NATWEST FIFTY50

First match tonight at The Oval.

The pitch is a road.

Cheats.

Comments

[m0nty]

Alrighty then, footy's done for the evening with the right result secured. Time to settle in front of the tube.

Now I have a choice: do I watch the cricket or this rented DVD of The Wire season 2? It's a tough decision. Do I immerse myself in a world of byzantine politics, corruption, organised crime and institutional decrepitude leavened by the odd blackly humourous joke... or do I watch The Wire?

[Nick]

Hussey 13, Lee early wicket then 7.22/over. Yep, running out of chances...

[Tony]

Listened to the last hour on the radio.

Lee bowled the second last over:

48.1 Lee to Sidebottom, FOUR, well, well, Sidebottom gets a top edge over the keeper as he swings hard at a short ball from Lee

Are England still in this? Replays show that boundary by Rashid may not actually have been a four, but White signalled that it was

48.2 Lee to Sidebottom, FOUR, another edge past the keeper! Sidebottom pushes at a full toss and it flies past Paine down to third man

19 off 10 needed, three fours in three balls. The crowd is alive again

48.3 Lee to Sidebottom, 1 run, edged again down to third man but straight to the fielder this time, but England will want Rashid to have the strike

48.4 Lee to Rashid, no run, swings hard and the ball flies past leg stump...valuable dot for Australia

18 off 8 needed

48.5 Lee to Rashid, FOUR, what a shot, what a shot from Rashid, leans back and hammers Rashid through the covers for a cracking boundary...one of the shots of the day and England aren't giving this up

48.6 Lee to Rashid, 1 run, swung down to long, Rashid will keep the strike for the last over

So England need 13 off the last over...hold tight folks

[Tony]

When the chasing side uses the power play well, as Wright & Rashid did, the gap can close quick smart. Was surprised the commentators never once made mention of this, and in particular, the mess South Africa (mainly Morney Alby Mangler) made of Australia in January.

[Tony]

Why did Slot bowl the second last over? Johnson had only bowled seven overs and had 3/24.

Clarke, in the post match verbals, went as far to say Slot Lee bowled brilliantly in the closing overs.

And, I wonder what Bracken's figures are in the late overs and power plays compared with his early innings work. He seems to have given up a lot of late runs in recent matches.

[Nick]

The Aussies are using this series to try things (and players). Ponting has gone home. The players don't care, the crowds aren't interested, and the commentators are being paid. They can't remember us being Mangled last year - does anyone?

[Tony]

Does anyone what?

[Tony]

Is Mikey looking to get on side with the umpires? Paper Cut plays and misses, Jimmy appeals, umpire gives it not out, and Mikey makes the definitive proclamation: "No chance of that being given out."

[Tony]

Have you heard of Melvin Belli, The King of Torts? Well, let me introduce you to Shane Watson, The King of Starts.

[Tony]

And Tim Paine is The Boy of Starts. Has there ever been a younger looking player turn out for Straya?

[Tony]

Gnome B.N.

"Somerset - awesome."

"Living in England - awesome."

"The commentary facilities at Lords - awesome."

"Mandurah - awesome."

[Tony]

Coincidentally, they're playing cricket on Midsomer. No one should play cricket on TV shows and movies. It rarely, if ever, looks convincing. In fact, 99% of the time it looks like the actors have less sporting ability than the very last kid picked in a primary school pick-up game.

[Russ]

Quite Tony. TV shows should be particularly careful about claiming someone used to play for the county.

[Tony]

The only thing less convincing than actors trying to look like cricketers, is actors trying to look like they're enjoying the guest rock/pop stars who are performing on their show.

[nick]

Wright labours to the wicket - but still will bowl more economically and incisively then Slot.

[nick]

Top shelf Mozz from Knight.

[nick]

Gee the commentators are phoning this in - 'good day mr Lee', 'good strike rate good at 9, not too many balls to face'
bored now

[Tony]

Speaking of bored. Were the Englands bored with their chase? Been a while since I've seen such a luke-cold second innings in an F50 match. Have a go, ya soft-ons.

