Cricketing curmudgeons

[morgieb]

He has a curmudgeonly streak in him at the very least with his exasperated cries of "What are they doing?" & how his mother could've played that "Wi' a stick of rubarb".

I heard she preferred cucumbers personally.

 

[Goughy]

Boycott certainly not a curmudgeon. Im not defending the White Rose here as FST and Illingworth certainly were but Boycott always has a bit more depth to his comments than the others.

 

[Uppercut]

First google image result for "curmudgeon". That's definitely Neil Harvey on the right.

 

[Top_Cat]

Ted Dexter on the right, tbh.

 

[Spikey]

Surely Neil Harvey >>>>> all?

Let us not forget Neil's been doing it longer than any other curmudgeon going around right now. Presumably.




And may I just add, the curmudgeons we had back in my day.............

 

[vcs]

First google image result for "curmudgeon". That's definitely Neil Harvey on the right.

They look like Liverpool's owners.

 

[zaremba]

For me one of the easiest ways to spot a proper curmudgeon is their habit of talking down other players to present themselves in a better light. Like Bedi always doubting the probity of Murali's action or Bradman's niggardly refusal to give Larwood his due.

Absolutely spot on.

Last year when Ponting broke some Aussie batting record or other Geoff Boycott was asked on Radio 5 whether Ponting was the best Crim batsman since Bradman. He said no, and was dismissive of Ponting's claims; Greg Chappell was the best. His reasoning was a beautiful testament to Boycott's enduring egomania. He explained that Chappell had to face much tougher bowling, and asked rhetorically whether Ponting had to face bowlers of the quality of Lillee and Thomson. Genius.

 

[Manee]

Nah, Holding certainly has a touch of the grumpy old bastard about him. Doesn't mean he's not a good commentator though.

Indeed. I recall him noting that he was glad that the speed gun wasn't being used for his driving when Akhtar clocked one at 97mph. I find he is prone to the odd comment of bitterness, but generally is accurate in brutal honesty rather than misquoting the truth.

 

[vcs]

Absolutely spot on.

Last year when Ponting broke some Aussie batting record or other Geoff Boycott was asked on Radio 5 whether Ponting was the best Crim batsman since Bradman. He said no, and was dismissive of Ponting's claims; Greg Chappell was the best. His reasoning was a beautiful testament to Boycott's enduring egomania. He explained that Chappell had to face much tougher bowling, and asked rhetorically whether Ponting had to face bowlers of the quality of Lillee and Thomson. Genius.

TBF, the commentators (when they are asked these types of questions) do not have the time (or inclination) to engage in pages and pages of Statsguru wars and back-and-forth to support their opinions so I guess it's no real surprise that their reasoning comes across as a bit crude. The problem isn't holding on to the opinion that the previous era player is better, but being dismissive and condescending to great players of this generation.

 

[Burgey]

Sam Loxton another who fits well within this description. Though he is a close mate of Neil Harvey so that may explain it.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Sometimes Holding frustrates me. Like when he was saying, after Shoaib put in a half-arsed effort to stop a ball out in the deep off Afridi, that Shahid should blame himself for putting Shoaib out on the fence in the first place, as you need quick, agile fielders out there.

Yes, Michael, it's great to have fit and agile fielders everywhere, but at that stage of the game, you want your best fielders in the ring to stop singles, and to prowl the area because it's the ball that goes just past them which is most likely to go for four.

 

[vic_orthdox]

TBF, the commentators (when they are asked these types of questions) do not have the time (or inclination) to engage in pages and pages of Statsguru wars and back-and-forth to support their opinions so I guess it's no real surprise that their reasoning comes across as a bit crude. The problem isn't holding on to the opinion that the previous era player is better, but being dismissive and condescending to great players of this generation.

Am pretty sure that the logic jump there in asking whether Ponting ever had to face bowling of the calibre of Lillee and Thomson is that Chappell never had to in Test cricket either.

 

[vcs]

Am pretty sure that the logic jump there in asking whether Ponting ever had to face bowling of the calibre of Lillee and Thomson is that Chappell never had to in Test cricket either.

Oh yeah, completely missed that.

But the point he's making, though it's expressed crudely and not one I agree with, is something that people repeatedly argue here.

 

[Jono]

There's still way more cheerleaders, so we need the odd curmudgeon I guess. For every Slater, Bumble and Ravi Shastri, there's a Vaughan, Boycott and Chappell etc.

Unfortunately not everyone can be a Nasser or Atherton, who strike the right balance IMO.

 

[Craig]

Let us not forget Neil's been doing it longer than any other curmudgeon going around right now. Presumably.




And may I just add, the curmudgeons we had back in my day.............

And you walk 25 miles in the snow in barefeet just to listen to a match on the radio?

I'll show myself out.

 

[Furball]

Am pretty sure that the logic jump there in asking whether Ponting ever had to face bowling of the calibre of Lillee and Thomson is that Chappell never had to in Test cricket either.

Nah, the logic jump is that Boycott himself averaged 47 against such good bowlers, modern players are all crap and wasn't Boycott brilliant.

 

[morgieb]

Nah, the logic jump is that Boycott himself averaged 47 against such good bowlers, modern players are all crap and wasn't Boycott brilliant.

So in other words......Boycott's like Richard except Boycott actually played cricket.

 

[sledger]

Boycott certainly not a curmudgeon. Im not defending the White Rose here as FST and Illingworth certainly were but Boycott always has a bit more depth to his comments than the others.

It's just a shame that once he makes a good point he has to repeat it about 100 times. Mind you, Mr Botham is no stranger to doing this either, and I'm sure there are others out there.

 

[smash84]

Someone should listen to Sarfaraz Nawaz since his retirement. The guy never stops talking about how every one, since he left the game, has been of sub-standard quality. And his rattling against Imran (which is just about every time that he appears on the media) is.quite distasteful.

 

[honestbharani]

Bedi and Harvey hands down winners... And I think I agree with Jono.. We have way too many cheer leaders than curmudgeons... I mean, just llisten to Gavaskar on Sachin.. Recently, Vijay seems to have become his next pet. Just listen to him in the CL about Vijay. You would think he was a Bradman/Jonty clone...