I've seen batsmen yell at fieldsmen as they move to take a catch. I've seen batsmen wave their arms and jump up and down. I've even seen one batsman drop a gigantic fart; it worked, the fieldsman dropped a sitter.
But I've never seen a batsman take a hack at the ball like Hashan Tillerkaratne did tonight. I thought I was seeing things.
Be interesting to see if he gets penalised by the match referee. No doubt there'd be a "Reflex Action" plea with a hint of "Accidental Stumblage", but that swipe looked incredibly bad.
Prediction: Sri Lanka by one wicket. Admit it. It's close. We can't win. The game's set up for home town hero Murali to top edge a six, straight after he was clean bowled off a no-ball. There'll be a dropped catch somewhere. A plumb El Bee turned down and a missed stumping. I hate cricket.
I said a win by 52 runs....i was pretty close there, always keep faith in Warnie, now 2 up over that cheating swine.Just raising ANOTHER tinnie to the greatness of Strayan cricket- winning IN Lanka, what a great achievo. No doubts Punts is fortunate in the return of the Great Man, but the whole squad deserve a mention in this triumph.
I can understand your pessimism Tony, when it comes to the Eagles they can never win, every mark taken against us it's game over, every goal kicked suicide time, you are perhaps hoping for some reverse psychology- keep playing down Australias chances, while deep down knowing the chance of winning is high. Every time Aus take to the field and in most situations , i always reckon we'll prevail. Bring on the next challenge!
Posted by: Brett Pee | Saturday, March 20, 2004 at 08:54 PM
Great win by the boys, great bowling by the great man and great Victorian Warney (god I'm starting to sound like Bill Lawry!)
Just a query about the "Hashan CHOP!" (get Bugs Bunny in there, he would fix it!)... how well would that have gone down if it was Ponting trying to do that to one of their close in fielders with Murali bowling on his home track??
I just think there ought to be a warning or something against that sort of thing. What would have happened if he had connected with the ball or Punter's arm??
Am I being trifling?
Posted by: Adsy | Sunday, March 21, 2004 at 09:53 PM
As Mike Moore from Frontline would say "mmm, a disturbing image there."
Not good for the game, and I agree with Adsy, if it was an Aussie taking a swat at a ball/Sri Lankan fielder, we wouldn't have heard the end of it.
However, all this is almost made up for by the heading of this thread - Hashan Chop .... I can just see the big guy with his sword running after Bugs and Daffy, or trying to get the cave door open ("Open Sarsparilla...? Open Saskatchewan...?")
Posted by: chris88 | Monday, March 22, 2004 at 10:08 AM
"you are perhaps hoping for some reverse psychology- keep playing down Australias chances, while deep down knowing the chance of winning is high"
Spotted it in one, Brett. I understand the "Mozz Factor". It's a powerful force and not to be meddled with.
Never the less, I hate the way we lose so many close ones so I get antsy when it's tight.
That said, the Sri Lankan batting line-up is pretty weak and if I was an outsider not riding every Aussie wicket and run, I'd probably conclude Australia "SHOULD" win.
Ads and Chris, when it comes to cherry picking pop culture references, it's imperative you go for the classics. And there's not to much more classic than the bunny and the duck. Woo Hoo!
http://www.the-earchives.com/scripts/detail.asp?queryby=list&movie_title=Warner+Bros.+Cartoons
Open Septagenarian, open saddlesoap
Posted by: Tony.T | Tuesday, March 23, 2004 at 02:04 PM