Cricket

[RandBlade]

May not be as popular as football but oh well ...

With the Ashes fast approaching there's some remarkable cricket happening at Lord's. After a bit of a rained-out day 1, the start of Day 2 started to see England be totally demolished by Pakistan, 18 year old Amir bowling 4 out without any runs being scored to leave England a humiliating 5-47, then 7-102.

A remarkable turnaround however with Trott and Broad putting on a yet unbroken, world-record eighth wicket partnership and currently the biggest partnership for any England wicket since the famous Gooch and Gower stand that won England the Ashes against Border's Australian team. Don't want to jynx them but score currently a respectable 7-430

[RandBlade]

Absolutely remarkable 2 days. As we head into day 4, England have a lead of about 300 runs still with Pakistan having already followed-on after being bowled out and losing 4 wickets.

From England having been down to 102-7, the score is now England 446 v Pakistan 74 & 41-4 (following on)

Weird.

[Khendraja'aro]

Sorry, but the cricket rules are unfathomable.

[RandBlade]

Laws. Cricket has laws, not rules

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_cricket

[Khendraja'aro]

Laws. Cricket has laws, not rules

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_cricket

Yeah, we regularly saw Indians play cricket over here. After 30 minutes of watching we simply gave it up to make heads or tails out of the proceedings.

Some throws would result in a cheer, some in deathly silence, even if the throws were seemingly the same.

[RandBlade]

It's not that complicated if you know it

[Being]

I know of only 1 rule for cricket; throw a shoe at it.

[termite]

Randy, have you checked the ICC rankings lately? Its interesting to note that where a few years ago one team dominated pretty much all the rankings, now we are seeing different teams leading the different formats. England tops the T20, Australia tops the ODI and India tops the TEST rankings.

The Aussies and Poms have slipped down to 4th & 5th respectively in the TEST rankings which is a bit disappointing.

The Ashes will be good as usual despite the teams struggling for consistency, Ricky Ponting will be playing his last series and he will desperately want to end on a high note. We have a tour of India to endure first, not a happy hunting ground for us.

[Loki]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11122388

[RandBlade]

Loki: It's just not cricket. No idea of course if these allegations are accurate, nor should they have affected the result, but its not right.

termite: I think the Aussies on home ground would have to be favourites, our form lately has been inconsistent - as witnessed in remarkable fashion in this test. Flashes of brilliance and then just garbage.

[RandBlade]

The shame these antics of the Pakistani players (if true) is that it takes the gloss of what is quite a remarkable match for the England team who have done nothing wrong, but it shouldn't do.

Final result: England beat Pakistan by an Innings and 225 runs. One of the best England results of all time.

2 days ago 18-year old Amir was being feated as a brilliant bowler with a bright future after decimating the top order of the England team and I believe becoming the youngest player ever to take 50 wickets. If these allegations get proved though, he should be banned from Cricket for life as should anyone else guilty. A no ball may only be one run, but its not right to tamper with the sport for corrupt gambling purposes and anyone involved should face a lifetime ban. Such a waste if true.

[termite]

There is so much money (legal and illegal) involved in gambling on cricket in India that the temptation to sell seemingly harmless info is just too great.

Mark Waugh & Shane Warne gave a pitch & weather report, something which is available from Tony Greig on the TV 10 minutes before the start of play, yet an Indian Bookie was willing to pay large sums of cash (in a biscuit tin) for the same info 1 hour earlier. The two naive players took the money and very nearly destroyed what turned out to be very successful careers.

The ICC and each indivudual cricket council should be hammering home the message to everyone involved in the game to avoid such entanglements but instead these things are generally dealt with behind closed doors, kept secret (unless media get wind of it) and swept under the carpet.

[RandBlade]

Lifetime bans would solve the problem. If somebody is giving you money, clearly that is something dodgy! A few lifetime bans and it'd be clear not to do it anymore.

Same with doping in any sport.

[Loki]

The shame these antics of the Pakistani players (if true) is that it takes the gloss of what is quite a remarkable match for the England team who have done nothing wrong, but it shouldn't do.

It's remarkable that one team can kick the behind of the other when the the latter is intentionally trying to lose by as much as possible?

[RandBlade]

That's not the allegation at all. The allegation was that there were three deliberate no balls - an individual no ball is next to meaningless in the context of a Test being worth just a single run.

[termite]

That's not the allegation at all. The allegation was that there were three deliberate no balls - an individual no ball is next to meaningless in the context of a Test being worth just a single run.

Unfortunately in this day and age where you can bet on such obscure and ridiculous things I can only assume that you can place a bet on when a no-ball would occur. Otherwise I fail to see what the point of the exercise would be.

We're now hearing allegations that the come from behind Test win Australia had over Pakistan last summer was deliberately lost by the Pakistani team and windfalls in the millions were claimed by players associates. An ex-girlfriend of Mohammad Asif is making claims that he (a player in the match) told her they would not win the match (or any in the series) and despite the Pakistani's having the game well in hand they threw away their wickets and lost the game.

I remember the match well and I smelled a rat at the time, unfortunately my compatriots are so used to Australia winning impossible matches they simply believed we had won rather than the Pakistani team chucking in the towel.

There is a stench around the Pakistan cricket players and administrators which has been tolerated for far too long.

[RandBlade]

That is indeed the allegation. That they were told in advance by the middleman the exact time that all 3 no-balls would be, for gambling purposes.

If Pakistan deliberately chucked the towel then they should be expelled from international cricket immediately. I am glad that the Test series between us is already over though there's going to be no succour in the ODI/Twenty20 series now.

This is not what I expected this thread to be dominated by