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Official Water Cooler Cricket Thread


the saint

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By the way, it's good to see that the Windies are getting back in business. They have been out of it far too long. Defeating India 4-1 in the ODIs is not to be sneezed at.

 

Who doesn't remember the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Harper, Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Garner and many more? Maybe Alan, Mark, Frances and a few others are too young to remember, but they have surely read about them.

 

Those were the days. Are they coming back I wonder.

 

Roland

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By the way, it's good to see that the Windies are getting back in business. They have been out of it far too long. Defeating India 4-1 in the ODIs is not to be sneezed at.

 

Who doesn't remember the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Harper,  Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Garner and many more? Maybe Alan, Mark, Frances and a few others are too young to remember, but they have surely read about them.

 

Those were the days. Are they coming back I wonder.

 

Roland

My first test was watching Lillian Thompson bowling at a grey-haired old man so I've seen most of the great West Indians. Their performance seems to have been transformed by Bravo's dismissal of Singh to win the second match and the Indians appear to have lost all heart. It will be interesting to see how the Test series goes now.

 

I think it will be some time before we see a team as good as the 70s and 80s. At that time they had enough world-class players so that island politics did not have a great impact. Now they have a couple of exciting players and it will be interesting to see how they develop especially when they travel abroad.

 

Paul

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Sadly I'm not too young to remember Walsh, Ambrose and Hooper (particularly the Hooper bowling technique).

 

We were discussing last night our 'team supporter' order: when any two Test teams are playing each other, which one would we support? Jeffrey and I didn't have quite the same list, but mine is

 

1. England

2. New Zealand

3. West Indies

4. Bangladesh (typical English love for the underdog)

5. India

6. Pakistan

7. Zimbabwe (used to be higher but country is too depressing now)

8. South Africa

9. Australia

 

Then we got onto the football world cup, but that belongs in a different thread.

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Viv Richards was still around when I first started watching cricket (or at least the first cricket match I remember watching).

 

However, the trouble with West Indian cricket is that their islands have been influenced too much with American (and therefore non-cricket playing) culture. As a result, youngsters grow up wanting to become Michael Jordan (basketball player) rather than Michael Holding, which is a shame.

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Who doesn't remember the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Harper,  Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Garner and many more? Maybe Alan, Mark, Frances and a few others are too young to remember, but they have surely read about them.

 

I can recall seeing Gary Sobers playing for The International Cavaliers at York, one lovely Summer Sunday. :)

 

Can't remember who else was playing. :(

 

Geoff

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I can recall seeing Gary Sobers playing for The International Cavaliers at York, one lovely Summer Sunday.  :(

Speaking of Gary Sobers, captain of Nottinghamshire at the time. What about 1968 at Swansea against Glamorgan? 6 sixes in an over. Poor Malcolm Nash. Want to see the video?

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1...71645&q=cricket

 

Roland

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We were discussing last night our 'team supporter' order: when any two Test teams are playing each other, which one would we support? Jeffrey and I didn't have quite the same list, but mine is

 

1. England

2. New Zealand

3. West Indies

4. Bangladesh (typical English love for the underdog)

5. India

6. Pakistan

7. Zimbabwe (used to be higher but country is too depressing now)

8. South Africa

9. Australia

My list is somewhat different, but I guess that's normal for a non-English citizen. However, I must admit that my heart belongs to England, possibly because I lived there when I was young(er).

 

1. England

2. West Indies

3. Australia

4. India

5. New Zealand

6. South Africa

7. Pakistan

8. Bangladesh

9. Zimbabwe

 

Roland

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I think that your list is a little unusual in that you aren't Australian yet you don't have Australia at the bottome of the list.

 

Would you really have been disappointed had Bangladesh beaten Australia in the first test?

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I do remember the West Indies quicks. The best test innings I've ever seen was Gooch's 154* at Headingley 1991 on a pitch that was doing everything against Marshall, Walsh, Ambrose and Patterson while shepherding the tail. I did like the Windies when they were great, and I'm glad to see signs of life coming back. Calypso cricket needs to return!
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I think that your list is a little unusual in that you aren't Australian yet you don't have Australia at the bottome of the list.

 

Would you really have been disappointed had Bangladesh beaten Australia in the first test?

I can understand why an Englishman wants Australia at the bottom of the list, but since I am not English, I can't join that camp. My list is based on a combination of passion and skills, and I do indeed enjoy watching the Aussies - also against England.

 

Sure, it would have been nice if Bangladesh had beaten Australia, and I am glad to see how BD have improved considerably over the past couple of years. But I am also a subscriber to top class cricket, and in that area Australia are still a mile ahead of the rest.

 

I wish that I am proven wrong, but although my heart wants England to retain The Ashes, my mind tells me that it's unlikely to happen when the Aussies are on home soil.

 

Roland

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I find all the lists unusual in that Zimbabwe are included, even though they have been suspended from Test status. Yet, noone has included Sri Lanka. :rolleyes:

 

Sean

Whoops. Sri Lanka is not the same team any more, but they should obviously have been there. Put them in at number 8 and throw Zimbabwe out if you like.

 

By the way, how would you all like to list a World XI (1) vs. World XI (2)? Tough job, I know. You are allowed to include as many players from one country as you please in both teams. Let's assume that every player is fit.

