Cricket stuff that doesn't deserve its own thread

[cnerd123]

This must be the most pathetic 'cricketers of the year' list that I've ever seen.
Even taking into account the fact that I've had the misfortune to see some of these Widen lists in the past.

Is this because they picked three women and a West Indian

 

[Borges]

Picking three women was a great idea.
I dread to think of what kind of atrocities they would have come up with if the Women's world cup was not held in England.
Thank god for small mercies.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Should've been given to Ben Stokes imo

You only get it once and Stokes obtained it in 2016.

 

[Starfighter]

Tbh those short run ups look exceedingly elegant on tape sometimes. But I'm pretty sure they won't work as well today.

How wouldn't they work? Hadlee and Holding both had short runs they utilised to great success, and Thomson at his fastest ran only 14 paces, the same as Larwood. Nobody ever needed to run 22 or 24 paces like in the seventies and eighties, you don't need a full sprint for bowling. It was simply people copying other people. After Fred Trueman there was an explosion of bowlers in England with sharply curved runs in the late sixties, and after Wes Hall came around suddenly everyone was running in miles.

Even though we don't like to talk about it, at some point we will have to cede that cricket went through an upgrade in the 70s and 80s wrt both fast bowling and batting. In terms of average skills. Outliers from previous eras may have been as good.

I'm not sure about that. Maybe there was more of a focus on pace and taller, faster bowlers became more and more common at the expense of slower, movement focussed bowlers. I've never seen a modern bowler who could swing the ball like Trueman except maybe for Anderson. At his best he made Steyn's outswinger look tiny. I think swing and cut bowling underwent a big decline as use of the bouncer increased. I don't see any evidence for batting becoming more skilful, if anything the helmet led to an eventual decline in skill.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Summary of the new wisden's editorial.

Ashes 'stinker' has left Test cricket in jeopardy, warns Wisden while slamming ECB over Ben Stokes | Daily Mail Online

I have mine pre-ordered so it should be arriving in the next couple of days.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Wisden cricketers of the year,

Shai Hope
Heather Knight
Jamie Porter
Natalie Sciver
Anya Shrubsole

Not complaining but definitely unusual for a "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" list to include 4 players I've never even once heard of and the other one I have heard of only very peripherally

 

[Borges]

This Widen has been a perennial joke for decades.
Though, one must admit that it is quite endearing to see a bunch of fools take themselves so seriously.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Not complaining but definitely unusual for a "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" list to include 4 players I've never even once heard of and the other one I have heard of only very peripherally

I think it is the first time an England (male) international has never made it which is telling.

I personally would have switched Shai Hope for Simon Harmer. Hasan Ali is a surprising omission also, the Champions Trophy.

 

[S.Kennedy]

This Widen has been a perennial joke for decades.
Though, one must admit that it is quite endearing to see a bunch of fools take themselves so seriously.

I believe it is considered quite the honour - at least the players seem to regard it so.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I think it is the first time an England (male) international has never made it which is telling.

I personally would have switched Shai Hope for Simon Harmer. Hasan Ali is a surprising omission also, the Champions Trophy.

Are the 3 women all English players?

 

[quincywagstaff]

Summary of the new wisden's editorial.

Ashes 'stinker' has left Test cricket in jeopardy, warns Wisden while slamming ECB over Ben Stokes | Daily Mail Online

I have mine pre-ordered so it should be arriving in the next couple of days.

Gee, the prestige of the Ashes is under threat because England are doing lousy in it; what a shock coming from Wisden. Sounds like various English journos around the late 90s/early 00s.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Are the 3 women all English players?

Well yes, it is for the world cup win. Probably a bit knee-jerk to England winning but it is not as if the performances did not deserve it, e.g., Shrubsole's wickets winning the final. I'd actually say Tammy Beaumont was unlucky to not be included.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Gee, the prestige of the Ashes is under threat because England are doing lousy in it; what a shock coming from Wisden. Sounds like various English journos around the late 90s/early 00s.

I think it is a bit more nuanced than that, the cricket being very dull and played-out on flat tracks (''dulled by pitches stripped of their old character''). If you were a neutral there is no way you'd have enjoyed that series.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Well yes, it is for the world cup win. Probably a bit knee-jerk to England winning but it is not as if the performances did not deserve it, e.g., Shrubsole's wickets winning the final. I'd actually say Tammy Beaumont was unlucky to not be included.

Not saying it's surprising, Wisden's Cricketers of the Year has always been heavily English-favoured

 

[Borges]

Gee, the prestige of the Ashes is under threat because England are doing lousy in it; what a shock coming from Wisden.

They have been at this for ages.

The first Wisden I remember seeing was the one immediately after the great West Indians came to England and wiped the floor with the home team. The lengthy obituary for test cricket that Wisden wrote at that time was very eloquent.

 

[quincywagstaff]

I think it is a bit more nuanced than that, the cricket being very dull and played-out on flat tracks (''dulled by pitches stripped of their old character''). If you were a neutral there is no way you'd have enjoyed that series.

True, but they also wrote this:

Once, the Ashes needed neither explanation nor justification: they simply were, because they had always been. People do care. But, one suspects, not as much as they did.

What is the basis for this? In Australia at least, it's still a major event as reflected by the record-breaking crowds in this series. And the Ashes are still very well-known culturally, even by those who follow the sport.

Yes, this Ashes series was a lousy one but I'm sicked and tired of a poor day's Test play (let alone a whole series) being used by cricket journos and publications to go off on their zillionith 'Test cricket is dying' mantra.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Not saying it's surprising, Wisden's Cricketers of the Year has always been heavily English-favoured

There have been years when there are no English or the English are greatly outnumbered, usually when England are getting pasted at home. 1997 had Jayasuriya, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Phil Simmons and Tendulkar. 1994 had Boon, Healy, Merv, Warne and Steve Watkin (Glamorgan in case you ask?). 1992 had Ambrose, Donald, Richie Richardson, Waqar and DeFreitas. Wisden also introduced the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World to cover performances outside England, and thus far Freddie is the only Englishman to have won the thing for 2005 (although there are backdated winners).

 

[quincywagstaff]

They have been at this for ages.

The first Wisden I remember seeing was the one immediately after the great West Indians came to England and wiped the floor with the home team. The lengthy obituary for test cricket that Wisden wrote at that time was very eloquent.

That reminds me, when the Windies were dominating in Australia in the 1980s in Test series, there was a fair bit of whining from local press and players even about how the fast bowling assault they provided wasn't good for the game in the long run. Of course, like Wisden, they weren't really complaining about the ruthlessness of the pace bowling, it was that Australia couldn't dish it out to an equal level.

 

[S.Kennedy]

True, but they also wrote this:



What is the basis for this? In Australia at least, it's still a major event as reflected by the record-breaking crowds in this series. And the Ashes are still very well-known culturally, even by those who follow the sport.

Yes, this Ashes series was a lousy one but I'm sicked and tired of a poor day's Test play (let alone a whole series) being used by cricket journos and publications to go off on their zillionith 'Test cricket is dying' mantra.

This Ashes campaign from an English perspective seemed to have far less hype before it started than any of the previous ones I can remember. I put it down to two factors: nobody giving England a chance and BT having the rights (which hardly anyone subscribes to).

 

[quincywagstaff]

That's probably true but I think that speaks to a broader problem with Wisden. There seems to be an assumption that in its views it speaks for world cricket when it really speaks from an English cricketing perspective.