Thetownend.com

Yep, time for some Pyjama cricket after this Windies game, Collingwood returns as captain

England squad: P Collingwood (capt), J Anderson, R Bopara, S Broad, A Flintoff, J Foster (wkt), R Key, D Mascarenhas, E Morgan, G Napier, K Pietersen, O Shah, R Sidebottom, G Swann, L Wright.

Foster, Dimi, Morgan and Napier I'm reasonably happy with, but i just don't understand what Luke Wright does. Average batsman, average bowler.

More importantly, does anyone care?

Should hopefully see some big shots then with Colly, Freddy, Key, Dimi, Napier and KP in the side. They all love a good slog, as do I.

KP and Freddie were massive flops in the IPL with big price tags.

Mascharenas and Bopara have been much better and infinitely cheaper.

Patel wasn't included in the squad because he's still too unfit for international cricket, meaning they picked 1 spinner and a full set of seamers. Although Miller said Pietersen or Shah can equally tweak their arm - whether I like that is another thing.

This should be now and not a month before an Ashes series. Crazy planning. Really stupid if you ask me.

luke wright's a much better cricketer than graham napier.

in fact there's a very fair argument (that i've come up with ;)) that the test team would be better off with wright than bresnan

hasn't quite delivered it all yet but he's got all the right ingredients and a winner's attitude

Maybe, but Napier's 20/20 record century v Sussex, is one of my top ten, TV watching, sporting moments.

I'll list the others if you want.

go on then.

In no particular order.....
1. Bob Beamon shatters world long jump record in Mexico.

2. Jonathan Edwards breaks world triple jump record twice, in 95 World Championships

3. Barney v Taylor 06

4. Brazil Italy 1970

5. Lance Armstrong wins 03 Tour de France, notably when tracking Joseba Belocki, who falls off on a downward hairpin right in front of Armstrong, who veers off picks up his bike and carries it across the ground to avoid a crash.

6.IVA Richards...first sighting for Somerset, makes 126 n.o. in JPL Sunday game in 75 at the now gone Wills ground in Bristhole.

7.Barbarians v All Blacks 73..notably the famous try.

8.Ronnie O'Sullivan 5 min 147.

9. Foinavon wins the Grand National in 67.

Interesting Reg,

Mine would be a mix of famous moments and ones I've actually witnessed (again, in no particular order)

1. Ali v Foreman  (rumble in the Jungle)
2. England v Australia Saturday at Edgbaston 1995 Ashes
3. Swindon v Leicester play off final
4. Donald v Atherton  Trent Bridge test match
5  England beating Australia in 1992 cricket world cup - capacity crowd at the SCG
6  Nicklaus v Watson,  Turnberry  Open Golf
7. England winning the Rugby world cup
8. I'd agree with Brazil v Italy
9. Seb Coe winning the 1500m in 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
10 Redgrave winning his 5th rowing gold in Sydney

That'd probably change a bit with more reflection.  Possibly Davis/Taylor at the crucible, Kelly Holmes 2nd gold in Athens, centuries by Lara or Tendulkar at Trent Bridge, or the first time I saw England beat Wals at rugby.

A good exercise to go through though.

Luke wright is firing on the batting front again, was incredibly unlucky to be dismissed against essex, smacked a great innings last night, plus his bowling has been outstanding. fuck knows how foster has got in before prior.

Cos competant keeping, up to the stumps, is vital in T20... and you know it Mex!

I'd be tempted to put Prior in as a batsman anyway.

and priors limited overs batting has always been remarkably average

I see highlights of this are on BBC. Interesting to see how their coverage will be.

Lets call this then.

I fancy Sri Lanka, mean bowlers and explosive batsmen.

south africa by a mile.

 No idea...think the short format tends to even things out...so could be any of the proper cricketing countries.

I don't know who is going to win, or even who is favourite, but one thing is for sure, a festival of cricket is upon us :)

Let's hope for some absolutely huge 6s, and lots of them.

England, if the sun fucks off.

I'll go for India.

Watching the England vs Windies warmup game at the moment, when did Luke Wright start bowling this quick?

I've put money on the Kiwis... bit of an outsider...

Do the ECB get any kind of royalty payments for coming up with the Twenty20 format?

Every fucker around the world seems to be making a mint off it, especially in India, do they get anything from it?

3 years ago

South Africa are looking good.

if luke wright can keep batting like that we have a chance. 75 not out, good old sussex by the sea

It's also worth noting that we have won every match we have played so far this summer. OK the standard of opposition hasn't been too great but we've shown we have a decent unit. With Bopara, Wright and KP in the side we might get some big totals.

Yep, every match against West Indies and Scotland.

We've got the players to win it if they perform, our batsmen alone could do enough in a game to win it. Of course it won't happen as they always find it necessary to bottle it when it counts.

First game is just about to start and the players are singing the national anthem. Awesome.

We have been put in to bat, flat track bully and Ravi Bopara are opening the batting for us. KP does not play, Big Rob Key is in at #3.

Eagerly awaited.

beer...check
pizza...check
t20....check

lovely

National anthems? I'll be watching the highlights later.

nice start from wright

i fell asleep.

squeeky bum time

Ha ha, Holland are going to win!

fuck me they might just win this....massive 6 for holland

Gutted I was gonna bet on Holland but forgot.

wicket

what odds were holland before the match?

Im sure they said 8/1 on the radio this morning

36 from 32. 6 wickets in hand.

Wicket.

Pissing with rain now.

what a finish!!!

rob key is great. england are not.

I think the Dutch are going to cap a fine performance with a victory

England are shit!

wicket

Whoop wicket.

get in there...wicket

I still have faith :)

Convincing catch...NOT!

safe elbows son

Doh! Frontbottom bowling full tosses

dropped catch, saves 6 but get 4.

11 needed from 8 balls

9 from 7

7 from 6

crap last delivery. 7 from last over. Guess its Broad to bowl?

7 from the last over! fuck me this is close

missed run out. 6 from 5

6 from 5. Missed run out

maybe a run out

Out I would say

Should have thrown it

NOT OUT!

He made a fucking cunt of it actually

jesus wept

Why bowl round the wicket?

dropped catch.

fuck sake

3 from 2

Poor fielding there.

dot ball

2 from 1

wide next ball i bet!

Dear, dear, dear!

Broad is a twat.

holland win

Broad made a total cunt of it. Holland win

fuck me we're shit

Shocking.

who else is in our group? Vatican City hopefully!

Fuck me, I hope not! They're a bit tasty!!!

pakistan

Broad's delivery was sound, but he paniced ridiculously... against Holland mind :D

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Might have helped if broad had kept hold of the ball for the first run out attempt. i recon the ball hit the stumps before his hand but his hand is what made the bail go flying. Good game for a mutual/netherlands fan though. What was the actual point in rob key,could've just put swann/mascheranus in and had another bowling option.

2020 is glorified ****ing rounders in any case.  Does anyone really care?

Nope, I certainly don't take T20 seriously.

It's fun to watch though.

Thats us out already then.  You have to laugh really.

yes i fucking care, fucking atrouscious, heads should fucking roll. useless cunts.

Cos Key's class. Colly, Shah, Foster are all a waste of a space, as is Rashid (not ready). Cunting crap.

i know im sussex biased but why the fuck is rashid ahead oif yardy? he can bat better than rashid and gets more dot balls than rashid. fucking useless cunts, and prior over foster everfy fucking time.

Other than being quite good at fielding, I don't understand what Colly brings to T20 . Also, Broad must be feeling pretty stupid this morning after his daft run out attempts. Shah seems woefully out of nick at the moment.

pathetic from England ... why is Collingwood captain anyway?

My questions are why isn't Prior in the squad? He's an attacking batsman. Why didn't Swan play? A slow bowler and has done well this year. Much better than an inexperienced Rashid anyway. And why isn't Struass in the squad as captain? Weird.

Watching the highlights though it was comical. The fielding at times was schoolboy stuff. And Broad had 5 chances for a run out in that last over and blew the lot of them.

Scotland going well against NZ

And a fairly simple catch Onion.

Ah yeah forgot that. The worst one was where he literally decided to dive at the stumps. Anyone with a brain would have released the ball before he hit the stumps and if he had he would have got it. But no he decides to keep the ball and by the time he gets to the stumps not only is the batsman pretty much in but he didn't even bloody dislodge the bails with the ball but with his hand. You had to laugh.

Broad was shit. Fuck only knows what he was thinking with those run outs. One moment he plays it safe by running to the wicket, then forgetting to release the ball in time and knocking it over with his hand. Then when he should be playing it safe he throws and misses and loses the match.

Though to be fair the fielding was complete and utter shit all round. Who was it that had that running / diving catch at the boundary? Why did he go for the catch, rather than keeping the ball away from the boundary? Pure stupidity in a 20 over match and two runs saved could have won the match.

All is not lost though, we just need to go out and destroy Pakistan in our next game. We've got the top order batsmen to do it if they hit top form, and hopefully the bowlers won't do too much damage.

Key is only class if he's allowed to open the batting,especially in t20.


The argument for prior is a good one,best batsman/keeper we have in the country for t20. i think the spinning options of yardy/rashid comes down to if england want a leg spinner or off spinner in the team. Swann was in the squad and the he can hold a bat and his bowling would havebeen better than rashid's,cause rashid doesn't have enough experience. You can't allow someone who is so young to make an international debut in an ICC world competition.

I'm glad the associate country's now have a game where they can pose a threat to some of the test teams.

Yuvraj giving it some pastie now.

I think I am going to start supporting India now.

Go on my son.

Boom, there it goes again.

36 off 14 balls so far for my man.

Update: 40 off 15.

I see the Aussies lost to the Windies. That's nearly as bad as us.

...but really, it's nowhere near is it?

;)

Well it is. We beat the Windies 5 times in a row and those sorry Aussies couldn't do it.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Chris Gayle spank Brett Lee all over the park. And Jerome Taylor gave a masterclass in T20 bowling.

Holland.

Swann was injured I believe, and Strauss doesn't like T20 very much.

What are we to expect tonight from england?

sheer horror.

We'll beat Pakistan

I must say, the Guardians over by over report is delightfully cynical.

Pietersen plays.

Du-Bop gone in the second over to a 17 year old.

who got hit all over the place in his next over.

53-1 off 5 overs.

Wright gone.

Anyone got a better stream than this one?

http://www.tv2t.com/watch/Live/England_vs_Pakistan/flash2

Blimey, that stump exploded.

http://www.talktransfers.net/live-football/

Pretty good quality.  Does go offline everynow and then, but soon comes back on

Collingwood gone.

kp gone

Should hopefully push for 190. If we get that we'll win.

185. Decent target to bowl at.

I hope Broad's been in throwing practice since Friday.

Pakistan 1 down now.

That live stream is shit. It's got Punjab dancing on it. FFS what about the Cricket?

Looks glorious on SSHD1 Rich :)

Broad on a hat trick. 41-3.

Well at least Broad has just taken 2 quick wickets. 41-3 now.

Some strange wide calls, how was that from Wright a wide with some of the ones that have been let go?

Anyone got a link?

Malik out caught behind off luke Wright. In walks boom boom Afridi.

http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/sun7.6/England_Pakistan2.html

That link you posted is working fine for me. Great quality too.

Boom's gone, that's got to wrap it up.

80 odd needed from 5 overs.

Afridi gone. Key wicket there. Pakistan look like they actually want to lose this.

Not a key wicket today, it appears that Pakistan have forgotten how T20 works - Cheers Pakistan!!!

Yeah and a big win and good news as we should now go through on Run Rate. Mind you Pakistan could lose to the Dutch as well if they play like this.

England are through to the next stage. The commentators are talking shit saying its not guaranteed, it is.

I was thinking that, we have a better run rate than the other two and there is no way in which both teams can improve their run rates in the last game is there?

Maybe some Duckworth Lewis strangeness?

Netherlands win = us through.

For pakistan to go through they need to beat netherlands & have a hell of a run rate. That hell of a run rate will shatter netherlands +0.05 into the -'s. and seeing as ours is +ve, we are through no matter what.

I hope i have thought that through correctly,but touch wood we're going through and the Aussies get thrashed by sri lanka. That is 1-0 to us for when it comes to the ashes banter (Unless they feel like bringing up the netherlands).

That is pretty much spot on as to why we are through. Pakistan have to beat Netherlands by enough to improve their own run rate above Netherlands, and in doing so the Netherlands run rate will end up way below England's. Hence we are through no matter what.

Pretty basic maths people. Except for Pietersen, he must be thick.

Pakistan were woeful, never looked like they wanted to win the match. Much improved from England all round and 3 more games to enjoy!

That was a great performance all round....the dutch could go through cos the weather looks awfull in the week.

Still thought England could've done slightly better with their batting. Bowling was pretty much spot on though, as was the fielding - apart from the dolly that Ravi dropped.

Does anyone know when and where the next T20 tournament is?

Think I am right in saying that in the Super Eights we'd play everyone except who we've played already. The Dutch would be a gimme for anyone else so we'd benefit from Pakistan going through.

For this to happen Afridi needs to start lacing it like only he can.

He's woefully out of form. He's currently using the close your eyes and swing as hard as possible tactic.

isn't that the tactic he's always used?

Yes, and so far it has worked reasonably well for Luke Wright.

Incorrect. I don't know how the groups are sorted out but with top 2 from each group going through, two groups of four are produced, with each team playing others in their group once. So Super8 = 3 more games only. Unfotunately, if the results and super8's are made how they should be (from the seedings created from 2007) England should face Australia,South Africa and New Zealand in the super8 group.

That would all have changed seeing as australia lost to Windies. So bring on the Windies again i say!

To be honest I don't really know enough about cricket to comment either way really.

Think it'll be India v Saffies in the final with India to win.

We will play South Africa for definite. Then India (if they don't qualify it will be Ireland) and then Australia (if they don't qualify it will be West Indies). Final group places don't count, its all on the original seedings and if a seeded team doesn't qualify then the un-seeded team takes their place.

Cheers for clearin that up :).We're pretty much screwed either way, cant see us beating SA or AUS,i think windies will give us a run for our money. South Africa will win

South Africa will get knocked out due to the DL method, like they virtually always do. I'm not sure about Kallis as opener. I would always have Gibbs as opener, as he is more dynamic.

I have a theory about India. When they won the 50 over World Cup in 1983, they had no expectations and when they beat the mighty West Indies (Richards, garner et al. in their prime) it was a big shock. Ever since the Indians have gone in expecting to win the tournament and failing. In the inaugural T20, they just put a young team together, as they hadn't bothered playing the game before, as the BCCI didn't want them to. Due to the lack of expectations, they had no pressure, and they went on to win the trophy. Now they are favourites, the pressure is on, and it only takes one bad day at the office to get knocked out !!

Good to see the Irish through.

I have 4 teams in this tournament: India, Netherlands, Ireland, and if all those fail then I will support England.

Australia v Sri Lanka is on now, Aus 1-1 in the first over of their innings.

Aussies going well. 42-1

they will shit it when murali bowls

Ponting out. 48-2

They are in huge trouble.

Sri Lanka only need to get within something like 20 runs of them to eliminate them from the tournament on net run rate.

Mr Cricket is in now though, he can play.

80 for 5

They have no idea what Mendis is doing with that ball.

To be fair, neither do I. This is mental.

My bet on Sri Lanka to win feels good.

Mendis is sick. Disgusting.

54 needed from 6 overs. Tight one.

Billy Bowden's face then was priceless...

"why on earth did you appeal that?"

Desperate times for the Aussies. Sri Lanka are closing in on the win.

It'll take something special for the Aussies to win this now...

Bowl a wide to lose and go out :D

Ha cheerio Aussies. Ha ha ha.

mwahahahaha.

:D Ace, love seeing Pontings face after a loss - wonder what excuse they'll come out with this time?

I loved the way the camera zoomed in on him every time they hit a boundary in the last few overs. Priceless.

I think The Ashes will be a very good series.

Good day.

I didnt exactly see mendis do anything with the ball except flick it,it didnt any turn & i didnt see much speed variation,but im probably blind.

Aussies were rubbish from the first over. Pontings face nearly beats bowdens look of disgust/confusion.

Can't wait for the ashes now. I think this may well dent their confidence.

Just watched the Aus - Sri Lanka highlights - terrific fun seeing Ricky's face.  That Sri Lanka bowling attack is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFyEPMrxlY4

Crap quality but there you go

C'mon you Dutchies !!!

hhhmmm this could be close.

Pakistan are scoring less than England did against them...

Of course, whatever Pakistan get Holland just have to be 20 runs of it...and they still go through.

Boom boom Afridi smashes his first six of the tournament and is promptly out next ball :D

176 needed

Well, technically the Dutch only need 156 from their 20 overs to go through.

fuck it, i want them buddhist bastards out, 176 it is , vote bnp.

It'll probably come down to how the Dutch cope with the Pakistani spinners...

not very well by the looks of things.

74-8 :(

Afridi  4-0-10-4 !!

I think the Dutch might have screwed it up !!!

Have they actually got anyone who bowls properly ? It's all a bit dodgy as far as I can tell.

That's one of my teams out :(

Relying on India, Ireland or England to do the business for me now.

This is going to need one hell of a bowling performance.

When you need wickets, chuck the ball to KP.

He'll rip the skin off it out there.

I've been set the task of finding a stream for the England game,but i'm lazy.Does anyone have a decent one?

Hopefully STFC manc is about  :D

I'm watching. We've lost the toss and are batting first.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/asdsadasda123

KP Nuts vs Bombay Mix sign in the crowd = ace

34-1 after 5 overs.

Bopara and Pietersen in on the bright side, this could get going.

Yuvraj to Pietersen, this could be fun.

RaBo (I'm going with Susan Boyle notation seeing as it's all the rage) gone in the 11th. Doing remarkably well so far.

Edit: We've sent Dimi in to bat with KP. This could be awesome. Or short.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/buggman1

Not looking good. 122-4

Swann didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence :D

31-2 after 5.

Gambhir gone, might not be the best thing for us as we were slowing them up nicely and the next to are Yuvraj and Dhoni.

Yuvraj hit a 6 first ball. Ouch.

James Foster stumps him beautifully. That's why you pick the best keeper.

Unfortuneately timed email of the day on TMS ball by ball:

From Kieran Lavy, TMS inbox: "Why has Foster been picked for this tournament? Matt Prior knocked 80-odd in good time in the county game against Worcestershire and played well against the Windies. How can the selectors legitimise the decision to bring in Foster who has frankly done nothing"

Precisely one over before that stumping.

Anyone got a link to post?

Try this Manc:

http://www.justin.tv/streamdesire_com (http://www.justin.tv/streamdesire_com)

This is going to be close...

I've got a feeling we're going to lose this.

28 from 12 balls.

If (almost) anyone else were at the crease I'd be fine, but with Dhoni and Pathan I'm bricking it.

27 from 11

Broad messes up a run out. Now, I like a running joke as much as the next man but...

Broad you tosser. Why did you give up?

 :doh:

22 from 8, he's bowling well.

19 needed off the last over, Stick Cricket stuff this.

19 from the last over.

The Indian's aren't singing and dancing much at the moment...

18 from 5 and Dhoni on strike.

Highlight reel coming up either way

16 from 4 and it's a boundary a ball.

Come on!

Good bowling.

Great ball from Sidebottom.

One handed six, fuck me sideways!

Uh-oh.

Shit.

1 run!

8 from one ball, for fucks sakes don't bowl a wide!

Bowl it straight. Simple as.

Hooray.

Get in!

Phew

I enjoyed that.

We still have to beat the Windies though.

Said to the old man that wide from Singh at the end of our innings would be realy important.  Good game, on to tomorrow...

Yup, going to enjoy work tomorrow too.

Get in!  That is all.

Let's hope the right England turn up tomorrow!

thank you Harbahjan Singh for bowling 2 lots of 5 wides

I rang up my bank and gloated over the result.

fucking great game yesterday, roll on 1.30.

drs im going to nick your last comment for my fuckbook status

Its copyrighted

The game is now on at 5.30. They seemingly have switched the games over.

cant find any confirmation of game switch anywhere, where did you hear this?

The England game today has always been at 5.30 hasn't it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8099821.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8099821.stm)

Certainly is now

Edit: Although the beeb do think it is a Sunday.

No. From all the fixture guides, including the official one, the game was set for 1.30pm, as I said to my boss last week that if England had a chance of qualifying, I might have this afternoon off, which I don't have to now.

Not a bad prediction, if I say so myself...and I forgot to mention that quite a few of them don't like the 'chin music' either !!

I'm not really interested in cricket, but was watching some highlights & the bowler appeared to throw the ball a bit like they do in baseball. Is that legal in cricket or are the rules different in 20-20 ?

I used to watch cricket a fair bit but have gone completely off it, I did however watch those highlights too Phil and I think you are talking about Malinga (Sri Lankan).

I asked my brother the same question and apparently his action hasn't been questioned. I think it's because his bowling arm is supposedly straight, so it's perfectly legal.

The arm doesn't necessarily have to be straight, whatever position that the arm is in when it starts to go round and over,it must stay in the position thorughout until the ball is released. So the elbow cannot straighten or bend more than the degree of bend it has at the start of the action.

That being said there is a % leway that players get if they have dodgy arms,like murali for which straightening his arm is a physical impossibility.

Any decent streams for the England game please post  :)

The only time i ever miss Sky is when the super cricket is on.And its an Ashes summer.Sob. I may have to move back to my Dad's for a month.

did i imagine it or were england supposed to be playing at 1:30 today?

Yes that was the one. seemed to me that it was straight out of baseball, but I guess if the opposition didn't complain ?

Its 5.30.

You can come around mine to watch if you want Larwood....

Thanks for the offer Reg :) But i wouldn't want to impose,plus my hob-nob crumbs are hell to get rid of  ;)

Just try dunking...gets rid of the crumb problem.

http://www.webhush.com/england-v-west-indiesri-lanka-live-streaming-t20-icc-world-cup-twenty20-cricket/ (http://www.webhush.com/england-v-west-indiesri-lanka-live-streaming-t20-icc-world-cup-twenty20-cricket/)

Might find a better one in a bit but it seems to be working fine.

Luke Wright again out to the top edge hook shot

Kp out for 31. 64-2 off 7.5 overs

I guess it's been stopped by rain now? It's pissing it down in Highbury. What a way to go out!

No it's fine. My stream has gone though FFS! Anyone else got a link? It's 115-3 after 14.5 at last check.

No, it seems they are still playing. That's astonishing given the weather here, and I'm probably only 6 miles away! It'd be nice to see us up the run rate just a tad

Rain stopped play. Gay.

I think that we need a huge bowling performance from Jimmy A for us to win this.

We are a good bowling side, but not a good batting side.

161-6 after 20 then. Broad hit 10 off the last 2 balls. I think that could be crucial. Especially with DL coming in to it.

Not a bad total...getting Gayle early is the key.

BOOM, what a hit by S.Broad.

What was he doing coming in so late?

For my money he should be at #5 instead of Paul Collingwood.

Failing that he should replace the flat track bully at the top of the order.

I don't understand or agree with us putting our 3 big hitters in the top 3 positions because once they've gone we have no one to hit the big ones. And before Broad got those boundaries we'd gone over 40 balls without one.

One thing that no-one can deny is that when Broad hits it, it stays hit.

Also, a bowling attack with 2 full-time spinners is not going to appreciate the wet ball, and wet pitch.

I say Windies will win this.

It could either way. Let's be honest we've defended 2 totals lower than this against 2 better sides.

It could go neither way. Stupid weather.

We're gone unless they play 5 overs or more.

I'm only 10 miles from the Oval, and we've just had about 6 inches of rain in 30 minutes, if that hits no more play.

9 overs, 80 required.

Pah.

Bowling Jimmy.

As I said earlier, to progress we need a match-winning performance from our talisman, and gawd bless 'im he has stepped up to the plate in his first over.

Must get Gale out.

6 for 1...after 1 over.

Huge wicket there by Sidey. Huge.

done. might have a chnce now.

Bravo's the other key man. Game on.

Another one gone.Not Bravo but bloody hell we can do this!

16-3 whooo!

Get in.

We need to race through 5 overs, then chuck the ball to KP to finish this off.

He'll rip the skin off it out there.

We're gonna lose this aren't we.

Rashid gets a wicket. Nice one. Shame he's gone for 9 already though.

Foster is lightin'

Like Swanns faster ball..

They'e won haven't they?

I think so.

Fucking shite.

Shame - we've done alright.

Fucking bollocks. Fair play to them though. They're lucky the rain came as I think we'd have won with a regulation 20 overs.

I hate D/L, always seems to favour batting side.

Its only ten past nine..why was it revised,,,got floodlights so they couldve easy got 20 overs in.

Boooooo.

Yeah I thought that too. ICC obviously have other wacky ideas. Hey ho. To the Ashes we go.

tits

Fair play to the Windies now...hope they win it.

Beaten by the weather you feel. Can only see one team winning it anyway and that's South Africa.

 :cry:

Rubbish!

fair play to Sarwan and Chanderpaul they did not panic kept the cool. the 2 fours off 2 balls in the Anderson 2nd over cost us.

They came pretty close to the semi-finals, which is better than could be expected before the tournament. We really need to work on Twenty20 more though, can't help but think we fuck about with the team selection too much.

I reckon things would have been different if Flintoff was fit.

Most people know i dont really like cricket but i have watched all this and really enjoyed it. From watching just this(never watched any cricket before) 2 things i have noticed is that Foster is a good wicket keeper and that we have no real big hitters oh and peiterson plays stupid shots when he dont need to. Would i be right or should i watch alot more cricket before commenting?

You would be correct. I would like to add to what you've said,Luke Wright is woeful,i have never liked him; his lack of performance in this competition just adds to my near hatred of him as a 'cricketer'. I know someone is going to mention his innings against the netherlands,but he hasn't proven himself against a non-associate country.

That's just the way he is, though he seems to have calmed down a bit nowadays - I've even seen him playing defensively in test matches. He's the only player we've got that would walk in to every other team in the world.

as a sussex fan i will defend wright to the hilt, yes he got a big innings against netherlands, you forgetting he got man of the match in our other crunch match against Pakistan? the bloke is young and is told to go out there and hit it as hard as he can as quickly as he can, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt thats the nature of the job he has to do.

My thoughts are:-

I agree with Mex regarding Wright - he'll either put a match winning innings together or fail (either way it'll be quick)- as long as everyone understands this there's no problem, and if he fails, Pietersen gets longer at the crease.

Pietersen is obviously the key, and needs to keep his ego under control - he looked superb when hitting straight then loses it .

Why we thought we could compete without a hitter/finisher at 7/8 I don't know. The extra bowler was unnecessary as Wright/Collingwood/Pietersen could contribute. The fact that we only got 3 boundaries in the second half of the innings (and two of those from the last two balls) is why we lost. (Don't forget that Edwards wasn't playing either)

160 odd was not enough on that pitch/ground. Although we got early wickets, and Gayle cheaply, Sarwan and Chanderpaul were well in control, and they still had batting left. Generally our bowlers did well, but Broad shouldn't be bowling at the death in my opinion (9 overs is clearly different from the norm)

Foster showed he is the best w/k by far of the England bunch, but Prior will retain his Test place until Foster can make consistent runs in a more orthodox manner

Flintoff won't ever make a batting impact at T20 unless he takes Wright's place, his bowling would be useful.

We're still a long way behind the top two, SA and Sri Lanka.  SA look to be well drilled and powerful, but a bit regimented, Sri Lanka are getting by with 'unorthodox' bowlers.

Still not proper cricket though.

i think Mascheranas should of played or either Graham Napier against the west indies as they are big hitters and on what i saw on the highlights that we struggled in the middle overs to hit boundaries

Or like I said we shouldn't field our big hitters all straight away. That was the problem with oir batting. Our fielding was fine. Looking back though let's be honest we were never going to win this anyway so we've done fairly well given our T20 record is generally quite poor. Can't wait for The Ashes now. Totally different game is Test Cricket. I think we've got a chance as well.

IOB i agree it is different game to test cricket expect the unexpected in t20 cricket. i have a gut feeling that we might re-gain the ashes

I really don't understand why you wouldn't put all your big hitters at the top of the order? Don't you want them to have as long as possible at the crease?

I do as well, but I think it will be more down to the Aussies being crap than us being any good.

The aussies aren't that crap. They still managed to beat south africa

Pakistan did well yesterday.Good job as well as it'll mean there will be plenty of streams for the final on the web Sunday

Sri lanka have to be the favourites for tonights game.

Looks like my man Afridi has won it for Pakistan.

Well done son, well done.

Big players deliver in finals,so well done to Afridi.Credit also to Shoaib Malik, who offered very
good support.

Bastarding Sri Lanka let me down at the last hurdle :/

Nice to see the women win again. I might follow the women Cricket more than the mens, more entertaining and we win often.

 :nod:

how is women's cricket more entertaining than men's? it is a lower standard than most club cricket. congrats to them though

Ability doesn't always equal entertainment.

When I was at school there was a fight between a lad called Jason Arnott and a lad called Darren Gardiner. This fight was an epic battle that was fought over an entire lunchbreak and involved them kicking the absolute shit out of each other. Neither of them would have lasted long against a professional fighter, but it was still one of the most entertaining contests I have ever witnessed.

Dark.

Congrat's to the women. Got to admit their semi against the Aussies was the game of the tournament (and that includes the men's).