|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 15, 2015 8:07:40 GMT
Yes, that is much better, Nobby. Apply it to your whole computer, and it will prevent the embarrassment of being discovered that you accidentally spent half an hour looking at www.lesbianmudwrestling.com. Again. Why would I be embarrassed ? True enough. You weren`t embarrassed after all that business with the lorry driver from Eindhoven, so I don`t suppose this would bother you either.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 15, 2015 8:03:46 GMT
Sinclair's booking was terrible. The guy was not in Sinclair's vision when his boot started to lift and the guy put his head down towards the ball. Time and time again this action gets at least a free kick, and often a yellow card. Think showed a complete lack of common sense on that one. Is it defined anywhere in the laws what constitutes a "high boot" v "a low head"? No, it`s not. It`s up to how the referee sees it. But on this occasion, I didn`t think that Sinclair`s boot was particularly high, whilst their player`s head was particularly low. I agree with Igitur.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 10, 2015 8:16:53 GMT
I can't believe these comments are from adult Gasheads?? It's only one match! It's what he does next that counts. History tells us we will go from strength to strength when we learn from this. I believe our League form will go up from this as the players won't let this happen again! We MUST stay supportive!! After we lost 4-1 at home to the bottom team in the league, I would have hoped that the players wouldn`t let it happen again.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 10, 2015 8:11:33 GMT
Braintree away last season was the lowest point in our history, as far as I am concerned. To be comprehensively outplayed by a team of part timers ( in a league match, not just a one off cup tie ) was the worst experience I`ve had in 35 years of following this team.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 9, 2015 8:08:02 GMT
Its our worst ever FA Cup result by some margin, but its also no big deal. We weren't going to win the cup. We've gone out of the FA Cup at some point every single season since the dawn of football; we just did it at the earliest opportunity this year. The reaction is staggering! What an astonishing thing to write. No, we weren`t going to win the FA cup, but we could have got into the 3rd round and drawn one of the big boys. A great day out, and some much needed cash for our club. You might think that yesterday was no big deal, but I beg to differ.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 8, 2015 8:30:00 GMT
Be careful what you say, Nobby. Have you not been reading about Britain`s increasing surveillance culture? I was chatting on the phone to my brother about the cricket in Pakistan, and a MI5 agent interrupted to say that he thought Kevin Pietersen should be given one more chance. Loose lips sink ships, mate. For God's sake man! You warn me about loose lips, yet you talk to your Brother over an open unsecured line? Is this better :- - .... .. ... / .. ... / .. -. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . Yes, that is much better, Nobby. Apply it to your whole computer, and it will prevent the embarrassment of being discovered that you accidentally spent half an hour looking at www.lesbianmudwrestling.com. Again.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 6, 2015 8:28:21 GMT
Only one opener, a number three who bats like he`s trying to eat soup with a fork, no wicket keeper, and two spinners, neither of whom look capable of even keeping one end quiet. It`s going to be South Africa V Cook, Root, Broad and Anderson.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 5, 2015 11:21:02 GMT
I bow to your superior knowledge of the players in the County system It just pains me to see Pakistan's fourth or fifth choice spinners turning it more than our best ! Be careful what you say, Nobby. Have you not been reading about Britain`s increasing surveillance culture? I was chatting on the phone to my brother about the cricket in Pakistan, and a MI5 agent interrupted to say that he thought Kevin Pietersen should be given one more chance. Loose lips sink ships, mate.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Nov 5, 2015 8:03:03 GMT
Good first couple of days for England. The seamers were immense yesterday and the spinners did just enough (although aided by some poor cricket from Pakistan). I suspect the wickets they gifted Moeen were as a result of the pressure Anderson and Broad were able to exert. I thought England batted really well today. On pitches like this you have to keep the opposition in the field and win the battle of attrition. It's hot and we are bound to get some lose stuff tomorrow afternoon if we can bat well tomorrow morning. It's scandalous that Taylor was left out for so long even more so as he's exactly what England need in the middle order. We have an aggressive middle order and it's important that the players compliment each other. I think Bairstow has done well too. I think 6 is a good place for him. He's a bit too bottom handed but he's gritty and I think that, with the right support, he can become a good test match cricketer. His keeping is under rated too. Looking to the future, I would ask Root to open in South Africa. I know I'll be on my own here but I think he's ready for the challenge and his technique has tightened up since he last did it. He might end up only average 40 as opposed to 50 at the top of the order but we have options for the middle order. Ballance could come back into the side and he is capable of averaging 40 too. In my opinion, that's a better option than Root averaging 50 and Hayles averaging 20. I might be wrong but I just don't think Hayles is a test cricketer and there are no obvious other options. A top 5 of Cook, Root, Bell, Taylor and Ballance has 5 cricketers in positions they have all played throughout their career and with Baristow, Stokes and Moeen at 6-8 we'd have a nice balance. Personally I'm not convinced Hales is an international cricketer full-stop. England have a long history of getting massively carried away with a one-day player based on a single or a couple of dominant performances, I think that's the case with Hales. I just don't think he's quite up to it ultimately. It's a tricky one but I don't think I would put Root back up there; basically he's proved himself to be too good a player to open. He needs to be protected because he really is our engine room and right now it looks like he has a shot of being something very special indeed. I`ve been saying this, ever since the self inflicted debacle when we last toured Down Under. I thought from your previous threads that you were all in favour of promoting Root to open again.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 30, 2015 7:43:57 GMT
Whilst I don't think going to the game is a killing offence, I think Ellis can be very naive at times and his use of Twitter is just daft at times. By all means go watch the game but don't expect people to enjoy it and not have a dig, when you post about it. Very daft lad. I am surprised DC hasn't got rules on use of social media, maybe he has but I am unaware of it ? Stupid boy Pike ! He didn't post it on social media.
