Any cricket fans out there?

[ilovetomatoes]

Been watching the ashes this week. Need a hand hold 😂😂

Listened to last night's 5Live podcast hosted by Queen of the Windy Gantry, and I think they summed it up really well. Even Glenn McGrath was saying how disappointed he was. When McGrath is feeling sorry for you, you know the wheels have come off.

TBH, I think this stems back to the ECB's decision to sell cricket rights to Sky after the 2005 Ashes, when the whole country was suddenly obsessed with cricket. There is an entire generation who have grown up never knowing what test cricket actually is. Instead the ECB have chased the short form of the game (admittedly with a lot of success) for financial reasons. Morgan is an amazing captain, but he has the resources in terms of players that Root just never has, aside from one or two more senior players. Root looked & sounded utterly broken. He has carried this team with his batting, and he can't do both jobs. The question is what happens next?

@sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea totally agree the lack of test cricket on free to air tv has had a massive impact. Most young people I meet these days have no grasp of even the basic concepts of cricket because they never see it.

Is there no cricket on free to air TV at all on the UK? No ODIs or T20 either?

I think a couple of the hundred games were last summer but nothing else

Apart from The Hundred, there has been no live cricket on free to air tv since 2005. Highlights shows occasionally, and Channel 4 (I think?) had some of the other ODI matches this summer just gone, but no live test cricket for over 16yrs. How can we expect young players to understand the game if they can't see it? It's pretty poor.

They showed all of The Hundred games on TV. I have to say I really enjoyed it, the novelty of seeing cricket in prime time TV. The games were pretty exciting too. But do we really need 4 different formats? Went to a couple of county games at the oval and it was absolutely dead. Quite depressing.

I really couldn’t get into The Hundred at all but I do like T20 . The IPL is the highlight of my viewing year . I’m not sure even if the showed test cricket on a free to air channel that many young people would watch , lots of people have Sky / BT and there is plenty of test cricket to watch if people wanted to .

Predictions for today?

150 all out, follow on 😂😂😂

I thought we were doing pretty well at 126/3, then I dozed off during the night and facepalmed upon waking

I'm going for 165 all out, having already wobbled to 36-2 before half twelve.

I’ve been getting up at 6 to watch it with DS. Was not happy this morning! But lovely bonding time for us, snuggling up on the sofa just chatting about cricket. Blissful.

I'm an optimist. The pitch will stay settled. Crawley and Hameed won't score big but they will hang around for a bit. The weather will stop the Australians getting momentum. Root is overdue a century and the middle order will chip in. 350 all out.

Oh, and well done Bangladesh. 😡

fecking rain....

LOL, proof that England's bowlers are the problem. This England team scored 81 and won by an innings.

Still holding out for 350 notwithstanding Root's duck. Johnny Bairstow and Mark Wood are showing the top order how to do it

@TomPinch yes quite a shock seeing NZ beaten. Is there as much hand wringing and soul searching going on as there would be in England? Who will be fired?!! Ha

Also good call on the score. Delighted for Bairstow!

Oh gosh, I didn't realise the significance of the day this match started. I can understand why Bairstow seemed so absolutely inspired today. That must have been so tough for him. 5Live did a special programme a few years back on him & his family, and I've thought the world of him ever since. Kind of strange/appropriate that Stuart Broad is now on the same honours board as his own dad too.

Is there anyone who doesn't like Mark Wood? Even the Aussies seem to want to claim him!

Mark wood is just brilliant.

There was a video of him singing Jerusalem during one of the lockdowned tests in 2020

@ilovetomatoes
Other than muttering about Ajaz Patel being wrongly left out, nothing really. The next test is at Hagley Park, a greentop, which will suit NZ (whose attack is very like England's). If Bangladesh didn't lose there I'd expect the muttering to get louder. The reality is that everyone knows we are minnows and can't field a good team forever. We were pretty awful in the 90s and early 00s.

The aggro and soul searching gets reserved for the rugby.

Re Bairstow and Wood: the Aussies love a trier.

@TomPinch I know it's shite when your team loses, but I do have to admit to liking it when a smaller team beats one of the 'bigger' ones, like Scotland beating England. I just think it makes the whole sport better if it's more competitive. That said, losing to Australia is always agony... But NZ are my second team, so I'm hoping they'll bounce back - in fact I'm sure they will. They're pretty damned good at making the best of what they've got.

I shamefacedly admit to being absolutely gripped by the drama of Sam Billings & his 500 mile drive across Australia over the last 48hrs. It's so ridiculous!

@Summerofcontent I love this! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08643py

My hope for this morning.

1. Crawley or Hameed to get a fifty.
2. Rain.

And to make you all jealous: here's yesterday evening at the nets.

@sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea
Looking very promising this morning. NZ have motored to 92/0 having been put in by Bangladesh. Latham looks like he means business.

NZ don't like losing to Australia and the Stokes bat incident was a disappointment. But losing isn't a big deal.

There is a desire to give Ross Taylor a good send off. He's been massive for NZ cricket.

@TomPinch beautiful!

On you hopes, one out of two isn’t bad I guess. Ugh.

Would like to see Crawley get a century now. Probably jinxed it

@sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea that is brilliant!

[quote sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea]@Summerofcontent I love this! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08643py[/quote]
Brilliant

@TomPinch nope, not jealous at all here... it wasn't so dark at three o'clock that all the outside lights came on in driving rain... I really hope Taylor gets the match he deserves! NZ have had some incredible players over the years who have changed not just the national team, but how other teams have approached cricket. I'm glued to TMS, but will be checking the scores when it gets to lunch.

I can't decide if I'm happy or gutted for Crawley tbh. I have to say it's not looking good for Stokes. Wincing at every ball he faces.