Pakistan vs India

[masterblaster]

Fortune favors the brave.
Im speechless, absolutely speechless, they've done us all proud today.

Absolutely speechless.

Superb Stuff India

 

[Bazza]

Their bowling is now very good, as with Khan,Nehra and Srinath India have a potent attack that can threaten any batting line up.

Once again one game and you go off the deep end. They destroyed England under lights, that doesn't mean they can threaten any batting lineup. I didn't see them carving through the Aussies recently, and Pakistan scored 273 against you.

 

[Bazza]

He's grown it for religious purposes I heard.

That's right, he's the founder member of a new religion which honours WG Grace.

 

[marc71178]

Who said that it was a small task? I'm talking about a possibility, and there usually no guarantees in cricket, but an England win is more than likely going to make them reach the Super Six!

You said "all that they have to do" - over here that usually means that it's a small task left, which is how I interpretted it!

As it stands a win actually would lessen our chances of progression IMO - a close defeat will give Pakistan hope, and so they'll try against Zimbabwe!

 

[luckyeddie]

That's right, he's the founder member of a new religion which honours WG Grace.

Did you know that WG Grace invented gamesmanship and was generally considered a dis-grace (sic) to the game but everyone was scared to say so - especially the MCC? Apart from the fact that he was an 'amateur' who earned 4 times as much as the professionals, generally a bad sport and never a walker, he scared the living daylights out of everyone with his attitude. Above all, though, he was box office.

My favourite WG story features Charles Kortright, playing for Essex against Gloucestershire. Grace was a few days short of 50 and was single-handedly fighting a magnificent rearguard action. Now as I've said, umpires and almost everyone else were terrified of WG. In the game in question, it is thought that Kortright had probably got him out 4 or 5 times, only to be continually rebuffed by the umpires. Eventually, he got one through the great mans defences, uprooting 2 of the 3 stumps.

WG stood awhile (almost as if waiting for the belated call of no-ball) before eventually setting off disconsolately for the pavilion. As he passed the bowler, Kortright came out with (IMO) the best one-liner ever.

"Surely you're not going, Doctor? There's still one stump standing"

 

[Anil]

Really!! if he was such an a*** h*** and a bad sport, how come he is considered a legend? BTW, that snippet about WG was hilarious. Thanks.

 

[marc71178]

He was an awesome batsman as well as the negatives!

 

[luckyeddie]

He was an awesome batsman as well as the negatives!

No doubt about that, marc. His brothers EM and Fred were supposed to be pretty good too. The one thing which WG added to the game (as well as genius) was 'colour'. Remember too that they wore caps, gloves with rubber bobbly bits or tubes, no thigh pads, and the wickets were supposedly appalling - even Lords and The Oval.

My new book on the history of gamesmanship is superb.

 

[luckyeddie]

Really!! if he was such an a*** h*** and a bad sport, how come he is considered a legend? BTW, that snippet about WG was hilarious. Thanks.

WG at the time wasn't just bigger than the game - he WAS the game. He could single-handedly treble a gate.

There's another famous incident where he was bowled early in his innings in front of a packed house (don't know the precise details, but let's assume it was, er, someone called Fred). He picked the bails up, placed them back on the stumps and took guard again.

When the successful bowler enquired what the good Dr was doing, Grace simply replied "They came to watch me bat, Fred - not to see you bowl" or words to that effect.

 

[Top_Cat]

There's another famous incident where he was bowled early in his innings in front of a packed house (don't know the precise details, but let's assume it was, er, someone called Fred). He picked the bails up, placed them back on the stumps and took guard again.

When the successful bowler enquired what the good Dr was doing, Grace simply replied "They came to watch me bat, Fred - not to see you bowl" or words to that effect.

Nah you're mixing up two stories. When the bowling dislodged the bail, The Doctor replaced the bail and muttered to the umpire "'twas the wind which took thy bail orf, good sir." and the umpire replied, "Indeed Doctor and let us hope thy wind helps the good doctor on thy journey back to the pavillion!".

 

[Bazza]

Great stories.

When I played a few games for my local village side as a schoolboy, the guy who used to look after the pitch was, how should I put it.... retired. He had little hair on his head and a long grey/white beard, thus myself and a friend who also played used to call him (not to his face mind) WG.

Anyway this guy never wore pads. He must have grown up in the Brian Close era where nobody was scared of a cricket ball. I could hardly believe my eyes! He took a few blows on the shins too, which must have killed, yet he never flinched! Hardcore.