[Tsundoku]

My goodness, here we are on the eve of Test #3 at Shitheadingly and this is still going on ...

Ashes third Test, day 1 live: Simon Taufel tears England’s whinging to shreds
The cricket world has been on fire since Jonny Bairstow’s stumping in the second Test but a former No. 1 umpire has put the drama to bed.

https://www.news.com...5174c367188732f

Former Australian umpire Simon Taufel has put England in their place once and for all as the debate continues to swirl over the Jonny Bairstow stumping.

Writing on LinkedIn, the five-time ICC umpire of the year savaged the questions of Australia breaching the “Spirit of Cricket” with eight of his own questions.

Taufel is also a current member of the MCC laws subcommittee, which also oversees the “Spirit” as part of the rules.

“Was Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lords a breach of the Spirit of Cricket?” Taufel wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “This is a question I have been inundated with, so I thought it best to share my thoughts publicly by asking everyone a question or eight to consider …

“1. Have you seen any umpire tell a fielding side that the keeper standing back is not allowed to attempt a stumping?

“2. Was there a complaint from anyone when Bairstow tried to stump Marnus exactly the same way in the first innings?

“3. What has Jonny Bairstow said about his dismissal? He has been very quiet. Why?

“4. My experience is when people don’t like a dismissal under the Laws of Cricket, they cite the Spirit of Cricket to support their view.

“5. Which part of the codified Preamble (the Spirit of Cricket) was breached by the fielding side?

“6. What did the fielding side do in effecting a legitimate dismissal that unfairly impacted the ability of the batter in their attempt not to be dismissed? (Did they run into him or distract him or prevent him making good his ground?)

“7. Should a batter be immune from dismissal as per the Laws by simply being negligent (and leaving his ground too early)?

“8. Did England retire Ben Duckett when they disagreed with the Starc catch decision as per the Laws and umpires’ decision?

“The hypocrisy and lack of consistency from some people and groups is quite interesting and concerning for the future of our game. Maybe I am the odd one out here? The good news is that we are actively engaged with Test cricket, the best form of the game.”

They seem like just what most of Australia has been saying since it happened.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 06 July 2023 - 08:57 AM

[Tsundoku]

Urgh, that's a shit start. 4/91.

Fingers crossed. Still, the pitch bodes well for our bowlers.

[Tsundoku]

Well, wasn't that interesting?

Rescue by Marsh, then Wood rolls the tail, we end up with 263 and Poms 3/63 in reply. Anyone's game.

[Tsundoku]

Blerg, needed at least another 100 runs lead there.

But of course the weather gods were on England's side as they have been so far the entire series and create perfect conditions to assist England's bowlers.
Aside from Travis Head our batsmen didn't put up much resistance.

Poms need another 200 to win with of course better conditions for batting, so I predict now they'll go all Bazball against a low target to puff themselves up and we'll end up 2-1. We need a bunch of quick wickets straight away in the morning! Start a good old fashioned panic.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 08 July 2023 - 08:23 PM

[Tsundoku]

Called it.

Our women lost too to make it 2-1 England in the T20 component, so it's 6-4 in the Women's Ashes now with 3 one dayers to play.
First series of anything our women have lost in ... ages. Of course rain helped England's cause ...

Come on!

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 09 July 2023 - 08:21 PM

[Tsundoku]

Oh thank goodness, our women managed 1 ODI victory to ensure a draw as the Poms won the 3rd ODI and it ends 8-8, so a drawn series means we keep the (women's) Ashes!
Still, winning the Test (4 points) then the first T20 (2 points each, should be only 1), then losing the next 2 T20s and 2 out of 3 ODIs (2 points each) is a big crash, lucky to scrape that series draw.

Meanwhile, with the men ...

No spinner for us? Hmmm, could bite us that one.
The pace bowlers are quality, but we won't post enough runs in our first innings (as of writing we are 9/302 after 86 overs) for me to feel anywhere near comfortable.
Once again, the Ginger Thug wins the toss.
Fingers crossed our pace bowlers can exploit any gremlins in the pitch.

[Cyphon]

Well that was an unexpected day...

[Tsundoku]

 Cyphon, on 20 July 2023 - 06:07 PM, said:

Well that was a completely shithouse day...

FTFY.

Looks like the only thing that can save us now is rain, and lots of it. Urgh, I hate even thinking that.

