The most important event of 2015!!

[Lord Jim]

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Lord Jim]

[rubato]

"... Geoffrey Boycott, the former England opener and now BBC commentator, ... "

He HAS to run for office!


' Boycott, Boycott, Boycott! "


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

He didn't like to run. Block the wicket; play a straight back; stay at the crease for as many days as possible

[Gob]

England's miserable World Cup ended with a low-key nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Sydney.

After rain reduced England's target to 101 from 25 overs, Ian Bell made an unbeaten 52 to complete the chase with 41 balls to spare. Afghanistan had earlier been limited to 111-7 from 36.2 overs when the weather intervened for the third time. England finish fifth in Pool A having beaten only the Afghans and Scotland in their six matches. Winning just twice is England's joint-worst return from a World Cup, matching the 1996 tournament. On that occasion, they did at least make it to the quarter-finals.

[MajGenl.Meade]

England's miserable World Cup ended with a low-key nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Sydney.

After rain reduced England's target to 101 from 25 overs, Ian Bell made an unbeaten 52 to complete the chase with 41 balls to spare. Afghanistan had earlier been limited to 111-7 from 36.2 overs when the weather intervened for the third time. England finish fifth in Pool A having beaten only the Afghans and Scotland in their six matches. Winning just twice is England's joint-worst return from a World Cup, matching the 1996 tournament. On that occasion, they did at least make it to the quarter-finals.

Well at least we stopped the barbarians at the gates.

[Gob]

Aus vs Scotland up next, care for a little wager on the result?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Hard to say - can't see the hairy oafs doing much... and Scotland will be as bad

[Lord Jim]

"Hard to say - can't see the hairy oafs doing much... and Scotland will be as bad"

[Gob]

The Hobart weather that threatened to wash out Australia's match against Scotland, and severely complicate their pursuit of the World Cup title, eventually behaved for long enough for the home team to swat their way to victory on Saturday night.




Australia's choice to field first because of the adverse forecast proved a smart one as they needed only 25.4 overs to bowl out Scotland for 130. Mitch Starc was again the most influential, excelling at both ends of the visitors' innings to take 4-14.

Australia were stranded on 3-92 for 90 minutes as rain descended on Blundstone Arena in the 15th over of their innings. They knew that anything other than a win would mean a quarter-final clash with South Africa, and even if they won that, the likelihood of a semi-final away to New Zealand.

The only way a result could be achieved without Australia facing 20 overs was if they reached the target beforehand.

When the match resumed at 7.35pm local time Australia needed 39 runs. Neither David Warner nor James Faulkner had faced a delivery, but you would not have picked that given their ferocity against the Scotland bowlers.

Warner hit the first ball after the resumption for six to set the tone for what followed. Australia needed only 10 minutes and 12 balls to reach the victory target. Seven of those 12 balls went to or over the boundary off the bats of Warner and Faulkner. One from Warner over wide long-on was estimated to have travelled 104 metres.

A slog-swept six from Faulkner from the spin of Michael Leask sealed the seven-wicket victory for Australia. Faulkner was unbeaten on 16 from six balls, with Warner 21 not out from six.

The result of Sunday's Ireland-Pakistan match will determine Australia's semi-final opponent at Adelaide Oval next Friday.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Psst... Gob... maybe we should get on to more manly conversations about TV soap operas and sneak some sports gossip in amongst the shrill thrilling of the girls?

[Gob]

Adelaide Pakistan guaranteed their progression to a quarter-final against Australia on Friday, by coasting to a seven-wicket World Cup victory over Ireland on Sunday.

A disciplined bowling performance from Pakistan kept Ireland to 237 after they chose to bat first at Adelaide Oval. The West Indies' crushing victory over United Arab Emirates earlier in the day made the equation simple: the winner would face Australia, the loser would be going home.

Pakistan's openers, Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad, got more than half the required runs without losing a wicket, with both largely untroubled by the Ireland bowlers. That spinner George Dockrell was flayed for four boundaries in his first over, most notably an impeccable sweep from Sarfraz, reflected the state of the contest.

Shehzad fell for 63 after top-edging a pull into the hands of Ed Joyce at mid-on. His replacement, Haris Sohail, fell two overs later after an awful mix-up in which he was horribly burned by Sarfraz, and run out for three.

Losing 2-6 would have been a trigger for alarm in some Pakistan line-ups, but not for one that had Misbah-ul-Haq as the next man in. The captain had only once failed to reach 50 in his five earlier innings in the group stage, and he was typically composed as Pakistan took their score beyond 200.

The 40-year-old seemed assured of a half-century when he fell after getting a bottom edge when trying to cut Scotland seamer Alex Cusack. What initially looked to be a case of him chopping on to his stumps was, replays confirmed, a rare case of hit-wicket, with the captain inadvertently moving his back foot into his off-stump.

[Gob]

Calling Jim, here's a fat pitch for you!!!

AUS BEAT PAK BY 6 WICKETS

Length and depth are emerging as the key dimensions of the World Cup. Length almost kept Pakistan in the tournament, as their fast bowlers unleashed a short-pitched assault that had Australia hovering over the panic button. What knocked Pakistan out in the Adelaide quarter-final was depth, or lack of it.

