Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lords, the oval, Southampton, Bristol, edgbaston, Trent bridge, Cardiff, old trafford, headingly, Durham. Where is number 11?
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
How on earth you can be so blind sided by Boris amazes me, especially on the day Conhome puts him way out on his own at the bottom of their cabinet league table at -33.8 with Mark Spencer at -24.1
As I have said before, you need to wake up and smell the coffee
HYUFD has a point. If the tories novichok Johnson now they are stuck with his successor right up to the next GE. Far better to let him take a few more arrows first and change closer to the election.
A new leader is likely to call an election relatively soon, I think. And carrying on with the lame porker for too long is also damaging to Tory prospects.
Any new leader would still be trailing Starmer, even Sunak, according to Opinium.
If they throw away an 80 seat majority and call a snap general election that would be unforgiveable, even worse than May calling a snap election in 2017 which threw away her majority as it would likely lead to a Labour government
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Can anyone point to someone who has benefited from BREXIT? It would seem to the layman that if you walk away from a market of 400,000,000 people and replace it with one of 30,000,000 which is inaccessible there is a prima facie case for saying you have lost out!
Have we been banned from trading with Europe? Shit, I missed that news...
What i wonder now, are the likes of Stokes going to retire from test cricket? He is already injury prone, he is slogging it out for a team around him who are piss poor, aren't going to get better any time soon and instead could just play T20 / ODIs for big money for the next 10 years.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
The big problem is if you listen to the likes of Livingstone talk about batting for T20, its totally different game. And i don't just mean a mindset of wallop it versus defend. I mean he has totally changed everything about how he bats in order to facilitate the massive hitting. Stance, backlift, feet movement. It just isn't the same game, he is trying to launch balls in the air more like a baseball player (or a golfer) by generating bat speed. Everything is geared around that, not how can I ensure that i don't get out for the next 2 hours against a variety of bowling with a swinging / seaming red ball.
And why wouldn't you, you can earn a £1 million a year getting good at it.
And you see this with especially Bairstow in test cricket, his whole game now isn't built for it.
We see this with Buttler too. And, of course, in T20 edges down to third man are usually a 4 rather than being caught in the slips. I think Malan has done a better job of converting than most (probably because he is more of a touch player than raw power) but its still a completely different mindset.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
The big problem is if you listen to the likes of Livingstone talk about batting for T20, its totally different game. And i don't just mean a mindset of wallop it versus defend. I mean he has totally changed everything about how he bats in order to facilitate the massive hitting. Stance, backlift, feet movement. It just isn't the same game, he is trying to launch balls in the air more like a baseball player (or a golfer) by generating bat speed. Everything is geared around that, not how can I ensure that i don't get out for the next 2 hours against a variety of bowling with a swinging / seaming red ball.
And why wouldn't you, you can earn a £1 million a year getting good at it.
And you see this with especially Bairstow in test cricket, his whole game now isn't built for it.
We see this with Buttler too. And, of course, in T20 edges down to third man are usually a 4 rather than being caught in the slips. I think Malan has done a better job of converting than most (probably because he is more of a touch player than raw power) but its still a completely different mindset.
Buttler might be another one who says I am just going to concentrate on wallop cricket. He could earn millions playing all the T20 competitions rather than continuing to fail at test cricket. And he is never a good enough keeper for tests.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
The players just aren't there. They aren't there because county cricket isn't providing them.
It isn't providing them because it isn't fit for purpose, and hasn't been for a hundred years.
A reorganisation into ten regional teams would make professionals fight for contracts, up the standard of the competition and make the games mean something.
Right now, whole swathes of the country are completely unrepresented by this most bankrupt of bankrupt competitions and all too few have any interest whatever.
Who do you follow at county level if you live in Cornwall, Devon, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire or Lincolnshire?
I think all the non first class counties have county teams that play in the national counties competitions. Oxfordshire are the current champions.
Devon lost their most recent match, last August, against Shropshire by 3 wickets. Haggett and Wagg top-scored for either side, both with 109, but Wagg had match figures of 6-34 against Haggett's 5-81, and so Shropshire were the winners.
