Posted by A quick bit of housekeeping before Test time.
“Do not go into the field with a cigarette or pipe in your mouth”
That was one of WG Grace’s maxims for fielding. We’ve learned more from him than that and have outlined some important points over at Cricinfo.
Another old cricketer
Younus Khan (his preferred spelling) is still knocking about, scoring hundreds. His 177 against Sri Lanka took him past Mohammad Yousuf in the list of top Test run-scorers for Pakistan. Neither batsman is as celebrated as you might expect.
All Out Cricket fantasy league
This website’s mini league, The Kingdom, supplies the fourth- and tenth-ranked sides overall – Balladeer’s Bhangra-Morris Fusion and skid’s Playgue of Extraordinary Gentlemen respectively.
As we’ve said before, this reflects on us well, but surely ‘as a unit’ we can do better still? Come on! Pick intelligently! Accurately forecast future events!
For the record, our side, The Courtiers, lies 24th, which is the kind of nondescript respectablity in which we specialise.
BMF’s sterling groove has mostly been caused by the previous two tests, especially the first one. If all four of my bowlers play today (and indeed if there is any play today, given the rain), that will be a good start.
Damn it! I’m down to ten men again.
Memo to self: change Anderson to strike bowler next match. At least I took Kohli out.
3-3-0-2 for Anderson this morning, although Broad is being expensive at the other end (2-1-4-1).
My mistake (2.1 – 1 – 4 – 2)
And Kohli gone for a duck. I’ve shown real England style faith in him, letting him choose when he wants to leave despite his being unable to score runs. I expected some sort of reward.
Mop Up of the Morning turned out to be a rather accurate headline, didn’t it, as England literally “mopped up” the slops, spillages and other liquid detritus that figuratively and collectively represent the literal state of the Indian top order batting during the “morning”. In fact it could only have been more prescient if your headline had been “India will be 8 for 4 before the end of the sixth over (Broad 2, Anderson 2)”
Geoffrey Boycott talking about Jos Buttler: “You’ve gotta catch ’em all!” Wonder if the hero from Pokémon is available…
You left out one of my favourite ‘odd teams’ in that list of yours.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/520179.html
Speaking from the position of a team in 120th (and it were hard work dragging them up that high, let me tell you), 24th out of 1056 does not count as nondescript respectability. Seems more like showing off, to me.
Aaah well … unfortunately I’m a player in the Paras Mhambrey mould. Number 10 for a match or two in England and never to be seen again.
Of course, this is the game where I’d dropped Dhoni as a hitter.
See also: previous game, where I dropped Kohli (good decision) for Pujara (bad decision).
Replacing Kohli for Bell as a hitter – good.
Replacing Dhoni for Ali as an all-rounder – debatable.
11 times more runs were scored for the last four Indian wickets than the first four. The same ratio in the last test would have meant England scoring 4684 runs, but I suspect Cook would have declared on 4500.
Batsmen in Pakistan are often judged entirely by their performances in world cups. This is not unlike batsmen in England being judged entirely on the Ashes.
Unless they’re Salman Butt, in which case they’re judged by The Hon Mr Justice Cook.
Congratulations England on a series win. Thanks for not gloating 🙁
I am going to drown my sorrows with the cunning use of physics and food.
Well, you kiboshed poor Sam Robson there.
Time for him to piss off back to Australia.
Hales to open in Tests?
I don’t know what game is this you’re talking about, daneel.
I am working on a simple fare of bagel and coffee now in what seemed like a perfect morning twenty minutes ago. I plan to write a talk I need to give, and then go back home and order a six cheese Tuscan style pizza. That should hopefully hit the spot.
*six cheese Tuscan style pizza from a shitty American pizza chain. I left out that important detail, so sorry.
What is the longest anyone has spoken to themselves here on king cricket? Am I breaking some kind of record? If so, is that rather pathetic?
My fantasy and reality are on some kind of death race to see which one crumbles faster.
The longest anyone has spoken to themselves here on King Cricket was probably the first 18 months we wrote the site.
And now I have discovered that King Cricket is actually Brian Lara.
http://kingcricket.blogspot.com/2006/01/king-cricket-brian-lara.html?m=1
Strange but true.
At least Ballance is still… oh.
When did Sri Lanka appoint itself the saviours of test cricket by having heart stopping 5th days? And what the hell does Sangakkara have for breakfast? Another bloody double century!!!