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saintlymark

Listed below are comments made by saintlymark between Monday, 3rd August 2009 and Tuesday, 13th October 2009.

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Tennessee hit troubling times 5:31pm on 13 Oct 2009 The interesting thing for Tennessee could be who they can get in the draft. It seems to me that if they don't improve and get an early draft pick, the whole franchise has a tough choice to make. It could be the best time to nudge Fisher, Young etc out and start from scratch, alternatively it might be best to hold on to Fisher during the first stages of rebuilding and take it from there.
Back from the brink - Southampton think big 4:15pm on 03 Oct 2009 A few things worth bearing in mind with regards to Saints tepid start to the season- given the off season issues, the Saints pre season preparations really didn't begin until a month after everyone else. Wotte did a brave job keeping the playing ship steady, but now there is more of a long term plan in operation, one feels in both a business and playing sense. The slow results may have a lot to do with that. I wonder if maybe we might come up on the rails late and squeek into the playoffs, from which position anything might be possible.

I think the new ownership seem very clued up. Liebherr is a bit of a mystery figure, but the money has come into the club (unlike across the coast as P*censored*h.) and that side of things seems a lot more settled. Pardew has a good reputation in the lower leagues, and personally he seems like an inspired choice as manager. I understand the concerns about him from Charlton fans, but he did a good job at Reading, and West Ham. (I seem to remember the poor start which got him fired at West Ham had a lot to do with injuries??) But Pardew is used to clubs with limited budgets. Might take a couple of years for promotion, but I am confident it will come reasonably quickly, and once the clubs gets momentum going it will be worth keeping an eye on.
England one-day player ratings 5:55pm on 21 Sep 2009 I think Bopara needs to go back to Essex for a season and really figure his game out. Clearly he is a very talented player, but he's not geting the best out of himself. Shah I think might need casting out now. I think Trott would come in at number 3 or 4 and give a real sense of solidity. When was the last time the ODI team had any sense of solidity? In a perfect world my England XI for ODIs at the moment would be (given 0 injuries) Strauss, Denly, Trott, KP, Morgan/Joyce, Prior, Flintoff, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Sidebottom/Onions.
Vaughan joins Test Match Special 5:37pm on 18 Sep 2009 Great news of Vaughan. Good to see an England Captain not take blood money from sky!! I am sure Vaughan can develop into every bit as good an analyst of the game as Mike Atherton is on sky.

As for Blowers, my problem is the confusion he gets into. I can take the mistakes, its the just complete confusion he falls into all too regularly now. Maybe give him the old E W Swanton gig of summing the day up at the end, but other wise put him out to pasture, would be my advice.
President's back to school message 10:39pm on 08 Sep 2009 I am a little bit confused. Surely a President standing up and encouraging young kids to work hard and do their best is exactly the sort of thing a President should be doing. Even the controversial lesson idea about getting kids to write about how they could help the President, what is wrong with that?

The way the American right reacted to this whole thing tells you a lot about their mental state right now. The 'Country First' slogan from the McCain campaign has very quickly been forgotten. Now it seems everything the Republican Party and its followers do is calculated precisely to damage the President. Even when he stands up to encourage young people to work hard, and that people out there do care about them, he is shot down. It really is quite pathetic.
Ramps for The Oval? 00:39am on 13 Aug 2009 AdrianKent, I remember the 80s, trust me consistency in selection is way better than just thumbing through the yellow pages.

I am not in favour of picking Ramprakash for the Oval. Key I think you can make a good case for, but Ramps hasn't been near the selectors thoughts for what, 6 or 7 years at least. I think to go back to him would give the Aussies an enormous psychological lift. It would show English cricket in absolute panic. I have to say this is one selection that leaves me pleased I am not a selector. Sometimes 11 places doesn't seem to be enough places for everyone you want to pick, I think this time the selectors may be scratching their heads for 11 players!!

I think after the Oval, England need to make one of those period leaps into the future English cricket makes. (think 1989-90 or 1999-2000, come to think of it it does seem to be every ten years!) Time to cast around for a nucleus of guys to take English cricket forward. I am kind of thinking 1 more chance for Bell at the Oval, then out on your backside for good, if he doesn't score big. Bopara should be left out at the Oval, but told there and then that he will be picked to tour South Africa. Then the search is on for other new guys, Denley and Hildreth are two names that spring to mind.
England v Australia Fourth Test player ratings 7:36pm on 09 Aug 2009 Surely there isn't an England player, maybe save Broad, Prior (who I personally think is begining to reach upto Pieterson and Flintoff levels of importance), and Swann, and perhaps Cook I suppose, who turned up enough at this game to deserve any kind of mark. Truly abject performances from most of the team. Am totally left cold by all of England's middle order at the moment. Bell seems to me to have been found out at test level, will probably play at the Oval I guess, but I would question his long term value to England if he doesn't produce an innings of worth at the Oval. Bopara I think has long term value, but I would question his value at the Oval. Key has been the kind of person who can come in at short notice and perform (I am thinking of his big innings a whole back against the West Indies at Lords there). Collingwood, long term is a concern for me. This series has been somewhat typical to me, a couple of good performances early, then tailing off.

Personally I would hope that come South Africa, England will push the boat out and pick a few new names for the future going forward. Throw a few guys like Denly and maybe Ed Joyce or Trott or Carberry in to the mix. Obviously KP will be coming back at some point, but personally I think its time to totally rework the top order. My long term preference would be KP at 3, though if Denly were to work out, he might be a decent bet at 3, given KPs stated preference not to bat at 3.
Lily for Leeds? 12:49pm on 06 Aug 2009 Sory, buit how exactly is Henry Blofeld, and his inability to understand the finer points of the game, like em the score, dumming up TMS?

Lets not be snobs about all of this. Phil Tufnell is as insightful a commentator as anyone else. And at least we don't have Fred Trueman constantly not being able to understand what is going off out there anymore.

If where and when standards are threatened, thats one thing. But Adam Mountford did was make a slight joke about a pop star mentioning TMS on her twitter, and the guy is being crucified. GET A GRIP PEOPLE. TMS has been as good as it ever has been this year. (Personally I would prefer a little less Boycott but whatever, I am prepared to put up with it for the odd half hour spell here and there!)
Lily for Leeds? 10:14pm on 05 Aug 2009 Matt Hayden, like a lot of that legendary team, actually turns out to be a nice guy! Who'd have thought! I think its fascinating listening to the likes of Boycs jousting with Hayden over the game. Just goes to show (and say this quietly in Boycott's company) there are many many succesful ways to approach the great game of test cricket.
Broad's Ashes spot no longer secure 8:47pm on 03 Aug 2009 I felt that England needed to make Watson play a bit more early on. In both innings the opening bowlers were a little wide of the mark to Watson. I'm not quite sure what to do about Broad. In some senses, never mind what Dominic Cork says, his lower end runs are very very useful, especially with a top 5 that is still a bit fragile.

I do think that the story of the series at the moment is a good bowling attack and weak batting line up (England) vs a good batting line up and a weak bowling attack (Australia). I think Headingley could be an interesting game, I think if its a good batting wicket that favors Australia, but if we could manufacture a good old fashioned Headingley seamers wicket, England are favourites to take a winning lead in the series!

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