Cricket 2009

[simonno6]

it would seem a lot more likely that it was one of north county, the hills or rush if he lives out that way!

[simonno6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuB4lstP ... r_embedded

this is the reverse reverse sweep i was talking about

[SCG]

Great win for Ireland in Worcester just now:

Ireland 152 (48.5 overs)
Worcestershire 58 (20.3 overs)

This stopped Worcester from qualifying for the next stage of the competition, so it cannot be said that they were not trying. Haven't heard who is the official Man of the Match, but it could well be Peter Connell who took 5 for 19 in 7 overs!

[suisse]

Hmmmm.....

Trent Johnson took 2 wickets for just 5 runs in 3 overs, including a maiden. Alex Cusack took 2 for 9 in 5 overs, and 2 maidens. Fantastic bowling.

Worcestershire lost 5 wickets for just 1 run.

It's flashing away on Sky Sports News - breaking news

[simonno6]

brilliant win from the boys yesterday.

In other news, Shoaib is missing the world 2020 due to... *cough*

Show Spoiler:

genital warts

bit too much information methinks!

[munster11]

Hi lads,

Again, congrats on the win today. I expressed my delight in the Leinster addicts section!

I just wanna chat again to those of you who know your stuff about cricket. Super win over Worcestershire. This whole Eoin Morgan situation just doesn't seem right to me. It stinks really. I (sincerely) accept my knowledge is relatively limited compared to you guys. As a Corkman who isn't from a cricket background and never played the game (but has followed it very closely for three years now (living in Australia), I'm really interested in your take on it.

I just don't see why it 's such a great move for him. Test Cricket will be finished in 5 years time. It might still be played but only as a nod to the old fogies. In 10 years, it'll be gone. The money is in the shorter form and (especially in these times) that's the future.

If he's good enough for England, he could do HUGE things for Irish cricket. The Twenty20 is coming up - if he didn't feel like this, could he not have played one last tournament for Ireland before he headed off? Since he didn't play the ODI the other day, can't he still turn out for us?

I just read a statement of his -- "I started my qualification then and have done four years of 210 days (the required residential period). I was always going to play for England but obviously helping out Ireland along the way was a good experience.". 'Helping out Ireland' as if we're a club team? Does he not have any pride in his country (not republican shi*e talk simply pride in a country you grew up and learned the sport in) and in its quest to become a better national team and (eventually) become a decent national side that could compete with the likes of England?

I'm not a wum lads as you should know by now. I just can't get my head around this. Like you, I'm celebrating a fantastic day for Irish sport today (even though I'd love if it was Munster again!) and with the Twenty20 coming up I'd love to see that feel-good factor carried into June.

Was Ed Joyce's decision to play for England a good one? I don't think it was. If he had stayed with Ireland his reputation would arguably be greater than it is at the moment (and now he doesn't have the opportunity to play international cricket in any form!). He'd still have his county contract. Will Eoin Morgan be in the same situation in one or two years time? I hope not but it's certainly a possibility. England are notorious for discarding non-performing batsmen (Vaughan being a notable exception!) That's grand if he could come back to us but we'd have to wait 4 years......

Again, I'm not a wum lads. Feel free to ignore this post or please PM me if you don't want to add to this debate. I'm just really interested to hear what real Irish cricket fans like yourselves think about these developments.

Again, congrats on today! You did us all proud!

[thecoolfreak]

The difference between Eoin and Ed Joyce is that Eoin is a far superior cricketer. He was one of the top batsmen in England, and all at the age of 22. On the test criket point, test cricket will always be around. Just wait till the Ashes this summer. It will not only be massive in England but it'll be massive over here. It is one of the great sporting events. For me the English cricket team is a bit like the Lions. If an Irish or Scottish player is good enough I have no problems with him playing for England. In fact I'm all for it.

Eoin deserves his call up and I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of Porterfoeld and N O'Brien make that step in a few years time.

