*Official* England in Sri Lanka

[Neil Pickup]

But did Murali deserve a wicket?

Certainly didn't deserve that 38!

 

[marc71178]

Vaughan nutmegged by Murali.

Impending doom, but if a batsman lets it go through his legs, the bowler clearly didn't deserve a wicket for that pie.

 

[Legglancer]

great game so far .... today was the 1st time I witnessed a "number 11" batsman farming the strike !

 

[Tim]

England in deep trouble, 156/6.

As expected Muralitharan is ripping through. It makes Stephen Fleming's 274* v Murali look pretty good.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Giles and Johnson smacking it all over the place

 

[Tim]

Not anymore...England all out for 236.

Batsmen must get so annoyed to see tail-enders launching a bowler like Murali into the stands, they can make it look very easy.

England are up against if the weather holds out...batting 4th on a turner will be difficult when Murali looks like he's in great form.

 

[marc71178]

Batsmen must get so annoyed to see tail-enders launching a bowler like Murali into the stands, they can make it look very easy.

The thing is, if a batsman does that and gets out, he's in serious trouble, if a tail ender does it, he's not.

 

[marc71178]

As expected Muralitharan is ripping through. It makes Stephen Fleming's 274* v Murali look pretty good.

Because playing on a lifeless pitch in Colombo is SO similar playing on a bunsen in Galle isn't it?

 

[Tim]

oh please, clutching at straws there Marc.

Maybe you have forgotten that Murali can turn it on any wicket, in an innings of 274* you'd expect Murali to offer Fleming some tough overs.

 

[marc71178]

What the hell has that innings got to do with this series then?

And you call me clutching at straws - yes he scored runs on a lifeless pitch, but this wicket is far removed from that one - for a start there's likely to be a result.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Let's compare the two pitches again..

Standard bowlers (Giles, Batty, Dharmasena, Chandana..) all making an impact in this series, whereas in the last one, how many bowlers made an impact?

What did Paul Wiseman (not that inferior to the above) do? Nothing at all?

And Murali does only have 21 in his last 5 Tests against England.

 

[Tim]

Naturally when you dismissed Fleming's innings back in April, I was quick to jump at the chance while Murali had 7 wickets in this match.

And that's great that there will be a result in this match, good luck

 

[Tim]

aye? Wiseman was the 2nd highest wicket-taker, equal with Vaas in that Series...not that I agree with him being selected for NZ anyway.

Murali took 13 wickets.

 

[luckyeddie]

oh please, clutching at straws there Marc.

Maybe you have forgotten that Murali can turn it on any wicket, in an innings of 274* you'd expect Murali to offer Fleming some tough overs.

Fleming scored a third of those runs against Murali - top knock but different circumstances.

After all, it's undeniable that Murali is far and away Sri Lanka's best bowler, so if Fleming is so great and able to play him with ease, how come he got a duck

<quack> hello?

Not you

sorry. How come he got a duck at Kandy when he was done by (snigger) Nissanka?

 

[Tim]

thankyou Eddie...despite the pitches being different, Marc & Neil should know that Murali is still a threat on any pitch.

Now i'm tired of having to defend this innings so back to the current match where Sri Lanka currently lead by 128 runs with 9 wickets remaining.

 

[marc71178]

Naturally when you dismissed Fleming's innings back in April

Funny that, but when I just reviewed the entire thread, there was not one single bad word said about that innings, and no dismissing of it at all.

 

[marc71178]

thankyou Eddie...despite the pitches being different, Marc & Neil should know that Murali is still a threat on any pitch.

Have we ever denied that? What we want to know is the relevance of mentioning it?

Now i'm tired of having to defend this innings so back to the current match where Sri Lanka currently lead by 128 runs with 9 wickets remaining.

Defended from what though, nobody has ever attacked it.

 

[Tim]

Well it's your word against mine, but im sure in at least 1 thread you stated that Fleming's innings wasn't that good.

 

[marc71178]

You may have confused it with comments I made about Lara vs SL I think.

 

[Tim]

Mate, This is getting ridiculous now..you & I are obviously not going to agree on this, so it ends now.

I would still be very keen on debating this, but I can't really this argument going anywhere.