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Joined August 2014
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In the buildup to the World Cup semi-final between India and Australia, two friends describe their similar journeys to opposing perspectives. Like so many,…
Blasphemy, Vas!
But fair point. You’ve only ever cited a few players above Tendulkar in your thinking (not that I agreed). But I never let facts get in the way of a good story 🙂
A tale of two countries: Bleeding Blue
Thanks mate. Should be a cracker either way.
And incidentally, I’m really liking the current NZ team. If they were to pull off a win in the final, it’d be a real feel good story. A team that haven’t been particularly strong in the last 20 years, some veterans and some superb young guys coming through the ranks from the 2008 U19 world cup, forging working partnerships and delivering some solid performances. Eg. Southee and Boult.
I can’t say I’d be happy if this were to happen, but objectively speaking, it’d be pretty great.
A tale of two countries: Bleeding Blue
Cheers Will.
And I won’t be in that position because India’s obviously going to make it to the final, right? 😉
But seriously, if Aus get through, I’ll definitely sport the green and gold. I support our boys against everyone bar India.
A tale of two countries: Bleeding Blue
Thanks AZ. Glad to see others like yourself have a similar view.
I’m certainly in the same boat: culturally much closer to Australian, but somehow feel closer to India in cricketing terms. It’s odd being an immigrant, not really enough of either culture for others to genuinely see you as representative of that culture.
Certainly nervous about tomorrow too. Above all, I’m hoping for a tight contest and some quality on-field battles. But given the history between our teams, there may be some extra aggro!
A tale of two countries: Bleeding Blue
Agreed. 298 is a bit soft in the context of the batting friendly contests we’ve been having this tournament. As I mentioned earlier, having wickets and overs in hand towards the end of the innings is worth a ton more now than it ever was.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
To clarify that, the resources available *when the rain delay occurs* are important. ie. SA would be in worse shape had they already lost several wickets.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Actually, I believe the resources only matter when rain affects proceedings.
Assuming SA get through the rest of the innings without further delay, the wickets won’t matter. Only the runs on the board.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
That’s one of the questions around DL for me. I have no qualms with the philosophy of the method (resources = wickets + overs, etc), but how adaptive are the numbers?
eg. This cup has been a batting paradise. SA have averaged a RR of 12 in the last 15 overs this tournament. The value of resources in terms of potential runs scored is a lot greater than it has previously been.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the DL method doesn’t account for this – it looks at a bunch of past data to determine how valuable these reources are.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Screw that. Instead, let’s have each of the knockout games be a five game series. Then it’s more statistically significant!
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Yup, no argument there. Just pointing out an odd potential scenario. It’d require a whole lot of events to line up to create that situation in the first place.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Fair point. And of course a result today is preferable.
But the uncomfortable thing about DL is that it’s irreversible. ie. once you’ve set a revised target you can’t go “we have time now, let’s go back to a full game”
I don’t have a better solution, but that scenario just seems weird to me.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Here’s a scenario that confuses me.
Say we get a reduced over game today, due to one or more rain delays, and NZ have a revised total. We then get a final rain delay which causes play to be abandoned and the game to be postponed to tomorrow.
We now have a full day to play in, and a heavily reduced number of overs.
I would much rather see the game spill into tomorrow before we start reducing overs and setting successive DL targets after each delay.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
While I mostly agree, I’d much rather have this Shane than Channel 9 Shane. The boofhead factor increases tenfold on Ch9.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Playing “Four Seasons in one Day” during the rain delay.
Someone in Auckland has a sense of humour.
[VIDEO] New Zealand vs South Africa highlights: Cricket World Cup scores, blog
Who decided to put JOHNSON on Ronaldo…?
[VIDEO] Liverpool vs Real Madrid highlights: Champions League scores, blog
I’m concerned by Toure warming up on the sideline. If Skrtel is injured, I’d much rather leave a gaping hole than have Kolo there…
[VIDEO] Liverpool vs Everton highlights: EPL scores, blog
I think Balotelli’s haircut will aid his performance in the air.
Tipping a headed goal from a corner (as long as he uses the Liverbird side).
[VIDEO] Liverpool vs Everton highlights: EPL scores, blog
Balotelli’s definitely leading in terms of his choice of footwear. One pink, one blue? Pretty stylish!
[VIDEO] Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool: EPL highlights, scores, blog
And disagree on the Laxman front. He made India believe they could beat Australia. He was a superstar against Aus, but regressed to the mean a bit against the rest. He was a quality player, and you of all people know how much I like to bring up that Kolkata test, but he didn’t have the same global impact.
As for Steve, a much better captain than batsman. Nothing but respect for him. But i doubt I’ll convince you on this front.
Tendulkar’s elevation above the rest, in my opinion, is based on his batting style, and the glowing words of Sir Don himself.
A tale of two countries: Bleeding Blue