[Tony]

Mind you, both batting line-ups are work-in-progress experimental.

For years, the Aussies have treated F50 matches in Straya as praccies. But now we have taken the idea overseas, as well as exporting the idea to other countries, where is F50 headed? If every country is going to treat every 100 over match as a trial run for the World Cup (assuming the WC is still a 100 over format in a few years), there are going to be a lot of luke-cold 100 over matches. Correction: a lot more luke-cold matches.

[Adsy]

Heard around the traps (by the way who stands around gossiping around traps these days?) - Deano is keen on giving 50/50 the chop and having 2 20 over innings each, ala 20/20 "tests". But first game where a side makes 220 and bowls the other side out for 90 will make the next 40 overs worse than we have it currently. 40 overs a side won't do enough in my opinion to eliminate flat spots.

[Russ]

Comparison with other sports is valid here Tony. Neither rugby nor soccer have large numbers of friendlies. They mostly play regional/world cups and qualifiers. F50 might survive in a world where every game mattered. But I doubt it; the format was lagging before T20 existed, now it looks terminal.

[The Mongrel]

Deano is keen on giving 50/50 the chop and having 2 20 over innings each

But wouldn't the second side have to follow-on? :-)

[Vindicate]

From the sublime to the rediculous...

Does anyone know offhand what the lowest placed side in the final 8 has come through to take the flag?

[nick]

5th - the crows! 8-)

[Tony]

V, looks like you think Adelaide will go the whole way.

No doubt Nick (and Wicky) will be happy for you go hard and early and call it for the Crows.

As Nick says, the lowest ranked premier is Adelaide, who finished fifth in 1998.

The final system was different back then. The Crows got thumped the first week of the finals, but got another chance. What's more, they needed North to cough up a major choke in the grand final (North kicked 6.15 to Adelaide's 4.3 in the first half) to gift them the flag.

Who doesn't fondly recall the first half and the happy and confident Kanga fans, half time and the nagging doubts ("Surely, not?"), followed by the second half tears and hankies. Schadenfreude - alive and well at the AGB.

Fifth doesn't get a double chance anymore. The Cows would need to win four finals in a row. They already beat Essendon, in what amounted to little more than a tune-up, but they still have to beat Collingwood, Geelong and StKilda/Footscray/Brisbane, all on the MCG. No small feat.

Although.

When it comes to choke, Collingwood, Geelong, StKilda and Footscray all have form.

(I would be staggered if the Bears managed to beat Adelaide on the MCG.)

[Lurker]

Crows actually did win four finals in a row in 97, from 4th position. That was back when 4th played 5th in the first week though.

Crows are no chance this time. Won't be getting past the Cats.

[Adsy]

We're not talking about 1997 at Linton Street, or wherever the bloody hell they are located now. I can't believe how many people are talking up the Crows when this happened only six or seven rounds ago.

Form is all these pundits seem to go on; the Pies were into favouritism two weeks ago according to many before the Dogs and now are in massive trouble. The Dogs themselves had the Cats measure but now are in a dicey Tete`-a-tete´ with the Lions, who everyone wrote off but are now right back in it. The Cats and Saints were supposedly gawn given ends to their respective seasons but are probably rightly seen as the two really outstanding teams with everyone else chasing.

People can always be right when they change their minds on a weekly basis. Mike Sheahan and Caroline Wilson have made their names on doing exactly that.

[Tony]

Speaking of the footy - the cricket. Clarke is just as useless with the coin as Ponting. Strauss won the toss again.

[Tony]

Guess what! Lee's in the slot.

[Tony]

Not only have we exported the practice match format, we've also exported Sherbet. The ground clowns played Howzat when Rav got out.

[nick]

A Crows premiership would almost make up for an Ashes loss. Who was that team that beat us in a final in 98??? 53 points I think it was?

Lee - full of fire - he'll go well in the IPL (full time).

Good to see Cricinfo as excited as we all are.

The flag is the Saints to lose.

