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Australia v England, 2nd Test, 4th December 0400

GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
honestly thought it was a piss take when I heard they were going on a 4 day holiday break........ :lol:
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McCullum is taking the piss alright.

If they lose in Adelaide after the holiday and 'over-prepared' comment fans will be rightly stotting.
Thunder Road said:
This.

They haven't performed well enough but at the end of the day, they're a group of lads going through a difficult period thousands of miles from home. They have to have downtime and be allowed to enjoy themselves off the pitch.
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f***ing hell man, there are blokes who should be taking their grandkids to the park being shelled for months on end in Donbass. What a tough life for our poor cricketers.
 
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smoker said:
f***ing hell man, there are blokes who should be taking their grandkids to the park being shelled for months on end in Donbass. What a tough life for our poor cricketers.
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We can't allow a group cricketers to have a bit of time off to enjoy themselves because people in Ukraine are at war?
 
Thunder Road said:
We can't allow a group cricketers to have a bit of time off to enjoy themselves because people in Ukraine are at war?
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They shouldn't have time off to enjoy themselves as they don't deserve it. As the man says, how much more time do they need off?

My point was to save your empathy for someone who deserves it. Most of us would love to have had the opportunity to spend winter in the Australian summer playing cricket for a living.
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
A bit of time off? How much more time do they want off? They had all of September and October off. Played 5 days of cricket in November (3 half arsed days Vs Lions and 2 days Vs Australia) then they've managed just over 3 days in Brisbane.
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smoker said:
They shouldn't have time off to enjoy themselves as they don't deserve it. As the man says, how much more time do they need off?

My point was to save your empathy for someone who deserves it. Most of us would love to have had the opportunity to spend winter in the Australian summer playing cricket for a living.
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This tour hasn't been good enough. The preparation and performances have been shambolic but the level of scrutiny and pressure they're under is too much for the vast majority of people to deal with. A 4 day holiday isn't a great look and they should be smarter but it could be a good thing for them.
 
Aidan11 said:
Not like Boycott to sit on the fence. :D
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Except in 74/75 of course when he sat on his fence at home, sulking because he wasn’t skipper and/ or shitting his pants at the prospect of facing Lillee and Thomson in their prime. To fail you still have to turn up in the first place.
 
Fleagle said:
Except in 74/75 of course when he sat on his fence at home, sulking because he wasn’t skipper and/ or shitting his pants at the prospect of facing Lillee and Thomson in their prime. To fail you still have to turn up in the first place.
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Certainly threw his toys out of the pram because he didn't fancy playing under Denness but his record facing up to fast bowling e.g the fearsome Windies attack makes a claim of being frightened of fast bowling ludicrous.His courage in that area can never be questioned.
Very well-qualified and wholly justified in his criticism-Stereo typical Yorky not withstanding.
 
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Unlucky Black Cat said:
Cricket in the north east isn't a sport for rich kids. We all played as kids and you don't have to travel far in east Durham to find a cricket club where you can play for the juniors.
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Agree, Rugby gets the same accusations however plenty of local team options for kids to play.
Having said that it's massive advantage from a class perspective if you end up playing at the top level or not....the numbers historically reflect this...
 
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Captain Slackbladder said:
Agree, Rugby gets the same accusations however plenty of local team options for kids to play.
Having said that it's massive advantage from a class perspective if you end up playing at the top level or not....the numbers historically reflect this...
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Over the years Durham have produced the equivalent of a team of International cricketers none of whom could be said come from wealthy backgrounds.
What is essential is that this new Hundred money is used correctly and directed to clubs in disadvantaged areas.
 
It's expected for the Aussie press to have a go at our players during an Ashes series, but we've played into their hands on this tour and they are truly laying into us

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Aidan11 said:
It's expected for the Aussie press to have a go at our players during an Ashes series, but we've played into their hands on this tour and they are truly laying into us

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In fairness, the Aussie media have actually been praising them for being open and friendly with locals and press whilst up there. Apparently India were the total opposite.
 
Unlucky Black Cat said:
Cricket in the north east isn't a sport for rich kids. We all played as kids and you don't have to travel far in east Durham to find a cricket club where you can play for the juniors.
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We played cricket every other week at Wellfield school and as you say the setup at all age levels in the North East is absolutely top class and very accessible for all
 
Unlucky Black Cat said:
Cricket in the north east isn't a sport for rich kids. We all played as kids and you don't have to travel far in east Durham to find a cricket club where you can play for the juniors.
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Same as Yorkshire. When I was growing up everyone played cricket. Sure the rich lads had the better gear but it didn't stop the poorer lads. Probably why bowlers are more working class and northern, didnt need hundreds of quids worth of equipment to bowl a ball. Also got to try and bounce the rich lads with the fancy bats.
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
We played cricket every other week at Wellfield school and as you say the setup at all age levels in the North East is absolutely top class and very accessible for all
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What is different however is that at local clubs, coaches tend to be willing volunteers with level 1 or 2 badges who are affiliated to the junior sections because they have their kids there playing.

Within the private schooling sector (especially old Public school), they have former county cricketers employed to help develop young cricketers (some of them with moderate ability) to become much better players through intensive technical coaching.

There’s good reason lads end up with scholarships at public schools and do their education there (I believe McKinney did and obviously lots others).

There are places all over the UK where cricket is massive and with proper nurture, talent could massively emerge. Don’t foresee that any time soon
 
Wouldnt be like something from a rocky film if they came back from all this and ended up vindicated? 🤣
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Pretty much spot on as ever
 
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