The Cricket Thread 2016

[bertlambshank]

What's David Warner been up to?

[OzVilla]

What's David Warner been up to?

Abusing opposition players from backward point as usual.  Aparently told Rohit Sharma to "speak English". Gets involved in everything.

Fantastic player, absolute arsehole on the field though. Shane Watson is the same but he's just an arsehole.

Theyve got right upset at Agnew calling them out for sledging after their "well honour Hughesey" speeches. It's been happening every game.

Horrible side.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

SA pounding the hell out of the Windies. 439-2

de Villiers' 100 coming in just 31 balls.

Rubbish bowling, awesome batting.

[passitsideways]

What's David Warner been up to?

Abusing opposition players from backward point as usual.  Aparently told Rohit Sharma to "speak English". Gets involved in everything.

Fantastic player, absolute arsehole on the field though. Shane Watson is the same but he's just an arsehole.

Theyve got right upset at Agnew calling them out for sledging after their "well honour Hughesey" speeches. It's been happening every game.

Horrible side.

While I'm similarly completely unimpressed with the way in which the team appears to carry itself on the field (and some of the ludicrous statements that have been offered as a defence for such behaviour), I reckon Agnew's out of line to bring the Hughes thing into that debate. There's just no way anyone is in a position to make a comment on the supposedly "correct" way to react to such a thing.

The fact that this is even a talking point is very disappointing, because one would have to say that us Australians have got a fair bit to be optimistic about right now when it comes to the actual cricket, with two top-class batsmen and strength in depth in the fast bowling ranks.

[Villan For Life]

The colour of the Saffers kit is erm unusual.

EDIT: the pink stumps and the number of supporters in the stand in pink suggests that it's being worn for charity. A quick google search confirms that it's in aid of breast cancer.

[hipkiss92]

What's David Warner been up to?

Abusing opposition players from backward point as usual.  Aparently told Rohit Sharma to "speak English". Gets involved in everything.

Fantastic player, absolute arsehole on the field though. Shane Watson is the same but he's just an arsehole.

Theyve got right upset at Agnew calling them out for sledging after their "well honour Hughesey" speeches. It's been happening every game.

Horrible side.

While I'm similarly completely unimpressed with the way in which the team appears to carry itself on the field (and some of the ludicrous statements that have been offered as a defence for such behaviour), I reckon Agnew's out of line to bring the Hughes thing into that debate. There's just no way anyone is in a position to make a comment on the supposedly "correct" way to react to such a thing.

The fact that this is even a talking point is very disappointing, because one would have to say that us Australians have got a fair bit to be optimistic about right now when it comes to the actual cricket, with two top-class batsmen and strength in depth in the fast bowling ranks.

I do think Agnew has been misinterpreted somewhat with his comments.  To me he seemed to be saying that after the tragedy with Phil Hughes everyone involved in cricket, not just the Aussies, was saying that on field behaviour would become more respectful, with less of the 'knock his fucking block off' or 'prepare for a broken arm' stuff which seems to have become prevalent over the last few years.  He also said that the Aussies didn't seem to be practicing this in the series against India, with a few incidents getting out of control on the field.

In my opinion, he's right, a lot of players these days are far too aggressive in their on field behaviour, and where sledging was once a way of getting inside a batsman or bowlers head with a small word or a witty remark, a lot of players don't conduct themselves in the way the game should played.

I think it's just a matter of coincidence that it's Australia - India, one of the more fiery series, that took place straight after Hughes' death that meant that this has been in the spotlight more than was maybe expected.

[adrenachrome]

This must have been a bad dream which never happened.

'Get ready for a broken fucken arm': how Michael Clarke got ruthless

[JD]

Great performance from the England Bowlers, especially Finn & Anderson. Surely England will win this one.

[taylorsworkrate]

Finn bowled really well, although still worryingly down on pace.

Anderson however, proved what a world class act he still is.

[PaulWinch again]

Stunning performance by England. It's really what we needed to get some confidence before the World Cup. Finn getting wickets is huge, because I'm convinced his pace is down because of confidence. I think he's holding back, because he doesn't want to get hit. Hopefully if his confidence grows he'll be able to get back to bowling quick.

[paul_e]

Great result, hopefully we can build on it and get a win over the aussies which would be a great confidence boost.

[Villan For Life]

Good performance by England.

It's good to see Finn bowling so well in Oz. A year ago he left the Ashes tour and was unpickable. A fine return to form.

There were a couple of great catches at the end of the Indian innings by Morgan and Ali followed by sensible batting by Bell and Taylor.

Hopefully this win will give us a platform to build for a good World Cup. We seem to be in the easier side of the draw.

[JD]

Very good all round performance and a win at a very good scoring rate, without ever looking like we were trying to score too quickly. Very controlled batting performance.

It will be interesting to see how England perform in Tasmania on Friday against Australia. 

[Colhint]

Well done all, praise also to Ian Bell, who moves within 5 runs 5000 and  becoming only the second  English player ever to reach that landmark in ODI's

He is now only 98 short of being our highest run scorer

[tomd2103]

Very good all round performance and a win at a very good scoring rate, without ever looking like we were trying to score too quickly. Very controlled batting performance.

It will be interesting to see how England perform in Tasmania on Friday against Australia.

Yep.  I know it sounds a bit obvious, but I'd back us to win most games comfortably when chasing a moderate total, as our top order can go out and play at their own pace (Trott was a master at it).  It's when the onus is on us to go out and set the pace and post a big total that we struggle.