SpaceMonkey
International Debutant
Hoggard has and will continue to make much better left handers than Tharanga his bunny. (cough Smith cough).
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***Official*** Sri Lanka in England
- Thread starter nookie_lk
- Start date
This is the guys 7th Test and his 2nd Test outside the subcontinent , so give him a break , ok !Pedro Delgado said:Hoggard and Tharanga yesterday.
I can list some of England's past openers who were McGrath's bunnies even after playing over 50 plus Tests (some sitting in the Commentary box now as well
) .
Pedro Delgado
International Debutant
JASON said:This is the guys 7th Test and his 2nd Test outside the subcontinent , so give him a break , ok !
I can list some of England's past openers who were McGrath's bunnies even after playing over 50 plus Tests (some sitting in the Commentary box now as well
I know, I'm only messing. It's tricky for anyone facing Hoggy with the new cherry, good experience for him.
Interesting article by Murali (picked up from else where )
I'm Hoping For a Winning Farewell
May 30, 2006
By Muttiah Muralitharan
I will play what will almost certainly be my last Test in England on Friday at Trent Bridge and I am very determined to go out with a win and square the series.
Sri Lanka are not due to tour England for a Test series again until 2011 so although you never say never I think it’s safe to say this will be my last Test match on English soil.
I set myself high standards before the tour as I wanted to do well in England. So, from a personal point of view, those ten wickets I took at Edgbaston were very satisfying, but ultimately it was a wasted effort.
Maybe that sounds a little harsh on myself as a ten wicket haul in Test matches is obviously tough work and something we have to work hard to achieve but I would prefer to enjoy more team success than just personal glory.
I am very determined to win at Nottingham and go out in England on a high. I would love to draw the series now from the position we find ourselves in. We have an important one-day series afterwards but this is the big one for me.
Although we have a young team, we have seen both at Lord’s and at Edgbaston that these youngsters are capable of putting in some great performances. We just have to make sure that we all perform together as a team rather than as individuals.
In both Tests we let ourselves down in the first innings and then battled back in the second innings. It would be nice if we could give ourselves a chance to get into the game this time instead of keep chasing it.
This will be my first Test match at Nottingham and I have only played a single one-day international there, when we beat South Africa in a tri-nation tournament in 1998 so maybe that will be a good omen!
I also recall playing against Nottinghamshire for Kent in a four-day match at Trent Bridge in 2003. I only bowled one over in the first innings, which cost 16 runs, but in the second innings I took 6-36 and we ended up winning the match.
Playing then was a young Kevin Pietersen. He scored a hundred in the first innings (off 99 balls) and his brilliant 142 at Edgbaston showed that he has fulfilled that early promise. I regard that innings last week as one of the best I have ever seen. He played me as well as the likes of Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq.
It’s up to me to come back at him at Trent Bridge, but I wouldn’t say I am only concentrating on Pietersen. As soon as I start focusing only on Pietersen one of the other players might give us trouble. I will try to come up with a plan against him though I certainly won’t be giving him any special treatment. Let’s see what happens.
)I'm Hoping For a Winning Farewell
May 30, 2006
By Muttiah Muralitharan
I will play what will almost certainly be my last Test in England on Friday at Trent Bridge and I am very determined to go out with a win and square the series.
Sri Lanka are not due to tour England for a Test series again until 2011 so although you never say never I think it’s safe to say this will be my last Test match on English soil.
I set myself high standards before the tour as I wanted to do well in England. So, from a personal point of view, those ten wickets I took at Edgbaston were very satisfying, but ultimately it was a wasted effort.
Maybe that sounds a little harsh on myself as a ten wicket haul in Test matches is obviously tough work and something we have to work hard to achieve but I would prefer to enjoy more team success than just personal glory.
I am very determined to win at Nottingham and go out in England on a high. I would love to draw the series now from the position we find ourselves in. We have an important one-day series afterwards but this is the big one for me.
Although we have a young team, we have seen both at Lord’s and at Edgbaston that these youngsters are capable of putting in some great performances. We just have to make sure that we all perform together as a team rather than as individuals.
In both Tests we let ourselves down in the first innings and then battled back in the second innings. It would be nice if we could give ourselves a chance to get into the game this time instead of keep chasing it.
This will be my first Test match at Nottingham and I have only played a single one-day international there, when we beat South Africa in a tri-nation tournament in 1998 so maybe that will be a good omen!
I also recall playing against Nottinghamshire for Kent in a four-day match at Trent Bridge in 2003. I only bowled one over in the first innings, which cost 16 runs, but in the second innings I took 6-36 and we ended up winning the match.
Playing then was a young Kevin Pietersen. He scored a hundred in the first innings (off 99 balls) and his brilliant 142 at Edgbaston showed that he has fulfilled that early promise. I regard that innings last week as one of the best I have ever seen. He played me as well as the likes of Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq.
