Maybe the demise of 5 day test cricket
Hope not
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Off to Manly next week for a few days at the beach with tickets for Day 4 
, guess I can’t lose really! especially as I’m stopping off at Harry’s on the way home to collect a special consignment 
Pray tell special consignment ??
332/300 and NC 250 to give the ND555 some new friends. Should be interesting, sold the 252/SC a a few weeks ago and an Atom HE as pre doesn’t really cut it….
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Well done
I’ve got the NC 333/332/250 traded in the 252/SCDR/250DR
You won’t be disappointed
Harry is the great man
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Issue is Pete there is really only 2 teams in the 5 day cricket world that continue to compete year in year out
Australia and India
Pretty sad really
True and very sad, guess the opportunity to make decent money playing franchise T20s (except the elite) is a price too high to pay for some, I get that. Maybe there should be a tax or some other levy put on those franchise but I’m sure that’s never going to happen.
But regardless it’s the coaches fault, yes and I am blaming BC and co, all batsmen should be coached in proper technique. You can’t play any real shot with confidence if you don’t know or have the basic skills. They’re devaluing their wicket by encouraging them to hit out at everything with no consequence, 6 and out stuff. Imo it’s disrespectful to the game of test cricket.
Sure a drawn out 5 days on a flat pitch can be boring but all sport can be at times. There’s often drama.
I feel this current series has been wasted.
Of course all of the above is my opinion, I’ve been wrong before.
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Harry is a great man, but I’m happy with my Nova.
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Of course the weird thing is that T20 has actually reduced Test bowling skills by having a ball that barely seams or swings and generally flat pitches. Lots of spinners bowling darts and all sorts of variations from seamers are the norm. So you might think that Test bowlers would be less effective and more runs the result. Not the case it seems.
Maybe groundsmen are losing skills for 5 day pitches too!
There’s no doubt Test cricket is changing. The draw percentage has dropped to around 20%, and in the last ICC Test World Championship cycle 75% of matches ended in 4 days or less. There are some hugely detailed analyses on Cricinfo see link below. Of course there’s lots of factors at play not least the decline of Test cricket in countries like WI, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
You could argue the product has become more exciting as a result but fundamentally money talks. Australia and England generally sell out when they play each other, and I assume TV rights are sold for good money but that series aside Test matches (even sometimes in India) are watched live or on TV by paltry numbers in comparison to T20s.
The format is dying, and will continue to do so. Players (and coaches) understandably prioritise lucrative T20 skills and franchise tournaments scoop up the TV revenue for bite-size chunks of thrash and bash that people want to watch. When the only really thriving contest is the Ashes and that is a) so one-sided and b) spoiled by an aberration like Melbourne it is just another blow.
Take Cameron Green (please). He just snagged the most lucrative ever IPL contract for an overseas player at around £2.2m. Does it look like his mind is on playing Tests?
Cheery start to the day.
Bruce
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That’s the problem it’s not the start of the day here.
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My memory of cricket 40 to 50 years ago was that in the UK pros played a lot of cricket and the test players played County Cricket between test matches. Bowlers bowled a lot but didn’t spend hours in the gym pushing weights. I don’t remember anything like the level of bowler injuries back then that happen today.
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Good to hear that Pete that you getting on well with the Nova
I was genuinely worried that you had gone a step too low in the Naim range but good to see you are happy
This is quite fun and interesting.
No guesses, of course, for who won the worst shot of the year prize.
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Exactly my recollection too !
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As far as I can see, after the Test match which starts tonight, England do not play another Test until June.
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Yup.
However in just over 2 weeks they are in Sri Lanka for a 6 game ODI/T20 series in preparation for the the T20 WC which follows. Seems like it has come around quickly? Well, it has since it is every 2 years now.
3 Tests completed in June v NZ then none until 19th August start of 3 Tests v Pakistan. In that space are 5 T20s and 3 ODIs.
Priorities are clear.
Bruce
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Ashes’ Test #5 D1 - Well, the score suggests England have done well on a heavily rain-affected day, but watching the highlights suggests the same issues persist, as do many of the media comments. At least the strip is better (not a drop-in), and the Aussies playing an all-seam attack has raised a few eyebrows, although Travis Head could be used? What can you say about Brook, as I get the impression it’s like an Ealing Comedy when he comes out to bat, in that something comedic isn’t far away 
Duckett just seems to want to get back in to the pavilion ASAP.
One of the commentators suggested that Brook bats “by numbers”. I listened to some of it and seen highlights. He was better today but still can’t help himself and he got a bit lucky.
Duckett’s “Risk/Reward” dial is turned up to quite an extreme position. I sort of enjoy watching him but he is very exposed as an opener, I think.
To my mind, the main purpose of an opener is to stay in, take shine off the ball and wear the bowlers down. Then make some runs - albeit not recklessly. By those critera, Duckett hasn’t been a great success.
England haven’t had a truly excellent opener since Sir Alistair Cook.
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