[nick]

The hundred's up. A crowd heaving with apathy finally bring themselves to applaud. My god this is tedious

Go Cricinfo! Unpaid commentators?

[Bruce]

Wow! A ODI ton by an Aussie.

[Tony]

Just in time to be bumped down the order for Ponting. Or! Will the selectors maintain the experiment and leave White at three? If Ponting wants to prolong his Test career, he might think about plonking himself at five or six in the F50 side.

Ferguson another not out. Hussey not out, too!

[Vindicate]

The race for the flag is harder to pick than a broken nose, my mob got toweled up in no uncertain fashion by the crows so I'm left wondering who to put me hard-earned on.

Saints: Chokers
Cats: Chokers
Doggies: Maybe
Pies: Nope
Crows: Not away, and not against the top 2
Lions: Dark Horse, but I fvckin hope not

Great, Punters back. Now watch us lose the next 4 and he'll add ODIs to his recent retirement announcement.

[Bruce]

So Vindicate - no one is likely to win the flag this year?

[Tony]

Cats or Saints.

[Lurker]

Won't be the Lions.

Oh, there was cricket on? I forgot all about it....

[nick]

Ponting back. Loses toss. Displaces player that just made 100. Good start.

[Tony]

Athers: "Why would you remove a bowler after nine overs? Seems a bit strange."

*Lee, first ball, in-dipper, Prior bowled.*

Because, dear Athers, Ponting wanted to give Lee an over or two with the old ball before it is changed.

[Tony]

Hello.

Athers repeated what I wrote almost exactly verbatim, word-for-word, the same.

He is reading the AGB.

[Tony Tea]

Big statement! Paine is better behind the poles than Haddin.

[Tony Tea]

Big statement! (With the merest hint of revisionism.) Lee plays and we win the Ashes.

[Lurker]

Lee wasn't fit for the Ashes. I think he's kind of lost it as a Test bowler, he's much more dangerous with the white ball.

[Tony Tea]

Lurky, you missed my cunningly concealed sarcasm. Unless I missed yours.

[Yobbo]

Lee seemed fit enough in the tour matches he played. Not to mention far more dangerous than any other bowler in the squad.

It was ridiculous to play Siddle ahead of Lee in the Ashes, everyone knows that. But his sheet was apparently stamped more than a year ago that he was never to play again.

[Vindicate]

Hindsight is Twenty20 so they say...

[nick]

Is this Hussey's only role in the team now?

http://www.cricinfo.com/engvaus2009/content/current/story/425050.html

he's not doing much else.

[Tony]

With three dead rubbers, surely we'll lose at least one.

[Tony]

If Lee had been fit, if he had improved since India/Perth/Melbourne, if he bowled like he did in that spell at Worcester, if he bowled like he does with the white ball, if he had defied history and not bowled pies like his first two tours of England, if...

[RT]

No scapegoats on the horizon as yet.

Ponting quiting 20/20 to focus on further Ashes battles. Looks like down the track we'll have another 38 yr old trying to get his aging reflexes up for one last shot.
Hussey still spruiking like Ponting and Clark's right hand man. He may have done "a Hayden".
Haddin recuperating well from the hand injury and ready for the season.
Lee bowling well in the ODIs and talking himself up. Nothing new there.
Clark anonymous but no retirement statements in the offing.
Paper Cut now looking a permanent fixture. He's certainly talking like one.

They appear all in the loop to smash the under strength Windies and 20/20 hero Pakis.

Ironically the only casualty in the Ashes was the young opener.

I want blood on the streets for wrecking my August and bright new faces as we build to Ashes '10/11. Still plenty of time and at least Ferguson is putting some heat on. Albeit with ODI run in a vacuous series.

[Tony]

Big news!!!

England won the toss.

[nick]

17.6
Watson to Bopara, no run, the first wicket-taking delivery he has bowled, the jaffa squares him up outside off, extra bounce and Bopara gets his glove out of the way

Poms 91/1
Watson 3-0-7-0

A bit harsh, methinks.

