Cricket fred

[Banquo]

Bit of a surprise, but maybe not.
Eng will struggle even more to match past glory without him.
Excessive demands on players in many sports now will surely lead to more stepping off/on the bus.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/62205961

I reckon we will be ok without him, wonder if he'll IPL it though. We need to get our one day bowlers back, the batting is having an odd blip against a very good Indian OD attack.

He better not IPL it. He’s just pulled out of The Hundred and my season tickets have a lost a little of their lustre.

The Stokes are high

[Banquo]

1st innings batting as good as ever

[Galfon]

Can't see gung-ho Eng getting 400 or so over next 2 days to make things more comfortable, though with the new-found inspiration who knows!.

eta- not this time, pretty comprehensive.

[Banquo]

so our response to being rolled over twice is to drop a promising quick. Not sure how Crawley survives tbh; tail is also way too long with Broad at 8.

[Banquo]

...and Robinson gets Elgar....or doesn't, no ball.

[Galfon]

Brill n'Ben having a flobberdobulous day so far, 160 partnership and healthy lead.Plenty of time to level up the series..

[Banquo]

Brill n'Ben having a flobberdobulous day so far, 160 partnership and healthy lead.Plenty of time to level up the series..

great batting today

[fivepointer]

Proper batting today from Stokes & Foakes. Sets us up nicely after the bowlers efforts.

[Banquo]

good bowling, brave batting. Van der Dussen should have gone tho, nicked one but no appeal.

[Banquo]

wrapped that up spectacularly. Anderson is amazing and Robinson fully justified his recall. Stokes and Foakes superb day 2.

[Banquo]

Poor old young Johnny Bairstow has broken his leg. Playing golf. Such a shame the form he found- out of 3rd test and T20 WC.

[Mellsblue]

How on earth do you break your leg playing golf?!?

[Puja]

The only thing I can think of is that he's fallen down a sharp drop while trying to get to a wayward ball. It's an impressive feat, certainly.

Puja

[Banquo]

How on earth do you break your leg playing golf?!?

You should see my swing

He slipped going onto the tee. Very unlucky- a mate of mine did tear some knee ligaments doing similar, but then he's not an elite sportsman these days.

[Galfon]

If he manages to turn his arm over in the nets during his recovery period, I suppose he could confidently describe himself then as a leg-break bowler..

[Galfon]

Robinson's excellent effort not totally wasted by the batfolk but could have been better placed.
Series safe though.

[Banquo]

zero feel taking them off then. ridiculous

[Galfon]

World slam-bam starts today in Oz, Eng taking their bow next Sat v. Afg.
(Also W Ind- Sco, Ire-Zim. so plenty of home interest.)
Useful build up by in terms of results but always bit of a lottery feel tbh...2016 final over v W Ind. springs to mind, hopefully Ben S over that now
Buttler is T20 skip,leading from the front of course..

eta - warm-up match removed

[Galfon]

Head scratch over for now,
1st. round stage = 2 Groups of 4.
(9-12 from last WC: Nam, Sco, SriL,W Ind
'Global' Quals: Ire, Net, UAE, Zim)

GrpA: Nam, Net, UAE, Sri L
Grp B: Sco, W Ind, Ire, Zim
Playing 16th - 21st., Winner/Runner up in each proceed to
'Super12', starting Sat 22nd.
Group 1: Afg, Aus, NewZ, Eng, A1, B2
Group 2: Ban, Ind, Pak, SA, B1, A2

Eng play in Perth, Melbourne (2), Brisbane & Sydney.
SF's are in Sydney, Adelaide
F is Melbourne.

[Galfon]

Sri Lanka & Netherlands progress to 'Super 12's' from Group A in 1st/ 2nd places respectively, after victories for Sri L (v. Net) and
UAE ( v. Nam) today.

[Galfon]

Zimbabwe & Ireland progress to 'Super 12's' from Group B in 1st/ 2nd places respectively, after victories for Zim (v. Sco) and Ire ( v. W Ind.) today.

[Galfon]

Group 1 S12 underway - New Z thump Oz, Eng coast by Afg and look pretty sharp in the field.
Sri L v Ire in this group Sun.

[Galfon]

How not to bowl under pressure - Ind win off last ball after needing 31 from last 2 overs. v Pak.
Kohli lording it again with 83 off 53.
.. 2 wides, a no ball and full toss thrown in the final over. mayhem.
Sums this format up. Hope Leicester stays quiet...

[Galfon]

This looks familar - 4 in the shed and 10 per over from 9 to beat Ire, Buttler/Stokes fail.

[Banquo]

well done Ireland. Shame it rained tho, would have been a great finish.