i think sri lanka will win this.

they have the hitters to chase down a big total if they bat second. it will be nice to see mcgrath going back over his head in his last game.

and if they bat first murali will run through the australian middle order like a 4 week old kebab.

I can't see the convicts losing it, they're like a fucking bulldozer. I may whack a bet on...

hopefully it's a decent match though, rather than the usual fare we've had.

don't think you'll get a price making the bet worthwhile mate.

In the past few years many people have moaned that the BBC have lost the ability to broadcast cricket on the TV. Well after the last few days I think this is 100% wrong.

On Radio Football Live (they call it 5 Live) county scores are now given out 2 or 3 times a day rather than once an hour. No problem one can check the scores on Ceefax ..... no you bl**dy well can't. I was out early last evening. When I returned home I naturally clicked onto page 340 to see how Yorks had finished up. The detailed scoreboard just had 'not available at the moment', as it still does. I was reduced to having to find the score via Sky text.

Basically apart from TMS the BBC doesn't care about cricket.

the bbc left the cricket when the england captain was 299 not out. they haven't a fucking clue.

I think he deserves massive credit for what he achieved in test cricket given the desperate situation he inherited.
And personally, I'm more concerned about tests than the one-day version.

I agree with you about test match cricket. However, Botham is now of the Boycott school of supreme arrogance and knobheadery. It's all very well making points on the radio or telly but coaching is something neither of these two could ever do successfully.

Couldn't agree more; I think they're both too egotistical to make successful coaches. Though I think Boycott is often spot on in his analysis, and England could certainly do with someone who displayed the same tenacity at the crease.

Again, spot on. But analysis is different from coaching.

alternatively, they might be crushed into the ground.

I wish Boycott would fuck off, his constant moaning on TMS this winter ruined my enjoyment of listening to cricket at five o'clock in the morning, the miserable bastard.

I'm convinced that he takes more joy from England losing than he does from England winning.

really? that was the joy of having sky. it was just watching only our limp batting that fucked me off no end. that and having nasser hussain tell me whether or not some cunt in the crowd managed to catch the 6 that was just hit off of harmison's bowling.

Perhaps I was exaggerating a little, there was nothing more crushing, painful and anger inducing then Gilchrist's innings at Perth.

I'm an angry, angry man

Absolutely; though in the context of the "Winter Game" several people have proved that it is quite possible to be utterly useless at both......

Yes, I know. But that's football for you.

most people know that i think one day cricket is crap..i am an aussie but couldnt care if we won or llost the world cup
but most people thought this was an open world cup , where anyone could win and australia would struggle,
funny how this wasnt the case...australia won 6 games by runs , the closet margin 83 runs, and 5 by wickets in hand , the closet 7 wickets
1.everyone thought mcgrath and hayden were past it...player of the world cup and runner up
2.australia couldnt win due to losing last 6 games prior to wotld cup
3.australia had no bowlers..mcgrath , tait , hogg., bracken were amongst top 6 wicket takers of world cup
4.how getting ponting out was the key to australia's demise, hussey and symonds hardly batted during the world cup
5.how india and pakistan would feature , couldnt even make it to the semis
6.how south africa through the mouthy smith would beat australia...the chokers of world cricket award goes to sth africa..sorry that glen mcgath is has been.well according to g.smith
7.how everyone has fallen on their sword , fleming nz, (bracewell should go too), felcher (england ) vaughan forget about your miserable 79 in a very , completely dead rubber vs the w.i. who have no good bowlers . , time to quit cricket whilst your reputation is still in tact.) brian lara ( past it ) inzaman ( bye bye ) tendulkar ( dropped from next squad) and graeme smith should re- assess his position , for the past 4 years, has veballed the aussies and has been soundly flogged everytime. loudmouth fuckwit , who can score runs v everyone else except the aussies..and his boyfriend jacques kallis should be included in that..averages 15 runs less in both test and one day cricket against australia than his career figures....easy to hit 100 vs zimbabwe or the bangas hey jaques..or hershelle gibbs, who is in the same category...and wont tour india for fear of being arrested for taking money of bookies..weak prick. faces your demons lad.
not beating the australiams drum but for an open world cup , it certainly was a one horse race., and shows the the difference between australia and the rest of world cricket

You see, that's the problem with Sky - they don't actually do any commentating. I've watched it for ages before anyone has actually said anything and it drives me mad. If it wasn't for the digital delay, I'd have the pictures on the telly and TMS doing the commentary.

the art of tv commentary is to only say something if it will inform the viewer.

david lloyd and mark nicholas are the two best at this.

i had to stop listening to tms because blofeld is a cunt, this was a few years ago now and he may well have retired, but its blighted now.

I love Blofeld, who else will constantly keep telling you about the seagulls on the outfield at deep square leg?

Bumble is just great to listen to, it's that Lancashire lilt I reckon.

fuck me if supporting England isn't bad enough, the 'Shire are getting in on the act now. conceding a world record 50 overs score of 496-4.

that's just the 9.92 runs per over.

this wasn't against the fucking australians either but against players as limited as rikki clarke, and ali brown who must be nearly 40.

i wasn't expecting much from the 'Shire this year. but that was pretty pathetic.

And who else thinks it's necessary? I never liked Blojob but when I found out about his background I realised that I detested the fucker, my dear old thing.

my kids spent an hour and a half playing with mark alleyne's kids in the pub. they got on so well that when they left they said "we'll be here again next monday".

that's fucking great that is.

i was too shy to speak to him. i mean, the man was the best captain ever in the history of county cricket.

forget brearley, boo-boo was the business.

he's right up there with bradman, sobers and warne.

mark alleyne, i salute you.

