PowerButchi

In what possible way is Mary-Louise Parker unconventional or uncommercial? She's been a prominent actress for 20 years and regarded for all that time as a great beauty.

I only heard of her when I started watching Weeds a couple of years ago...

Kate Silverton and Mary-Louise Parker for me.

And, of couse, Susie Dent.

This was inevitable.

 

Looks like England are going to have to start nurturing the likes of Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid as all-rounder replacements pretty quickly.

Do you reckon Tony Greig fancies a game?

Shane Warne is in a poker tournament. Sky are very pissed off.

Panesar has had a shocking season though, hasn't he? Fuck it, seeing as we are in Sophia Gardens give Crofty a bowl.

It's like an Indian pitch for me. May as well have just played 4 spinners.

I used to be a huge Dermot Reeve mark

Don't tell Boycott that.

Ronnie Irani is the 2nd England player to get a Five-For and a half century in one ODI.

The 1st? The Hickster.

I'm quite enjoying this chat about mid 90's English Cricket. Good work. I always felt we struggled for an All Rounder during this period. Craig White and Mark Ealham were decent enough, but I never understood the hype for the Hollioakes. Chris "Coke" Lewis was a particular shithorse.

LOL!

Rhodesia's finest!

He was the cover of the Radio Times the test he debuted, poor sod. I don't think anyone could live up to that.

EDIT - And here it is.

Pat Patterson is probably my favourite quicky ever. Him or Merv.

Graeme Hick should be the No.3 for England.

 

They really fucked Hick's career by constantly carting him up and down the order and dropping him. If they'd have left him alone at number 3 and not arsed around with him he would have scored over 10,000 runs for England, no doubt about it.

In an alternative universe where all of the world's fast bowlers were wiped out by a mystery virus, all of the world's test pitches were drained of their pace and life and England gave every opponent a 6-0 headstart to every series so that every match was a dead rubber, then yes Hick along with Rob Key and Owais Shah would be the all-time leading run-scorers.

That's harsh. I don't think anyone with even a tiny amount of knowledge of the game could deny he was a fantasically gifted player. Indeed, no less an authority as Peter Roebuck said

Hick's fate to be given an ability that did not suit his temperament

which I think is far more fair. Being 6'4" never helped him against the short ball either. It's worth noting as well that he wasn't just in the England set up for his batting. He was known as an fine 2nd Slip (a level behind Jonty Rhodes in the field but who wasnt?) and an under used bowler of Off-breaks which is why he was so handy to take to the subcontinent. Half the reason he could never really play the short ball well is because he'd be dropped after a single poor score. With his well known mental fragility it knocked his confidence terribly, and also didn't really give him the chance to improve against World Class seamers and take his 1st Class form into the Test Arena. The way Ray Illingworth treated him was pretty shitty as well. When players like Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Allan Donald and Beefy sing your praises from the rooftops you're not shit. Alex Stewart swore by him as well during his captaincy.

He was a quality ODI player as well.

I'd say Ramps suffered from England's 1990's "We want Results now!" ethos as well.

Geoffrey Boycott has changed his opinion of Ponting today. Yesterday he was average and didn't have a cricketing brain, today he's one of the world's best. I imagine Boycott wants him to lower his strike rate though, he's hitting the ball a bit much. Did anyone find that 435 in 4 sessions was a very Unenglish score? Should have been about 178-7 by that point.

The Aussies seemed to appreciate and respect him more than we did. Especially the Waugh's and Warne.

Graeme Hick should be the No.3 for England.

While KP is a top batsman, I still can't forgive him for all that crap last year.

I was watching Survivor Series '89 the other night, I swear I heard it on that. Probably wrong though.

Not that I could find, but I used the online scorecard and TMS feed on the BBC website for the first session. But with Graeme Hick not playing, it's all for naught.

Geoffrey Boycott's hatred of any shot that rises more than 3 inches off the ground meant he went on a right whinge about it. "A Dozy so and so" was one of the things he called KP.

Boycs is brill.

3-4 seconds off today, which would annoy me at times. Sky should have a TMS red button option, if only the laws would allow.

Boycs was swearing blue murder at him on TMS.

How does everyone else enjoy their Cricket? I use the Sky Sports pictures with TMS on my radio.

Why isn't Mike Brearley playing?

Ah, got confused. Yeah, in Edge's WWF debut he broke Estrada's neck after a botched dive and catch. It's on youtube here.

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