I fear that is the future for the first-class game as a whole. Recorded in a dusty corner of the internet by a small team of obsessed nerds, but ignored by the rest of the world.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
Not by the Government of the day they weren't.
Everyone makes their own informed decision, I see no reasons to pander to Luddites.
They were told by the leave campaign. Headed by Nigel Farage.
Maybe they shouldn't vote for Nigel Farage next time then. Kick him out of Parliament by not re-electing him.
There used to be a guy here who said voting for a party led by Farage wasn't voting for Farage (somewhat unconvincingly it has to be said), dunno what happened to him.
As a result of that person's vote is Farage in Parliament? Does Farage hold any elected post in the UK Government or any Parliament at all? 🤔
If the answer is no, then I think that guy was entirely correct. A vote to elect to Parliament, and a vote to eject from Parliament, are two entirely different votes.
Surely the reason for changing your identity is to make a fresh start? If you keep writing the same tosh people are going to know it's you.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
The surge in UK inflation is threatening to result in one of the biggest annual price hikes in broadband ISP, phone, mobile and calling charges seen in years, which could hit customers of BT, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone, O2, TalkTalk, Shell Energy, KCOM and others with rises of around 9% come March-April 2022 (double the usual level).
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
Not by the Government of the day they weren't.
Everyone makes their own informed decision, I see no reasons to pander to Luddites.
They were told by the leave campaign. Headed by Nigel Farage.
Maybe they shouldn't vote for Nigel Farage next time then. Kick him out of Parliament by not re-electing him.
There used to be a guy here who said voting for a party led by Farage wasn't voting for Farage (somewhat unconvincingly it has to be said), dunno what happened to him.
As a result of that person's vote is Farage in Parliament? Does Farage hold any elected post in the UK Government or any Parliament at all? 🤔
If the answer is no, then I think that guy was entirely correct. A vote to elect to Parliament, and a vote to eject from Parliament, are two entirely different votes.
Surely the reason for changing your identity is to make a fresh start? If you keep writing the same tosh people are going to know it's you.
If I wanted a fresh start, I would have changed my avatar. I don't want a fresh start, I just want to not use my real life name.
I have outstanding bets with some people, I have no intention of them not knowing who I am, I just don't need my real life name and surname used.
Another problem these days with test cricket, they don't "tour" and play warm up matches. So especially as a batsman you have no opportunity to adjust to conditions. Its clear the English batsman are struggling with the significant more bounce you get in Australia.
The big problem is if you listen to the likes of Livingstone talk about batting for T20, its totally different game. And i don't just mean a mindset of wallop it versus defend. I mean he has totally changed everything about how he bats in order to facilitate the massive hitting. Stance, backlift, feet movement. It just isn't the same game, he is trying to launch balls in the air more like a baseball player (or a golfer) by generating bat speed. Everything is geared around that, not how can I ensure that i don't get out for the next 2 hours against a variety of bowling with a swinging / seaming red ball.
And why wouldn't you, you can earn a £1 million a year getting good at it.
And you see this with especially Bairstow in test cricket, his whole game now isn't built for it.
We see this with Buttler too. And, of course, in T20 edges down to third man are usually a 4 rather than being caught in the slips. I think Malan has done a better job of converting than most (probably because he is more of a touch player than raw power) but its still a completely different mindset.
Buttler might be another one who says I am just going to concentrate on wallop cricket. He could earn millions playing all the T20 competitions rather than continuing to fail at test cricket. And he is never a good enough keeper for tests.
It’s a great sadness that being the best keeper is no longer enough for test selection. And yet we’ve seen in this series how important it is if you need everything to go your way, you need to take all the chances. Butlers drops in the 2nd test didn’t lose the game on their own, but they didn’t help. And it’s not as if Foakes can’t bat. Was it Alec Stewart who was the first down the path of batsmen who can keep? Time for change. Pick your best spinner, preferably a leggie, as Root can bowl off spin. Pick the best keeper in the country. If the batters don’t get the runs don’t blame the keeper and the bowlers for not doing so...
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
Aye but technically its not a current one.
Fair point, conceded.
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Public understanding of levelling up appears to have declined over the last year.
