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middle_stump

Listed below are comments made by middle_stump between Wednesday, 19th August 2009 and Friday, 1st January 2010.

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England player ratings for Durban 4:57pm on 01 Jan 2010 Plugmonkey (and others)

I did not suggest Bell should be dropped, in fact I was in full agreement with OB to award him 9 for this match. However, I firmly belive the hyperbole surrounding his innings from some here is misplaced because Bell will fail in his next tranche of innings only to save his skin with one decent knock. Oh and yes, stats tell the truth unless a batting average which sruggles to remain above 40 and an ICC world ranking of 33 signifies a quality player these days. Finally, your comparison of Bell to Graham Gooch is foolhardy to say the least. Chalk and cheese springs to mind. Bell's average has declined since debut, Gooch's increased, and Gooch dominated attacks and plundered runs for fun on the county circuit whilst not making the greatest progess at test level. Bell struggles to dominate at all levels.
England player ratings for Durban 6:12pm on 30 Dec 2009 Plugmonkey

If Bell is so great, why has he returned single figure scores 31 times out of 91 innings. Collingwood (who is supposed to have by far the worse technique) has scored 22 times in single figures in 95 innings. What of the 74 innings greenmakfro does not list? 14 over 50, with the other 60 of relative failure.

Whay does he so often look clueless like a startled rabbit at the crease?
Why has his average been in general decline since he started?
Why does he struggle to keep his average out of the 30s in a decade thats favoured batsmen?
Why does he seem to produce only when his career is on the line?

Like most here, I'm exacerbated by Bell because he's probably secured his place for the summer only to fail again in the next 4 or 5 test and then save his skin again with one decent knock. This guy fails more often than not.
England player ratings for Durban 4:39pm on 30 Dec 2009 Generally spot on, OB. I agree with 9s for Bell and Broad due to their key performances and very pleased to see you award Swann 10. This guy is fast becomming a destroyer with both bat and ball, and developing into a fantastic cricketer. Who would've thought an England spinner would rack up 50+ wickets in a single year. Wish I'd throw a ten spot on that down at Willy Hills. I also agree with 4 for Pietersen. I stuggle to understand where his head is these days. His reckelss batting during the summer was blamed upon injury, injury aggrevated by a bad call to play in the IPL. He now continues to throw away his wicket at crucial times instead of getting his head down. Let's hope 2009 was KP's annus horribilis and not the start of serious decline.
Wowed by F1's 'Arabian Las Vegas' 06:04am on 01 Nov 2009 @ 12 dubai-tractorboy:
Not wanting to take the shine off this marvellous venue, but the facts are that construction workers mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc receive just a few hundred dollars per month and safety standards are poor, which how this achievement has been pulled off. It would not be possible to construct such a venue in Europe, or North America due to much higher wages, labour law and most important safety regulations that are stringently applied rather than ignored. (By the way, I am currently working in construction in ME).
Will Wall Street slashers impress Main Street ? 08:58am on 22 Oct 2009 This is a fantastic move, only it doesn't go far enough as top executives should be axed, rather than suffering pay cuts. The US Administration must also ensure the companies in question do not find ways to pay salaries and bonuses 'through the back door' - some companies in the UK are doing this by way of loan notes, where they promise to pay bonuses at a later date, probably when they are not under scrutiny. Let's hope Brown can implement such measures in the UK.
Barnes gamble was doomed from the start 9:29pm on 09 Oct 2009 24. At 7:01pm on 09 Oct 2009, dhenry wrote:
hindsight always gives 20 20 vision-