[nick]

19.4
Watson to Bopara, OUT, goes for the home run, gets a lot of elevation but not the desired distance, Bopara gets his front pad across and lofts across the line, Hauritz is there at deep square leg and he takes it comfortably

RS Bopara c Hauritz b Watson 18 (21b 1x4 0x6) SR: 85.71

and there we go.

[nick]

If the West Indies 3rd XI comes over this summer, perhaps the Australia A concept can be revisited? State vs State, Mate vs Mate - could have Katich vs Clarke, Clarke vs Ponting...could put some interest into a fairly humdrum summer. Deathmatch between Husseys D and M...

[Tony]

Half asleep last night I caught the England score: 299. That's pretty good, I thought before drifting off again. Then I woke up to discover their top score was Organ Morgan with 58, and that virtually every Pommy batsman had got double figures. What a stupid innings.

[Tony]

PS: Hussey got single figures.

[Hangover Black]

PPS: Hussey got double figures. You can't get rid of him that easily, Tone.

Hopes put in another good performance. Makes it tough to exclude him. Wouldn't be easy picking our best side at the moment.

[Big Ramifications]

APPROVES OF AUSTRALIA'S NEW RECRUIT: http://pragmaticideas.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/max.jpg

[Hangover Black]

Not that we need to pick our best side to beat the Poms, anyway.

[Tony]

Jeez, Chester-le-Street is teh party-place. The music they play after wickets, fours, between overs, pretty any chance they get is fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. Great. Love it.

C**ts!

[Tony]

Gee. Starting a one-dayer in Yorkshire at breakfast time is looking like a good idea. Australia all out 100?

[Nick]

England are a great bowling side in seaming conditions. Damned with faint praise? If 'Punter' (surely a change of nickname after his shitty tossing ability?) had won the toss, we'd be chasing the English total by now.

[Nick]

Onions in an early entry for the spirit of cricket award...

[Nick]

OT. Are Geelong as good as their record over the last 3 years indicates, or are they a good side in a weak comp that will fold when faced with a challenge - Hawks in 08 and Saints in 09?

[Nick]

Do Durham produce as many good England cricketers as, say, South Africa?

[Tony]

The Cats are good. When they lost to the Saints in round 14 they were missing Steve Johnson and Ottens - two vital players. If the Saints stay super defensive, the Catters will run through them.

PS: What did Onions do?

[Tony]

Do Durham produce any good England cricketers?

[Tony]

Shit and derision!! I missed the intemperate language through the stump mike which Gower just apologised for.

[Nick]

Onions mouthed off at the umpire after a wide was signalled in such a way as to attract 'wild dogs' oppobrium from spanky...if he'd been Australian.

[Nick]

There you go Tony - they didn't bleep Swannie out there!

[Tony]

Yep. Heard that. (Didn't know it was Swann.) I expect nothing less than 100% content & commitment from the broadcaster.

[Tony Tea]

At this point, and juncture, can I just point out the following: one day cricket on this kind of pitch is great value; in fact, it should be mandatory.

[Vindicate]

Poms out for fug all is my prediction, Hilf to take a bagful on this deck.

[Tony Tea]

The blokes on the radio (in between triumphal celebrations of wickets; you'd think England were leading 6-0) have already called it for England. Love to roll them for under 100.

[Tony Tea]

By the way. Further developments added to the bottom the Caster Your Vote post.

[Tony Tea]

Hell of a first over: a wide, a no ball, four byes, a three.

[Vindicate]

Yup, just giving em away now.

[Tony Tea]

Good call? Bad call? Nine should move Footy Classified to Sunday night for the finals?

[Tony Tea]

Hilfenhaus is having an absolute shocker.

[Vindicate]

Commentators banging on about how well England have started, I think 35-0 flatters them.

[Bruce]

I can smell Hilfenhaus' spell from here.

[Tony]

Last night's match reminded me of the Richmond Melbourne tank match. The Dees tried hard to lose, but Richmond were so hopeless the Dees almost won by accident.