Well, that was a fun few days away from the stress and strain of…blogging.
In my time away: quite a lot happened. But goodness recapping four days worth of cricket and cricket related new is just too much to ask. The big story? Sachin has been ruled out of the remainder of the England series. So there is no doubt now: he will not get his hundredth hundred in England (or…err…Wales). His next chance will probably be in Australia this winter.
Now, some may argue (cough, cricketwithballs, cough) that the record is the meaningless and silly and stats like this ruin cricket. And, well, I guess those folks might be right, to a degree. But at the same time, it would have been really cool for Sachin to get his 100th 100 on his last tour of England.
And, well, now that I look at the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, it seems India are hosting England and the West Indies this fall before jetting off down under. Which means he will have a legitimate chance at doing it at home. Okay, that’s better than doing it in England.
Bottom line: it would be best if it happened at a meaningful point in a meaningful match, no matter what country it is in.
Either way, he is out of the ODIs, and boy is that too bad for India because they are in dire straits right now.
Since my last blog, the match in Durham was washed out but England absolutely hammered India in yesterday’s second ODI at the Rose Bowl.
(Fantastic sunset yesterday at Southampton):
Now, it was a rain shortened match, 23 overs a piece, and India is terribly shorthanded and decimated by injuries, but it was still a fucking hammering. And the world champions are going to need a full review once this summer in England that started with so much promise is over. You can no longer just blame the IPL, or injuries, or any one thing: a full dissection is needed.
The third ODI is at the Oval on Friday, the fourth at Lord’s on Sunday, and the fifth and final is in Cardiff on the 16th, and then the tour is over.
It’s funny, thinking back to Cardiff: that’s where it all started this summer for England with the first test against Sri Lanka. Goodness that feels like five million years ago. Truly.
As far as other cricket is concerned: the 2nd test between Sri Lanka and Australia is tomorrow at Pallekele. Unfortunately, as with the last test, most of the action will happen as I snooze.
Oh, and the ICC Intercontinental Cup is back! There are two four day matches happening right now: The Netherlands v Kenya in Holland and Ireland v Namibia at Belfast. And: there is ball by ball coverage on ESPNCricinfo.
With that: until tomorrow.
Limited Overs 