Scarlet Shocker

Battle of the Bulge was in the Ardennes nowhere near Bulgaria.

wow! What a game. Knife edge to the end. Neutrals love it but Falcons pulled a lot out of the end game. Wow... I'm still reeling. Thriller but painful for the Bears.

Bears vs Falcons Livestream

"Golf is a good walk, ruined" - Winston Churchill Cricket is very far from boring my friend - but I do take your point - it's not easy to pick up as a novice or beginner and even at my ripe old age I'm sometimes surprised at its development and how it can still catch me unawares. That in one sense is why this thread exists, to proselytize and edgermakayte about the greatest game of all! By this time next year, if you're a good boy and pay attention you'll be able to explain the LBW law to your friends and neighbours - no matter how much they try and avoid you! 👺

Sam Hain

Mo's only played a couple of Blast games for the Bears since his return to the land of his birth having spent much of his career as a pear. Sadly he's not come off too well thus far but not entirely down to him. I don't see the current set up stoked by baz is likely to be "holding an end" in the classic sense but when you see them they do seem to be playing proper test cricket, but more joyfully and with an energy most teams seem to lack. Whatever the outcome I think it's going to change Test cricket for ever!

I'm in complete agreement re the IPL, but I do enjoy the T20 Blast which is far less theatrical and arguably better cricket - and I do also admit that I enjoy The Hundred - I've watched both seasons, men and women and enjoyed all of it. I genuinely believe that it could be a way of getting kids into the long form of the game, over time. The Ashes could be really exciting. Losing Leach is a big blow - but I think there's a lot of hype being made about it. I can see a number of potential replacements but personally I'd love to see Moeen back in the team - I've always felt that he undersells himself and under Stokes he could really shine

When considering a staple diet, blood may be thought of as a condiment

This thread is inspiring! I've always kind of used insps as a "rainy day of last resort" thing - sometimes it catches me out but I find that these days, even on relatively squishy characters, so long as I don't bite off more than I can metaphorically chew, their use is less necessary than on live. I guess that's the result of the endless power-creep we experience since before the release of Going Rogue

No you don't. You just want to feel like you're doing "better" than anyone else in the game. You just want to feel more special than you really are. The race to 50 is crippling this game in so many ways but it's so tempting to do it anyhow. Better if XP was halved universally and then we maybe get regular XP weekends sometimes.

several creators have made mods to colour other buttons or retexture them so I presume it's not a thing of impossibility

Why isn't there a chain reaction?

Just as well or your internet wouldn't ever work!

Hell is other people Sartre

when you want to do no harmony

Representing just one nation seems a bit bulgar

This seems to have fallen by the wayside. Is there any interest in this? It would be good to get something going even if a microteam

Let me guess, her sidekick is a guy called Gav Iscon

for those of you who don't understand the table: Matches, Wins, Losses, Points, Net Run Rate NRR is the best measure of the level at which a team wins. Win big, your NRR goes up, lose, it goes down, scrape a victory nothing much changes. It's a great leveller. Keep an eye on it! Also #COYB

Blast Standings (correct as of 1st June 2023) Vitality Blast North Group TEAM M W L PT NRR BEARS 4 4 0 8 1.662 WORCS 3 3 0 6 0.859 LANCS 5 3 2 6 0.486 DURH 3 2 1 4 1.486 NOTTS 4 2 2 4 0.141 YORKS 5 2 3 4 -0.426 DERBS 4 1 3 2 -0.758 NHNTS 4 1 3 2 -1.063 LEICS 4 0 4 0 -1.808 South Group TEAM M W L PT NRR SOM 4 4 0 8 2.184 SURR 4 3 1 6 1.543 ESSEX 2 2 0 4 0.841 GLAM 3 2 1 4 -0.210 KENT 3 1 2 2 0.072 SUSS 3 1 2 2 -0.464 GLOUC 4 1 3 2 -0.965 HANTS 3 1 2 2 -1.387 MIDDX 4 0 4 0 -1.587

Most of the franchise teams globally are owned by the IPL and the Indian market is certainly flexing its financial muscle. My only issues with IPL is that it's a private company so not beholden to any national board nor potentially to ICC. They restrict what commentators can say vis a vis the way the games are managed or run... but the commentators are paid enough they just shout "Sixer" or "oh what a catch" at appropriate moments. That is a problem that might come rolling down a future road but cricket in the USA is the 2nd last market to crack. Once the USA is fully on board and China starts to understand how amazing it can be... 😉 I was pleased to see GT fail to make it 4 in 4 on the weekend. I'm no fan of CSK - frankly I find it difficult to get behind franchise team when I have no skin in the game but I do follow all my local teams

this topic makes me sick

This thread is to celebrate the greatest game on the planet. YMMVBYBW 😉 But in the spirit of TYDKYDK - Cricket is going global with the creation of yet another T20 Franchise - this one based in the USA https://www.majorleaguecricket.com/ In the rest of the world, most eyes are focused on England cricket: We are in mid-Blast territory (Go Bears!) and the County Championship is in full swing too. As I write the first day of the first test of the summer has ended with England in the ascendency at Lords, playing Ireland in their first test at the Home of Cricket. This isn't unexpected but for Ireland it's an historic event only recently having been elevated to a full Test playing member nation. So it's a big deal for them despite the fact that many Irish players play in the English county set up and our one day side was, until recently captained to its highest success by a man born in Dublin. But in a couple of weeks we celebrate the biggest series of them all: The Ashes - England vs Australia and this series promises to be something exceptional: 5 tests over 2 months; up to 25 full days of cricket (A test match can last up to 5 whole days) and one of the oldest sporting rivalries in human history. The difference this year is "Bazball" a way England have developed with seeming care and abandon, just playing for fun but seems to be bringing dividends and in the last year since its inception has been bringing great results against almost all comers. Then domestically we'll have the conclusion of the Blast (the annual T20 competition) followed by... The Hundred - a unique form of the game that is garnering new support every year. With those out of the way we'll see the conclusion of the County Championship (which is the long form domestic competition) followed by the Royal London One Day Cup - a domestic one day series - and once the Ashes is decided we'll be following some ODIs and T20s between England and Oz. Strap in - it's gonna be a great summer and I'm excited for it. I'm genuinely looking forward to this ML series in the USA - some international stars are going to be in the mix - so let's pick our teams now and we can see where they come out. Cricket isn't the most readily accessible sport for the novice or newbie so I urge and encourage you to post your questions here: There are no bad questions - I will answer as best I can. 3... 2... 1... Blast Off! HOWZATT! (PS : Note to Devs, can we get a cricket bat as a weapon and pads as a costume item please?)

TL;DR Icarus did it. In other news, NCSoft won't negotiate because EGO demands it