Things that matter

[MajGenl.Meade]

Psst! Hey LJ! Just between us.... I really did think he meant the Philadelphia Eagles.... keep it quiet though.

[Gob]

In other news that matters, the Boks just ground the Wallabies into Big Macs in Brisbane -

I was going to start a topic on this, but seeing as you've posted it here...

Dear God, what do you feed those buggers on? Huge bastards, the Wallabie were running into a brick wall in every phase!!

[MajGenl.Meade]

They eat Wallabies..... tried All Blacks but that was ruled out of order some years ago.

It appeared to me that your (adopted) lot were just out of sorts. Team play was limited to a few flashes of creativity but handling was quite poor although some scrums went well for the Oz-mob. The desperation factor though - that was more pertinent, I think. In the second half the Aussies came out much stronger and with clearer ideas but their (ihcreasing) lack of result began to play on their nerves. What that allowed was for a couple of game-breaking strikes by the Boks in counter-attacking mode. Neither team made anything much of the maul though, I'm sorry to say.

Man, there were some awesome clean-outs though, on both sides. But you're right - there were more bleeding Wallabies out there than Boks.

Most enjoyable game - much better than watching Argentina get their arses handed to them

Meade

[Gob]

I have to agree Meade, both sides also lacked discipline in the ruck, and Aus got stuffed every time they run with the ball.
Now back to things more pleasant.

Second One-day international, Emirates Old Trafford:

Australia 315-7 (50 overs) beat England 227 (44.2 overs) by 88 runs


Michael Clarke scored a century as Australia beat England by 88 runs in the second one-day international to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.

After Friday's opening match was washed out, the visiting skipper's 105 from 102 balls helped his side to 315-7.

George Bailey supported Clarke with 82 off 67 balls to hand Australia a best ODI score against England in the UK.

Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler made fifties but the hosts were dismissed for 227 with 5.4 overs left.

England named a strong batting line-up with Ben Stokes at number eight but were arguably a bowler light, relying on Ravi Bopara and Joe Root to deliver 12 overs.

[MajGenl.Meade]

"More pleasant"? Buttocks! It was simply dreadful watching the wickets fall for almost nothing! Australian bowling was excellent in the beginning before a spirited mid-rank stand left a ray of light for England (er.... OK not so much a ray as a particle, a wave) but even at its worst, the Oz attack was quite outstanding. All that Ashes ra-ra will certainly wear off and Australia should be very encouraged for November. I think England are going to find antipodean wickets to be a bit harsher than their little hearts desire!

Meade

[Lord Jim]

[oldr_n_wsr]

Hey Gob (and all you cricket people) I was watching the TV show "How it's Made" and they had a segment on how a cricket ball is made. I actually watched the episode and didn't fall asleep.

[Gob]

Well done you!!

[Lord Jim]

they had a segment on how a cricket ball is made. I actually watched the episode and didn't fall asleep.

Hey, I'll bet even I could do that...

I'm sure that a documentary about how a cricket ball is made has to be way more exciting then the actual game itself...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Paul Sinha says (after showing that the UK is #10 in the world's most obese nations while Australia is 6th..... he does also point out that we should not be "fooled by those photographs of bronzed, toned physical perfection that Australia likes to present to you – those are not Australians. They’re New Zealanders who needed the money"

Never let it be forgotten that Britain invented sport.

Not all sports, obviously. Just the ones that matter. And even the ones we didn’t invent, we made them better. I mean, take wrestling. Yeah the ancient Greeks may have included wrestling contests in the Olympics, but it took the genius of Britain to look at the sport and realise that a 26 stone middle aged man in his underpants and calls himself ‘Big Daddy’ could absolutely be a positive role model. And the ones we did invent spawned other sports – without cricket and rounders there’d be no baseball; without hockey there’d be no ice hockey; and without football and rugby there’d be no American football and no Australian rules football, which is like rugby but played by statistically fatter men. No, Britain rules sport. It’s official. It became official during last year’s extraordinary Olympics and Paralympics with its motto – “Inspire a generation”. The fact it didn’t actually inspire any of us to do something about our semi-permanent sloth doesn’t take anything away from the event. Like you I was inspired by the athletics – as a massive track and field fan I cannot tell you the degree to which the middle Saturday, dubbed “Super Saturday”, was like a quasi religious experience for me. Something changed that day. Finally Britain woke up to the fact that we are really good at sport.

The Home Office took notice. Their 2012 Citizenship guide barely mentioned sport apart from the following practise question: ‘What does the abbreviation F.A. stand for?” I think we can all agree that to be British is to know that there’s more than one possible answer to that question! By contrast the new 2013 guide has six pages devoted to sport, full of wonderful insight like ‘Cricket is now played in many countries. There are several sports which are particularly popular in the UK. There are racecourses all over the UK.’ Come on Home Office. You’re meant to be encouraging a sense of national pride not boring them into submission. Inspire people with our glorious sporting heritage. For instance, cricket is one of the greatest sports on the planet. However, the last time a game in England was the famous summer of 1976 and the sport is now so corrupt that I just got 2,000 pounds from an Indian bookmaker for using the phrase ‘the famous summer of 1976’. But here is the good news – if you get really good at cricket, like really good, then you don’t need to do the Citizenship test – get your pads on; you’re playing for England now.

