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The Roar

Paddy Briggs

Roar Rookie

Joined February 2009

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Good article. I was only 2 when the Don retired so I never saw him – until, that is, I went to the Bradman museum in Adelaide and watched some grainy monochrome film of him batting. All of his shots have been played by other people – including a lovely on drive that is just like Kevin Pietersen (really!). But I have never in more than 50 years of cricket watching seen anyone who played ALL the shots as Bradman did. Cover drive like Cowdrey or Mark Waugh. Hook like Ponting (when he’s hooking) defence like Lawry etc. etc. That suggested to me that Brandman was unique – and his record, whatever you say, supports that view.

Exploding the Bradman myth

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Cricket
 
2009

Spiro

I was at the match and it didn’t look quite so bad live at the ground. But when I watched it again on tape I realised what a truly dire match it was. Italy got better once they had a scrum half but England seemed to have no plan at all. Perhaps they lacked confidence? Perhaps having been gifted tries and an obvious win they lost interest. Who knows? If they beat Wales on Saturday it will be the biggest rugby surprise since England beat Australia and France beat the All Blacks on one glorious day during the last World Cup!

England play plodding, negative Six Nations rugby

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Rugby
 
2009

matta

I haven’t played since 1970 when my new wife was banned from the launderette because my filthy kit buggered up their machines! But I’ve not missed many international matches involving England since either at the ground or on TV and I stick by my view that Rugby is a 15 a side not a 22 a side game – or should be. Good point re the ELVs – which suggests that they need a hard re-examination. In the World Cup final in 2003 (to pick a game at random) England did not put a replacement on the field until the 78th minute – although three more did come on in extra time. It was fifteen man rugby and it worked…

Is rugby now a 22 man team game?

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Rugby
 
2009

Daniel

If Bill Frindall and other cricket statisticians and historians, such as myself, are not the guardians of the integrity of cricket records then who is? Actually the ICC does nominally take advice from the Association of “Cricket Statisticians and Historians” (ACS) and the advice that they received was that the multinational fripperies in Australia in 2005 could in no way be regarded as official international encounters. The ICC chose to ignore this advice. They were wrong and no amount of “They are in charge” pleading about the ineffable ICC will change that. In time the records will be changed and Bill will be proved right. But it is nonsense to say that he was just a “stats man there to record the play”. That denigrates his knowledge and his intelligence and is an insult to the memory of a fine man.

Farewell Bill Frindall, defender of cricket's integrity

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Cricket
 
2009

Many thanks to all who have commented on my original article. I never, ever believed in the ICC’s ambition to spread the game far and wide. I agree with Spiro that cricket is a boutique sport which means, as I said, that it will continue to be confined to those nations who took up the game during Britain’s imperial past. It will also be played keenly in other countries like Holland and the US as a minority and amateur sport – but we will not see any nation breaking through to international level. Remember that professional cricket is confined to the ten full members of the ICC and there is little or no prospect of any other country joining this list. I don’t particularly object to this status quo – but I do object to the ICC frittering away money on daft attempts to make cricket a world game!

The globalisation of cricket is an illusion

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Cricket
 
2009
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