329 in a 40 over game from an 18 year-old with a hangover....not bad! 27 fours and 28 sixes apparently, and 144 balls for the whole innings. The report doesn't say if the opposition overhauled their total but I suspect they might not have got too close...
Following a sensational batting display by West Indies' Deandra Dottin, Australia beat England on sixes countback yesterday (1-0) following a super over in which both sides scored 6 for 2 - couldn't have been closer!
Dottin scored her second 50 off 13 balls which brought back memories of when Nick Walker hit my bowling everywhere a couple of years ago. He got his second 50 in 11 balls and most if it came off my bowling so I have every sympathy with the South African bowlers who Dottin took apart!
If you're into your stats, take a look at this analysis of the D/L method v the Jayadevan method for when rain strikes mid-match. Only if you're into your stats though...!
Now that they are the number 1 Test team India want more Tests which can only be a good thing. I hope that remains their view when they're not number 1...
Having just checked the score and seeing that Ireland must now be favourites (49/4), I feel duty bound to say that I've been telling anyone that I discussed it with today that England beating Ireland was not even close to guaranteed. They would win 10 out of 10 Test matches against Ireland and possibly even 10 out of 10 ODIs, but 9 or possibly 8 out of 10 Twenty20s against Ireland, as the shortest form of the game is such a lottery.
It's looking like it could be the one or two in 10 that they lose today by the looks of it....
We've been here before in Twenty20 haven't we? As if the game isn't a lottery enough when played over the full 20 overs, when the D/L is brought into play it seems to massively favour the side batting second. West Indies will be very happy with the result, but even Chris Gayle said afterwards that they need to look into how the calculations are made such was the advantage it gave his side, and this is the second time they have benefited against England in the World Twenty20.
Recently Daniel Vettori also raised the fact that the D/L method stuggles to take into account powerplays, and that's a further issue. It's difficult to know what the solution is, but what I can say is that England's over scores were: 5, 16, 9, 11, 10, 9, 11, 4, 5, 8, 3, 6, 8, 4, 6, 16, 14, 27, 10, 9.
If you were to take their top 3 overs and bottom 3 overs that would equal 70: 27, 16, 16, 3, 4, 4.
If you took their top 6 overs that would equal 95: 27, 16, 16, 14, 11, 11.
Somehow West Indies were asked to chase 60.
We all understand that the D/L method takes into account historical data but in a format with virtually no historical data to go on, an alternative needs to be considered until there is a sufficient body of games to go from, you would think wouldn't you? Presumably the ICC are praying that England beat Ireland now (no guarantee at all given the lottery of Twenty20), but somehow I don't think they're that fussed about the best team winning if their slow and poor adoption of technology to help umpires is anything to go by...
Looks like an interesting one for those that are interested....a lecture from Paul Hawkins on Hawk-Eye and a panel discussion with Jonathan Agnew, Geoff Boycott and Billy Bowden - 25th May.
Half empty or half full? they are asking the Middlesex players in a series of player profiles on their website. Best answer I've heard from anyone cricketer or not is from Gareth Berg ' half empty so I can get another one'. I assume he's talking about beer - good call!
Actually I think the notion that the question is supposed to show whether you're an optimist or a pessimist is ridiculous (and I don't see why you can't be ambivalent about Marmite).
As an eternally pessimistic person, I'm now worried by how well Sussex have started the season!! They're sitting pretty at the top of Division 2 and have a 100% success rate this season - already some are saying that they are showing "they are too good for this Division". It's a bit early for all that!
I'm going to watch a bit of their next match v Middlesex at Hove, so I'll let you know if they really are too good for the Division - I doubt it!
It seems there are regular stories about Cricket Australia trying to demonstrate how much money players can earn in cricket so that they don't go into other sports, the latest being 17 year-old Alex Keith who's signed for Victoria. As long as they're vaguely competitive I don't think they need to worry too much - it's rare that a player really is equally gifted in two sports and could make it professionally at both (yes - there are several notable exceptions).
If a player is choosing their sport by money then they're likely to not have the mindset needed to be a top player...and how does publicising how much money Ricky Ponting gets help anyway? The majority will need to know how much a state player gets, not what a Test captain gets...
Good to see England get off to a decent start in their warm up against Bangladesh, especially compared to Australia who lost to Zimbabwe (not that it will make any difference when the real tournament starts). The fact that the Zimbabwe win has got almost no coverage just proves to me how much of a lottery Twenty20 cricket is - any team can win on any given day - and observers seem to realise that. Brett Lee's injury got far more coverage. If Zimbabwe had beaten Australia in a 3-day warm up for a Test the reaction would be very different....
By the way, how on earth did Bopara get himself run out with one run needed to win and plenty of balls left?!?
It will be interesting to see how Afghanistan do in the World Twenty20 having risen through the cricketing ranks so quickly - good luck to them!
Somehow this advice on how to captain a village team appeals to me - I've had great enjoyment in the past trying to make sure that everyone has a decent game with a team of massively varying abilities....and I'm sure some captains have sighed at having to try to get me into the game when I've been filling in as a fielder (back in the days when I was lithe and athletic 20 years ago)!
It's not possible that IPL 4 will be bigger is it? It's already dominates 15% of the cricketing calendar. The only people that can possibly want it to be bigger (I assume that means longer) are those raking in the cash. If World Cups have been criticised in the past for being too long then why is there seemingly little concern about the length of time the IPL takes?
It really is tricky to work it all out amongst the various allegations being made in the media. My summary would be:
- such huge success was always going to come under immense scrutiny so if Modi wasn't 100% above board with his financial dealings then he's not only greedy but stupid
- it was inevitable given the regular infighting and politics in Indian cricket that others would want part of the action
- it's not going to mean the immediate end to the IPL - there's too much money at stake and no other country has the interest and volume of people to challenge India in holding a similar tournament - but it could mean that it changes shape/approach
- if the tournament can be cut down as a result then some good will have come out of it - 6 weeks is a massive and unnecessarily long distraction from the most important cricket action of all - internationals!
- I wonder what Kapil Dev (who championed the ICL but was outmanoeuvred by Modi and the BCCI) makes of all this?
- If Modi is corrupt, Indian's have nothing to be ashamed of (many Indian observers appear embarrassed by what Modi is rumoured to have done) - corruption exists in all countries and everyone isn't to blame for individual weaknesses.
Coldplay will sponsor a lowly village cricket team in Gloucestershire it seems - good on them. Anyone know world famous bands based near Steyning? Come to think of it the article doesn't mention that Coldplay live close by so perhaps any band will do??
For those of you following it, here's the Cricinfo IPL stat summary of how teams have fared over by over in the IPL. For me, it's finally some meaningful cricket following weeks of reading about relatively meaningless group games. Pity the bit that really matters is so short, and the group stages seem to go on for an eternity.
Yesterday I wanted to try and catch a bit of the semi on YouTube. It's not quite as simple as typing in YouTube.com and searching for IPL it seems!
...and I don't mean Leicestershire. First a fox gets shot dead in Hove, and then this little fox cub gets caught in a cricket net. No need to hunt foxes....just play more cricket!
