Cricket World Cup

English cricket is rotten from the top down.

Downton, Clarke, Moores, Saker, Whitaker, Flower...if half of these chumps retain their jobs in 2015 then we're in a bad place.

Ultimately we changed our entire schedule to give us 6 months of ODI cricket in the lead up to this WC - prioritising the tournament. We persisted with a terrible captain for far too long, we replaced him with a man struggling to justify his place in the team, we found a number 3 bat, then in our first match in the tournament brought in a fella who hadn't played for 3 months in his place, and demoted him to 6. We had a new ball bowler doing alright, then replaced him with 2 out of form players returning from injury, we have a decent ODI spinner, proven across a lot of matches, who didn't get a sniff. It was all a load of shit and I was glad Bangers have applied the final blow. I hope the Afghans beat us too.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

English cricket is rotten from the top down.

Downton, Clarke, Moores, Saker, Whitaker, Flower...if half of these chumps retain their jobs in 2015 then we're in a bad place.

Ultimately we changed our entire schedule to give us 6 months of ODI cricket in the lead up to this WC - prioritising the tournament. We persisted with a terrible captain for far too long, we replaced him with a man struggling to justify his place in the team, we found a number 3 bat, then in our first match in the tournament brought in a fella who hadn't played for 3 months in his place, and demoted him to 6. We had a new ball bowler doing alright, then replaced him with 2 out of form players returning from injury, we have a decent ODI spinner, proven across a lot of matches, who didn't get a sniff. It was all a load of shit and I was glad Bangers have applied the final blow. I hope the Afghans beat us too.

On the radio last night it was suggested that English cricket is only interested in the Ashes series and that one day cricket has suffered because of this.

zyph wrote:

If you aren't a Sky slave.....cricket hardly exists for the rest of us.

This sad affair is down to the chasing of Sky's mega bucks.....serves them right.

Absolutely.

English cricket is awash with money now, but we're just as crap as we ever were.

What makes me so sad is that between 2003-2005, England were playing swashbuckling, winning cricket - think Trescothick's power, Vaughan's brilliant captaincy, the flair of Flintoff and Pietersen at their peak, the world-class bowling of Harmison, Hoggard (and Flintoff again) - and cricket was a topic of every day conversation. Everybody watched that 2005 Ashes series; how many watched the 2013 series, which was just as enjoyable? Cricket doesn't have the all-pervasive coverage that, say, Premier League football has - for its future fans, it relies on bored students and schoolkids flicking the TV on during the summer holidays and slowly being suckered into this wonderful, preposterous sport. That just won't happen now, unless you have a spare £40 a month for Sky Sports or £100 for a Test ticket.

The ECB can employ all the performance analysts it likes, but without a fanbase cricket in this country has no future. Yet again, money poisoning has ruined what could have been.

NZ reach the final after beating the Saffers with 1 ball to spare in a fantastic match. Saffers a bit unlucky in that their momentum was ruined by a rain break when Du Plessis and De Villiers were going well but NZ deserved to go through after chasing 298 from 43,very watchable and entertaining side. Always thought NZ and the Aussies were the best two teams in the tournament, would expect the Aussies to beat India to make it a with the form book Antipodean final. England's disasters aside, it's been a very good world cup and has restored a bit of faith and interest in the 50 over format, some good sides and great matches, pretty well supported by the public.

great last few overs...well funny when the South Africans collided when trying to catch the ball

Well done NZ.

How entertaining would it be if they beat the Aussies in their own World Cup Final? (Assuming they get there, of course...)

Cornish Chris wrote:

Well done NZ.

How entertaining would it be if they beat the Aussies in their own World Cup Final? (Assuming they get there, of course...)

Aussies are now there. Deservedly so, the two most consistent teams in the tournament [ by a country mile] are in the final. Should be a good one, i guess Australia would be favourites but NZ are a formidable team and there will be a bit of spice in this one, cricket relations between the two countries haven't been exactly cordial over the years-wouldn't be a surprise to see the Kiwis pull it off.

i'll be rooting for New Zealand

Any underarm daisy-cutters this time?

If NZ pull this one off it'll be thoroughly deserved. It's a big ask though; the ball isn't going to swing around at the 'G like it does in Wellington or Auckland. If Australia bat first and Smith gets going, it might get away from them very quickly.

Dammit, only one side in it, Aussies on top from the first ball. Sad anti climax to a very good tournament but the best team won, due congratulations to them.