Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 20, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 20, 2017 Surely Ballance is way down the queue now. So many cracking young batsmen in the country now and South Africa's quicks would love bowling to Ballance and his cement shoes footwork. Liam Livingstone seems to be touted as the next cab off the rank. Bit of legspin and a brilliant fielder won't harm him either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 20, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 20, 2017 (edited) I've seen Livingstone play and he's very good. I'd rather give him a punt over clown shoes. Ballance does have the twin advantages of playing for a fashionable county and having an England skipper who is YERKSHUR lad. Top and middle order fragility or not, we really ought to be beating this iteration of the South African team over the summer. Losing Steyn is unsurprisingly a massive blow and I wish De Villiers would just officially announce he's quitting test, rather than only playing tours when the Venezuelan bunga-bunga league isn't taking place at the same time. Edited May 20, 2017 by Gus Mears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 20, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 20, 2017 England thought they were getting a left handed Trott when they picked Ballance. The difference is that Trott moved his feet and got on the Aussies tits by digging his trench after every ball. Ballance is a pudgy flat track bully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 21, 2017 (edited) Today is good (though we are shite) Trescothick passed 25,000 first class runs. A wonderful advert to the game that bloke. Edited May 21, 2017 by Gus Mears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Ugh, what is that monstrosity on the right of the photo, Gus? The last bit of charm and distinctiveness the ground had is gone and I bet the suits are happy now. Still, it's nice to think we're one of the few counties that can fill a stand that big, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 22, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 22, 2017 Just a temporary stand for the South Africa T20 international game thankfully. I agree that is looks appalling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Well, thank fuck for that! It definitely wasn't there last summer and with any luck it'll be gone again next time I get down to Taunton with my grandad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 23, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 23, 2017 15 hours ago, Fog Dude said: Well, thank fuck for that! It definitely wasn't there last summer and with any luck it'll be gone again next time I get down to Taunton with my grandad. I'm going to the RLODC (Christ, what an acronym that is) knock-out game against Essex and I believe they are utilising it for that. Would imagine it will also be there in the unlikely event that we get a home semi-final. If you're going to a County Championship game during the latter part of the season, think you may well be OK. Otherwise, have to say that they have done a pretty good job with the new Tribute stand. No, it isn't traditionalist, but it's a bloody great view. Not sure when the last time you went was man, but would highly recommend the lower part of it to sit in. Great view of behind the bowlers arm and it isn't a members bit (top part of the stand where my photo was taken is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fog Dude Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Yeah, I just got the e-mail today about the RLODCQF (agree that it's a bit of a mouthful). I thought the current format means a semi-final would automatically be away from home? The constant tinkering with competitions over the past 20 years has been difficult to keep up with, to be honest. I went to the Hampshire game towards the end of last season that petered out into a draw (failure to wrap that one up in 4 days probably cost us the title), but hadn't been for a good while before that. Some years earlier I went to see us lose the derby – thanks to Duckworth & Lewis – in a rain-affected Pro40 match when I sat in the now-demolished Old Pavilion which still had broken glass in one of the single-glazed windows at the back. I quite like its replacement and all the new facilities in there, mind. We'll probably be near the front row because my grandad won't want to go up too many stairs, so somewhere that's non-member with a good view in the lower tier would be very useful indeed. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 25, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 Thought England played really well yesterday. When South Africa had that du Plessis / Amla partnership going, I thought they'd cruise it because I think our bowling is weaker than our batting by a distance. But we do have variety in the attack and I think that paid off in the end. Could definitely do with getting a left-armer in there though, which is why I think Willey is always worth a place, in place of Wood or Plunkett. Amazing to read some comments on Cricinfo though. Roy's made a couple of low scores and people were genuinely clamouring for Cook to come back. Why not bring back Bell and Ballance while we're at it. It's quite unnerving to see England be a genuinely excellent ODI side though. It's still like it's not really sunk in, even despite the endless 300+ scores they've got over the last couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) Yeah, it's a weird one. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of England being considered favourites for any international tournament ever. I don't care that it's at home, the stench of utter failure has permeated England's ODI side for so many years that it's a real adjustment for me. If Roy was to be dropped (he shouldn't be) Billings will surely get the nod. The Cricinfo numpties are something else at times, I always thoroughly enjoy the fan polls on that website too. MS Dhoni is the best wicket-keeper of all time didn't you know? Trying to fit Willey back in (ohh-err) is tough because I think Wood and Plunkett offer different attributes. Wood, though poor yesterday, has good outright pace and Plunkett can get something out of most pitches and has control. Only other alteration for me is trying Bairstow at Buttler's spot in the second match. Edited May 25, 2017 by Gus Mears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 25, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 I'd assume Topley will come back in when he's got some games under his belt. With the amount of all-rounders, I just wonder if we couldn't squeeze a left arm spinner in there somewhere for even more variety. As long as it's not Samit Fatel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gus Mears Posted May 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 Speaking of portly spinners, saw the man who ate James Treadwell play the other week. Fuck me, he's absolutely piled it on over the last year or two, proper cricketing gut hanging out of his limited overs sweat-pants. The only thing I have ever liked that involved Samit Patel was that time he did a back bump while running between the wickets and promptly got run out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 25, 2017 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 Tredders did a good job for England for a couple of years, remember him having a cracking ODI series in India a few years back. Probably unlucky not to have played a few more tests as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted May 25, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted May 25, 2017 It's still odd to see England with competition for one day places. Bairstow and Billings would have played every game in virtually any other era. Just think we live in a time where David Willey can't get in the side, yet we have also lived in a time where Alan Mullally played 50 ODI's. Strange but exciting times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.