It’s up to me to come back at him at Trent Bridge, but I wouldn’t say I am only concentrating on Pietersen. As soon as I start focusing only on Pietersen one of the other players might give us trouble. I will try to come up with a plan against him though I certainly won’t be giving him any special treatment. Let’s see what happens.
Pedro Delgado
International Debutant
Well I hope he takes ten, but England win again. I'm going on Saturday, can't wait to (hopefully) see him bowl. Knowing my luck it'll be KP bowling to Murali.
A true legend of the game.
A true legend of the game.
Barney Rubble
International Coach
I think that would be almost as entertaining, for completely different reasons!Pedro Delgado said:
Pedro Delgado
International Debutant
InnitBarney Rubble said:I think that would be almost as entertaining, for completely different reasons!
Interesting Article by Simon Briggs in the Daily Telegraph - seen by me today -
Umpires give Muralitharan the silent treatment
By Simon Briggs
(Filed: 27/05/2006)
On a day of ear-splitting vocal performances, it was hard to say which was the more alarming: the warbling rendition of Jerusalem, delivered during tea by "classical soloist" Keedie Babb, or Muttiah Muralitharan's furious appealing.
Sky's stump microphones have brought their audience unusually close to the action in this series, to the point where many of them are now speaking fluent Sinhalese.
So Murali is causing a problem for snoozing viewers. Every time he shrieks the question, they jump a foot in the air.
Murali's appealing, like his bowling, is both expressive and unique. He swivels to face the umpire, then lets out a screech while tap-dancing backwards down the pitch. The Code of Conduct forbids any player from "charging or advancing towards the umpire in an aggressive manner". So Murali has come up with an imaginative variant: he retreats in an aggressive manner.
All the while, his forefinger is raised and accusingly pointed, as if he were picking out a miscreant in an identity parade. And when Hair is involved, this mannerism takes on an extra dimension.
Hair was the first umpire bold enough - or, some might say, self-important enough - to call Murali for throwing. It was an inflammatory move, leaving scars so deep that the authorities kept the two men apart for 10 years. Even now, the subliminal message when Murali raises that pointed forefinger is not so much as "Ow was that?" as "Et tu, Darrell?"
Shane Warne and Murali may stand at the top of the table of Test wicket-takers, but if anyone had kept a record of appeals, they would be even further out in front. Since spinners tend to produce fewer flying stumps than their faster comrades, they have to spend more time working on the umpire.
Sometimes the intention of an appeal is not so much to win a decision but to persuade the batsman that a certain course of action would be best abandoned. And sometimes it is part of a campaign to build up pressure on the umpire. The best spinners are natural con-men - and not all their victims are batsmen.
Sadly for Sri Lanka, Murali has not had many decisions go his way in this series. In both Tests he has pinned batsmen in front of the stumps with his doosra, which straightens enough for the ball to pitch on line and still hit. But key players have escaped - Marcus Trescothick at Lord's and Kevin Pietersen yesterday.
One of Warne's favourite techniques is to tell the umpire which variation is coming next. This can be effective, as long as you are dealing with an obliging official. Nigel Bainton, a new arrival on the first-class list, impressed in a recent county match when he just smiled and replied with a simple: "Yes, I know you've told me where it's going, but it's still not out."
Murali says that he never takes such liberties. "You can't tell the umpire what you're doing," he explained last night. "That is for them to judge." But maybe he should try it at Trent Bridge, because that doosra is his key weapon in English conditions. Either the umpires are not picking it, or they still have their suspicions about its legality. It was banned for a while, before he used a stiff metal brace to prove he could bowl it without bending his elbow more than 15 per cent.
It was not just the lbws that went against him and the Sri Lankans yesterday. The decision to start at 12.20 favoured the paying public, but not Murali, who needs a dry ball to work his full repertoire of tricks. He had to delay his entrance accordingly.
In the end, the result was an astonishing 52nd five-wicket haul - a stat that not even Warne can match. But Sri Lanka needed more than one epic performance to keep them afloat. By last night's close, this Test was all over bar the shouting.
Umpires give Muralitharan the silent treatment
By Simon Briggs
(Filed: 27/05/2006)
On a day of ear-splitting vocal performances, it was hard to say which was the more alarming: the warbling rendition of Jerusalem, delivered during tea by "classical soloist" Keedie Babb, or Muttiah Muralitharan's furious appealing.
Sky's stump microphones have brought their audience unusually close to the action in this series, to the point where many of them are now speaking fluent Sinhalese.
So Murali is causing a problem for snoozing viewers. Every time he shrieks the question, they jump a foot in the air.
Murali's appealing, like his bowling, is both expressive and unique. He swivels to face the umpire, then lets out a screech while tap-dancing backwards down the pitch. The Code of Conduct forbids any player from "charging or advancing towards the umpire in an aggressive manner". So Murali has come up with an imaginative variant: he retreats in an aggressive manner.