 

You go first, and I'll give you my line-ups later.

 

Roland

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Oops.

That's what comes of doing it in a hurry: I knew I had the right number of Test teams at the end of it!

 

1. England

2. New Zealand

3. West Indies

4. Bangladesh (typical English love for the underdog)

5. India

6. Sri Lanka

7. Pakistan

8. South Africa

9. Australia

 

The reasons behind this order are subjective, complicated and personal and it may change over time as the teams change... don't take any of it as an insult, whoever you are (except that Australia won't come off the bottom until they are no longer boringly better than everyone else at any sport they play).

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By the way, how would you all like to list a World XI (1) vs. World XI (2)? Tough job, I know. You are allowed to include as many players from one country as you please in both teams.

 

You go first, and I'll give you my line-ups later.

 

Roland

Are they supposed to be equally balanced teams - both having the same chance of winning?

 

It's tricky, because individual country teams have a huge amount of team spirit, morale and understanding as well as a captain who knows the players well. That's one of the reasons I think Australia hammered the "world XI" recently.

 

By the way, where is the match being played? There are pitches where Murali is my first choice bowler and others where he's very low down the list.

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By the way, how would you all like to list a World XI (1) vs. World XI (2)? Tough job, I know. You are allowed to include as many players from one country as you please in both teams.

 

You go first, and I'll give you my line-ups later.

 

Roland

Are they supposed to be equally balanced teams - both having the same chance of winning?

 

It's tricky, because individual country teams have a huge amount of team spirit, morale and understanding as well as a captain who knows the players well. That's one of the reasons I think Australia hammered the "world XI" recently.

 

By the way, where is the match being played? There are pitches where Murali is my first choice bowler and others where he's very low down the list.

Equally balanced. The venue is Lord's, and the weather is great for cricket. 5-day game of course.

 

Roland

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I have a further question, when picking, is World1 being picked first? And then World2?

 

As to venue, let's pretend there is a perfect venue that aids the quicks early, then favours the spinners towards the end. Id doesn't have to be a real venue.

 

Sean

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I have a further question, when picking, is World1 being picked first? And then World2?

 

As to venue, let's pretend there is a perfect venue that aids the quicks early, then favours the spinners towards the end. Id doesn't have to be a real venue.

 

Sean

World1 will be selected first. I am having a hard time as we speak. OK then, 2 openers and an obvious 3. Middle order = 4, 5, 6. Wicket-keeper is 7, and finally 3 seamers and 1 spinner.

 

Lord's it is. It's close to a sell-out already.

 

Regarding Dizzy: great knock indeed, but it could only happen against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

 

Roland

 

P.S. Jeffrey and I will be umpiring (Alan 3rd umpire), Fred is the match referee, Frances is World 1's physio, Paul belongs to World2, and Sean will bring drinks on to the field. The rest will be commentating on TV :rolleyes:

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World XI 1 is not following your formula, but I will explain...

 

Matthew Hayden

Rahul Dravid

Jacques Kallis

Ricky Ponting

Inzamam ul-Haq

Brian Lara

Andrew Flintoff

Adam Gilchrist

Shane Warne

Glenn McGrath

Muttiah Muralitharan

 

12th man: Andrew Symonds for fielding duties.

 

I feel with Flintoff and Kallis, I can take 2 spinners in.

 

Sean

 

(thinking about the 2nd team)

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Well, I'll assume a fairly good batting track, a bit in it for the seamers, but it'll likely start to turn towards the end of the match.

 

In which case:

 

Team 1:

 

Marcus Trescothick

Graeme Smith

Herschelle Gibbs

Ricky Ponting

Kevin Peterson

Andrew Flintoff

Adam Gilchrist (w)

Shane Warne ©

Shoaib Akhtar

Brett Lee

Anil Kumble

 

Team 2:

 

Verinder Sehwag

Andrew Strauss

Brian Lara

Sachin Tendulkar

Rahul Dravid

Inzamann-ul-haq ©

Kumara Sangakarra (w)

Shaun Pollock

Matthew Hoggard

Makhaya Ntini

Muttiah Muralitharan

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World XI 1:

Stephen Fleming

Matthew Hayden

Ricky Ponting C

Rahul Dravid

Kevin Pietersen

Andrew Flintoff

Adam Gilchrist W

Shane Warne

Brett Lee

Shoaib Ahktar

Glenn McGrath

 

World XI 2:

Sachin Tendulkar

Marcus Trescothick

Jacques Kallis

Brian Lara

Inzamam-ul-Haq C

Andrew Symonds

Kumara Sangakkara W

Shaun Pollock

Shane Bond

Makhaya Ntini

Muttiah Muralitharan

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I shall discuss tonight with the other half of the selection committee.

 

But I shall be assuming (as Roland said) that Vaughan is back to match fitness and back in practice, just as everyone except Roland is assuming about Tendulkar. I definitely want him as one of my captains.

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But I shall be assuming (as Roland said) that Vaughan is back to match fitness and back in practice, just as everyone except Roland is assuming about Tendulkar. I definitely want him as one of my captains.

My bad; of course a fit Tendulkar should be in one of the teams. Corrected above.

 

Roland

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