What 'hindsight' ? The vast majority of TRFC supportes were appalled at the sacking of Moore after narowly missing the play-offs, and had little faith in Barnes when he WAS appointed. How is this 'hindsight'. A trip to the dictionary for you dhenry.
Cricket misses the point again 08:11am on 03 Sep 2009 Old Trafford, and UK test match grounds generally should be much better prepared to handle poor weather by protecting the strip and run-ups and then to conduct the necessary enabling work for play to begin in earnest. It is not just OT that has suffered, we have witnessed farcical events at all grounds at some stage in the past
The grounds need more specialized equipment and forward thinking. The ECB should provide a ‘weather Tsar‘, with terms of reference to ensure the latest equipment is purchased by each ground (through central funding) and to properly manage preparations for play and restarts in conjunction with the respective groundsmen.
Cricket is riddled by this type of debacle - bad light still stops play, umpires seem incapable of restarting games immediately after a break for inclement weather when the pitch is fit, or they trott off for lunch when they've only played 45 minutes out of 2 hrs and teams can deliberately throw away overs without too much fuss - all of which deprives the paying public.
The ECB, respective clubs and players need to wake up, or face further decline in the games popularity.
Ashes player ratings 09:10am on 27 Aug 2009 @ 4 hackerjack - some of those marks are questionable at best.

maybe hackerjack, but your marks and comments raise eyebrows even further, which are biased towards Pietersen and Collingwood and unfair to Strauss and Trott.

Struass 9 (bat 9.5/captaincy 8.5) – your mark 8/8
Head and shoulders above anybody else in England batting line up, and arguebaly his runs, more often than not setting up a first innings lead help England to those commanding positions were Australia had to chase or save the game.

Bopara 3 - your mark 4
He has failed yes but it's not entirely his fault. He was never a #3 and all too often came in under immense pressure at 1 for spare change.

He batted at 3 in the Caribbean, and chalked up 3 100’s so why is it not his fault. Such a low series average does not deserve 4 especially given his abject fielding - those dropped catches were awful and his bowling was fairly poor also.

Pietersen 6 - your mark 7
69, 8, 32, 44, an average of 38. Would be a decent average for most players in an Ashes series

Competely disagree. 38 is not a decent average in an Ashes series being way below (12 runs) his career average. Furthermore, the team has proven it can cope with Pietersen and let’s not forget his continuance to throw away his wicket and play preposterous shots completely at the wrong stages of a match. Some suggest movin him to 3, which would be disastrous as retaining Bopara.

Collingwood 5 – your mark 6
In fact for the frist 2 tests he looked one of our better performers. In the third it didnt matter anyway due to the rain, the fourth he was no worse than others. Unfairly castigated yet again.

He was not unfairly castigated. His batting in the last 3 tests was simply atrocious, showing the embarrassing flaws in his technique and his batting crumbled when it was needed the most. Also, there’s dropped catches to account for. A series batting average so far below his career average does not deserve 6/10

Prior 7.5 (Bat 7 / WK 8) - your mark 8 (Bat 6 / WK 8)
With the bat he did OK, nothing spectacular but as a part of that late order unit (with Flintoff, Broad and Swann) he too often had to subdue his own game due to failures above him.

How can 6 + 8 = 8 ? For the very reasons above I would rate his batting 7, as on many occasions it underpinned our final total. Arguably, without the late order runs we would have lost the series.

Bell 5 - your mark 6
Came in in difficult circumstances to replace KP and suffered rom the faiures of Cook and Bopara above him in the 3rd and 4th. His 72 for me shows that he can do it when needed but he really needs some help mentally to stop him letting the pressure get to his technique.

Disagree strongly. He has played 50 test, so why is it "difficult circumstances" - he shold be able to shoulder the responsibility after 50 matches and a string of high county scores. Very lucky not to be out for low single figure scores in his first innings knocks. Again, he couldn’t produce consistently (his 2nd innings score shows me he can’t do it) when under pressure. Enough is enough, Bell will not improve and if he’s retained we’ll be debating the same old again in 12 months time. It’s time for a new face.

Trott 9 - your mark 8
Sorry but I can't give a 9 for one game, as decent as he looked. He may be forged in SA but he has matured and developed immensely since coming to the UK, whether he would have done the same in his birthland we will never know. Looks solid on this performance, would he really want to play at #3

Ridiculous. Comes in under immense pressure, with the middle order in tatters and England needing to win the match to claim the Ashes. Then proceeds to notch up a century on debut to set the game up for victory. It’s a disgrace to mark the chap down.

