I love reading these Cricket posts. I never know if they are discussing a sport, or discussing something like cheese manufacturing.
I love reading these Cricket posts. I never know if they are discussing a sport, or discussing something like cheese manufacturing.
Stokes is on another level to both Flintoff & Botham. Some of the shots he played defied belief. But, ultimately, his sheer will to win, & the way he channeled it across the whole course of that extraordinary innings, is transcendent!
Of course, it in turn pales in comparison to Jack Leach's innings!
Hard to imagine its the same batting line up that was out for 67 in the first inning. I'm not sure he's on another level to Botham, parity to me.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I'm one of the 212.
It’s impossible to compare over different eras, and I remember Botham’s heroics at Headingley, wonderful times, and yet yesterday was right there alongside. At lunch I thought it was all going our way, but as those wickets tumbled it seemed lost. Ben Stoke was out of his world, sheer force of will and talent, it as an innings of a lifetime, for the second time this summer!
For me, what sets Stokes' innings on a different level from Botham at Headingly in 81, & Flintoff at Edgbaston in 05, was the context.
Botham & Flintoff swung momentum in games, deliriously so. But, to a certain extent, both innings were "free hits". Neither batted their team over the finishing line, neither built a world record partnership to win with their #11. I honestly think what Stokes did was comparable to, if not better than, any innings ever batted (certainly by an English man).
Of course, that he did so after the his astonishing batting exploits in the World Cup final just makes it all the more extraordinary.
It's funny how, today, so many great sporting occasions also feature seemingly decisive umpiring/refereeing/law-related "controversies"...
I should also say that Tim Paine might not be much of a batter, or a captain - but he stands head & shoulders above many of his team-mates, present & past, as a decent human being.
Yes you are absolutely correct, context makes this the best innings ever.
Tim Paine annoys me intensely with his chatter before every ball, especially when Lyon is bowling, but he came out of this with absolute credit as a sportsman and a decent man.
I’m also not buying this technology angle. Small margin umpire calls are part and parcel of the game, and I prefer Ben Stokes assessment, and do not believe tech is infallible. Who was seeing the ball better than Ben, absolutely nobody on that pitch and certainly not a machine. The game is more subtle than that.
Apparently, ball tracking didn't detect the flick on the front pad, & read it as spin when it went on to hit the back pad - so, it's possible the umpire's decision was more accurate than ball-tracking!
Yeah I saw that on the ball tracking, it looked wrong.
Stokes was perplexed that the ball tracking even showed Lyon's delivery would have gone on to hit the stumps.
"I have seen the DRS on my lbw shout, which obviously shows up with three reds [for out], but DRS has got that completely wrong as it flicked my front pad first and didn't spin," Stokes argued.
"It shows how crucial it is to make sure you use your reviews. When you get to a situation like that, you still need one.
"If they had one they would have used it and ended up winning. I still cannot believe it was three reds. I thought as soon as it hit me that it was sliding down leg because there was no spin."
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I'm one of the 212.
Speaking of games/matches ending in ties: yesterday's opener between the Cardinals and Lions ended in a tie.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Turned out we were pretty much right, Ian. Root has had a middling to poor series. Smith has been transcendent. Take Smith out of Australia's team, & they're not taking the Ashes back home with them.
I'm not so sure about that, agree that Smith was transcendent (must be what bowling to Bradman was like) & Root was middling but Australia were overall a better team with those 2 discounted and Englands batting at the top is awful. I suspect that they are playing way too much limited over cricket and have lost the skill set of how to build an innings. Do the Aussies play more 3 & 4 day 'county' cricket? The English guys seem to specialize in 20 and 40 over stuff.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I'm one of the 212.
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