Cricket fred

[Puja]

I think they got it wrong with Bess bringing him in so early. He'd have been much better bowling many thousands of extra 1st class deliveries.once in the test squad that's really limited how many balls he would actually bowl. Fair we don't have many great spin options, especially with Rashid being out of the picture.

And agreed on Woakes, indeed it's the caveat to much of the side going well, how would they do on faster bouncier wickets? Robinson looks like he should work on a variety of surfaces

Cautiously optimistic about Robinson - he's not especially fast or tall or swingy, but he is consistent and patient, a combination of virtues which Glenn McGrath showed can work very well.

Puja

He's impressed in camp. It seems when he first turned up with England he didn't have the wobble seam delivery in his arsenal, and he's already progressed to bowling it in tests, and that's very quick going from nets to being able to produce in a game, and produce intended results. This will strongly endear him to management

I'm not sure if he's got quite enough if the ball is doing nothing in the air or off the pitch. But he is one to look at and think possibly he could still deliver when that happens, partly because of his height, maybe that's not especially tall but he'd be similar to Josh Hazlewood, and that seems pretty tall to me

Huh. A google tells me he's 6ft5. I did not realise he was that tall!

It sounds weird, but he doesn't bowl like a tall bowler. Like a big man in rugby growing up getting used to boshing people, taller bowlers can rarely resist the temptation to drop short and give the batsman a little chin music (or at the very least drag their deliveries steadily shorter and shorter), and it's something I've not seen from Robinson so far. That makes me value him even more.

I assume he has the capability to bowl short if the pitch demands? That'd be a useful string to have for going to Australia.

Puja

[Digby]

The shorter the ball the easier it is bowling on the physical front, so they can bowl short when tired, and in fairness when the batter has managed to not get out to pitched up stuff and you intentionally change. Not sure if Robinson can bowl short stuff, he probably needs to add a few mph else he'd have to be really short and then what's the point?

We clearly would like someone who can stick it in short, but they're not doing badly for a side missing Broad, Archer, Wood and Stokes. A few things could have worked out better for us today, but mainly India have played well

[Digby]

What a weird wicket that was for Sharma getting out. Still looks like it'll be India's game with our batters not having much renown for quality, and it's probably the series gone with OT predicted to be something of a washout. But we're in with a chance again

[Galfon]

Need to wrap innings up before lead above 250 ideally - there is a chance of this.
Moeen delivers enough wicket balls but it's a pity his loose/poor quotas means he rarely ties decent batsmen down.

** u/d India remain unwrapped, no further loss, lead 275+

[fivepointer]

You shouldnt be run out in test cricket unless you are going hell for leather for quick runs. Its just donating a wicket.

[Digby]

There probably was a run there, Malan just wasn't backing up. Depends a bit too on what the chat was between the players, were they talking about let's reach lunch, or were they saying we've not scored much let's be looking for a single or a two.

It probably was a little tight given all, but Malan isn't an innocent party in that run out

[Galfon]

Collapso-central.- some players can be relied upon to be unreliable it seems.

[Digby]

Lack of penetration in the bowling, dropped catches, spinner couldn't hold an end down, missed run outs and then collapsing when batting. We've really ticked all the boxes. One suspects Australia aren't in panic mode

[Digby]

I wonder how often in recent times both openers have posted 50s and England have still made a super low score?

[Digby]

Yes, well, that's one way to ensure a known outcome.

[Puja]

And Moeen has now retired from Test cricket. I don't really blame him from a personal perspective - it's probably the right decision both for his mental health and his career - but it's far from ideal that he's had the last two tests and we're now back to square one for spinners again.

Puja

[Digby]

Lancashire in full recovery mode now they've reached 21-6, it was 12-6

[Digby]

Lancy are batting again and are 40-1, they only need another 400 to make Warwickshire bat again, and it's Day 3

[Big D]

The YCCC house of cards is in danger of tumbling down into a hole of debt.

[Galfon]

Difficult to see how what has happened in the last few days could not have been foreseen once the facts were revealed.
Michael V is also on a sticky wicket now that may require nimble footwork and clever shots for him to keep his wicket intact.

[Digby]

Odd it's taken this to get Yorkshire into trouble, for years if there was one ground you could count on for racist chanting it was Headingley, especially Saturday afternoon after a few pints if playing Sri Lanka, India, West Indies or Pakistan, and they kept giving them game after game

[Galfon]

Karma for Kiwis - home with an over to spare, and into the final.
Looked hopeful until Neesham blitz and Bairstow boundary catch- no it's a six turnaround.
Pity Roy & Mills injured, but NZ team are top drawer at the moment.

