Sunday 31 May 2015

Filthy Deliveries – The ZEITlies Cricket Blog

4 THINGS ABOUT CRICKET THIS WEEK THAT MAKE YOU FEEL A BIT SAD 

1.       New Zealand are probably better at ODIs than they are at Tests – Following a rip-roaring effort in the world cup and some strong performances in their recent home test series, hopes were high for the ever-confident Kiwis as they headed to England for a two test ‘series’. Such hopes seemed to be well founded when on day one of the first test match at Lord’s, New Zealand’s bowlers had the hosts at 30-4. However, they soon found a way to carve out a losing position and thanks to some mercurial batting by Ben Stokes, the match was lost. Now the second test is evenly poised, and New Zealand may be heading home winless after promising so much before the start of the series…

2.       Pakistan might have trouble attracting more visitors – The cricketing world rejoiced with the return of international cricket in Pakistan, with the mighty Zimbabwe agreeing to play in the first international matches since the attack on the Sri Lankan players in 2009. The series comprised of a few ODIs and after the first two matches all seemed to be well. What was all the paranoia about? Why can’t people just chill-out yeah? Then there was a suicide bombing in Lahore. Oh dear. The series will continue but you fancy that this probably wasn’t the cricketing tourist-ad the PCB was hoping for…

3.       We won’t see Shiv Chanderpaul again – He’s finally been dropped. After four hundred and seven years in the West Indian batting line-up, front-facing, war-paint wearing run-machine Shiv Chanderpaul has finally been dropped from the Windies squad after a long run of poor form. Old friend Brian Lara spoke out at what he thought was ill-treatment of his pal, but the master batsman’s protestations fell on deaf ears as Shiv was told to put the war paint away for good.

4.       Graham Gooch is no longer England’s highest Test run scorer – Well done to Alistair Cook for breaking Gooch’s record but one feels that now he is no longer the record holder, who will remember the Great Graham Gooch? Masterful player of spin, scorer of the highest test score by an Englishman, a reformer and professional as captain; owner of one of the finest moustaches in modern test cricket. Though he was one of the finest English batsman and captains of his generation, his legacy and his runs have long been forgotten by kids of today, who know the Ashes 2005 team and little else. At least when he was the top dog, you had to respect Goochie. Now, who will?

Graham Gooch was delighted for Alistair Cook.