Flintoff – 6.5 (Bowl 6 / Bat 5)
Hardy produced anything all series apart from one immense spell of bowling. Let’s mark Freddie on his actual contribution and not for sentimental reasons.

Broad 8.5
Clearly below the required standard in the first few tests, but seemed galvanised possibly by the witch hunt clamoring for his scalp and replied with a match winning display at the Oval and help to alleviate some of the embarrassment at Headingley with our match high score and a 6 wicket haul. If only a few other players had displayed the same vitriol.

Anderson – 6
Has serious problems, which were highlighted during the final matches. Seems able to take wickets on favourable pitches only and really struggles on every other occasion with inconsistency. Tries to do too much with each delivery and can’t produce a stock ball. Some work for Mr Gibson, I think.

All others the same
Strauss's England worthy winners 07:43am on 24 Aug 2009 @ 2 Seems to me that one of Collingwood, Bell or Bopara must miss out for South Africa.

Is it too early to suggest a squad?

Strauss, Cook, Bell, Bopara, Trott, Pietersen
Prior, Davies
Swann, Rashid, Panesar
Broad, Anderson, Onions, Sidebottom, Harmison
-----------

Not a bad effort I shudder though at the inclusion of Harmison, Bell and Panesar - especially Harmison, which I'm almost speachless.

Bell - decent knock first up, but another capitulation in the 2nd innings. Same old, same old. He'll disappoint and in 12 months we'll be back debating his position. Trott has proven there are talented batsmen around, so we don't need to pick from the 'recall club'.

We need cover at 1/2 so I'd go with one of Hildreth, Key, Carberry.

NO to Harmison. I'm aghast at this choice. A few late wickets and he's the messiah. Whatever next... arise Sir Steve - remember Headingley and wickets at 50 apiece in tests over the last 4 years doesn't deserve a place. He's well past it. Good-bye.

And no to Panesar. A handful of wickets at 70 odd this summer doesn't deserve a recall. Why should we reward failure? Give Rashid a chance and add an extra pace bowler.

I might be tempted with eiother Plunkett or Mahmood. Yes, shock, horror - both were cast into the test arena too early and unfairly and weren't shown the same linency as Broad when they bowled poorly. If a few years county cricker has taught line and lenght then they deserve supporting.

Chris Read is a better keeper than Davies and also Prior. He deserves a place as back-up to Prior after another good season with both bat and gloves, and moreover for being so harshly treated. Why wasn't he afforded the same chances as Bell, Strauss, Harmison et al? Probably beacause he wasn't part of 'the club.'

There should be no awards or knighthoods. Only 3/4 of the team played well, most of the others were passengers - Bell, Collingwood, Cook etc. Furthermore, we can't reward for the disgraceful performance at Headingley. The series was very entertaining and great to follow, but let's be honest quite a bit of the cricket was poor quality.
They think it's all Oval... 7:45pm on 19 Aug 2009 Thank you TMS, you're sure to make another 5 days of cricket misery enjoyable in a sort of twisted way. Let's all wake up. We're about to be pummelled. On a pitch that's favoured batting all season Australia are sure to rack up 600+. This time their batsmen, galvanised by Headingley, won't be out to silly shots - they'll stick around and cream the short of a length bowling to all corners of the ground. The England bowling, which has been wayward all series - our bowlers can't even produce a stock ball. Morelike laughing stock when short and wide Harmison and 10 wkts at 71 Panesar feature just to prove how Miller & Co are a joke and the selection policy a debacle. Oh, and then we'll be tortured with the same old Ian Bell performance. The nearly man, the might have been... captain of the cosey recall club. Never to perform but always rewarded for failure. The best outcome is another heavy defeat, then hopefully we can move forward without the likes of Bell, Harmison and Geoff Miller.

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