***Official*** England in India

[BoyBrumby]

Note to Kevin Pieterson: Get a hundred next time you get 5 starts.

Oh, fair go! He scored over 60 runs more than any of our other batters @ 58.20 with a strike rate of over 90. I'd take that, personally.

Not his fault the rest of our batters (Colly &, in the last 2 ODIs, Bell excepted) were utterly poo.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Gah, i wish people would stop going on about KP, his record in ODIs is bloody amazing, he's already scored 3 hundreds and 8(?) 50s, he's the best English batsman by far.

How many other Englishmen got a 100? None, England rely far too much on him, and he's given England far too much in return. Getting a hundred isn't as easy as you think

Okay, for starters, it was rather tongue in cheek. Sorry for the lack of emoticon, but whatever. And, for mine, I'd rather see a batsman get 5 single figure scores than 5 starts and not going on. That's the cardinal sin. I don't care how the other Englishmen aren't supporting him, it's irrelevant to my point.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I think the fact that Pathan with the bat averaged more than your opening batsman shows Strauss did not do well. The only time he scored was when Pathan didn't play. Flintoff sucked with the bat, and Geraint was merely decent near the end. Collingwood did his job, and KP performed well whilst throwing away his wicket away whenever he looked like tearing the game apart.

Strauss averaged 34.80 at a reasonable rate, that's decent enough. Geraint was over 30 at a decent rate, Flintoff was still good with the ball but has obviously had a lot on his shoulders of late so he was bound to suffer a bit somewhere. The first XI players all did reasonably well, especially compared with these:

Shah 11 @ 3.66
Solanki 29 @ 9.66
Prior 111 @ 18.50

Kabir ER: 6 (23.4-1-142-5)
Mahmood ER: 6.30 (26-0-164-4)
Hoggard ER: 6.94 (17-0-118-0)

Batty escaped with 8.2-0-41-0 and an ER of 4.92 - but India just took what they needed off him and he released the pressure when England needed wickets or stop the easy runs.

 

[Sanz]

Strauss averaged 34.80 at a reasonable rate.

Duh !! In First four matches which 'mattered' (according to you), Strauss averaged 17.00

 

[Jono]

Oh, fair go! He scored over 60 runs more than any of our other batters @ 58.20 with a strike rate of over 90. I'd take that, personally.

Not his fault the rest of our batters (Colly &, in the last 2 ODIs, Bell excepted) were utterly poo.

Haha a lot of this sounds like the fans who criticised Sachin in the 90s.

All the hopes would lay on him and if he got out he'd be criticised of either choking or not getting the job done. Obviously the main difference is Sachin probably gifted his wicket away a lot less. But its interesting that the English defending KP are feeling what many Sachin fans have been feeling for a while.

How can you criticise him when he's the only one that scored? Though to be fair I can see why many would be frustrated with KP, and its slightly difference with Sachin who went on with it a lot more than KP has so far. KP's still a star though, and its time Freddy lifted with the bat in ODIs.

 

[open365]

Okay, for starters, it was rather tongue in cheek. Sorry for the lack of emoticon, but whatever. And, for mine, I'd rather see a batsman get 5 single figure scores than 5 starts and not going on. That's the cardinal sin. I don't care how the other Englishmen aren't supporting him, it's irrelevant to my point.

OK, contrary to what every commentator from here to bloody timbuck 2 says, getting out for 70 is not a cardinal sin!!!

Pietersen has scored mores than anyone, i think it is crazy to point out his lack of hundreds when no one else in the side has scored one either and has contirbuted a good deal less to the team.

 

[Anil]

Now that is a joke, Sachin is yards ahead of Tresco, Tresco is good but Sachin is better, I would compare Viru with Tresco not Sachin. Its like comparing Viv Richards to Dhoni.

true with respect to their talents, but i have noticed that trescothick almost always does well against india especially in the limited version and he could very well have made a difference in this series at the top of the order for england had he been available whether sachin had played or not....maybe not to the point of taking the series from us but the final scoreline could've been closer....all guesses of course....but in my opinion, he is the player england missed the most in this series....and one more thing, i would definitely put him ahead of sehwag in the one day scenario....

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

OK, contrary to what every commentator from here to bloody timbuck 2 says, getting out for 70 is not a cardinal sin!!!

I didn't say that, I said getting 5 starts from 5 innnings and not making one count, especially when you're the quality of KP, is a cardinal sin.

 

[adharcric]

I didn't say that, I said getting 5 starts from 5 innnings and not making one count, especially when you're the quality of KP, is a cardinal sin.

