• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

Cricket... the game, not the insect

I would note that Australia had a similar run rate as England. The difference being Australia protected the wickets better.

Stoke transitioned England Test team into a ODI performance team. Which is great... if you are bowling very well. The trouble is, the other teams have caught up, so it isn't enough to get 5 per over if you are out in 55 overs if you can't bowl strongly enough.
 
The ABC ( Australian Broadcast Corporation) cricket analysts noted that English bowlers were only aimed at the stumps with a decent length only 5% of the time in the 1st Aust innings of the 2nd test.
Following on from Bilby above you will not win if only 5% of your balls are bowled at the stumps, no matter how many runs you may score.
 
Well, the highlight for England in Test Match 3 would be the unlikely pairing of Stokes and Archer late in the first innings that would at least force Australia to having another good outing in their second innings at bat. Archer would get a half century while showing pretty good skills with the bat. And Stokes had his best outing in a while. The bats have gone cold for England (even Root has been mute at bat!), and their bowling isn't up to the task to make up for it. The Aussies retain the Ashes while England are now playing for pride.
 
Test 4 is a return to Test 1. Aussies are being held back run wise, but England's bats are producing even less. England are about to bowl out the Aussies, but will need 170 or so runs to win. And that sounds too high. When 170 is too high...
 
With the dual 2-day Test Matches bankrupting Aussie Cricket and for whatever reason Queensland, a desperate Aussie Cricket organization lifted the sod up at the Sydney Cricket Ground and installed a large array of spring and then put the grass back. The result, a lot more runs. England (Joe Root) went out and did very well and gave hope to the faithful of a decent moral victory and finishing 3-2. The English couldn't bowl Australia out fast enough to provide them a chance to get bowled out and give the fifth test to the Aussie side, who were wearing tattered uniforms due to the forementioned bankruptcy, a victory by an Innings... and a day.

England simply aren't as good as Australia, but at least they have their solvency, which can't be said of the Aussie side which will be holding signs outside cricket grounds wagering playing cricket for financing.

Meanwhile Piers Morgan is still an idiot. Doctors fear it is a terminal case.
 
India feeds world cricket, world's richest cricket body.
India meets NZ for 3 ODIs and 5 T-20 starting Jan 9.
And on Feb. 7, the ICC T-20 World Cup begins with India/USA match (to be held in India). There are two other matches as well.
We have the Championship at the moment, but I do not think we will be able to retain it because of poor selection of the team.
 
England managed to get through Day Four. But up 119 with with just two wickets remaining, not seeing the path to anything better than a draw and that will be very difficult as the Aussies will be T20'ing it today.
 
Tigers! said:
The ABC ( Australian Broadcast Corporation) cricket analysts noted that English bowlers were only aimed at the stumps with a decent length only 5% of the time in the 1st Aust innings of the 2nd test.
Following on from Bilby above you will not win if only 5% of your balls are bowled at the stumps, no matter how many runs you may score.
Click to expand...
They were showing Head's strike rate chart based on where the ball was bowled, down on the stump, 50% or below. Everywhere else, almost 100+% everywhere.
 
Thank goodness that Toyota BZ commercial isn't airing on Willow anymore.

Meanwhile in the chase, England are doing very good. If their lead was 350, they might have had a shot at winning the last Test match.
 
Apparently it is time for the T20 World Cup again. The tournament begins with the brutality of watching the few good nations mop up the unfortunately outclassed second and third tier nations. Of interest, the US are drawn in the group with India and Pakistan. Pakistan was struggling a couple years ago, I have no idea how they are now. But it might be possible for the US to graduate to the Super 8 (or I suppose the Super 7 and the US). The Group of "Death" would be Group D, with Afghanistan needing to fight into the Super Eight against the New Zealand and South Africa. Again, my T20 is a rusty, so I don't know whether Afghanistan is back on form or has rusted due to... politics. With so many shitty matchups and outcomes self assured, like in 2024, there is absolutely nothing compelling to the Round Robin (ignoring bilby's general take on T20 as a whole). Who wants to watch South Africa slow roll 12 overs to get 60 to win against the United Arab Emirates? Though, thanks to alphabetizing the groups... Canada is currently sitting in second place.