With regards to the whole situation, David Pipe got less grief from Gasheads when he fractured someone's skull.
Hitler would have got less grief for starting World War Two.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 29, 2015 8:12:09 GMT
England are pretty unlucky to find themselves 1 down after 2 games. Outdated silly rules cost them an unlikely win in the 1st Test and 1 poor session did for them in the 2nd. I'm impressed with how hard they are fighting - it's a really good team effort. Last time we were in UAE we arguably had a much stronger side based on the pedigree of the players but we put up no fight at all and were embarrasingly rolled over. The expression Mark Wood had when he was out yesterday said it all - these guys are giving everything and part of it is because not very many of them can be assured of a place in the side. The problem is Pakistan are still comfortably better than us in their own conditions so it's very tough. Also, in terms of the long term shape of the team we are none the wiser really. The side has been propped up by superb performances by Root and Cook; others have chipped in and (possibly with the exception of Buttler) no has let themselves down but ultimately we've not had the level of consistency or inspiration needed to win this kind of series. I remain of the view that we have too many 'handy' players and not enough clear difference makers. The bowling attack issue is clear - we don't have a consistent spin threat. Not sure there's a lot to be done about that - you either have that player or you don't. Within the limitation England have done OK and Rashid nearly won them an unlikely victory. This is probably the best we have but it's unlikely to threaten a side like Pakistan very much who have so much experience against spinner. Many people have focused on Rashid's somewhat roller-coaster tour but really there should probably be more of a spotlight on Moeen - he's done OK but he's not looked like being a match winner in these conditions. It shows up his limitations really. Other than that I think we've done pretty well - Pakistan have shown immense respect to Anderson but he's still looked threatening, Broad seems to be carrying a knock and Wood has been something of revelation I think and might be the only player to have cemented his place in the side on this tour. On the batting nothing has really changed. Opener is clearly still a problem position and I can't see Moeen opening in South Africa. In a peverse way it might make sense to give Hales his first shot at in in SA - the pitches will suit him and the pressure will be minimal on him personally. Right now we live and die on Root and Cook. Bell keeps doing just enough to retain his place without looking like returning to his best; Bairstow and Stokes are both capable of looking good, playing useful knocks but I still have the nerves that 5-8 can go down very quickly and I wouldn't put my house on any of them to consistently deliver or to get it done when the pressure is really properly on. At some point 'promising' has to be turned into consistent performance and for Bairstow, Stokes, Ali and Buttler they are not there yet and it needs to happen soon. I think there's a very good case for picking James Taylor - what is probably preventing that is that the collective mediocrity (as opposed to rank dreadful play) of our middle order makes it quite difficult to identity the obvious candidate for the axe which is why it looks like they're going to drop Buttler and give the gloves to Bairstow in the final test. But even that doesn't look much of a long term solution. So decent stuff from England but the same questions remain really. Wouldn`t argue with any of that. Ali has always struck me as a decent lower order batsman, who can turn his arm over with a limited degree of success, but little more. Rashid needs more time; too early to say if he can make it at test level. The lack of even a vaguely competent opener, cost us the second test. An opening stand of 20 or 30 runs, and Moen batting in his usual place, and we would have gone into the decider all square. All "ifs" and "buts", I know.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 23, 2015 7:13:35 GMT
Honestly. I`ve never known anyone get hold of the wrong end of the stick, as much as you, Nobby. I`m not at all convinced you were cut out to be a soldier. Don`t you need to be able to demonstrate that you possess a reasonably robust appreciation of what`s going on around you, before they allow you to shoot people? Oh deary me no. "Get your retaliation in first" I was always taught. Probably explains why I'm still here ! And why the population of Kosovo is somewhat diminished.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 22, 2015 10:37:50 GMT
You fell in love with the woman she was pretending to be, same as everyone else. I don't think I've ever been in love with his wife. Honestly. I`ve never known anyone get hold of the wrong end of the stick, as much as you, Nobby. I`m not at all convinced you were cut out to be a soldier. Don`t you need to be able to demonstrate that you possess a reasonably robust appreciation of what`s going on around you, before they allow you to shoot people?