If you get 5 starts from 5 innings and get out a few times to good bowling it's not a cardinal sin.
If you repeatedly throw away your wicket right when you have a chance to really take your team a long way, it is a cardinal sin.
Thus, KP is a sinner.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

If you get 5 starts from 5 innings and get out a few times to good bowling it's not a cardinal sin.
If you repeatedly throw away your wicket right when you have a chance to really take your team a long way, it is a cardinal sin.
Thus, KP is a sinner.

Well, yeah, I guess I should have said that.

 

[SJS]

There was no way Harbhajan could have known that he was bowled and not stumped. Look at the clip again, he didn't turn back until Prior came up front. He just didn't believe that Piertson could've turned the ball so much. Anyway, this behavior is quite common in the Australian team, but of course they're quite immune to punishment or censure from ICC and fans alike.

Harbhajan may not have known that he was b owled but he was wrong to mouth obsceneties. The fact that their are other obnoxious cricketers is no justification.

We are not discussing whether Indians are better behaved than Aussies. This is not about nationalism.

 

[adharcric]

Harbhajan may not have known that he was b owled but he was wrong to mouth obsceneties. The fact that their are other obnoxious cricketers is no justification.

We are not discussing whether Indians are better behaved than Aussies. This is not about nationalism.

Well said. Harbhajan's act shouldn't be justified in any way whatsoever, but at the same time one can't label this as one of the most outrageous acts in cricket ... it's far, far from that. His remaining at the crease isn't an issue really, but the obscenity is.

 

[Sanz]

but the obscenity is.

Yes. It is when there are 10 year old kids watching the game live. This is the second time I have heard Bhajji say it loud and clear.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

To be fair you always hear players swearing in the Mic when they miss a shot or get out etc.

In the heat of the moment players will just act themselves, we'd all do the same. Do you really think when they get out they think: 'i better not swear incase the stump mic picks it up' ? they probably dont even remember its there at the time.

 

[Scaly piscine]

To be fair you always hear players swearing in the Mic when they miss a shot or get out etc.

In the heat of the moment players will just act themselves, we'd all do the same. Do you really think when they get out they think: 'i better not swear incase the stump mic picks it up' ? they probably dont even remember its there at the time.

Yea, it's not like he said it at the crowd, or gave a two fingered salute or something. I dunno if it was broadcast on TV live or whatever, but if it was it wasn't turbanator's fault - I'm sure there's plenty of that language in practically every game played these days. Also I do think the remaining at the crease IS an issue, it will incite bad things sooner or later if it is allowed to happen persistently.

 

[DanielFullard]

The plus side is that it happened so quick most people will not have even heard it or even if they did they may not have realised what he said. I certainly didnt

His actions of staying at the crease were more of a bad example to young cricketers than the swearing

 

[Gloucefan]

I didn't say that, I said getting 5 starts from 5 innnings and not making one count, especially when you're the quality of KP, is a cardinal sin.

You said "not going on", 60+ is going on to make a score that counts. Getting 30-40 and getting out is not going on.

 

[adharcric]

How is Harbhajan's staying at the crease such a bad act? If he wasn't sure whether he had been bowled or stumped he shouldn't have left. He did look back at the square leg umpire after a while so it's obvious he wasn't sure.

As for his use of foul language, it's a bad act but nothing that doesn't go on in cricket. Hell, I swear to myself (1/3 of the time people around hear it) at least 4 times a match because I bowl at least 3 trashy deliveries and lose my own wicket stupidly at some point in nearly every match. If he wants to vent his frustration like that it's not such a big deal; now, kids watching it would be corrupted but a) these days most kids are corrupted by foul language anyways, pretty sad b) the cricketers aren't there to announce their on-field thoughts poetically to the audience, they're there to play the game the way they play it. One may say Harbhajan isn't very dignified, but one could say the same about half of the Australian team and several others as well. Now, saying f*** you to another player, which Bhajji seemed to be doing (to KP?) is another issue and that can't be excused as "his personal style of reaction".

That's why his staying at the crease wasn't so bad but the directed foul language was.

 

[adharcric]

You said "not going on", 60+ is going on to make a score that counts. Getting 30-40 and getting out is not going on.

Really, this discussion doesn't come down to how many runs you make. It has to do more with whether you get out to a genuinely good delivery or you throw away your wicket at a crucial juncture of your team's innings. Especially considering KP is England's only world-class batsman right now (Trescothick perhaps, Flintoff isn't), he shouldn't be consistently throwing his wicket away.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Personally it just looked like he stood around so he could have a go at KP, I find it hard to believe he'd have hung around for as long he did and reacted the way he did if he was unsure that he was bowled or stumped. But I'm open to videos that show the standard cricket view for the duration and show otherwise, as opposed to highlights I've seen that cut to different cameras.