All the while, his forefinger is raised and accusingly pointed, as if he were picking out a miscreant in an identity parade. And when Hair is involved, this mannerism takes on an extra dimension.
Hair was the first umpire bold enough - or, some might say, self-important enough - to call Murali for throwing. It was an inflammatory move, leaving scars so deep that the authorities kept the two men apart for 10 years. Even now, the subliminal message when Murali raises that pointed forefinger is not so much as "Ow was that?" as "Et tu, Darrell?"
Shane Warne and Murali may stand at the top of the table of Test wicket-takers, but if anyone had kept a record of appeals, they would be even further out in front. Since spinners tend to produce fewer flying stumps than their faster comrades, they have to spend more time working on the umpire.
Sometimes the intention of an appeal is not so much to win a decision but to persuade the batsman that a certain course of action would be best abandoned. And sometimes it is part of a campaign to build up pressure on the umpire. The best spinners are natural con-men - and not all their victims are batsmen.
Sadly for Sri Lanka, Murali has not had many decisions go his way in this series. In both Tests he has pinned batsmen in front of the stumps with his doosra, which straightens enough for the ball to pitch on line and still hit. But key players have escaped - Marcus Trescothick at Lord's and Kevin Pietersen yesterday.
One of Warne's favourite techniques is to tell the umpire which variation is coming next. This can be effective, as long as you are dealing with an obliging official. Nigel Bainton, a new arrival on the first-class list, impressed in a recent county match when he just smiled and replied with a simple: "Yes, I know you've told me where it's going, but it's still not out."
Murali says that he never takes such liberties. "You can't tell the umpire what you're doing," he explained last night. "That is for them to judge." But maybe he should try it at Trent Bridge, because that doosra is his key weapon in English conditions. Either the umpires are not picking it, or they still have their suspicions about its legality. It was banned for a while, before he used a stiff metal brace to prove he could bowl it without bending his elbow more than 15 per cent.
It was not just the lbws that went against him and the Sri Lankans yesterday. The decision to start at 12.20 favoured the paying public, but not Murali, who needs a dry ball to work his full repertoire of tricks. He had to delay his entrance accordingly.
In the end, the result was an astonishing 52nd five-wicket haul - a stat that not even Warne can match. But Sri Lanka needed more than one epic performance to keep them afloat. By last night's close, this Test was all over bar the shouting.
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an excellent one indeed.. he was very lucky in both the tests..
adharcric
International Coach
IMO, Sri Lanka should only play four specialist bowlers. I just wouldn't trust Maharoof at 7 because the top-order is still a little suspect.
Tharanga, Vandort, Sangakarra+, Jayawardene*, Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Kapugedera, Maharoof, Vaas, Muralitharan, Malinga
Sri Lanka have two useful part-timers in Jayasuriya and Dilshan; I don't think any Sri Lankan seamer will have much of an impact anyways so why weaken the batting by adding Zoysa. There are two contests here, Murali & Sri Lankan batting vs English bowling & English batting. They should focus on strengthening the batting.
Tharanga, Vandort, Sangakarra+, Jayawardene*, Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Kapugedera, Maharoof, Vaas, Muralitharan, Malinga
Sri Lanka have two useful part-timers in Jayasuriya and Dilshan; I don't think any Sri Lankan seamer will have much of an impact anyways so why weaken the batting by adding Zoysa. There are two contests here, Murali & Sri Lankan batting vs English bowling & English batting. They should focus on strengthening the batting.
Neil Pickup
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Agreed - the fifth specialist bowler seemed a completely wasted selection at Edgbaston. He barely got a respectable trundle - nothing that one of the others couldn't have taken up, especially with Murali having such a large role.
In other news, the sun has come out. Expect Vandort to continue making runs and building on his reputation as one of the world's leading batsmen. He doesn't have a Test average of 65 for nothing, you know.
In other news, the sun has come out. Expect Vandort to continue making runs and building on his reputation as one of the world's leading batsmen. He doesn't have a Test average of 65 for nothing, you know.
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Cricket Web Content Updater
Finally Sanath makes it to the 12 - man squad, hopefully they will opt with him, as his experience will be vital in the all important 3rd test to level the series, hopefully he pulls out an another fine one..
I agree there Adharcric and Neil, SriLanka has fallen away with the top order batting so stick to a longer batting order than opting for Maharoof.. This can be handy for sri Lanka, as the pitch is due to give some assistance for spinners, and their part-timers can be handy in such situation (Jayasuriya and Dilshan)
I agree there Adharcric and Neil, SriLanka has fallen away with the top order batting so stick to a longer batting order than opting for Maharoof.. This can be handy for sri Lanka, as the pitch is due to give some assistance for spinners, and their part-timers can be handy in such situation (Jayasuriya and Dilshan)
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or he might want to win the tony greg award..