[Puja]

Thought we had it in the bag halfway through their innings, but Neesham just pulled out an incredible performance to turn it around. Fair play to them; hope they go well in the final.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Decisive knock from Neesham but our bowling went to pot in the last few overs.

[Digby]

It's only pyjama cricket. And anyway, it's an event they're allowing Pakistan and Afghanistan to play in, which is odd when one looks at all the gnashing of teeth around some racist comments at Yorkshire, but no, we can just ignore stuff like women getting their heads chopped off for playing sport

[Galfon]

The Gods are on the side of the colonial cousins it seems - fantastic knock by Wade and crucial drop when on just 21.
Scooping/paddling/ramping quickies over the fine leg boundary repeatedly should be penalised - clearly not correct battery.

[Puja]

This may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of - Conway is out of the final because he punched his bat when he got out and broke his hand.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59251263

Puja

[Stom]

So I wanted to comment on Vaughan's comments somewhere...

"I'm not racist"
"I did not use racist language"
"Steve as they call him in Yorkshire because they can't pronounce his first name"
"That was three years ago - that's how much times have moved on in the three years."

No, Michael, no they have not, you're just perpetuating racism.

"The problem with this situation is that we've got too much 'he said, he said, she said, did they say' and I think we've got to move on from accusations of conversations from many years ago.

"There's a bigger picture here."

No, Michael, THAT is the bigger picture. The bigger picture is acknowledging that you have been racist, whether intentional or not, and doing something about it, not just blaming he said, she said. Utter twonk of an idiot. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm done with that now, he's an idiot and he deserves to be exiled for a long time, until he can actually admit he was racist, intentionally or otherwise, and do something about it.

It's an absolute disgrace that parts of society continue to believe that this kind of behaviour is fine and acceptable, and that the "bigger picture" is to ignore individual cases of hurt because it offends you that someone got hurt from something you said.

Fuck right off.

[Puja]

I was having this discussion with someone senior at my rugby club the other day. He was talking about a player he played with years back who had a nickname that, as far as he was aware, was completely his choice and which everyone called him and there was never any issue about, but which was, in and of itself, a racial slur. I suspect he was a bit concerned about it being the kind of thing that could come back up in the current environment and sought my advice because he has seen my Facebook postings and I'm probably the most opinionated liberal he knows.

I told him that, the thing was, I could absolutely see how a decent person could do it - gods knows I've said shitty things in the past, especially in a team environment where everyone else was saying it and, if the guy in question appeared fine with it, then it would've seemed permissable. And it's entirely possible that the guy *was* fine with it and it wasn't a problem! However, sometimes a person with a marginalised identity may seem fine with something and laugh along and even join in, because it's easier than standing up to a whole changing room and the popular people in it and declare yourself to not only be different, but "one of those types" who get offended at everything and define themselves by their identity ("woke" in the days before the bigoted had that word as a dedicated insult to hurl). It's easier to just accept it as "not that bad" and "just banter" when it actually makes you feel pretty shit, but you're scared of the jokes and laughter if you try and introduce yourself to the new guy as, "Hi, I'm Jamal".

The thing we all have to remember, and the thing which I'm fairly sure Vaughan hasn't got, is that one can be racist without being irredeemably evil. We were taught in school that racism was universally awful, which it absolutely is, but it leads to the cognitive dissonance of, "Racists are all horrible people. I don't think I am a horrible person. Therefore I am not a racist. This person is saying what I said is racist. That would make me a horrible person and I don't *want* to think of myself as a horrible person. Therefore it wasn't racist and the problem is theirs for being offended." It's not a binary of good/evil :: racist/non-racist that you're one side of or the other. You can absolutely be a decent person who has said something racist.

I am racist - I try very hard not to be, but I am certain that I have blind spots and biases. Moreover, I *know* I was more racist in the past. Some of the things which I said 10 years ago... sheesh, I'm just glad I don't keep a twitter. The trick is to try to do better every time. You're only a horrible person if you are happy being a racist and don't want to improve. When someone from a marginalised group tells you that you were out of line, fight that internal voice that tells you, "Nah fuck that, I don't want this, so it's their problem." First and foremost, look at what they're saying and where they're coming from - there is maybe 5% of the time where they're wrong and you're right, so if you're coming out being right more often, then you're likely doing it wrong. Secondly, and most importantly, apologise. No-one from a marginalised group is bringing this up for the lulz or because they want to upset you, they're bringing it up because you hurt them and they're hopeful that speaking might do something this once. The correct answer is always, "I'm sorry I hurt you" (at minimum), rather than, "I still think I was right," even if you still do.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

SNIP