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Roar Rookie
Joined October 2019
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Cricket and Manchester United
Published
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I click over to another tab on my browser and there is a sense of inevitably when I see Marnus Labuschange raising his bat once again, the various voices of the commentary team assuring me it was a well-built and determined innings.
From the first time I watched cricket I wanted to be a fast bowler.
The victorious side in a game of cricket is usually the one that executes its plans best. Occasionally something weird happens, these days that seems to be Ben Stokes, but most of the time cricket is a game of plans and execution.
Steven Smith is on the ground. He fell while flashing his bat quickly, very wide outside off.
“Quotas kill quality,” began one comment on an article about South Africa’s dismal performance in India – a three-nil series loss, including two innings defeats.
Recently, India completed their eleventh straight home Test series win, a streak going all the way back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013.
The cricket writer and Marxist historian C.L.R. James saw, in the history of West Indies cricket, the social and political history of the West Indies.
Great article, Dan. Our sporting history and social history are inextricably linked.
Time for sport to realise climate change is its fight, too
My issue is that the title sets the tone, so everything written is understood through that prism. There’s clearly nothing pious or lecturing in the body of the article, but the title can easily cast that shadow
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
Thank you, Isaac. If I wanted to write an inflammatory article I easily could have. But it wouldn’t have been how I felt in this context. It’s more a lament than anything. It will probably be less on the nose tomorrow when the smoke is back, if things go as forecast.
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
I didn’t do any of that. Read it again. It is only about how I ended up not watching any cricket because of this crisis. One of the final paragraphs: “I didn’t choose to not watch the cricket, and I’m not saying I’m great or special for not doing so. It’s just that for the first time I didn’t feel that urge, and I’m certain there were many others.”
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
The same Abbott who says we are in the grip of a “climate cult”, and our tinder box of a country is a natural state? Good on him for getting on the front lines in the past, but now he’s not standing for election in the next three years where is he?
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
Cheers, Paul. Many thinking I’m saying, “how dare you enjoy life!” When I’m not at all
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
Editors didn’t touch the body, just the title. But the title sets the tone before you read anything else. A better title would have been “I didn’t watch the cricket today”
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
I also wrote, “There’s nothing wrong with escaping from the bad into a pleasurable pastime. In times of tragedy and crisis, people gather for small moments and sometimes find themselves forgetting before reality brutishly sets in.”
And, “I didn’t choose to not watch the cricket, and I’m not saying I’m great or special for not doing so. It’s just that for the first time I didn’t feel that urge, and I’m certain there were many others.”
That’s what this article is about, really, just that these are truly exceptional circumstances and i just didn’t feel like watching cricket. For me that is a very strange feeling and made me very uncomfortable when i did switch over. Not saying I’m better, not saying I’m more empathetic. Just saying I feel strange, my philosophy is that sport does not exist outside of society, and those who write about it should do so in a way that documents both sporting achievement and social history. That is what I endeavoured to do. Cheers.
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
Thank you, Isaac. That’s all this article is, the current events are so exceptional that they disturbed a connection I held and had supposed was immune from disturbance. No judgements on any others, not announcing a boycott, not saying those who watched every ball are bastards. I even explicitly state I didn’t make a conscious to not watch, it just ended up happening because there was something more important. It’s just a method of documenting our nation’s history through the lens of our nation’s sport.
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
All good, Jeff, the title makes it seem a bit pious
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
As I said in my earlier comment, the title (not mine) has had a distorting effect. The final paragraphs make clear I made no conscious decision, particularly as a form of protest or the like, to not the watch the cricket today. I just didn’t have the same urge as I have always had.
“I didn’t choose to not watch the cricket, and I’m not saying I’m great or special for not doing so. It’s just that for the first time I didn’t feel that urge, and I’m certain there were many others.”
As for why I wrote it, I think it’s consistent with the way I have written many of my articles. Watching cricket through a social lens as well as a sporting one, that our sport and games are not just isolated events but an important part of our social history. And again, it was not my intention to say I have chosen to not watch the cricket as a protest or anything like that. It’s about that urge and desire falling away in light of events
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
I think the title (not mine) has changed the intention behind the article. “I didn’t choose to not watch the cricket, and I’m not saying I’m great or special for not doing so. It’s just that for the first time I didn’t feel that urge, and I’m certain there were many others.”
I wasn’t trying to say no one should watch or that it was bad to watch, neither did I make a conscious decision to not watch. It’s more about that urge that has always been with me leaving because of these horrible events
Why I'm not watching the cricket today
Was born 93 for reference. Doesn’t excuse taking money from a bookie or taking performance enhancers
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Obviously the YouTube reference was from when I was when I was teenager, not in 2000. Warne never did it for me, he was brilliant, but he was also arrogant and dishonest
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
I spent many hours replicating that forward defensive 😂
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Yeah, longer. Was having a bit of fun ragging on the spinners, but I do think quicks get a bad rap. McGrath, Gillespie, Holding, Anderson, Pollock; all show how well they understand and read the game very intelligently. As I said, Tait doesn’t get the respect he deserves for his intelligence.
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Adams was a very good bat, though didn’t have the best series I think. Could be wrong. The 04 India tour was dizzy at his best, but for a single display that 7 for is tops
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
As a fast bowler, and having spoken to spinners, this is one of the most pervasive and innacurate myths going rounf
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Definitely, holder is a brilliant cricketer and talismanic leader
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Bit hard on the spinners I know. I have a greater appreciation for them now, but as a kid I could never get it
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
Two knee reconstructions later and there is a definite creak
An ode to Jason Gillespie, the bowler’s bowler
I don’t think it’s unconscious at all, just blatant favouritism. Walks back in to the Test side in England, in what was basically an elaborate PR move, after having not spent any time working on his cricket. The technical issues that existed in his game before the ban are still there, yet he seemingly he refuses to work on them and still gets in. You could be forgiven for thinking Bancroft was a cousin of the Marshes
Is Justin Langer holding Cameron Bancroft’s spot open? Part 2
The NSW bowling coach Andre Adams works brilliantly with Starc and the other quicks, hopefully he’ll find a spot in the national set up soon
Australia's Test attack looks ominous
I know Marsh’s returns this summer are strong so far but he has been consistently disappointing at test level. Though I will admit to an instinctive aversion to the Marsh family (quite justified at this point, I believe).
Five-way battle for two Test batting spots
Dan, you are my new favourite sports writer 😂
Time for sport to realise climate change is its fight, too