Organised Sunbathing aka Cricket

[West Brit]

I have to say, if I were Dhoni I wouldn't have called back Ian Bell yesterday. If Bell wants to be stupid enough to wander down the pitch whilst the ball is in play that's his own fault. The more I think about it the more I think he made the wrong decision.

[artaneboy]

I have to say, if I were Dhoni I wouldn't have called back Ian Bell yesterday. If Bell wants to be stupid enough to wander down the pitch whilst the ball is in play that's his own fault. The more I think about it the more I think he made the wrong decision.

I agree. Simple as that. Bell was first a fool, then a chancer- and should have said nothing having been reprieved about it being 'the right decision' or preserving the 'spirit of the game'. The rules are there to put structure on the spirit and avoid these types of occasions. If the spirit is endangered by the application of rules, change the rules. Don't ask players to look into their souls. But having got off, Bell should have accepted he was totally wrong and stopped trying to imply that India had seen the error of ther ways and come to the right decision in the end.

[SCG]

Paul Collingwood was captaining England against New Zealand a couple of years ago. Ryan Sidebottom ran into New Zealand batsman, Grant Elliott in his followthrough and tripped him up. Elliott was run out, but Collingwood refused to withdraw his appeal, when asked to do so by the umpires, and the run-out stood. I wonder if dual standards are operating here! Then, it was ever thus. Many years ago "Saint" Colin Cowdrey was captaining England against South Africa when exactly the same thing happened, and not a word was said against him. By way of contrast, I have seen Australian wicketkeepers refuse to run English batsmen out on two such occassions.

[Lar]

There will be double standards everywhere but equally there may be two sides to every story.

The only thing I would suggest is that whether Dhoni had agreed to withdraw the appeal or not the match result was so emphatic in England's favour I can't say it made any difference at all to the outcome.

[West Brit]

Welcome back Zimbabwe!

[nelly the elephant]

Decent start here by Ireland in damp overcast conditions......wearing my new(ish) Ireland top courtesy of Deco.......cheers mate.

[Hornet]

Wish they would stop the shite music breaks between overs. It's not IPL!

[Lar]

Eoin Morgan looks like he shaping up for a big score.

[West Brit]

50 each now for Morgan and Trott. Ireland are desperate for a wicket now.

[sarah_lennon]

The title of this thread did not reflect yesterday's proceedings

[nelly the elephant]

England finally find some form with the bat and earn a comprehensive victory in Sri Lanka to level up the series 1-1.

Great knock from KP in the first innings and he's just smacked a mighty 6 to score the winning runs here in the second.

[claire_m]

Just listening to Radio 4 now and there's a programme called 'Over the Boundary' which is about the revival of Irish cricket.

It's worth a listen on the i-player

[tackle-bag]

Big couple of days coming up for us in terms of our preparation for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this year. A win or two against Bangladesh would give the players a lot of confidence for the months ahead. Our short-term objective has to be regular victories against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh coupled with the occasional scalp of one of the top nations. If we can achieve that, the case for Test status will become very difficult to answer.

[claire_m]

Big couple of days coming up for us in terms of our preparation for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this year. A win or two against Bangladesh would give the players a lot of confidence for the months ahead. Our short-term objective has to be regular victories against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh coupled with the occasional scalp of one of the top nations. If we can achieve that, the case for Test status will become very difficult to answer.

Test status is about more than being able to nick a few big scalps and beating the minnows in the short format of the game. It's also about having the infrastructure in place (so grounds, probably bigger than Clontarf and Stormont) and having a decent league structure to sustain the 4-day game.

I very much doubt whether Irish cricket will achieve test status in my lifetime.

[West Brit]

Test status is about more than being able to nick a few big scalps and beating the minnows in the short format of the game.

That's all Bangladesh had to do.

Ireland's best chance of achieving test status is if Afghanistan are ready at the same time. There is no way India will allow the Asian voting bloc to be diluted by allowing Ireland the vote and not another Asian team at the same time.

[nelly the elephant]

Big couple of days coming up for us in terms of our preparation for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this year. A win or two against Bangladesh would give the players a lot of confidence for the months ahead. Our short-term objective has to be regular victories against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh coupled with the occasional scalp of one of the top nations. If we can achieve that, the case for Test status will become very difficult to answer.

Test status is about more than being able to nick a few big scalps and beating the minnows in the short format of the game. It's also about having the infrastructure in place (so grounds, probably bigger than Clontarf and Stormont) and having a decent league structure to sustain the 4-day game.

I very much doubt whether Irish cricket will achieve test status in my lifetime.

File under "harsh but true" I fear you're right Claire...and as long as we're experiencing "summer" seasons like the current one that day seems further away than ever.....

[claire_m]

Test status is about more than being able to nick a few big scalps and beating the minnows in the short format of the game.

That's all Bangladesh had to do.

Ireland's best chance of achieving test status is if Afghanistan are ready at the same time. There is no way India will allow the Asian voting bloc to be diluted by allowing Ireland the vote and not another Asian team at the same time.

There are calls (and have been for years) for Bangladesh to lose their test status though. They're a poor side and have only won 3 of their 73 Tests! Of the 63 Tests they have lost, 35 have been by an innings! Is that really a model you're keen to emulate?

Also, going back to the ground issue. They have hosted Tests (for other nations) and have at least one stadium seating 25k. Is there really the support in Ireland to regularly fill out a 25k capacity stadium? Also, you can't just have cricket in one town / city, so where else in Ireland would host games? The best route for players to play Test cricket is still through England.

As harsh as it is (and I'd love to see Ireland gain Test status. I was over in 2006 for the England v Ireland game in Stormont, though had to leave just before the end so I could catch my plane home! Which was then delayed ) and it was great, but I doubt, right now, there is the interest in the game or the political will for it. Maybe things will change over the next 5-10 years, but I believe that the ICC won't introduce another team to the Test arena unless they are able to cope. They won't want another team of whipping boys.

[tackle-bag]

The interest in cricket in this country has grown exponentially over the last 5 years and, while it's still probably only the 6th or 7th most popular sport, there's a sufficient base from which to draw big crowds for big matches. In any event, it's a chicken and egg situation. If we were granted full test status and were able to regularly host the top nations, interest would inevitably increase. I would have every confidence in our ability to draw crowds of 25k+ for important games against Australia, South Africa or England. You can't blame Irish supporters for not turning out in their droves to watch us play depleted Bangladeshi teams in one-off ODIs.

I also completely disagree that we would be the whipping boys of international cricket. I'm not saying that we would be sitting atop the world rankings in the near future, but I certainly think we could achieve a superior record to that of Bangladesh. The two primary factors which drive any nation's ability to field successful sides are money and infrastructure. Despite our recent economic difficulties, Ireland remains a very wealthy country in which lucrative corporate sponsorship for professional sports teams/events is readily available. I also think that we could put together a suitable infrastructure to find and develop young talent. Cricket in Ireland could easily follow the provincial rugby structure (albeit without Connacht, as I accept that there is very little interest West of the Shannon) - three provincial sides playing in the County Championship with proper academy structures and facilities. Playing a brief Test/ODI series in Ireland would be a very attractive option for Southern Hemisphere sides heading to England for the summer.

Bangladesh is a large country with very poor public infrastructure. It's non-English speaking and (depending on whose statistics you believe) sits between 155th and 163rd in the world in terms of GDP, so raising funds through sponsorship is nigh on impossible. In the circumstances, finding and developing talent (even in an enormous population) is extremely difficult.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

Australia at 64-1 after 7.1 overs chasing our target of 123. Ouch...

[Lar]

Done - with almost five overs to go....