Ashes

[tenchi]

Young Mr Rikki Clarke will have his opportunity today to stake some sort of a claim.

Surrey are currently playing D***yshire in a televised game, and Mr Marsh is in attendance. The player who has impressed me so far is Nathan Dumelow. I suspect that he could also be an academy candidate.

Ian Salisbury is also playing (remember him?), so far he has delivered a somewhat varied spell (unplayable deliveries, full tosses, long-hops).

 

[Neil Pickup]

Well Derbyshire have knocked up 213 off their 45 overs. Given fading light (the sun's setting over Cleethorpes now), it should be close. Rikki Clarke got nowhere with the ball (9-0-36-0) - economical by his standards anyway, Adam Hollioake ripped through the middle order (6-0-23-4) and Corky hit 54 (81) at four.

Come on Derbyshire

 

[tenchi]

Clarke batting very well, although he has been rapped a couple of very painful blows

 

[Neil Pickup]

Middle order going... down to Hollioake.

They're above the rate, but a few wickets here and Derby are well in there. One more and it's Batty, then Salisbury.

Time for Rikki to not choke

(Background: Choke, Choke, Choke....)

 

[tenchi]

Credit where cridit's due : Clarke is playing really well. 70-odd not out, and not much else from anywhere else.

Derbyshire have just brought Mohammed Ali back into the attack.

Surrey have responded by bringing Rocky Marciano in as a pinch-hitter.

 

[R_Powell_fan]

And I guess Mike Tyson is fielding at short leg, Lennox Lewis at silly mid off

 

[tenchi]

If they did, the difference in class would have been there for all to see.

No, forget I said that. You cannot compare boxers from separate eras the same as you cannot compare cricketers (well, you can, but you are only wasting your time).

Anyway, either Salisbury got lucky or Cork choked (that will please one of your contributors and upset another), but Clarke played a clever, assured innings and took Surrey through to a one-wicket victory.

He will be in Australia, of that there is little doubt, probably at the academy but who knows? Maybe a wild card for the Ashes tour.

 

[luckyeddie]

Rikki Clarke was magnificent with the bat last night.

I noticed that Rod Marsh was at the game - that one innings under really difficult conditions (terrible lights, dew on the wicket, injured) will have made a huge impression.

Although I was heartbroken that my beloved Derbyshire had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (and that Salisbury had taken DC apart with lots of the filthy slogging and the three fours in an over <burhey>)), I came away from the ground not too disappointed because I had seen a star in the making (maybe).

 

[Neil Pickup]

Reminder: one swallow makes not one summer. Ajit. Let's see what 2003 holds.

And what about that LBW shout on 212/9? The one that HawkEye showed would have hit middle halfway up.

Academy - yes. Full squad - get out of here. He's not good enough to go as a pure batsmen compared to what we have, and as an allrounder his bowling isn't on it.

 

[luckyeddie]

I know. Plumb.

Mohammed Ali took those two wickets in an over and I thought 'Yesssss, we're going to pull it out of the fire'. Two dropped catches in the previous over too (damn those rubbish floodlights).

But the cricket gods have a habit of turning Derbyshire resurgences into false dawns.

Was it 1991 when we were second in the championship? Kept winning game after game towards the end of the season only to see that Middlesex had done likewise.

 

[scorpio]

where is this thread going? I shoudl write up the aussie squad soon.

BTW the way aussies are smashing pak..eng has got quite a task at hand.

 

[luckyeddie]

I suspect it is following the England team selection to Surrey.

 

[Anil]

where is this thread going? I shoudl write up the aussie squad soon.

BTW the way aussies are smashing pak..eng has got quite a task at hand.

Even if the Aussies were not whipping Pak, England still has a very tough task on hand. For a miracle to happen, they have to play atleast 4-5 times better cricket than against India and the Aussies have to suck big-time.Almost insurmountable odds, I would say.

 

[luckyeddie]

Almost....

 

[Neil Pickup]

Like Headingley 81 (sorry, only decent English cricketing moment...)

 

[Anil]

Like Headingley 81 (sorry, only decent English cricketing moment...)

I was going to mention that in my post as an example of what has to happen, then I remembered that Botham and Willis are no longer playing(No dig intended).

 

[aussie_beater]

Beefy reckons that Harmision and Jones are the way to go, but are the Aussies going to be really bothered by these two more then Goughie, Hoggard and the pack ?

 

[luckyeddie]

Doubtful, but we cannot engage in wishful thinking.

Pace seems to be the thinking, Harmison and Jones are as quick as anyone else in England.

Significant selection for me is 2 spinners. I like that a lot.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Graveney: "We have to use pace, we can't hit them with English Seamers".

This better not mean more short pitched stuff...

 

[luckyeddie]

My mind goes blank whenever Graveney opens his mouth - a bit like his really.