Cricket Banter

After the death of Phil Hughes, the first test between Australia and India scheduled to start on the 4th December has now been postponed.

I see that the failure to agree to use DRS has been one of the main reasons to caused India to lose the first test against Australia
Two bad decisions by the umpires have proved to be costly

Yes, the BCCI steadfast refusal to use DRS has cost India more than a few test matches since it's inception.

So Alastair Cook has been removed as England ODI captain.
Correct decision but he was not and is not the only problem.
For too long England have paid lip service to ODI 50 over cricket because of their obsession with Test Cricket and particularly The Ashes. They have looked at ODI cricket through test match eyes and been humbled repeatedly through playing a relatively stifled, uninventive, sterile, uninspiring and attritional brand of cricket in all forms. Other international teams such as India and Sri Lanka have led the way in showing England how ODI cricket should be played over the last number of years but England have learnt next to nothing.
Yes I know they made the final of the Champions Trophy but that was a tad fortunate to say the least and it was in home conditions.
They are clueless with the bat and find the most ludicrous ways to lose matches they get themselves in positions to win.
Countless failed power plays, ridiculous collapses and silly dismissals are just the start.
The death bowling is unbelivably erratic and inconsistent.
One day it is brilliant, the next it is hopeless.
There seems to be a sense of panic and resignation once the opposing batsmen start clattering the ball around the park.
Heads are dropping at an alarming rate.
The bowling changes are just all over the place and don't even get me started on the field placings.
Cook has epitomised everything that is wrong with English cricket imo. Strikes me as surly, arrogant, stubborn, negative and attritional in mind set.
He has been out of form in all forms for a while and has somehow kept the captaincy. I appreciate the number of centuries he has to his name but KP had a similar number before being forced out when in infinitely better form than Cook has been.
I sense the rest of the major cricket nations take greater pleasure in seeing England lose than any other country in all forms of the game.
I get the feeling England are perceived as up their own arse and as those who strut around as if to treat the other nations as mere plebs who haven't got Lords and the MCC.
Toffs without any real respect for other cricket nations.
A cricketing nation who pay lip service to 50 over cricket because its only Test Cricket that matters in their eyes.
So when England lose the Ashes 5-0 everybody bar the English are celebrating wildly and splitting their sides with laughter.
So Cook is far from the only problem.
A cultural revolution is required in English cricket is required just as much as it is in English football.
But I shan't hold my breath .

Test match cricket as we understand it will, IMO, fade out of existence - with perhaps the exception of the 'Ashes' series - over the next couple of decades. It will be, of course, replaced by T20's which will be played more frequently than ODI's. A traditionalist's nightmare? Yes, no doubt. The economics of funding the world game depend on TV broadcast deals and gate receipts. With attendances for the traditional 5-day tests sharply falling due to lack of interest there is, however, a huge increasing following for T20's - especially outside England.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has quit Test cricket.

The 33 year old wicket keeper /batsman will instead concentrate on the 50 over and Twenty20 formats, with India's one-day World Cup defence starting in February

Ben Stokes may not have made the England World Cup team but he's currently smashing all the ballers to all parts in the Big Bash.
He's made 60 not out off 29 balls.

The selectors need to have a rethink.

No, Stokes isn't good enough to make England's team. One innings doesn't change anything. He's had plenty of chances in ODIs for England.

Mike Hussey is out injured and can't face England in their match against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra

After hearing the news, Kevin Pietersen has said that he wants to play against his former team during their tour of Australia.

Big Kev has tweeted, aiming at the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, writing: "Dear @TonyAbbottMHR - I'm available x."

Former England captain Andrew Flintoff, who is playing for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash, responded on social media: "If @KP24 plays for the Prime Minister's XI they'll need a turnstile at the bowlers end, they'll be queuing up."

Brett Lee has announced that he will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of this season.