***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[stumpski]

3 English born players in the Northants XI. I hope they get crushed.

Napier's doing his best - 38 off 15 balls. No-one should be picked for England on the strength of one innings, but he's done this three times on the trot now.

 

[steds]

Wouldn't argue with Boje, Klusener, Louw, van der Wath, Hall, Crook or even Wessels - but I don't really think Brown, White or Sales have any more right to be than O'Brien.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Looks like Graham Napier is putting a journeyman international attack to the sword today. 32 runs off 14 balls at the moment.

What a Guy!

 

[BoyBrumby]

The vast majority of those carpetbagging yarpies are covered by EU law. No one claims that they're "local." If the kid isn't legally British, he isn't local either but he's not covered. So Yorkshire can either **** off or chuck their overseas player. Their own fault entirely.

But as they're not classed as overseas that's exactly what they're regarded as.

I wasn't defending Yorkshire, btw, it was their fault, it just seems counter-intuitive to say a kid who went to school in Barnsley isn't local, regardless of what his passport says.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Napier goes; middle-low full toss smacked down deep long-on's throat. 40 off 20 tho, which you'd take.

Golden blob for Kaneria as I type & Hall on a hat-trick.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Wouldn't argue with Boje, Klusener, Louw, van der Wath, Hall, Crook or even Wessels - but I don't really think Brown, White or Sales have any more right to be than O'Brien.

I wouldn't argue with Andrew Hall or even Lance Klusener. Nicky Boje, I'd be more than happy to argue with and that Riki Wessels looks a bit of a tosser, so I'd be more than happy to argue with him.

 

[Richard]

I would say stop, I'm spinning like a top, but I'm no Tina Charles.

 

[Richard]

Seriously, what good comes of Irish players not playing the best cricket available to them?

 

[stumpski]

193 to get. At least Northants' best bowler was the token Englishman.

 

[open365]

Is Chelmsford the smallest ground on the English circuit nowadays?

Every other ball seems to be disappearing out of the ground, Napier is on an absolute tear and hitting some of the best 6s I've ever seen, incredible that someone who was in effect a bit of a journeyman opening bowler a few weeks ago is now batting this well

 

[Richard]

Napier's doing his best - 38 off 15 balls. No-one should be picked for England on the strength of one innings, but he's done this three times on the trot now.

Is anyone seriously expecting him not to be one of the first names on the teamsheet whenever England next play a Twenty20 International?

I just hope this crap doesn't get him picked for ODIs. Yet another step in the wrong direction.

Still, at least he is a wicket-taker, rather than the likes of Plunkett who just look like wicket-takers but don't take wickets.

 

[open365]

Napier's bowling is absolute fodder by ODI standards, past county level he should be classed as 'part-time' at best.

 

[Richard]

Is Chelmsford the smallest ground on the English circuit nowadays?

Nah, quite a bit bigger than Taunton. Think it's the second-smallest though. Makes Exeter's County Ground look like The MCG.

Every other ball seems to be disappearing out of the ground, Napier is on an absolute tear and hitting some of the best 6s I've ever seen, incredible that someone who was in effect a bit of a journeyman opening bowler a few weeks ago is now batting this well

Napier was batting at three in one-day cricket as supposedly more batsman than bowler as far back as 2001. He's always played the odd extraordinary innings all career. And he's never been a journeyman, Essex are his only county. For some reason they've continued to employ him despite practically nothing of note being done by him in First-Class cricket.

BTW has he scored more than 1 innings of note so far in actual one-day cricket this season?

 

[Richard]

Napier's bowling is absolute fodder by ODI standards, past county level he should be classed as 'part-time' at best.

Napier has been one of the most effective wicket-takers in one-day cricket all his career. He's just one of these types that mostly gets smashed but always seems to end with a wicket or two and quite often gets 3 or 4.

In other words, the type of bowler so many people are after. I don't expect him to take wickets at ODI level - but I never expect him to take wickets in one-day cricket in this country either. He's never looked like doing in the First-Class game.

 

[Manee]

Never statistically tracked him before, but always thought that the model of the Fast Bowler's Bible would have been more of a bowler than a batsman.

 

[steds]

Seriously, what good comes of Irish players not playing the best cricket available to them?

Nothing, but it doesn't mean they should be classed as English.



Can't believe I'm opening this can of worms again...

 

[GIMH]

British Isles UK Ireland not Britain all the same country in cricket British and Irish Isles, Simon Jones bla

(I'm one of the main perpertrators of that discussion so want it on record that I'm taking the piss out of myself)

 

[TT Boy]

When’s Rafiq being deported?

The funniest thing about this story aside from the kid being a former England captain is that when Rafiq played against Nottinghamshire Darren Gough at the toss didn’t even know his name let alone what he bowled.

 

[Richard]

Nothing, but it doesn't mean they should be classed as English.

Shouldn't be classed as "foreign" in any way IMO. Not like imported South Africans who could be playing in their own domestic cricket exclusively.

Can't believe I'm opening this can of worms again...

Well you are.

 

[BoyBrumby]

When’s Rafiq being deported?

The funniest thing about this story aside from the kid being a former England captain is that when Rafiq played against Nottinghamshire Darren Gough at the toss didn’t even know his name let alone what he bowled.

Ward's said he has a residence permit so doubt it'll come to that.