The Cricket Thread 2014

[tomd2103]

Now the internationals are over for the summer, I thought this would be a good chance for some reflections.

Positives

The emergence of Gary Ballance at number three, especially as I thought Trott would be very hard to replace
The continued development of Joe Root.  Looks comfortable in the middle order and is scoring big runs
Joss Buttler stepping into the team and contributing immediately with gloves and bat
The emergence of Moeen Ali as a frontline spinning option.  Amazing stuff really
Broad and Anderson proving they are still world class operators
Steven Finn's comeback after having such a terrible time in the winter

Negatives

Still haven't really found an automatic opening partner for Cook.  Robson's good start to the summer faded
Ben Stokes didn't continue his Ashes form.  He's still young so hopefully he can become a genuine all-rounder in time
Yet again we had a slow start to both test series. 
The ODI team looks nowhere near settled and we're only a few months from the World Cup

 

[Monty]

You forgot the positive:

Cook recovering brilliantly as captain.

And the negative:

Cook still looking shaky in his captaincy.

[Dave Cooper please]

caucasians booing caucasians of the same colour can barely touch the racist seismograph, surely?

Well unless you'd class Bulgarians or Romanians as a race, then no it's not racist. It may be bigoted or ignorant, but not racist.

It almost sounds like you are excusing such behaviour Peter.
Yes we know that anti-East European rhetoric isn't strictly racism but that is only semantics really. They may be of the same race as us but the systematic denigration of the peoples of certain countries is exactly the same thing as racism in my book.

[tomd2103]

You forgot the positive:

Cook recovering brilliantly as captain.

And the negative:

Cook still looking shaky in his captaincy.

Kind of cancelled each other out, so weren't included!!  Still not sure how much the reversal in form against India had to do with Cook's captaincy or how bad the Indians were.  The jury on Cook as captain is still out for me. 

[paul_e]

caucasians booing caucasians of the same colour can barely touch the racist seismograph, surely?

Well unless you'd class Bulgarians or Romanians as a race, then no it's not racist. It may be bigoted or ignorant, but not racist.

It almost sounds like you are excusing such behaviour Peter.
Yes we know that anti-East European rhetoric isn't strictly racism but that is only semantics really. They may be of the same race as us but the systematic denigration of the peoples of certain countries is exactly the same thing as racism in my book.

Also what denotes a difference in race in quantifiable terms?  Racism is a heavily loaded term but the underlying concept, as said, applies to any situation where you make assumption about people based on their origins.

[tomd2103]

caucasians booing caucasians of the same colour can barely touch the racist seismograph, surely?

Well unless you'd class Bulgarians or Romanians as a race, then no it's not racist. It may be bigoted or ignorant, but not racist.

It almost sounds like you are excusing such behaviour Peter.
Yes we know that anti-East European rhetoric isn't strictly racism but that is only semantics really. They may be of the same race as us but the systematic denigration of the peoples of certain countries is exactly the same thing as racism in my book.

Also what denotes a difference in race in quantifiable terms?  Racism is a heavily loaded term but the underlying concept, as said, applies to any situation where you make assumption about people based on their origins.

Hopefully we can get back to the cricket discussion soon, but while we're on this, does this apply to every origin?  The only reason I ask is that when Diane Abbott made that remark a couple of years ago about "white people", there was a clamour to suggest that not only was it not racist, but that ethnic minorities can't be deemed racist.  All very confusing!!

[Chris Jameson]

There were three lads sat behind me at the cricket on Friday, all of Asian descent. One of the guys was supporting India, another England and the third guy chopped and changed throughout the day and was told by one of his mates he was doing his head in as he couldn't work out who he was supporting. As the day wore on and they consumed more drink it was quite entertaining hearing him confuse himself as he cheered every wicket and every boundary and stating 'we' were going to win before admitting he didn't know who he was supporting.

[PaulWinch again]

I agree 'racism' is probably broader than literally meaning discriminating against someone just for being a different race. In any case what ever term you want to label it with, be it racism, ignorance or whatever it's still unacceptable.

[PaulWinch again]

Ajmal suspended by ICC. They are cracking down on spinners with questionable actions.

[tomd2103]

Ajmal suspended by ICC. They are cracking down on spinners with questionable actions.

Don't get this one, as Ajmal has been around for years. 

[olaftab]

Yes he has been around for years but as players limbs get older they are less flexible and very intricate bowling actions become very difficult to deliver properly and that deterioration leads to suspect action.

A great bowler but spinning unfortunately take a high toll on shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers.

[ACVilla]

Yes he has been around for years but as players limbs get older they are less flexible and very intricate bowling actions become very difficult to deliver properly and that deterioration leads to suspect action.

A great bowler but spinning unfortunately take a high toll on shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers.

Or he has always been illegal and the ICC are finally beginning to get tough on it?

[tomd2103]

Yes he has been around for years but as players limbs get older they are less flexible and very intricate bowling actions become very difficult to deliver properly and that deterioration leads to suspect action.

A great bowler but spinning unfortunately take a high toll on shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers.

Good points and it looks like it could well be the end of his international career.  Strange how it only applies to international cricket though and not the domestic game.  Would have thought it would be a blanket ban. 

[paul_e]

It was the same with Senanayake remember, he'd been around for a few years and had his action reviewed twice before but was only banned after a review this summer, I think all 3 of his reviews will have been borderline as even early footage of him shows his action to be suspect.

The age and stiffness of joints/limbs thing is important, a borderline action for a 21 year old can quite easily become illegal 10 years later after thousands of deliveries have been bowled and all had an impact.  It's not just spinners either, quicks tend to become more upright as they get older because their back, shoulders and ribs can't get into the same position any more.  For most it's not a big problems because they go from having their arm almost straight up so they actually become ineffective long before they become illegal.  Someone like Malinga however will have far more problems.  Even this summer there were a fair few from him that, to my eye, were below the horizontal, that's just going to become more and more common and I really wouldn't be surprised to see him called up for a lot of deliveries in the next couple of years, he's 31 now and I can't see him still playing much after 33/34.

[peter w]

Wasn't Ajmal previously banned and changed his action to what it is now?

Also, I can understand the 15% degree bend rule but that should only apply to fast bowlers who can cause serious damage, which is why the rule was introduced in the first place, to avoid injury. Spinners should get more leeway and anyway the ICC should look at how quicks chuck their bouncers rather than worry about slow bowlers and 15% of bending of the elbow.