The International Cricket Thread 2018

[PaulWinch again]

This is terrible news. TalkSport's football commentaries are unlistenable for me because of their contact banging on about odds and betting in general. Given the greater number of breaks in play during a cricket match, their coverage has potential to be horrendous

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/18/talksport-outbids-bbc-to-secure-rights-for-forthcoming-england-cricket-tours

TalkSport has announced a major coup late Tuesday after outbidding the BBC to secure the free-to-air radio broadcast rights for England’s forthcoming tours of Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

That is awful, truly awful.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

I seem to remember Talksport winning the rights to the cricket once before (can't remember which tour but I reckon it was over a decade ago) and poor old Jack Bannister having to crowbar lines like 'Regis Office Solutions, for all your office needs' into every over. I also started to think Paddy Power must be at the crease, he was mentioned that often.

Even so, part of me would rather listen to endless Selco adverts (it's where the trade go) than a single second of Graeme Swann. 

And then I realise that instead of Swann it'll be terminal braindeads like Ronnie Irani and Darren Gough, the unthinking man's unthinking Yorkshireman. This is desperate news.

[PaulWinch again]

I'll just end up not listening.

[Steve67]

This is a bad move.  Such a dumbing down of cricket.  The Daily Star of the airwaves covering cricket.  What a joke.

[PaulWinch again]

Hameed is not having the best of starts to the season.

[taylorsworkrate]

Hameed is not having the best of starts to the season.

At this time of the year in the county game, I think you have to cut the batsmen a bit of slack, and pour a little scorn over the bowlers. Such are conditions early on.

The more worrying thing is the general malaise in Hameed. He averaged low 20's last summer.

[PaulWinch again]

Yes the general trend of scores suggests batting is very tough.

[paul_e]

Yes the general trend of scores suggests batting is very tough.

In the bears game the commentators were all of the opinion that Hain would been well over a hundred if it wasn't for the fact that the outfield was rutted and comically slow. From what was said it was because they'd relaid the turf and it hadn't fully bedded in yet, I wonder if that's true for a number of grounds.  Aside from that, at this time of year, raw pace seems much more effective with the swing bowlers only really taking over after 3-4 rounds.  The guys who can hit 86-87+ seem to be doing most of the damage.

[cheltenhamlion]

If any English county takes in the Aussie trio for batting practice ahead of the next Ashes it will be an absolute disgrace.

[Villan For Life]

If any English county takes in the Aussie trio for batting practice ahead of the next Ashes it will be an absolute disgrace.

It’s happened before and will happen again.

[Steve67]

England go top of the ODI rankings? How the fuck did that happen?

[UK Redsox]

England go top of the ODI rankings? How the fuck did that happen?

The period when they were really shit has now dropped out of the calculations

[PaulWinch again]

In fairness they've been really good for about two years.

[PaulWinch again]

I see Hameed was dropped by Lancs, and now they're playing Somerset on what sounds like a road.

[cdbearsfan]

Ireland are supposed to be commencing their first ever test match today. It's raining though (against Pakistan).