Wahab Riaz was Pakistan's ace. Held back until the ninth over, the husky left-armer took four balls to remove David Warner and only another seven to account for Michael Clarke, both with short balls that the batsmen failed to tame. He proceeded to expose and then mock Shane Watson's discomfort, and would have had him out for four if not for a fumbling fine leg.

Pakistan's problem was they only had one Wahab, whereas each of Australia's failures brought to the wicket a new strongpoint. Steve Smith played a beautiful one-day innings, guiding the home team towards the semi-finals with 65, while Watson, chastened after his let-off, settled down to an increasingly confident half-century. Glenn Maxwell also batted nicely under pressure.


Australia's superior depth had become apparent during Pakistan's innings. When Josh Hazlewood was promoted ahead of Patrick Cummins, the talk of a 'defensive move' was as alarmist as if Simon Davis had been preferred to Dennis Lillee, or Clint McKay had got a place ahead of Mitchell Johnson (actually, that happened).

But the Australian selectors had the luxury of choosing between weapons. The Hazlewood who took the new ball in Adelaide was no more conservative than the late Malcolm Fraser. He attacked, he probed, he swung, and when needed he was a wrecker. He was involved in controversy. The only defence he brought into the game was the jumpy back-foot work of the Pakistan batsme

[Lord Jim]

Calling Jim, here's a fat pitch for you!!!

Ahh, a baseball reference...(Nice to see that you're learning the vernacular of a quality sport... )

BTW, is it over yet?

[Gob]

Quarter finals now Jim, semis and final to be played...

[Lord Jim]

I suppose it's safe to say that the team I was rooting for...

The Afghanis...

Didn't make it to the final round of the competition for the championship of this marginal and obscure sport?

[Gob]

Frayed knot old son

[Lord Jim]

Speaking of quality sports...

Opening Day is just two weeks away!!!



It's going to be tougher rooting for the Giants this year since they lost my favorite player...

Pablo "The Panda" Sandoval:



He really was the "heart" of the team...And I love the fact that a man of his build , (Pablo obviously doesn't spend every waking moment on the treadmill) can still be a fantastic player in MLB...

Not only is he "Mr. Clutch" at the plate, (especially in the post season) he's also an incredible fielder...

I've seen Pablo make diving stops along the third baseline, leap to his feet, pivot and throw a strike to first base with the speed, agility and skill that would make Brooks Robinson envious...(Like Gleason and Belushi, he's a heavy guy who doesn't move like one...incredible grace, speed and stamina...I kinda relate to him... )

Our loss is Boston's gain...

ETA:

Well, at least he didn't go to play for The Dodgers...

Tati's favorite player was the pitcher (not the Beach Boy) Brian Wilson:



When the Giants won their first WS out here five years ago, she made a big "Fear The Beard" poster with his picture on it to take to the victory parade...

When she found out he was going to play for The Dodgers, she said, "That's not just going to play for another team; it's The Dodgers...he's a traitor!"

The Dodgers are about as popular 'round these parts as The Cowboys are in the DC suburbs of Virginia or Maryland...

Leaving The Giants to play for The Dodgers would be analogous to a player leaving The Red Sox to play for The Yankees...(we all know the first time that happened it didn't work out real well....see "The Bambino, Curse Of... )

It's not just leaving to play for "another team"...

It's High Treason...

[Gob]

NZ are certainly at the top of their game this year, could en up winner of teh world cup.

I've always had a soft spot for Danny Vettori, playing at the top level of the game wearing specs is a great role model for kids with glasses.

If one moment illustrated the unity of purpose in the New Zealand cricket team last night in Wellington it was the celebration after Daniel Vettori's catch of Marlon Samuels.

Video here, what a catch!!!!

The 36-year-old channeled Air Jordan on the boundary at third man with a one-handed leap that curtailed a certain six off Trent Boult. The casual strut and all-in-a-day's-work flick of the ball afterwards, enhanced the theatre.

Samuels trudged off for 27 from 15 balls. Vettori was mobbed by younger teammates and, with the West Indies 80 for three in the 10th over, the match took a crucial turn.

"I couldn't believe it for him to leap up and stick out his paw like that," Boult said. "I enjoyed the celebration. The best sight was seeing everyone sprint towards him and grab him. That was cool."

Vettori's age escaped Boult at the post-match media conference. "45" quipped double century-maker Martin Guptill.

"It was a massive part of the game," Boult added.

The left-armer was thrilled to get the chance to bowl his 10 overs through and capture four for 44.

"You've got to want to do it and that was what team needed for our best shot of disrupting that partnership [between Chris Gayle and Samuels]."

As for Gayle, he was quickly on the scene at the end of New Zealand's 48th over once Guptill had reached 217, having passed the West Indian's record World Cup mark of 215 set against Zimbabwe.

"Chris came up and said: 'congratulations, welcome to the club'."

Guptill also shared a special moment with batting coach Craig McMillan when he raised his fingers to the New Zealand hutch after hitting a six on the roof.