2004, it's over.

[marc71178]

I noticed all the Cricinfo staff have said their best and worst of 2004, so I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone here thinks about it.

For me:
Best - There's several that spring to mind, but I think I'd have to go with Harmison's 7-12, narrowly beating the WI CT win (which I think was great for the game in general)
Worst - Has to be the death of David Hookes. Senseless.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Best - 7th Test win of the summer. Narrowly beating Lara's 400, Harmi's 7/12, and WI CT win.

Worst - Death of David Hookes.

 

[chris.hinton]

Ditto

Have a Happy New year people

 

[Scaly piscine]

As a person I can't stand Lara and I'm an England fan so the 400 was one of the worst things of the year, along with the CT debacle.

Best was Harmy's 7-12.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Not sure how one can say the CT was a debacle. Yes, England lost it after being in control, but that's cricket. The better team on the day won and some fantastic cricket was played in the process.

 

[Scaly piscine]

It was certainly a debacle from an England supporter's viewpoint

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm about to be dragged out for a drink or seven, so I'll be brief:

Best: from an Anglocentric viewpoint it has to be going thru 2004 unbeaten from 13 tests, great collective effort; special praise to Nasser for knowing when to bow out: always leave 'em wanting more! The emergence of Strauss big plus too.

from a more worldwide perspective one has to give credit to Gilly for leading Australia to their first test series victory in India in 34 (?) years & (as others have already mentioned) The Windies for winning the Champions Trophy. Hopefully, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of the death of West Indies cricket have been greatly exaggerated!

Worst: David Hookes’s death was tragic &, of course, Keith Miller made his final walk back to the pavilion too, albeit after a somewhat longer innings. The ICC's handling of the Zimbabwe situation has been pretty rank, as was The ECB & Morgan's squirming.

Happy new year chaps!!

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Only if that England supporter isn't a supporter of good cricket you'd think. I mean, credit must be given where it's due and both teams provided a wonderful game. England may feel agrieved at eventual defeat, but it's not whether you win or lose.

 

[chris.hinton]

Thorpes Innings the test before was better then Laras considering the pitch

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Thorpes Innings the test before was better then Laras considering the pitch

You can't really compare two such innings. Thorpe's innings may have been in a tighter situation pitch-wise, but Lara scored more than 3 times as many runs, so it's really not the same at all.

 

[tooextracool]

well actually he was out on 0
thorpes inning was chanceless i believe?

 

[Tom Halsey]

Yep, that's something people always forget - he was out on 0. Having said that, he did very well afterwards, and must be credited for that, even if the pitch was a featherbed.

 

[JASON]

To me the Best of 2004 was - Murali becoming the Leading Wicket taker in Test cricket history surpassing Courtney Walsh !!

Only just ahead of Sanath Jayasuriya's 254 v Pakistan and the find of the Decade Michael Clarke for Australia !!

Others notable, West Indies winning Champs Trophy , Pidgeon showing his amazing come back and getting loads of wickets, Steve Harmison another player who had an amazing year and Anil Kumble !!

Worst of 2004 - (Without wanting to turn this into another Murali thread)Obviously Chris Broad's reporting of Murali.

But am pleased that the shadows over Murali have cleared with the ICC's biomechanical experts filming in CT and subsequently finding that 99% of bowlers were beaking the throwing criteria as it stands .

 

[Dydl]

From what I watched live on TV, for me McGrath's 8/24. I can't really say anything about any others cause I can only watch what is on Channel 9. McGrath went ahead of Justin Langer's knock of 215 and 191. Also Martyn's 100 * was pretty good too.........


The worst was David Hookes's death.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Yep, that's something people always forget - he was out on 0. Having said that, he did very well afterwards, and must be credited for that, even if the pitch was a featherbed.

Lara was never out on 0. Only the English eye would say so really of those who saw it. It was a superb decision as confirmed by countless replays and the snickometer. No change to the seam and no noise at the point the ball passed the bat.

We've gone over this already Thomas.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Best: Andy Flintoff being dropped in the second tier of the stands by his father Colin - iconic point of his - and England's - summer

Worst: ICC's refusal to take any stance over the Zimbabwe situation

 

[Crazy Sam]

Best: Australia's series win in India.

Worst: ICC's poor leadership in allowing/making Australia travel to Zimbabwe before it was called off. Talk about a late decision.

 

[Tom Halsey]

a) Lara was never out on 0. Only the English eye would say so really of those who saw it. It was a superb decision as confirmed by countless replays and the snickometer. No change to the seam and no noise at the point the ball passed the bat.

b) We've gone over this already Thomas.

a) It was close, but IIRC Sky's snicko seemes to indicate otherwise.

b) When? I don't remember discussing it at the time.

 

[Linda]

Best- 6 hundreds.... And the spectacular debut by Michael Clarke.
Worst- Zimbabwe indecisiveness, and Banglasdesh still being permitted to play Test cricket

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

a) It was close, but IIRC Sky's snicko seemes to indicate otherwise.

b) When? I don't remember discussing it at the time.

No deviation of the seam and the snickometer of the coverage I was watching (isn't there only one?) stated that there was no edge. The commentators and everyone seemed in agreement that there was no edge. Apparently the British supporters aren't...