Anyway, well done Eoin on your England debut today

[munster11]

I get your Lions analogy and I accept it's a huge achievement for him. But it's not quite the same simply because if Morgan is discarded by England in six months time, he cannot simply hop back into the Irish set-up. We have lost him for good. On another point, it would be grand if Morgan played the Ashes for England but was still allowed to play the short forms for Ireland. We are (technically) competing against England in the Twenty20 next month (though not in the same group). Therefore, we are (technically) competing at the same elite level. If Eoin Morgan was from Milan, you'd say 'fair enough, the Italian cricket team will probably never get to a world cup, that's ok. But Ireland will probably qualify for every Twenty20 and One-Day World Cup for the next ten years.

England is a powerful cricket nation in its own right. They have players who were born in South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and Denmark already, and now Ireland. Maybe we should stop calling them England! If Morgan is dropped within a year, will you still have the same opinion - 'oh well, at least he had his chance'.

[thecoolfreak]

I get your Lions analogy and I accept it's a huge achievement for him. But it's not quite the same simply because if Morgan is discarded by England in six months time, he cannot simply hop back into the Irish set-up. We have lost him for good. On another point, it would be grand if Morgan played the Ashes for England but was still allowed to play the short forms for Ireland. We are (technically) competing against England in the Twenty20 next month (though not in the same group). Therefore, we are (technically) competing at the same elite level. If Eoin Morgan was from Milan, you'd say 'fair enough, the Italian cricket team will probably never get to a world cup, that's ok. But Ireland will probably qualify for every Twenty20 and One-Day World Cup for the next ten years.

England is a powerful cricket nation in its own right. They have players who were born in South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and Denmark already, and now Ireland. Maybe we should stop calling them England! If Morgan is dropped within a year, will you still have the same opinion - 'oh well, at least he had his chance'.

Even if he was dropped I'd still say the same thing. But, I'd be massively surprised if he was dropped. Morgan is on another level when compared to Joyce. He'll be a permanent fixture in English cricket for years to come. And, while Ireland may qualify for World Cups for years to come, we'll be incredibly lucky to achieve the same level as we did in 2007. We don't have, nor will he ever have, the cricketers to compete against sides like Australia, South Africa, etc. With England, Morgan gets a shot at winning competitions

[suisse]

I just don't see why it 's such a great move for him. Test Cricket will be finished in 5 years time. It might still be played but only as a nod to the old fogies. In 10 years, it'll be gone. The money is in the shorter form and (especially in these times) that's the future.

munster11, welcome back, and cheers for the kind words. We know you're not wumming, so don't worry about it.

I think we have bashed the Eoin Morgan point out as long as we can, so I just need to take exception to the statement above. Chris Gayle aside, who have you heard saying Test cricket is dead? Twenty20 is good fun, and attracts a new breed of cricket fan, but it is still way down th elist of priorities for the main nations. Have Australia even warmed to it yet? For a while, they wouldn't put their real name son the back of their shirts, only their nicknames.

Granted ESPN Star have paid $975 million over 10 years for coverage of the shorter form of the game, another ESPN Star deal was announced over Easter for massive sums in broadcasting the longer form to Pakistan, Canada and the USA. Pretty much every minority station in an English speaking country will have access to test cricket until 2021. Saying Test cricket is dying is an exaggeration. The sport is the world's second most popular, and what 20/20 is doing is attracting new fans, but cricket was already the world's 2nd most popular before this form of the game. So the status quo will remain, but the sport, as a whole, looks to be the only one competing with soccer.

[tackle-bag]

The difference between Eoin and Ed Joyce is that Eoin is a far superior cricketer. He was one of the top batsmen in England, and all at the age of 22. On the test criket point, test cricket will always be around. Just wait till the Ashes this summer. It will not only be massive in England but it'll be massive over here. It is one of the great sporting events. For me the English cricket team is a bit like the Lions. If an Irish or Scottish player is good enough I have no problems with him playing for England. In fact I'm all for it.

Eoin deserves his call up and I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of Porterfoeld and N O'Brien make that step in a few years time.

Anyway, well done Eoin on your England debut today

Your analogy with the Lions isn't a bad one but does posses one fatal flaw and that is the difference in terms of recognition. I would be perfectly happy for a Test side to exist representing Britain and Ireland, thereby acknowledging the contribution that Irish players make. However, that just isn't the case and absolutely zero appreciation is shown by the ECB towards the (admittedly limited) cricket infrastructure in Ireland for providing them with some very fine players. The arrogance of their position is particularly offensive; "we're providing these players with the chance to play Test cricket so we don't owe anybody anything".

