Month: September 2011

Lots and lots of cricket today.

Sri Lanka versus Australia, test match, 1^st day:  The Aussie test renaissance continues at Pallekele as they bowled out Sri Lanka for 174 and then tacked on 60 without loss before stumps.

Australia’s attack was balanced and relentless, but just what is wrong with Sri Lanka?  I realize that their strength lies in the one-dayers, but getting shellacked like this on home soil is an embarrassment, no matter the format.  Sri Lanka and India, the two World Cup finalists not six months ago, are both in dire need of a dissection, cricket wise.

Personally, I am just bummed that I am unable to watch any of this test.

Zimbabwe versus Pakistan, 1^st ODI:  The hosts chose to field and held Pakistan to 247.  Zimbabwe are now 30 overs into their chase and require another 125 to win the first match of the series.  It would be a great win for the minnows.

This match is taking place at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.  Here is the ground in 1961:

Ireland versus Namibia, four day match:  The visitors lead on day three by 122 runs with four wickets in hand.  Despite all the rain delays, there is a good chance we might see a result from this game.

A couple standout performances to note:  Andrew White hit an unbeaten century for Ireland in the first innings, pulling his country out of the fire for sure (poor metaphor, considering the rain, but oh well).  And two bowlers have taken five wickets each: George Dockrell for Ireland in the first innings (22-5-71-5) (He also bowled almost twice as many overs as the next closest Irish bowler) and Christi Viljoen for Namibia, also in the first innings (23.5-4-87-5).

From what I can tell, it has been a wonderful few days of cricket at Belfast.

Netherlands versus Kenya, four day:  Two days washed out by rain.  Not a single ball has been bowled.  Who knew it rained so much in Holland?

Okay, I am off to follow some cricket and, well, do some work.  Until tomorrow.

 

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 100^th 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 16^th, 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 2^nd 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.

So where were we?

Oh, that’s right:  September.

England’s summer of cricket has become England’s autumn of cricket, and the first ODI versus India is tomorrow morning, after a yawner of a Twenty20 at Old Trafford.  I was unable to watch much of the match except for a few overs on replay on Willow.tv, but those few overs confirmed all my suspicions: Twenty20 at the international level is a snooze.

I was doubly disappointed during the Two Chucks recap of the match to see how many of crowd, when asked if they preferred test cricket to 20/20, preferred 20/20.  C’mon, people, even if you do, don’t admit it in public.  Yeesh.  That’s like admitting you think Sara Palin would make a fine president, or that those bags of off-brand cereal at the grocery store are just as good as the branded boxed stuff.

Thankfully, there are two tests to follow today.  Well, one, as Sri Lanka v Australia went to stumps before I was even up.  In that match, Sri Lanka need 259 runs in two days with five wickets in hand.  Considering how long their tail is, I don’t see that happening.  But it would be quite the story if it did!

The other match, Zimbabwe versus Pakistan, is at tea on the 2^nd day.  The hosts batted to 412 all out and Pakistan has already lost one of their wickets in their first innings. This would be a famous win for Zimbabwe, and my fingers are crossed that their bowlers can keep Pakistan shackled.

Also, the above match taught me a new cricket phrase:  “carry the bat.”  According to Wikipedia, the term “refers to an opening batsman who is not dismissed (“not out”) when the team innings is closed. The term is usually used only when the innings is closed as a result of all other 10 players being dismissed (“out”), not when an opening batsman remains “in” when the team’s innings is declared closed, or the game ends when the batting team wins, or the match is drawn because time runs out.”

Shockingly, it has only happened 42 times in test cricket, which is a very small number considering there have been 2006 test matches.  The last time it happened was Dravid at the Oval, and that was the first time since December of 2009.

There are some equally as shocking low scores among the batsmen who have carried their bat, loads of sub 100s and not one 300.   For instance, the first batsman to do it was in 1889 in the 32^nd test:  England v South Africa played at Newlands, Cape Town.  Bernard Tancred was the opener and finished South Africa’s first innings not out, but he only scored 26 runs and South Africa in total only scored 47.  Heck he was only at the crease for 91 minutes.

So, yeah, carrying one’s bat is just one of the silly cricket stats that are basically meaningless.

Screw you, “carry the bat”.

Note: It was really lazy of me to copy and paste that, instead of summarizing, synthesizing, and of making the definition my own.  But it’s Friday before a long weekend and the markets are going to tank thanks to the negative job news and, well, sometimes quoting wikis is the best I can do.

As mentioned, it is a long weekend, and I hope to be able to spend some of it watching cricket.  Tomorrow is the 1^st Eng v Ind ODI.  First ball is at 04:15, Minneapolis time.  Not sure if I will be up for that.  We’ll see. Also, on Sunday, one of the semi-finals of the CB-40 is on Willow.tv.  It looks like both semi-finals are at the same time on the same day, so I am not sure which one I will be watching, but the two games are Somerset v Durham at Taunton and Surrey v Sussex at The Oval.

Okay, that’s a full lid.  See you Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday here in the states.

I will leave you with this picture of the first English side to tour South Africa (thanks ESPNCricinfo):