Highlight of the year 2003

[Richard]

And I suppose he doesn't deserve his economy rate of 4.69 either then?

Brett Lee is a very good ODI bowler, yet you ignore that FACT.

No, being very good can never be a fact. His record is good, and I don't set any stall by that. Simple as.
And no, his economy-rate deserves to be far higher!

 

[Richard]

You've missed something here, clearly. They appear to be one and the same

No, you've missed something.
Quite how you could get a football team and something used in the agriculture industry confused I don't know.:rolleyes:

 

[Richard]

A pal of mine is too - and he has some really strange ideas regarding cups.

He advocates 'seeding' the draw so that the 'big' clubs avoid each other.

More big v. small ties.
More money made by the smaller clubs.
Sounds good to me.

 

[age_master]

And no, his economy-rate deserves to be far higher!

and how exactly do you back that up

 

[Richard]

Forest 0 Portsmouth 1
Bournemouth 0 WBA 1
Crewe 1 Oxford 3
Bolton 1 Wolves 2
Rotherham 0 Bristol Rovers 1
Swansea 1 West Ham 0

You're right, it was rubbish, wasn't it?

QFs were Arsenal v Derby, Manure v Chelsea, Newcastle v Everton and Barnsley v Spurs. We then had the one good game of the cup when Giggs scored that goal and the scum beat Newcastle 2-0 in the Final.

Coventry beat Macclesfield 7-0 in Round 3 though

Can you not see the glory of Chesterfield and Wycombe's runs?

Or Telford and Gillingham's wins yesterday?

I can see it and I can appreciate the delight of the like of Lawrie Sanchez.
I still prefer seeing as few upsets as possible.
The 98\99 SF was, quite simply, the best game of my time and I'd be surprised if there has ever been a better game. Maybe there have been plenty as good, but surely it's not possible to get a better one.
Congrats on remembering 5 years ago.

 

[Richard]

Well...

1) Australia
2) England
3) New Zealand
4) West Indies
5) Pakistan
6) India
7) Sri Lanka
8) South Africa

Then...

9) Zimbabwe
10) Australia A
11) England A
12) New Zealand A
13) West Indies A
14) Pakistan A
15) India A
16) Sri Lanka A
17) South Africa A
18) Tasmania
19) New South Wales
20) Western Australia
21) South Australia
22) Queensland
23) Victoria
24) Eastern Province
25) Mumbai
26) Lancashire
27) Surrey

And there's probably more.

What a strange idea you have of the order of magnitude!:rolleyes:
And possibly a biased one too?

 

[iamdavid]

Well...

1) Australia
2) England
3) New Zealand
4) West Indies
5) Pakistan
6) India
7) Sri Lanka
8) South Africa

Then...

9) Zimbabwe
10) Australia A
11) England A
12) New Zealand A
13) West Indies A
14) Pakistan A
15) India A
16) Sri Lanka A
17) South Africa A
18) Tasmania
19) New South Wales
20) Western Australia
21) South Australia
22) Queensland
23) Victoria
24) Eastern Province
25) Mumbai
26) Lancashire
27) Surrey

And there's probably more.

Australia A are a lot higher than number 10 pal :P
England A dont exist & do you honestly reckon New Zealand A would prevail over a full strength New South Wales

 

[Richard]

What a romantic you are.
I'd love to see a Lincoln v Yeovil final...would make a change from the same clubs in the final with their spoilt, whinging armchair supporters.

Yes, but fortunately it won't happen.
Believe it or not, all clubs have armchair fans, just less than the Premiership clubs do.
And no, I'm not a romantic and I'm proud not to be one.

 

[Richard]

and how exactly do you back that up

By the fact that I don't like him.
Duh.

 

[Craig]

Australia A are a lot higher than number 10 pal :P
England A dont exist & do you honestly reckon New Zealand A would prevail over a full strength New South Wales

But when is NSW ever full strength? Actually Bangladesh isnt even on that list.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I knew I should have put "these numbers have absolutely no bearing on how highly I rank the sides".

It's solely a list of teams better than Kenya who are in no way shape or form 8th in the World...

Given that Australia A can't beat Zimbabwe, I think 10th is fair anyway..

Back to football

The difference is that the "big" clubs are 90% armchair/plastic supporters whereas the smaller sides have far more non-plastic fans. The plastic ones come out of the woodwork for the FA Cup games v Liverpool, Playoff Finals, LDV Finals, Corrupt Money-Laundering Boards of Directors inviting dodgy American singers to the ground...

Seeded draws are rubbish. Note the total lack of interest in the Champions League early stages. The sole idea behind a seeded draw - no matter what spin people try to put on it - is to guarantee big guns across the board in the Last 16. Sorry, never going to happen.

As for better games, well, there's the Matthews Final, the 1970 World Cup Final, Man Utd losing York, Man Utd losing to Bournemouth, Man Utd's trip to Brazil ending in comedy against Necaxa...

 

[V Reddy]

Back to football

The difference is that the "big" clubs are 90% armchair/plastic supporters whereas the smaller sides have far more non-plastic fans. The plastic ones come out of the woodwork for the FA Cup games v Liverpool, Playoff Finals, LDV Finals, Corrupt Money-Laundering Boards of Directors inviting dodgy American singers to the ground...

Seeded draws are rubbish. Note the total lack of interest in the Champions League early stages. The sole idea behind a seeded draw - no matter what spin people try to put on it - is to guarantee big guns across the board in the Last 16. Sorry, never going to happen.

As for better games, well, there's the Matthews Final, the 1970 World Cup Final, Man Utd losing York, Man Utd losing to Bournemouth, Man Utd's trip to Brazil ending in comedy against Necaxa...

Who should one turn to when the supposed master himself is ........

 

[Langeveldt]

But when is NSW ever full strength? Actually Bangladesh isnt even on that list.

LOL!

 

[Tim]

If NSW lost all of its Australian players & then a few to Australia 'A'. its highly likely that NZ 'A' would win against NSW.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

England A dont exist

England A to play in India's Duleep Trophy

Hmm....

 

[marc71178]

And no, his economy-rate deserves to be far higher!

Based on what exactly?

This bloke is awesome in ODI's, picking up wickets frequently for not many runs yet you imply he should be returning 0-60+ each game?

"There's not greater judge than the game itself" springs to mind

 

[marc71178]

The 98\99 SF was, quite simply, the best game of my time and I'd be surprised if there has ever been a better game.

I could name any number myself.

 

[marc71178]

What a strange idea you have of the order of magnitude!:rolleyes:

Right then Richard, please tell us which of Aus, SA, Eng, Ind, Pak, WI, SL and NZ that Kenya are better than, and then justify why they are better, I'm sure we'd all like to know...

 

[marc71178]

By the fact that I don't like him.
Duh.

Thought as much, since most of your theories seem to have no basis on reality.

 

[Jono]

Favourite aspects of 2003:

ODI:
- World Cup Tournament (WI vs. SA, Ind vs. Pak)
- Sachin's performance at the World Cup (Deserves a category of it's own )

Test:
- India in Australia series (Particularly the Adelaide Test)
- West Indies make the world record final innings chase against Australia (Great moment, what an innings from Lara)

Predicted favourite aspects of 2004:

ODI:
- I'm hoping the VB series will be great since I'll be to many games.

Test:
- Australia in India
- India in Pakistan hopefully
- Australia in Sri Lanka

I've got high hopes for 2004, I hope its a great year.