Cricket Thread

[BillCarlisle]

Been a good while since I've been to a test but I'd bet you don't get much change from a ton for the cheapest

Compared with the price of an FA Cup Final ticket, a full day of an Ashes Test compares very favourably indeed, even at a hundred quid.

Having said that, the first 11 seconds of this year's Final were worth £100 on their own :-)

 

[DenisLawBackHeel74]

It’s a bit daft if they don’t play until 19.30 tomorrow, we all know Saturday is going to be a washout.

Have a tic for Sat…hoping we’ll get a bit of play between the rain showers.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I love football (although nowhere near as much as I love City) but when it’s as good as today, cricket runs it a very close second.

Nothing will ever top following City for me but I think cricket is a better sport than football which is an opinion that tends to wind up some of my football mates!

If you think back to 2005 I can't think of a single sport, of any kind, that could provide that level of tension and excitement, often balanced on a knife edge, over the best part of a summer.
Mind you, when cricket's boring, it's bone-crushingly boring.

 

[waspish]

Get 200 lead declare

 

[domalino]

Nothing will ever top following City for me but I think cricket is a better sport than football which is an opinion that tends to wind up some of my football mates!

I think a 5 day test match between 2 of the best teams in the world, with high stakes like an ashes series, is the best sporting contest anywhere in any sport.

It’s length gives it room to develop narratives and subplots that a 90 minute game of football just can’t.


I also think cricket is the best sport around in terms of multi-format. T20, ODI and red ball is just the perfect balance where it’s close enough for 90% of players to play all 3 forms, but different enough that different players come to the fore in each format.

Country vs county/franchise is well balanced and the women’s game is much closer and more relevant than in most sports.

I also love the colonial background of the historic series, I love that the history of the sport is kept alive through statistics in a way football just can’t, I love the class divide where in different parts of the world and even country it’s a game for the wealthy or working class.

I just hope the governing bodies keep things on track, it feels increasingly like we’re at the end of a golden age of cricket and I’m not sure if test match special will be around in 40 years when I want to be listening to it while spending my retirement gardening or sipping a g&t on a sunny day.

 

[Manchester33]

As someone who enjoys watching cricket, but barely understands it…. I’m interested as to why we would declare at any point here?

I understand that we want to wrap up the test before the bad weather kicks in this weekend. But wouldn’t it be better to throw caution to the wind (rather than declare) and just play 20/20 style cricket until everyone is out?

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

If you think back to 2005 I can't think of a single sport, of any kind, that could provide that level of tension and excitement, often balanced on a knife edge, over the best part of a summer.
Mind you, when cricket's boring, it's bone-crushingly boring.

Totally, and that is its Achilles heel as a sport, and actually why I’ve drifted in and out with the sport. I sometimes lose interest for that reason. But then it always seems to come back. I’ve been memorised by this series. Sport at its absolute finest.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

As someone who enjoys watching cricket, but barely understands it…. I’m interested as to why we would declare at any point here?

I understand that we want to wrap up the test before the bad weather kicks in this weekend. But wouldn’t it be better to throw caution to the wind (rather than declare) and just play 20/20 style cricket until everyone is out?

That would be my approach too. Get a 250 lead, which they could by lunch and grind them down from there.

 

[Manchester33]

That would be my approach too. Get a 250 lead, which they could by lunch and grind them down from there.

If I were Ben Stokes…. I’d much rather spend more overs batting tomorrow than Sunday!

250 lead throws up a possibility we could beat them without needing our second innings!

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

If I were Ben Stokes…. I’d much rather spend more overs batting tomorrow than Sunday!

250 lead throws up a possibility we could beat them without needing our second innings!

And the weather could have ultimately worked in our favour overall, because it made us take a risk that payed off.