Are you joking. It was one of the best bits of controlled hitting sessions ever. Any cricket lover should have loved it ..... I did even though it was England getting battered ....... oh yes can I mention that we were only about 6 feet from the 3rd 6 that Gilchrist hit off Monty. I did laugh when Hoggy bowled a 1 day wide to stop the little Aussie scoring the fastest test hundred ever though.

I think you'll find that was Dermot Reeve mate (the best ever captain that is).

look at the differences in resources.

alleyne won 5 trophies in 2 years with a squad of players that nobody else wanted.

reeve had the best batsman in the world in brian lara, and one of the best 3 bowlers in allan donald at his disposal.

I agree but basically who the fuck else did he have? One of the reasons the Bears were so successful for a time was due to the fact none of the players were deemed good enough to represent England so they became more or less everpresents. Anyway, i always thought Gloucestershire were the one day specialists weren't they?

only for the period of boo-boo's captaincy.

The shame was that the Dermot Reeve Warwick never came out to the McCartney song 'High High High'.

thinking about it swing, the make up of the two sides was remarkably similar. people like ostler, piper, smith (both of them), twose and munton would have fitted quite nicely into the glos side.

i still think that the international experience that players small and reeve himself brought to the side makes glos' achievements the more worthy.

i mean we've been shite since, and pretty much wall to wall shite before as well, with the exception of a couple of procter or lawrence & walsh inspired seasons.

I often wondered why he seemed to inspect the boundary line so diligently.

Another hundred for Yorkshite. What is going on there? They might even be a happy team. Surely there must be some mistake.

Yes, but if you watched the B Bloddy C you'd have thought that the game was just a net for Vaughan. Also the Yorks innings went from 282-5 to 299 all out ..... more strike tactics, one out all out.

Woo-hoo the Shire have racked up over 500 and are still going, so perhaps Broad isn't the bowler for England after all.

I'm off tomorrow, so if the weather stays nice I may go along.

the local news said it was going to be bastard hot tomorrow. so i'm going to get my head shaved and then spend the day at the cricket, getting leevered off my face whilst pretending i can solve sudoku puzzles when play gets dull.

Nice one Moster, i've 'booked' a day off next month to watch the Bears take on Durham in a one dayer. I'm just gonna get trolleyed and abuse the people in the corporate seats tho, i'm good at that.

What's all this going to cricket to get leathered. Why not just go down the pub where the beer is cheaper & better, if you're not a member. Or still better spend the day actually watching the cricket, then retire to the pub in the evening to consure too much beer & discuss the game.

now this i intend to do.

by drinking at the same time i'm going to be taking multi-tasking to a new level.

Can I applaud the Australian gonvernment. Before Moster moans for bringing politics into sport there is a reason. The Aus goverment have said that they would recompense for any monies lost to the ACB if the team doesn't go to Zimbabwe. The British government didn't want our team to go to Zimbabwe the other year, but unlike the Australians, wouldn't put their money where their mouth was.

not a bad day, glos took 3 wickets within half an hour of me getting there. eventually got a first innings lead of 130-ish.

we then came out of the blocks like a train, scoring at about 4 an over. after i left i missed a run a ball knock. a quick start tomorrow and i reckon the shire can decalre and win this.

broad is bastard fast, but he ain't the business yet. then again neither is mahmood.

Warwickshire's surprisingly good start to the season continued today as we battered that lot down the road from us. Dunno what this new coach is telling the boys but it's definately working.

fuck, just run out time last night. leicestershire hung on with 2 wickets still needed. That's what you get for leaving the declaration too late, they were never going to be able or inclined to chase down 380.

today's 1 dayer at middlesex equally disappointing, after setting too low a score we managed to reduce middlesex from 207-5 to 209-9 but the last pair knocked off the remainder.

it's going to be a long season.

OK, 2nd division I know, but Nott's are doing well with 3 wins from 3 so far. Plus a 7 wicket win in the 1 day at Worc's today

haha, victory at last, albeit a nail biter, last but one ball, last pair at the crease.

hampshire at home next sunday in what could be my last chance to see shane warne play.

Gilchrist bats with more balls than most !

dear oh dear, are those idiots serious?

The Bears win again on Monday. If this continues for much longer then i might delve into the unknown world of optimism soon.

Top of Div' 2 V Top of Div' 1 on Sunday as the Outlaws take on the Bears at Trent Bridge.

I'm working

anyway. what's the general concensus on the andy flower appointment?

i think it's a good move, and lessens the blow of having the inexperienced (in international terms) moores.

Did I mention that my Old Girls cricket team, most of whom haven't picked up a bat or ball in 5 years actually managed to win on Saturday?
I even bowled a couple of overs... not that I set the world alight or anything but we certainly had fun!

He may well help England to blossom. After all, Zimbabwe bloomed when he played for them.

Not sure about Flower .... he batted very slowly for Essex in 2005 at Headingley. Normally basmen start slowly & then speed up. Flower started slowly & got slower. As a result Essex didn't have enough time to bowl Yorks out twice & we got a draw.

btwcan I say I'm glad that Moore's has let the England players have games for their counties. My main objection to Fletcher was that he stopped England stars playing so that they were underdone (For a perfect example of this remember Harmison's first ball of the Ashes)