Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

yuppie wrote:For those interested

So if I have this correct, the HRW think denying sport participation to people is a human rights abuse, so their conclusion is its necessary to commit a human rights abuse against the Afghanistan male team... in order to safeguard human rights Errrr.... what?

Let's be honest here, there is a duplicity to this argument that makes no sense. An argument is being presented that Australia is both right to deny playing Afghanistan, at the same time it is being celebrated in its attempts to back their ladies team in continuing to play on an international level. The ONLY difference is the gender of the teams.... call me dumb, but treating two different teams unequally on the basis of gender is the literal pure definition of sexism. To do that purely on the defence of protecting gender inequality is one of the dimmest things I have ever heard. If you think its bad to play Afghanistan, then any argument applies to both gendered teams - there is no justification for treating it anyway.

Does anyone else think the calendar is ridiculously frantic at the moment, even by modern standards?

England were in Pakistan, South Africa in Australia, New Zealand in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in India just a few weeks ago, now England in South Africa, New Zealand in India, then New Zealand are going home to play England while Australia go to India, while West Indies go from Zimbabwe to South Africa, then England go to Bangladesh from NZ and, Sri Lanka go to New Zealand then New Zealand go back to Pakistan . It's like a game of musical chairs.

Australia's players, who've had nothing but 3-4 BBL games each in a month are expected to go straight to India and launch into the first test with no warm-up. India are already next to impossible to beat at home, but if anyone stands a chance at the moment it would be Australia, if they were on top of their game. Hard to imagine they will be under those circumstances.

Isn't this the way ahead. Fractured set ups with different squads running continuously?

ah, well..... they've got to cram these series in before the whole world stops for the IPL.

Certainly "busy" at the moment. I do think a few of these series have to do with replacement of previous visits that were cancelled due to Covid issues over the last couple of years ? So perhaps things will settle down a little now.

But obviously scheduling is tricky these days with the ever-expanding franchise league universe making considerable periods of the year rather difficult for national teams. It is not just the IPL siphoning off talent now : imagine we will see a bit of rationalization eventually but might take a while...

Dropped catches by Charles Davis

http://www.sportstats.com.au/bloghome.html

England must make sure they don't drop Labuschagne

Some improvement by England there

Durhamfootman wrote:Some improvement by England there

That's due to Root no longer being captain. Can't remember him dropping anything since.

Durhamfootman wrote:Some improvement by England there

England start catching stuff and start winning games. Who'd have thought?

In what is one of the more bizarre cricket related news stories I've seen in a while, Stuart MacGill has been arrested for cocaine dealing....

Didn't Chris Lewis go down for something similar?

Or Dermot Reeve...

...no Reeve was just personal use. Lewis was for smuggling coke. So I guess worse than Stuey, if he did it.

Yeah, Reeve just loved a bit of powder. Got sacked from Channel 4 after admitting he was hoovering lines during commentary stints on TV.... and yet, still managed to sound infinitely more together than Mark Nicholas.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:...no Reeve was just personal use. Lewis was for smuggling coke. So I guess worse than Stuey, if he did it.

In my personal opinion, I think the penalities for smuggling drugs in that way are incredibly harsh, because the type of person who accepts to carry 3kg of cocaine in their luggage through an airport is not exactly a criminal mastermind , more often than not under some form of extreme duress, and a certain level of vulnerability or desperation is required to even consider it. Sending Lewis to prison for 15 years wouldnt even register any form of minor blip on the operations of some high level gangster dealers. Probably controversial to some, but I would be inclined to give people in that situation very light token sentences. Similar sentences to rapists and murderers is somewhat insane to me, considering the context.

Lewis' story was somewhat tragic. Bumble and Nasser once said in 1999 for the WC, he was one of the first names on the team sheet, but Graveney had beef with Lewis and singled him out unfairly for a few very minor disciplinary instances (like turning up for training 5 minutes late a couple of times). His career for England ended abruptly, then his career in CC also ended in his early 30s. He had no other skills or education, so sort of became a nomad wandering around odd jobs and stuff. Lewis then said when T20 cricket came about, he invested all of his life savings into going away and getting fit, wanting to make a comeback.... then having got himself into the position of being offered a contract, got a bad injury and the contract offer was withdrawn.... he had put everything he had into it, so was left broke. And then an opportunity to make a quick buck presented itself, and he stupidly took it. I think now he works with cricketers in the first class game to teach them about planning their lives after the game, which I think was a good thing for the PCA to have done. I wish him well after his prison sentence.

MacGill is different. He was always the most middle class cricketer ever, the Aussie's back in the day used to ridiculue him for being so. He went to University and has a degree in wine making. I think he came from a bit of money. He had a career to fall back on..... I have far less sympathy with someone with options choosing crime as an option, rather than someone who has no options choosing it as a last resort

I guess there will be a lot of that generation of sports people that might have similar stories. Back in the 90s, I guess cricket didn't pay that well. You dedicate all of your youth and a large portion of adulthood doing what you love or are good at, but it eventually ends. Nowadays, one year in the national team on a central contract gives you enough money in the bank if you are wize, to ride out a lot of bad years. Back then, it wasnt that sort of life changing money.