***Official*** Bangladesh in England

[Richard]

yeah, but while the ICC says they have to play them, the ECB has to make the best of them

But hopefully they might not have to be played again.

 

[Richard]

as a proffesional sportsman, his job is to entertain the people that pay his wages.

One of some.

 

[marc71178]

Shahadat Hossain (RMF) 12 0 100 0

Got to hurt. On his debut no less!

Is that the quickest century in Test history?

 

[marc71178]

Not everyone who goes to Oxbridge is a genius, but I'd say it's a fair bet none are stupid.

I can confirm that - although I have been called stupid at times.

 

[marc71178]

Yea, money gets you the rest of the way.

I strongly demand you retract that statement immediately.

 

[marc71178]

jones warming his keeping gloves up in the changing rooms, i hope the declaration doesn't come before we get to see some Freddie

I can't work out the timing of that declaration - had a wicket fallen then maybe, but there wasn't time to win it tonight, so why not carry on longer, give Bell a shot at a ton, and Flintoff and Jones some time in the middle.

 

[marc71178]

yup, i'd guess they'll probably get just enough overs in tomorrow to avoid having to refund any ticket money.

10 overs or less is a 100% refund.

 

[marc71178]

What would be gained by Flintoff hammering this around?
Yes, "the kids in the crowd" might've been enthused, but from a cricketing POV... what would have been gained?

Maybe a few kids who got a free ticket would've come away from the game a lot happier at seeing some fireworks?

They then take a bigger interest in the game, thus ensuring the game has a future.

 

[Richard]

Is that the quickest century in Test history?

If it is it's yet another meaningless record.

 

[Richard]

Maybe a few kids who got a free ticket would've come away from the game a lot happier at seeing some fireworks?

They then take a bigger interest in the game, thus ensuring the game has a future.

Kind of a small enough possibility of that influencing their future spectatorship of the game (if they now never come back to a live Test, never see Flintoff batter a rubbish attack, or if they somehow stop the other millions of kids who will form the rest of the game's future spectatorship from becoming so) for that to be something of an irrelevance.

 

[superkingdave]

Is that the quickest century in Test history?

if it is its only because SA declared before Cremer could claim it

 

[Anil]

bangladesh are so pathetic...

 

[badgerhair]

I am pretty disappointed by the declaration to be honest...I wanted to see Flintoff get stuck in..the kids in the crowd were calling for Flintoff...

so what we may have is England only needing to take a few wickets tomorrow to win this one....I think somewhere in this situation, some consideration could be taken for the people who have shelled out money to see some cricket tomorrow. As Hussain repeatedly say, cricketers are in the entertainment business

It has to be one of the stupidest declarations in history from a financial point of view, as it's highly likely that at least 50% of tomorrow's ticket money will have to be refunded. And they've got to pay the casual staff for the whole day, too, which they could have avoided if they'd been able to wrap it up tonight (in which case they should have declared at 400).

Boo, hiss.

The point about the schoolkids who wanted to see Flintoff is largely irrelevant: the declaration came after most of the coaches taking them home had left for the day. But that doesn't mean that the remaining adults in the ground, quite a few of whom had paid good money to be there, wouldn't have liked to see forty minutes of mayhem from Fred.

In the most merciless cricketing logic, the thing to do would have been to declare at lunch and wrap the whole thing up just after tea. Having decided to go on and give a bit of a show, I think they should have stuck it out till close and declared overnight, which would at least have given the ECB a sporting chance of retaining enough money to pay the players.

However, next time the Bangles come here, which will be in about 2012, they may well have quite a decent team. Most of this XI will be just embarking on their peak periods about then, and one would have thought that in the intervening seven or eight years they might learn a thing or two.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Scaly piscine]

I strongly demand you retract that statement immediately.

If you seriously think no-one has ever got into Oxbridge because of large donations from a rich Sultan etc. you really are incredibly naive.

 

[Swervy]

What would be gained by Flintoff hammering this around?
Yes, "the kids in the crowd" might've been enthused, but from a cricketing POV... what would have been gained?

Entertainment..thats all I wanted. The game is a dud as far as I, and probably everyone, is concerned. Given the decent weather forecasts, would it really have done any harm just to have continued batting say to the end of the day...ECB get their dosh from ticket sales (do they have to refund some if less than a certain amount is played tomorrow, the crowd and the TV veiwers get maybe to see so swashbuckling entertainment..and the game would still be over by tea tomorrow.

I am not really bothered about any gain from a cricketing standpoint..I wanted to see some action

 

[Swervy]

It has to be one of the stupidest declarations in history from a financial point of view, as it's highly likely that at least 50% of tomorrow's ticket money will have to be refunded. And they've got to pay the casual staff for the whole day, too, which they could have avoided if they'd been able to wrap it up tonight (in which case they should have declared at 400).

Boo, hiss.

The point about the schoolkids who wanted to see Flintoff is largely irrelevant: the declaration came after most of the coaches taking them home had left for the day. But that doesn't mean that the remaining adults in the ground, quite a few of whom had paid good money to be there, wouldn't have liked to see forty minutes of mayhem from Fred.

In the most merciless cricketing logic, the thing to do would have been to declare at lunch and wrap the whole thing up just after tea. Having decided to go on and give a bit of a show, I think they should have stuck it out till close and declared overnight, which would at least have given the ECB a sporting chance of retaining enough money to pay the players.

However, next time the Bangles come here, which will be in about 2012, they may well have quite a decent team. Most of this XI will be just embarking on their peak periods about then, and one would have thought that in the intervening seven or eight years they might learn a thing or two.

Cheers,

Mike

yep!!!!

 

[tooextracool]

How can anyone find such a total mismatch remotely entertaining?
It's like watching Sussex 2nds play Exeter CC...

because i particularly enjoy non-test class teams getting humiliated at the test match level, not because i have anything against b'desh but just to make the ICC look more foolish.

 

[aussie]

How can anyone find such a total mismatch remotely entertaining?
It's like watching Sussex 2nds play Exeter CC...

hahahaha, you have got to be joking

 

[badgerhair]

How can anyone find such a total mismatch remotely entertaining?
It's like watching Sussex 2nds play Exeter CC...

Since you always claim to know what you are talking about, you will be able to tell us how often you have watched Sussex XXII and which new players they have brought in who have demonstrated the kind of class Ian Bell showed this afternoon.

However, some of us are less energetic than you and would prefer a pleasant afternoon in the sun watching some good cricketers demonstrating their skills to sitting at home devising ever more bizarre theories to explain why nobody should enjoy cricket or think any of the players are any good.

The difficulty only really comes when you are supporting the losing side in games like this. Then it does get pretty painful. I admit to having cried off after two days of my seventh Test (Headingley 88): the sight of Malcolm Marshall, a bowler who was fairly handy with a bat rather than a batsman, scoring boundaries one-handed because his left arm was in a plaster cast was too much to bear so I went back to London and did something more interesting.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

However, some of us are less energetic than you and would prefer a pleasant afternoon in the sun watching some good cricketers demonstrating their skills to sitting at home devising ever more bizarre theories to explain why nobody should enjoy cricket or think any of the players are any good.

Haha, classic.