Proportion of those who understood it had dropped by 7pp and those who said they did not know rose by 14pp, compared with a similar poll carried out in Dec 2020
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
The indications that I'm getting from 2019 Boris fans is that his appeal has gone - completely - and it is very unlikely that it will return. The CP has a big decision to make and the sooner the better I think - would provide a couple of years for a new leader to re-fashion things.
All those months of those of us who knew what he was like being told that he would always be enduring electoral magic, and here we are, just as we always said we would be…..
Nobody is ever "enduring" electoral magic.
Saying that a political career will end doesn't make you wise or insightful.
Spot on - the site is full of very wise folk predicting with various degrees of certainty that the w/e will come and the being all smug when it happens - only to be saddos again the following Monday..
I feel privileged to be in at the birth of a new meme: we said Boris was the Messiah, but we never said for how long.
Just to repeat: White Star Line statement 17/4/1912 "It would be naive to overlook the fact that all ships have a finite lifespan..."
Fascinating interview with George Eustice, England’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on R4 Today.
Farmers are not happy bunnies regarding, among other things, the free trade deal with Australia.
Can’t see many farmers switching straight to Labour, but could we see widespread protest via:
- abstaining? - voting LibDem in England and Wales? - voting SNP in Scotland?
A lot will depend on how the Tory party responds.
At the moment they have patronising lickspittles like David Duguid telling farmers and fishermen that actually Brexit has been brilliant and actually naysayer voices like Banff and Buchan famers and fishermen are ignoring all the amazing things he and his government are doing. Unsurprisingly this seat will fall to the SNP according to the polls.
If the government keep saying Don't Look Up to businesses and rural communities they are going to get pummelled. They know that we remain completely aligned to the single market and customs union and that it is only the government tying them in knots and threatening their subsidies threatening their way of life. They will vote for parties who will fix this.
Or, the government wakes up. Realises the ERG have led them down the garden path. And take a giant pair of scissors to "european" red tape and claim victory as they free business and farmers and fishermen from pointless red tape done by that failed lying clown who has just been fired.
Subsidises have been cut in half and the criteria for them has completely changed. I don’t have the details as that’s a wormhole I don’t wish to go down and something that it’s easier to deny knowledge about given Mrs Eek’s areas
That sounds like a Brexit positive then. 👍
So not only are we not paying subsidies to French farmers anymore, we've rid ourselves of half the burden of subsidising British ones too. Fantastic!
Most British farms will no longer be economically viable and will stop producing food! Fantastic!
We really need to be producing more food here not less.
Subsidies are a fact of life.
It isn't just subsidies, but rather price stabilisation that matters to farmers. In order to have a viable harvest they need to have some idea of the selling price. Otherwise they are just gambling on the weather, vs the weather in other parts of the world.
Which is true for many other sectors in the economy too. They should operate in the world as it is, not in the world they wish it was. Perhaps the financial sector can aid with futures contracts if its worthwhile and they're prepared to pay for it?
Yes, it does affect other sectors too, but farming is particularly prone to price fluctuations.
New Zealand is a very different place, with possibly the cheapest high quality agricultural land in the world.
If you think people voted Brexit to shut down British farming then you are likely to not like the next election result.
Farmers have plenty of opportunity to sell to Australia and New Zealand too. It seems for some Remainers unless free trade is with the EU, who we have a trade deal with too, it is irrelevant and we should put up tariffs as high as possible.
Some supposed liberals on here this morning would even bring back the Corn Laws it seems
Another problem these days with test cricket, they don't "tour" and play warm up matches. So especially as a batsman you have no opportunity to adjust to conditions. Its clear the English batsman are struggling with the significant more bounce you get in Australia.
It is no coincidence the one tour in the last 18 years that England actually won a Test match, they had three warmups against very strong sides including Australia A.
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
How on earth you can be so blind sided by Boris amazes me, especially on the day Conhome puts him way out on his own at the bottom of their cabinet league table at -33.8 with Mark Spencer at -24.1
As I have said before, you need to wake up and smell the coffee
HYUFD has a point. If the tories novichok Johnson now they are stuck with his successor right up to the next GE. Far better to let him take a few more arrows first and change closer to the election.