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 22, 2015 6:58:35 GMT
Lol. Ain`t that the truth?
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 18, 2015 7:04:28 GMT
I think, the groundsman deserves a great deal of credit. He knew what he was doing.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 16, 2015 7:28:57 GMT
I was just kidding. Boycott`s love of everything Yorkshire, hadn`t escaped me. The groundsman must take a lot of the blame for the state of this game. Probably all of the blame really.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 15, 2015 7:23:54 GMT
Boycott has refused to criticize Rashid. That`s most strange; usually Boycott is the first to start apportioning blame. I`ve thought and thought and thought, but I can see no reason why he hasn`t in Rashid`s case. Can anyone else help?
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 13, 2015 7:21:59 GMT
No? How about the important runs that he`s scored for us, batting lower down the order? We`ll lose them. We`ve tried this, haven`t we? Took Joe Root away from a position where he scored hundreds of runs, and stuck him in as an opener. Then, when it didn`t work, they dropped him. And now you want to do it with Moeen. Little wonder, you think we`re going to lose three nil. Moeen's scored useful runs for sure but it's not really comparable with what Root was doing at that point. It's not like he's been racking up the 100s and been a bedrock player. He's been doing very well at 8 and clearly enjoys the freedom to play his shots but he has also often run out of partners, or at least been left with little choice but to slog out because he's batting with the tail - suggests he deserves a run higher up the order where he can develop proper innings. Moeen is replacing a guy who averaged 20 who himself replaced a guy who averaged 30 (largely off the back of 1 big score). The only other other candidate is by all accounts chronically out of form. Might not work but it doesn't seem like a particularly big risk especially as Moeen has extremely flexible in his England career. The Root decision itself was not a terrible call at the time - only in hindsight. The guy had been groomed to be a Test opener since he was 12 years old and was exceptionally successful in the position right the way through his development - that was considered his position and it was the one he wanted. The fact he failed in the role entailed a rethink but it wasn't something that was invented out of desperation; it was always the plan (for both player and management) that Root would open and there was no reason to think he'd struggle at the time. Players and selectors do need leeway to find the right role for people at the international level and it's not always the one you'd expect based on their development - doubly so when you're dealing with the top talent. Bradman was originally pegged as an opener. We shouldn't be losing out on runs from that bit of the order anyway on this tour - Rashid or Samit Patel shape up to be as good a Test Match number 8 as any other team in the world and you really shouldn't be planning your batting strategy around Number 8 being a key position. I'm not sure it's reasonable to suggest that a guy has scored a lot of runs at number 8 so he should stay at number 8. I think most people would probably say he deserves the chance to bat higher than 8 because it restricts his potential. Whether he should be opening is another question but I think Moeen's future as a Test Player will ultimately be as a batsman who bowls a bit so having him at Number 8 will eventually become a luxury (when we finally produce a half decent spinner) - for his own sake he needs to prove he can bat higher. Well, the series has started, so we`ll see if Moeen can make a fist of his new role. We`ll have to agree to disagree on the advisability of moving players away from where they are successful. On the paucity of openers available to England; it`s a shame that Adam Lyth struggles against spin. And pace. And movement off the seam or in the air. Apart from that, he looked ok.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 12, 2015 7:14:09 GMT
I'm sure Moeen will open. You're right that he flashes outside off too much to suggest he'll succeed against the new ball but I think he's confident enough to play his natural game which should help. The fact he gets in the team as a bowler right now takes some of the pressure off him so fingers crossed. The other issue that I think England should address is who keeps. They obviously see something in Buttler but I don't think he can spin in first class cricket. Lyon had him on toast last summer. I think Bairstow is a better keeper too. I also think Taylor is one of our better players of spin and would add some grit to our otherwise aggressive middle order. I think Taylor should play regardless and I also think that on balance, I'd pick Bairstow and 6 and stokes at 7. On paper it should be a close series but I agree with Irish. I can't see anything other than 3-0 to the hosts. I don't think our spinners offer enough control, I don't think cook captains spin well and I don't think we'll score enough runs. The keeper question is interesting. With spin likely to prove critical they may well go with the guy they judge best with the gloves. I'd also like them to find a way of bringing Taylor back into the fold.
We'll see how it goes with Moeen. I suppose on one hand they don't really have anything to lose by giving him a go. No? How about the important runs that he`s scored for us, batting lower down the order? We`ll lose them. We`ve tried this, haven`t we? Took Joe Root away from a position where he scored hundreds of runs, and stuck him in as an opener. Then, when it didn`t work, they dropped him. And now you want to do it with Moeen. Little wonder, you think we`re going to lose three nil.
|
|
|
Post by Bernard Briggs on Oct 9, 2015 8:41:02 GMT
According to the BBC website this morning, Pakistan A are 192/12 in their first innings. Surely, the match referee needs to look into this.
|
|