Cricket

There are reports that he died as a result of suicide , so very sad, devastating for his family

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Bruce

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Life in the old dog yet!!

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It’s been confirmed that Stokes is out for the rest of the season after he picked up a bad hamstring injury at OT in the Hundred. Pope will captain against Sri Lanka.

Thanks Eoin, watching The Hundred and they mentioned he limped off.

I wonder if he hasn’t played too much cricket and is now in the Archer/Mills scenario where he needs wrapping up in cotton wool

Some interesting comments about 50 over cricket in Wisden, the real problem being the conflicting formats and the English climate makes watching sometimes a job for pullovers, coats and thermals - and that can be in July

The gist being 50 over is being squeezed , with all the leagues why not have a 50 over knock out competition?

Try and reinvigorate a tired genre

That plus the complete domination of football, their season is way too long and doesn’t allow enough space for anything else. :frowning:

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I’m afraid money talks regarding the football season.
The sooner they end 50 overs the better. The mid thirty overs are usually boredom itself so why not condense it all to 20 overs.
I actually prefer 100, if it’s going to be instant cricket.
I have to say it’s the 100 that’s responsible for my 9 year old grandsons interest in playing and watching the game.
He’s been to 100 games at the Oval and Trent Bridge and thoroughly enjoyed them.
The youth involvement at both venues has been brilliant and he looks forward to going. Offer him a days test match cricket and he’s not interested.

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Yes, I totally agree with you. I think the Hundred has been a success , especially with its family emphasis and the way it has treated women’s cricket.

I have to say I much prefer the women’s game as it isn’t just a question of slogging a white ball out the park.

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50 over will survive if India want it to. Since it is harder to monetise than short format I don’t think it will.

Just to be awkward, I like 40 overs. I’ve watched and played a lot of it over the years.

I quite enjoy the 100, most T20 games are like watching the TV stuck on repeat, especially the IPL.

I imagine if you asked a load of youngsters what colour a Cricket ball is, without thinking, they would say white. I stopped playing Cricket a few years ago after nearly 50 years. I have never played with a white ball.

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I’m sure the 50 over game was designed to give a days cricket with a result.
The beauty with the 100 is that it combines both the woman’s and the men’s game to give two results in the day whilst removing the boring bits, a win!win!win! situation.

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I found this really interesting. I remember talking to some guys who had played against him at school. They told the story of Ellcock’s school bringing round two helmets to the opposition dressing room before the game suggesting that they might be needed. This was when nobody at school or club level had helmets.

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Really enjoyed the women’s Hundred :100: screaming at the TV over the Welsh :wales: Fire time wasting tactics and cheering when the Spirit won .

Haven’t seen men’s game yet , probably the usual power hitting , my guess is that in comparison to a five day test at Lord a Hundred :100: match will have more sixes in both sessions.

Typical Manchester summertime

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Better than Durham in May , which often seems the fate of the Sri Lankan team

Rain overnight but improving forecast for today. I think we did well to get virtually a full day to watch yesterday. Not sold out though

Bruce

Just turned over to watch W Indies V S Africa, T20 . row after row of empty seats

Very depressing, switching over to watch recording of Gardner’s World

And that’s T20, the “popular ” format. :thinking: