abandoned if this series doesn’t go according to plan as you suggested though. Playing like this is going to backfire at some point but I’d rather they stuck with it. It’s worked pretty well so far. If it all goes tits up they could just try dialling the aggression back a bit while retaining the intent - and increasing catching practice!

 

What’s the alternative? You could approach it in the typically conservative English style, the way Root and Cook did as captain, and maybe increase your chances of drawing the series, but I think this style gives us our best chance of winning.

Australia are the better side on paper, like we said a few pages back. We need to gamble a bit and make the most of home conditions, which we struggled to do yesterday where our strike bowlers started to look their age.

[Dr Gloom 21861]

We’ve also been a bit unlucky. Losing Leach, who played a vital role in the past 12 months, Stokes crocked, no Archer (again), no Stone, no Wood (unsurprisingly), a one-paced seam attack, no proper spinner.

 

Stokes invited criticism with the declaration at Edgbaston but it’s our bowling and fielding which is concerning me most at this stage.  

[Alex 34938]

The whole point I’m making is there’s no nuance to that way of thinking. A few big calls cost the team a win in the last test. The moment anyone pointed that out (completely justifiably) then the response was ‘so you’re against Bazball?’ ‘Would you rather have turgid matches that are destroying the game?’ Etc. It’s only one side of (what shouldn’t even be a two sided argument) that are taking this way. Hence the fully deserved ridicule of the likes of Morgan. Even KP was having a pop at the setup. Him bring your archetypal conservative English cricketer 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

47 minutes ago, Alex said:

The whole point I’m making is there’s no nuance to that way of thinking. A few big calls cost the team a win in the last test. The moment anyone pointed that out (completely justifiably) then the response was ‘so you’re against Bazball?’ ‘Would you rather have turgid matches that are destroying the game?’ Etc. It’s only one side of (what shouldn’t even be a two sided argument) that are taking this way. Hence the fully deserved ridicule of the likes of Morgan. Even KP was having a pop at the setup. Him bring your archetypal conservative English cricketer 

the declaration was a gamble which backfired but I don’t think it’s why we lost the last test. It was the missed stumpings and dropped catches that killed us. They took their chances, we didn’t. I partially blame the selectors there for dropping Foakes but I see that Vaughan has blamed “bazball” for the sloppy fielding saying they were too casual with their prep, too focussed with taking the pressure off, playing golf instead of practicing fielding drills etc. I don’t know about that. 
 

You could dial back the aggression, play smarter cricket, adapt to the game situation etc - and I think they will be forced to do that as the series unfolds. This is the ashes. But you can see what they’re trying to do. They’re  trying to be the bullies for once, to get inside Australia’s head and get them on the back foot. I’m all for it. Had enough of the likes of Rory Burns, Joe Denly etc at the top of the order. I doubt we would have scored more runs in the first test against that Australian attack with the typically English player/approach.
 

The problem is you’re trying it against the number one test team in the world who haven’t won here in 20 years. You’ve got the likes of Smith, who only has an away ashes victory missing from his cv, and by going so aggressive we increase our chance of losing as well as increasing our chances of victory. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Dr Gloom

[Toonpack 9303]

The problem is, they weren't aggressive yesterday, they were flat and sloppy as fuck, in almost the most perfect conditions we could have hoped for. The best bouncer of the day was delivered by Joe Root. 

 

Of course Lords doesn't help, it's the old peoples home of cricket.

 

Yesterday looked/felt like "old" England with not a whiff of bazball.

 

Not even going to mention the no-balls.

[Alex 34938]

17 minutes ago, Toonpack said:

The problem is, they weren't aggressive yesterday, they were flat and sloppy as fuck, in almost the most perfect conditions we could have hoped for. The best bouncer of the day was delivered by Joe Root. 

 

Of course Lords doesn't help, it's the old peoples home of cricket.

 

Yesterday looked/felt like "old" England with not a whiff of bazball.

 

Not even going to mention the no-balls.

Yeah, they looked really flat and devoid of the much vaunted ‘positivity’. 
I like McCullum. I like Stokes. But there some fucking BS flying around about the former. He was great in full flow but he underachieved relative to his talent. The 2015 World Cup sums him up somewhat. He played a few exciting knocks and had a ridiculous strike rate. He also captained NZ to their first final. But his average innings length was less than 20 balls. That’s the captain opening the batting. In the final, in the first over, he faced Mitchell Starc. Against the best bowler in the tournament he danced down the wicket and tried to smash a 90 mph ball that was right in the block hole. He played and missed with a wild swish. Next ball - same. Next ball - same but bowled. 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

Perfect start. Just need to get the cunt Smith now. Restrict them to around 400 and we're in the game 

[Dr Gloom 21861]

though we'll be one down inside two overs with crawicket opening 

[spongebob toonpants 3958]

I fear what the Aussie bowlers will do to top order in these conditions

[Alex 34938]

How many down by lunch?  

[Dr Gloom 21861]

416 all out is a decent recovery from 330-3 or whatever it was yesterday. crawly will go for single figures (this prediction worked last time so i'm sticking with it) 

[Alex 34938]

Good session. 

[spongebob toonpants 3958]

One thing for sure, this afternoon session going to see some action one way or another

Might be a bit behind the sofa though

[Dr Gloom 21861]

time for the likes of stokes and brook to contribute 

[spongebob toonpants 3958]

1 minute ago, Dr Gloom said:

time for the likes of stokes and brook to contribute 

I'm hoping we won't be seeing either of those today. We'll be in trouble if they are both in before the close