Much like how FIFA is fucking up the World Cup, the expansion of the nations in the cricket world cup simply doesn't work. Also, while I get that many of the Cricket powers are not Winter Olympic nations, I do feel for Italy and Netherlands, who are playing in Sri Lanka while the Winter Olympics are on going.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
The Group of "Death" would be Group D, with Afghanistan needing to fight into the Super Eight against the New Zealand and South Africa.
Click to expand...
I rather like the reference to "The New Zealand", which carries the subtext that it's not a real country, but just a temporary break-away from the bigger nation of which it is a part, like "The Ukraine". :P
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
So, the US beat Pakistan in 2024, Zimbabwe takes out Australia in 2026.
Click to expand...
The hilarious thing is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's coverage.

IMG_3327.png

The four top sports headlines are three Winter Olympics stories, only one of which (Australia winning gold) arguably is about a specific sports event (the others are a roundup of the day's events, and the regular puff-piece about the athlete's village running out of condoms); Plus a story about an off-season Rugby League trial match in Sydney.

You have to drill down to Sport>Cricket to find out that Australia lost.

I mean, I know it's only T20, not actual cricket; But surely it's the biggest sport story in Australia today.
 
The odd thing was Pakistan almost pulled out the win against the US. Zimbabwe managed a solid victory over Australia. The best T20 (yes, we know bilby) is T20 with the scores well below 200, where bowling actually matters.
 
Aussie flags at half mast as their T20 team lost to Sri Lanka, providing the nation with its second loss in Round Robin play. Grief counselors have been dispatched nationwide to help Australians cope with this natural disaster that some are saying is the "worstest" one since the 2018 Dropbear Plague, 1987 Vegemite Famine, and 2023 in general!

The Aussies batted to a not disastrous 181 through 20 overs, though looking at the scoring by the batsmen, it didn't look pretty other than the opening partnership. Sri Lanka responded with a 184-2, with a pair of overs remaining! If Zimbabwe beats Ireland, that is it. Now, Zimbabwe beating Ireland isn't an automatic. Ireland is 1-2, but they lost to Sri Lanka and Australia, and Stirling has to have a good batting performance eventually. Ireland v Zimbabwe is turning into a much more important game that would have been guessed!
 
So just caught on that ZImbabwe and Ireland didn't play a game due to rain and both drew a point. So Australia is out.

Teams advancing to the next stage: Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan or US (probably Pakistan), West Indies, England, South Africa, New Zealand. So generally as expected except Zimbabwe.
 
India are blown away by South Africa in their opening Super 8 contest. South Africa appear to be the favorites, though West Indies are looking to be on pace for being 5-0 overall. The Kiwis can never be ignored. England are 4-1, but appear vulnerable.
 
I hate the stupid probability graphs. They mean so little. Right now West Indies are 254/6 and bowling to Zimbabwe who are currently 102/7 after 13 overs. They have 42 more balls to score 150 runs, that is about one boundary required per ball. The probability thing says Zimbabwe has a 0.6% chance of winning.

In what universe is a third tier team, who is down to the roster end of their batsman, ie not with the second batsman who is currently 100 for 45 still on the pitch, going to win nearly 1 in every 160 matches like this? I wouldn't think India, Australia, or New Zealand could pull it off at that rate!

Stokes comeback in the ODI final requiring 46 runs in 5 overs was considered beyond epic, and that was requiring just 9 an over. Zimbabwe needs 6 boundaries an over (or 4 sixes) against a team that is beating them soundly! 0.6% my butt! Try 1/googol percent. 0.6% seems high for them making it to 20 overs!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom