Last summer Flintoff demonstrated that he’s capable of playing himself in and getting big centuries. Now let’s see him do it again. And let’s be greedy – KP hasn’t got a test century yet.
Categories
Tag: sport
Categories
Gillespie out for Trent Bridge test
I feel for Gillespie, a bit. He’s clearly deeply commited to the Aussie cause and has been heroic with the bat. But as an England supporter I’m sorry to see him go because Tait sounds like he could be a handful – although they’ve been coping quite well with Lee so far, and Tait seems to be in a similar mode, from what I’ve read. With Lee, Tait, Flintoff, Harmison and Jones, it could be a fierce old match. I suspect Australia will have pulled themselves together a bit over the break, so England are going to have to keep up (or even increase) the pressure. Though it’s hard to believe it can possibly be more intense than the last two.
EDIT: On the other hand, McGrath not playing is definitely a bonus for England.
Categories
Football vs. cricket
There’s a football vs. cricket discussion over at Corridor of Uncertainty. Not surprisingly, since it’s a cricket blog, everyone is saying how wonderful cricket is and how much football could learn from it.
But I still think that for moments of sheer, jaw-dropping brilliance, football is streets ahead of cricket, just because it’s less structured. Even the most memorable moments in cricket – like Warne’s famous Gatting ball – are variations on a theme. Yes, it was an extraordinarily good leg-break, but it was still rather like all his other leg-breaks. The great moments in football – from Gordon Banks, Maradona, Cruyff, Archie Gemmill, Paul Gascoigne – give you the sense of someone doing something impossible and unthought of. It’s like watching a magic trick, except invented on the spur of the moment in front of 70 000 people and with the World Cup at stake.
My father has a ticket for the fifth day of the Oval Test. If there’s still something to play for then, he could be in for one hell of an atmosphere.
Categories
I. F. O. C. E.
Categories
Old Trafford test day 4
England really have to win this. Both because it’s not good enough to draw the series, and because to be so much in control of the game and not win it would be a psychological boost to the Aussies. With Australia batting for a draw, Gillespie is clearly the danger man.
I was (slightly) sad not to see Warne get his century.