A new leader is likely to call an election relatively soon, I think. And carrying on with the lame porker for too long is also damaging to Tory prospects.
Any new leader would still be trailing Starmer, even Sunak, according to Opinium.
If they throw away an 80 seat majority and call a snap general election that would be unforgiveable, even worse than May calling a snap election in 2017 which threw away her majority as it would likely lead to a Labour government
Yes, I can't see it either - it would take real hubris, and the only arguably hubristic figure in the list is Johnson. There are two things to consider here. On the one hand, the "We have a new leader, give them a chance!" trick keeps working for the Tories, and that argues for soldiering on and maybe changing in 2023 for an election after that. On the other hand, the poll shows that Labour doesn't have a commanding positive lead yet (otherwise it wouldn't make any differnece who the Tories had), and that could change in a year as Starmer methodically works through his plan while Johnson shambles around:
1. Look unthreatening and patriotic (tick) 2. Look competent (tick) 3. Choose a convincing Shadow Cabinet and control the NEC (tick) 4. Develop some policies (work just starting) 5. Campaign! (see you in 2023/4)
PB is in general pretty sarcastic about Starmer, and even Labour loyalists like me are restive, but I concede he's good at having a plan and sticking to it.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Can anyone point to someone who has benefited from BREXIT? It would seem to the layman that if you walk away from a market of 400,000,000 people and replace it with one of 30,000,000 which is inaccessible there is a prima facie case for saying you have lost out!
Have we been banned from trading with Europe? Shit, I missed that news...
No. But you did miss the news that Brexit has made trading with Europe more difficult and expensive, and it is due to get worse next year.
By reminding everyone of his previous display of exceptionally poor judgment?
No. By reminding people that the Jews have a proud record of standing up for left wing causes like anti- apartheid and that they have always been at the vanguard of anti fascist movements wherever they have shown themselves.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Can anyone point to someone who has benefited from BREXIT? It would seem to the layman that if you walk away from a market of 400,000,000 people and replace it with one of 30,000,000 which is inaccessible there is a prima facie case for saying you have lost out!
Have we been banned from trading with Europe? Shit, I missed that news...
No. But you did miss the news that Brexit has made trading with Europe more difficult and expensive, and it is due to get worse next year.
Lets also not forget as piss poor as England batting is, we are relying on a 39 year old for wickets....when Anderson and Broad are gone, none of the second string bowlers have shown they are anywhere near as dangerous, especially away from England. Woakes and Robinson might be useful in England, but in Australia they are too slow to trouble the batsman, Robinson is slower than Anderson and can't bend it like a banana.
The players just aren't there. They aren't there because county cricket isn't providing them.
It isn't providing them because it isn't fit for purpose, and hasn't been for a hundred years.
A reorganisation into ten regional teams would make professionals fight for contracts, up the standard of the competition and make the games mean something.
Right now, whole swathes of the country are completely unrepresented by this most bankrupt of bankrupt competitions and all too few have any interest whatever.
Who do you follow at county level if you live in Cornwall, Devon, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire or Lincolnshire?
I think all the non first class counties have county teams that play in the national counties competitions. Oxfordshire are the current champions.
Devon lost their most recent match, last August, against Shropshire by 3 wickets. Haggett and Wagg top-scored for either side, both with 109, but Wagg had match figures of 6-34 against Haggett's 5-81, and so Shropshire were the winners.
I fear that is the future for the first-class game as a whole. Recorded in a dusty corner of the internet by a small team of obsessed nerds, but ignored by the rest of the world.
I keep reading the county game has been pushed to the margins, but isn't that at least partly to try to raise money in other ways to subsidise it?
I'm not as much a cricket fan as some on here but I do think there are some extenuating circumstances with Covid, the lack of match practice etc.
When playing Australia on their home wickets you need every advantage you can get and we've got nothing to help us. The fact is Root carries the batting disproportionately - top scorer in both innings once again and because of the various absences a long tail so once he went it is all too often a swift collapse and out to field.
Joe Root is a bit like Dean Smith at Norwich currently - the will may be there to fight but the means aren't and with every defeat the spirit of the squad deteriorates that little further. The same mistakes are repeated and as we all know if you repeat the same actions you're likely to get the same result.
