Cricket Thread

invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #825 on: March 13, 2008, 10:48:41 AM »

Pretty good first day in the end.
I checked the score at uni before my class this afternoon. We were about 100-2 with Strauss and Pietersen in and I though it was a decent start and we could be on for a good innings. So then had class 2-3pm, then went to the Student Information Centre to collect something. They had a big plasma screen with the match on and as I got there my heart sunk when I saw it was Ambrose on strike. Skittled again!
Saw the last over before tea there and it was 148-5 so I assumed we'd be all out by the time I got home in about an hour and a half's time. Was pleasantly surprised to get home and see it was 221-5 with Colly and Ambrose still in. lol

So 291-5 at the close with Ambrose 97 not out. Brilliant to see a keeper batting at 7 able to bat a bit. We've tried something like 6 or 7 different keepers over the last few years since Alec Stewart retired and they have all been crap. Either couldn't keep or couldn't bat, or couldn't do either! Geraint Jones was very sloppy with the gloves but could bat, and then suddenly couldn't. Chris Read was reasonable with the gloves, but couldn't tell a bat from his arse, then there was Paul Nixon who was about 100 years old and couldn't tell gloves or bat from his arse! Then there was Matt Prior who scored a century on debut, but then barely got a run since and his keeping was rather poor. This is only Ambrose's 2nd test but his 3 innings thus far include a 55 and a 97 not out (hopefully becoming a century tomorrow). More importantly though, he actually looks the goods behind the stumps too. Could we have found our man at last?
If these 2 can stick around for a while, we've got a chance of posting a pretty good total. However with our tail, it's not inconceivable that we could still be out for under 300!

I've posted this before, but the one I always liked was James Foster who was our test keeper on the last tour here 6 years ago. He was an excellent wicket keeper and quite a handy batsman down at number 7. He's got a test average of 25 from 7 tests which is excellent when you consider he was 21/22 at the time and those 7 tests included 3 in India, 3 in NZ and 1 in Australia. Absolutely superb in fact. Seems to have fallen out of favour over the last few years.


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Bevc

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #826 on: March 13, 2008, 08:54:03 PM »

Alex, you should be a sports writer! w00t

I had the bbc scorecard on my computer and kept checking it. Nearly fell off my chair when I'd seen that they'd lost 3 wickets in quick succession fainting

but glad that someone held their nerve at the end.

cmon yeah

England!


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Allan

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #827 on: March 13, 2008, 11:54:12 PM »

England all out for 342....


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invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #828 on: March 14, 2008, 04:37:01 AM »

Great effort from Ambrose. First English wicketkeeper to score a test century overseas since Alec Stewart here in Auckland in 1997!
Looking good now with NZ 133-6. Anderson has more than justified his selection by taking 5 of the wickets.


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Bevc

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #829 on: March 14, 2008, 07:14:25 AM »

Well done Jimmy - the proof was certainly in the pudding! w00t

Now the batsmen need to do their stuff! cmon yeah


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invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #830 on: March 14, 2008, 08:29:11 AM »

Great day getting them all out and having a 144 run lead. However, I can't get the first test out of my mind. It was great when Sidebottom took all those wickets on day 4, but in the end all it did was give NZ enough time to bowl us out and win the test. I'd be a lot happier if today had been day 3. With 3 days to go, I can't help worrying that bowling them out today means they are going to get close to 2 full days to chase down the target. And this pitch is supposed to be best for batting on day 4 and 5. We need the batsmen to last 2 days or at least until the 3rd session on day 4 to give us a massive total and have a day to bowl them out. Unfortunately, I can't see us lasting any longer than a day and a session at the most. So the main worry is them having almost 2 whole days to chase down the target. Tomorrow will be the day that all but decides the match IMO. If we get skittled, we'll lose. But if we can do pretty much the same as day 1 (that is, end the day 280 odd for 4 or 5), we should have a big enough buffer to be able to attack the batsmen and bowl them out.


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Bevc

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #831 on: March 14, 2008, 09:55:44 AM »

I tried not thinking that there's 3 days left nervous

Will have to see what cricket I can get in whilst doing all my jobs - no lie in for me tomorrow yawn

I really hope that England win this test, then all to play for in Napier next week and we've bought our friends tickets for the match over there, in the hope that it'd be a good test for them! crossfingers


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Yamor

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #832 on: March 14, 2008, 12:06:56 PM »

I don't agree, Alex. England are well capable of scoring 300+ tomorrow. With a close to 500 run lead, they'll be virtually safe. If they bat towards the end of the 4th day, they'd be mad - it'd mean having a 550 run lead even if they bat conservatively, and whats the point of having such a lead when there's no chance New Zealand could catch that. A 450 lead is probably enough - remember noone in test history has ever chased that much, and this New Zealand side aren't exactly a top batting side.


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invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #833 on: March 14, 2008, 01:29:36 PM »

True. But we are also well capable of being rolled for 110 before tea tomorrow as I saw first hand in Hamilton last weekend.
Yeah I agree, perhaps 2 whole days was too much. But we have to bat until at least lunch on day 4 I'd say. Maybe it's not been done before, but with 2 whole days to do it on a pitch that's getting better for batting, there has to be a chance. It's not like they'll have to play it like a mad Twenty20 match.
Like I said, we need to score at least 280-300 tomorrow with wickets in hand at the end of the day. Then we can have a bit of a bash early on day 4 and then have a large enough lead and enough time remaining to win the game.


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Yamor

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #834 on: March 14, 2008, 01:35:00 PM »

I'd say the ideal would be to declare just befor lunch on day 4, with, lets say, 4-5 overs for them to face. Of course, thats only if england score close to 300 tomorrow.

This is all so hypothetical! Knowing England, they'll collapse tomorrow!


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invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #835 on: March 14, 2008, 01:39:20 PM »

Indeed. You never know which England will show up. We have the batsmen to take this game away from NZ tomorrow. But it would be no surprise if we get skittled either.
Best case scenario is we score about 300 tomorrow. This gives us a lead of around 450. If we have wickets in hand, this will allow the likes of Collingwood, Ambrose and Broad to have a bash in the first session on day 4, to perhaps add another 70-80 or so and take the lead above 500. Then give ourselves 5 sessions to bowl them out.


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Bevc

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #836 on: March 15, 2008, 10:28:01 AM »

Just when we thought things were getting better for England

"England were given an injury scare after bowler James Anderson was injured playing football after the third day's play against New Zealand. "

stretcher

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7297983.stm

doh

What next? fainting


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invisibleman18

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #837 on: March 15, 2008, 11:57:23 AM »

An injury kicking a football around? FFS, that's taking the piss.

We really need him too. Wasn't the best day today. 277-9 with a lead of 421 which won't increase now as Anderson presumably won't come out to bat tomorrow so that's the end of the innings. Mind you, if he did bat it would only last another couple of overs at most anyway. This was my main fear. 421 is a pretty big target, but it's gettable with 2 whole days to do it. Especially as we seem to have lost our in form bowler who bowled them out in the first innings. It's not like there's any big rush to score 4 an over. We have a strong history of clutching defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't do it again please!


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Josh

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #838 on: March 15, 2008, 02:43:57 PM »

Although I don't think any team has ever chased 400 in the final innings to win a test match so we should be alright.


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Yamor

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Re: Cricket Thread « Reply #839 on: March 15, 2008, 05:45:16 PM »

There have been a few, but not too many. One remarkable one was just after the war, when Australia chased down over 400 in a single day! That was down to Bradman...


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