Scarlet Shocker's Summer Supreme Thread: Cricket goes Global!

[Scarlet Shocker]

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?)

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

41 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

(PS : Note to Devs, can we get a cricket bat as a weapon and pads as a costume item please?)

Make sure you don't get any red on you.

 

Taking a look, they seem to be drawing heavily on the Indian Premier League format - wonder if the Super Kings are in partnership with champions Chennai?

And for good reason: Brits, Aussies and Windies may snipe at each other for where the "best" teams come from, but the IPL is the richest with seriously insane fans.

The TV rights alone went for $6.4 billion for four years - or at around $7m per match, substantially more than Premier League Football.

 

Even if MLC winds up being the IPL Summer League, it'll be a fun day out and a fair bit less boring than baseball.

[Scarlet Shocker]

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

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

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

[Scarlet Shocker]

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

[Parabola]

On 6/1/2023 at 10:31 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

the greatest game on the planet

It is indeed 🙂. Test cricket is anyway, the short format stuff I can take or leave. The IPL in particular is unwatchable nonsense, it's 95% marketing, 5% actual sport. God I sound old!

 

Can't wait for the ashes. It'll be interesting to see what the Aussies make of bazball. England scoring basically unlimited runs at ludicrous pace isn't easy to counter. And hopefully Jimmy will be fit enough to play most of the series. Shame about Leech, it does allow us to crowbar yet another decent bat in down the order though.

[Scarlet Shocker]

35 minutes ago, Parabola said:

It is indeed 🙂. Test cricket is anyway, the short format stuff I can take or leave. The IPL in particular is unwatchable nonsense, it's 95% marketing, 5% actual sport. God I sound old!

 

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

[Parabola]

25 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

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

The best thing about the hundred is that they brought the woman's game in on the same footing. Not sure they needed to decimalise the format to do it though. T20 isn't exactly too long or too complicated. But in general I agree with the principal of bringing in the kids and the money, I just hope test cricket doesn't die out. We'd lose something really special.

 

Yeah I can see mo feeling really at home in this set-up if he fancies another crack at it. I'm not following to know how he's going for his county though? Or there are a few other options. Whoever it is the Aussies are likely to come after them and I can see us really needing an end tied down while we carefully manage some slightly fragile pacemen from the other. It'll be interesting whoever they pick. The way it's looking stokes should only bring himself on if we're absolutely desperate...

[Scarlet Shocker]

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!

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

Sam Hain

 

 

[Techwright]

I actually attended a cricket game once.  The Commonwealth engineers the company had moved to town put together a Saturday game.  After 3 hours viewing, and learning that some games go for days, I decided that cricket is just what I needed...for an insomnia cure.  😉

 

Sorry golf, but you've competition.

 

The cricket bat, however, is a stroke of genius.  I'd rather have that than a baseball bat as a defensive weapon.  That thing is practically a Maori war club. I'll make sure the police are waiting for the attacker when he lands next Tuesday.

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

"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! 👺

[Luminara]

On 6/1/2023 at 5:31 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

Go Bears!

[Parabola]

11 hours ago, Techwright said:

I actually attended a cricket game once.  The Commonwealth engineers the company had moved to town put together a Saturday game.  After 3 hours viewing, and learning that some games go for days, I decided that cricket is just what I needed...for an insomnia cure.  😉

Cricket is arcane, complex, steeped in history and culture, mad and wonderful. I honestly can't fault anyone who doesn't like it but if it gets under your skin it can become an obsession. There is just so much depth to the game, both tactically and narratively. The fact that it can go on for so long (six hours of play each day for five days) actually becomes its greatest strength; it ebbs and flows, narratives play out, tension builds and builds.

 

I fell in love with the game one ashes summer when I was supposed to be revising for exams. Of course anything was better than actually working so I started watching this incomprehensible game and little by little I started to understand it and love it. This was back in the 90's when England were bad (but sowing the seeds of getting better) and the Aussies were absolutely world class. They mostly hammered us but it was the narrative of plucky resistance in the face of overwhelming odds that sucked me in as much as anything (very English I know!).

 

In many ways watching it live might not be the best introduction to the sport. The tactical depth is insane and not immediately obvious. On TV they do a very good job of analysing and breaking it down and you can get a better picture of what's going on. But as I say, I know it's not going to be for everyone. I once tried to explain the game to a German housemate at uni (who sounded, and was built, a little like Arnie) and politely baffled is about as far as we got!

[Scarlet Shocker]

Bears vs Falcons Livestream

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

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.

[Scarlet Shocker]

Today is the start of the Ashes. England vs Australia, one of the hottest, most anticipated series in a very long time. 5 tests (each test up to 5 days) in 7 weeks

 

Follow the live scores here:

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-ashes-2023-1336037/england-vs-australia-1st-test-1336043/live-cricket-score

 

Here's the story behind the Ashes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes

 

Enjoy it

 

Oh, and I predict England to win the series 2:1

[Parabola]

Well that was intense. Couple of moral victories for England with the first ball boundary and an aggressive declaration before the end. Oz came at us hard and took wickets whenever it really looked like we were going to get away from them. But it was heartening to see them going defensive so early.

 

Brook was so unlucky, Crawley, Bairstow and particularly Root were class. Scoring at over 5 certainly answers the question whether we would change our game for the ashes.

 

The big question still remains though, are we going to take 20 wickets?

[Scarlet Shocker]

Day 2 is going to be very exciting and....

 

ok I'm gonna say it... Day 2 is going to decide the Ashes

[Scarlet Shocker]

And the recipient of one of the best sledges in the cricketing world responds to the declaration:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/65935443

 

 

Oh and the sledge? Tufnell was batting and the keeper behind him snuck up close and said "Hey, Tuffers, lend us your brain, I'm building an idiot!"

[Scarlet Shocker]

Day 1 Highlights:

 

 

 

Oh and I'm aware that for many of you out there in Heroland, the rules (LAWS!) of Cricket may be a bit tough to comprehend, so please DO ask questions. I'll do my very best to answer 😄

[Scarlet Shocker]

NSFW but found this funny

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

Best catch ever?

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

Two words to describe the morning session of day 2: Stuart Broad

[Parabola]

Day 2 was overall disappointing for England. They won the morning session but mistakes cost them the other two and Oz will be very happy with their day. Oz clearly have a plan; keep England in the field and try to break our bowlers, and sadly I think it could well work...

 

My question from day 1 still stands, are we going to take 20 wickets? On this pitch possibly not (particularly if we waste chances).