[Cyphon]

Plenty forecast here for the weekend so I think you're safe. If it's raining in London it's got to be passing it down in Manchester.

[Tsundoku]

Ai caramba! What an absolute shitfest.

It is a dark day for humanity when the Poms are happy with the cricket.

Cummins' sub-par captaincy has been found out in this series. Some terrible collective decision making going on out there.

*does rain dance while hating self*

[champ]

 Tsundoku, on 21 July 2023 - 10:01 PM, said:

*does rain dance while hating self*

Oh how the tables have turned haha, that's our card to pull!


It's good to be replicating Bazball in the Ashes finally, still never know what's going to happen but if we do take this test, oh fuck me how awesome is watching the 5th and final test going to be, all to play for!

[Tsundoku]

So ... I'm celebrating rain to force a draw where otherwise we would have been whipped. Very conflicted.

Huh, is this what it's like to be English?

[Cyphon]

You'll find yourself reaching for a crumpet next.

[Tsundoku]

Never, heathen! Vegemite on toast all the way!

[Tsundoku]

Uuuuurgh. Our sad decline continues. WTF is Cummins doing with his bowling and fielding plans?

I think Ricky Ponting is about to go down to the Australian changeroom and give them an absolute shellacking.

Poms 9/389 at stumps end of day 3. That will give us pretty much 2 whole days to try to get around 400.
Please God don't let Broad and Anderson get 50 each, but the way we've been bowling anything is possible.
I think though, the way we've been batting it will be all over by end of tomorrow with the final series result 2-2.

The most annoying part will be most of Pomgolia getting back on the Bazball bandwagon. Yeesh, so sick of that word.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 29 July 2023 - 05:52 PM

[Tsundoku]

Seriously??? Pretty fucking sure when you change the ball because of the condition, you shouldn't be getting a brand-spanking new one for one that was 40 overs old!

All of a sudden it starts hooping around corners and zinging off the pitch. Umpires need to have their arses kicked for this bullshit.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 31 July 2023 - 11:33 AM

[Tsundoku]

Oh FFS.

"How to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: The story of Australia in England 2005-2023"

Too late to do anything about it now, but at least hold an official investigation into that ball changeover.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 31 July 2023 - 08:28 PM

[champ]

You have to admit Bazball makes for a better Test viewing experience...

If it wasn't for the washout Test I think you'd have been looking at a 2-0 crumble to 2-3 which would have been shocking...


Are either of the teams happy with 2-2... probably not but it was a good spectacle...

[Tsundoku]

So Crawley admits what the rest of his country won't:

‘Made a difference’: Englishman admits Ashes ball farce changed the game
Australia blew up over the ball change fiasco in the fourth innings of the fifth Ashes Test but now an Englishman has finally accepted the truth.

https://www.news.com...8cf4835adaa8a50

[Tsundoku]

Oh wow, ouch.

South Africa obliterates one-day cricket records as Australia humiliated
Australia’s preparation for the World Cup has hit shaky ground after South Africa delivered the most humbling of reality checks.

https://www.news.com...db84d5efd2f52bc

-------------------------------------

So Australia were easily 2-0 up in a best of 5 ODI series, then suddenly everything reverses and we get smashed twice in a row to bring it back to 2-2 with 1 left to play.

"A run spree of such magnitude did not seem likely as accurate Australian bowling and a slower than usual Centurion pitch saw South Africa make relatively slow progress on a ground known for high scoring.

At the second drinks break, the total was 157 for three off 32 overs. The acceleration started during a stand of 74 off 57 balls between Rassie van der Dussen (62) and Klaasen."

From earlier in the article:

"No stranger to conceding big scores in South Africa, the Aussies leaked 5/416, including an 88-ball double century partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.

Klaasen slammed 174 off 83 balls to lead South Africa to an easy win in the fourth match of the series. It was the second-highest score by a batsmen playing at number five or lower in ODIs and the most runs scored by someone who came out to bat in the 25th over or later.

When he finally departed, Klaasen had shared an extraordinary fifth-wicket partnership of 222 off only 94 balls with Miller (82 not out from 45) as South Africa piled up their fifth-highest total in one-day internationals, before bowling out Australia for 252."

Sounds like the message went out to the Australians to take it to a decider somewhere after the 30 over mark of the Saffer innings.