When Ed Joyce first started playing for England, he won two ODI's on his own with superb centuries. He hasn't had the level of involvement he would have liked but has made a valuable contribution nonetheless. Morgan has been solid so far and will no doubt go on to feature prominently at the highest level.

Personally, I would love to see the day when we have our own Test side and I will never be fully content until that dream is made a reality. This has been dismissed above but I think a set-up based on the rugby model could go very far e.g. provincial sides from Leinster, Munster and Ulster that would play in the County Championship or a similar competition, from which the national Test side could be selected. There is no doubt that this would be difficult to negotiate and co-ordinate but if it worked, it would be a huge boost to the Irish cricket community and sport in this country as a whole.

[Darce]

England squad for one-day international v Ireland in Belfast on Thursday, 27 August and Twenty20 internationals v Australia at Old Trafford on Sunday, 30 August and Tuesday, 1 September:

PD Collingwood (Durham, captain), JM Anderson (Lancashire), RS Bopara (Essex), TT Bresnan (Yorkshire), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), JL Denly (Kent), EJG Morgan (Middlesex), MJ Prior (Sussex, wk), AU Rashid (Yorkshire), OA Shah (Middlesex), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), IJL Trott (Warwickshire), LJ Wright (Sussex).

England squad for one-day international series against Australia (4-20 September) and the ICC Champions Trophy (22 September-5 October):

Above squad, plus AJ Strauss (Middlesex) as captain, minus IJL Trott.

[simonno6]

England squad for one-day international v Ireland in Belfast on Thursday, 27 August and Twenty20 internationals v Australia at Old Trafford on Sunday, 30 August and Tuesday, 1 September:

PD Collingwood (Durham, captain), JM Anderson (Lancashire), RS Bopara (Essex), TT Bresnan (Yorkshire), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), JL Denly (Kent), EJG Morgan (Middlesex), MJ Prior (Sussex, wk), AU Rashid (Yorkshire), OA Shah (Middlesex), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), IJL Trott (Warwickshire), LJ Wright (Sussex).

England squad for one-day international series against Australia (4-20 September) and the ICC Champions Trophy (22 September-5 October):

Above squad, plus AJ Strauss (Middlesex) as captain, minus IJL Trott.

could be looking at something like this...

Bopara
Denley
Shah
Collingwood
Morgan
Prior
Wright
Rashid
Broad
Bresnan
Sidebottom

[Darce]

could be looking at something like this...

Bopara
Denley
Shah
Collingwood
Morgan
Prior
Wright
Rashid
Broad
Bresnan
Sidebottom

Trott may figure ahead of Shah. Luke Wright may move up the order too.

We could catch these guys on the hop

[simonno6]

I think Shah will get the nod - The fact Trotts not in the squad for the ODI Series against the aussies means Shah is ahead in the ODI pecking order (Rightfullly so). They will see this match as an ideal opportunity for him to get some form under his belt and score some runs.

I struggle heavily to play Junior C cricket when Im hungover - I can only imagine this must be enhanced playing international cricket ! Half the English team will be in awful shape by thursday!! The perfect time to cause an upset.

[thecoolfreak]

Morgan has been seriously struggling for runs recently. He'll get a chance against us put that may be it. Unless he gets a good score can't see him playing much in the ODI's against Aus or the Champions Trophy

[simonno6]

Morgan has been seriously struggling for runs recently. He'll get a chance against us put that may be it. Unless he gets a good score can't see him playing much in the ODI's against Aus or the Champions Trophy

yeh hes been in terrible form - not a chance he'll play against Aus or in the Champs trophy, but id be absolutely shocked if he did not play on thursday.

[thecoolfreak]

Morgan not playing today. Bit of a kick in the nads if there ever was one

[thecoolfreak]

Johnston gets Bopara third over for a duck

[Slipper1]

OK - in order to keep up to speed with the game today, and support Ireland - what are we playing? My limited knowledge will allow me to generally understand what is going on, but what is a "one day International"; other than the obvious, is it 50 overs, 20 overs, catch it with one hand and you're all out, what?