[Gob]

Football – The rules as we know them today were established in 1848 at Cambridge University, Sheffield F.C. is acknowledged by The Football Association and FIFA as the world's first and oldest football club.
Rugby – William Webb Ellis
Cricket – the world's second-most popular sport can be traced back to the 13th century
Bowling machine (for cricket) and predecessor of the pitching machine first invented by Nicholas Felix (born 1804)
Baseball – A diary has been found which describes the game being played by a teenager in Guildford in 1755 before it was recorded as being played in the US in the 1790s.
Tennis – widely known to have originated in England.
Boxing – England played a key role in the evolution of modern boxing. Boxing was first accepted as an Olympic sport in Ancient Greece in 688 BC
Ice Hockey – a variant of Field Hockey invented by British soldiers based in Canada.
Darts – a traditional pub game, the numbering layout was devised by Brian Gamlin
Table-Tennis – was invented on the dinner tables of Britain as an indoor version of tennis
Snooker – Invented by the British Army in India
Ping pong – The game has its origins in England, in the 1880s
Bowls – has been traced to 13th century England
Field hockey – the modern game grew from English public schools in the early 19th century
Netball – the sport emerged from early versions of women's basketball, at Madame Österberg's College in England during the late 1890s.
Rounders – the game originates in England most likely from an older game known as stool ball
Thoroughbred Horseracing – Was first developed in 17th and 18th century England
Polo – its roots began in Persia as a training game for cavalry units, the formal codification of the rules of modern Polo as a sport were established in 19th century England
The format of Modern Olympics – William Penny Brookes
Modern Rock Climbing – Walter Parry Haskett Smith (1859–1946) is considered the Father of Rock Climbing.
The first Paralympic games competition were held in England in 1948 – Ludwig Guttmann
oldest rowing competition in existence and oldest rowing race in the world: Doggett's Coat and Badge annual race on the Thames since 1715
oldest sporting competition in the world still running: the Kiplingcotes Derby (horse-racing), held each year in the town of South Dalton, near Hull and run annually without a break since 1519The oldest non-horse competition in England is the Ancient Silver Arrow Archery competition known as the Scorton Arrow as it was originally held in Scorton, Yorkshire. It was first shot for in 1673.

[Lord Jim]

without cricket and rounders there’d be no baseball;

Yes, just as without this:



There'd be no:



And without this:



There'd be no:



And without this:



There'd be no:




It's called progress...

Taking something basic and primitive and improving it....

[Gob]

Bummer!!

Third one-day international, Edgbaston:

England 59-3 (15.1 overs) v Australia - Match abandoned



Rain ended the third one-day international between England and Australia after 15.1 overs at Edgbaston.

In the play that was possible, England slipped to 59-3, with Michael Carberry, Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root dismissed.

Australia lead the five-match series 1-0 after victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The fourth match takes place at Cardiff on Saturday, with the series concluding in Southampton on Monday.

[Gob]

Whooo hooo!!

All down to the last match....

Fourth one-day international, Swalec Stadium, Cardiff:

England 231-7 beat Australia 227 by three wickets



Jos Buttler hit 65 not out off 48 balls to steer England to victory over Australia with three balls to spare and level the one-day series at 1-1.

Clint McKay's hat-trick had England - chasing 228 to win - reeling on 8-3.

But a 108-run stand between Michael Carberry (63) and Eoin Morgan (53) revived them before Buttler finished it with a six and a four in the last over.

Australia had lost their last five wickets for 18 runs to fall to 227 all out, with James Tredwell taking 3-53.

The five-match series will now go to a decider in Southampton on Monday.

[Lord Jim]

[Lord Jim]

the last match....

Best news yet!!

[MajGenl.Meade]

A very exciting match Gob. When the hat trick went down it looked all over but it ain't over until LJ sings (as any fule no). With 7 to win from 6 balls it was such a relief that the Buttmeister was on strike and he took care of business with two sensational swings of the bat. Monday should be great!

...and in even better news, Spurs beat Norwich 2-0 to prove (in four games) that they could actually score goals from elsewhere than the penalty spot. But on the down side, the Boks (and the game of rugby) were taken apart by the sad-sack French referee. Oh the All Blacks a bit, I suppose

Meade

[Gob]

I had intended to stay up and watch some of the match, esp when Clarke went after a difficult call from the umpire. But I wa sin bed by 9.00 pm. Again.

I wonder if it would have been such a good match if England had lost the toss?

The last match should be a cracker.

[MajGenl.Meade]

But I wa sin bed by 9.00 pm. Again.

I hope The Hen is not aware of your repeated nocturnal activity in Western Australia? She'll give you H E double hockey sticks when you get back!

[Gob]

Just watched the last overs, not a good display from England.

Bummer, Aus win the series 2-1.