Lets also not forget as piss poor as England batting is, we are relying on a 39 year old for wickets....when Anderson and Broad are gone, none of the second string bowlers have shown they are anywhere near as dangerous, especially away from England.
The cracks have also been papered over by recruiting players with links to other countries.
Another problem these days with test cricket, they don't "tour" and play warm up matches. So especially as a batsman you have no opportunity to adjust to conditions. Its clear the English batsman are struggling with the significant more bounce you get in Australia.
It is no coincidence the one tour in the last 18 years that England actually won a Test match, they had three warmups against very strong sides including Australia A.
True, but also a batting line up that would be straight in ahead of the current lot, Root excepted.
Another problem these days with test cricket, they don't "tour" and play warm up matches. So especially as a batsman you have no opportunity to adjust to conditions. Its clear the English batsman are struggling with the significant more bounce you get in Australia.
And they will still have had less cricket after three tests than used to be the case before the first one had started.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Quite a few in Scotland - notably the inshore ones who sent a lot of e.g. crustaceans to France - didn't, I be lieve.
I think the perception on fisheries will turn around more quickly than on farming.
I note, eg, that the recent UK / Norway / EU agreement has been welcomed, as a straw in the wind.
What I would say it needs is a long term policy from UK Gov, about how they will be managing fisheries in the long-term ie 2026 and beyond. We are now able to have a more resource-conservative conservation oriented policy than the CFP. The sooner the better, and needs to be cooperative across devolved nations and perhaps with other coastal states. I'd frame it as part of a policy for the coastal economy post-Covid and post-EU.
Won't happen whilst BoJo is in Downing Street, as he can't plan beyond the end of the current half hour.
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
The indications that I'm getting from 2019 Boris fans is that his appeal has gone - completely - and it is very unlikely that it will return. The CP has a big decision to make and the sooner the better I think - would provide a couple of years for a new leader to re-fashion things.
All those months of those of us who knew what he was like being told that he would always be enduring electoral magic, and here we are, just as we always said we would be…..
Nobody is ever "enduring" electoral magic.
Saying that a political career will end doesn't make you wise or insightful.
Spot on - the site is full of very wise folk predicting with various degrees of certainty that the w/e will come and the being all smug when it happens - only to be saddos again the following Monday..
I feel privileged to be in at the birth of a new meme: we said Boris was the Messiah, but we never said for how long.
Just to repeat: White Star Line statement 17/4/1912 "It would be naive to overlook the fact that all ships have a finite lifespan..."
Just to repeat: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very very brightly Roy."
The players just aren't there. They aren't there because county cricket isn't providing them.
It isn't providing them because it isn't fit for purpose, and hasn't been for a hundred years.
A reorganisation into ten regional teams would make professionals fight for contracts, up the standard of the competition and make the games mean something.
Right now, whole swathes of the country are completely unrepresented by this most bankrupt of bankrupt competitions and all too few have any interest whatever.
Who do you follow at county level if you live in Cornwall, Devon, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire or Lincolnshire?
I think all the non first class counties have county teams that play in the national counties competitions. Oxfordshire are the current champions.
Devon lost their most recent match, last August, against Shropshire by 3 wickets. Haggett and Wagg top-scored for either side, both with 109, but Wagg had match figures of 6-34 against Haggett's 5-81, and so Shropshire were the winners.
I fear that is the future for the first-class game as a whole. Recorded in a dusty corner of the internet by a small team of obsessed nerds, but ignored by the rest of the world.
I keep reading the county game has been pushed to the margins, but isn't that at least partly to try to raise money in other ways to subsidise it?
It's because there is more money to be made from one day cricket matches, yes.
Ultimately, though, the cross-subsidisation model doesn't work. If first-class cricket doesn't make enough money by itself to sustain the sport then we'll end up only with the one-day matches. And I think we will have lost something special.
At the moment Test cricket in England makes lots of money for the ECB, so they should recognise that they need to support a strong first-class county game to ensure that the mediocrity of the England team doesn't turns fans off. Instead we have the Decimal competition.
This was something @Taz touched on yesterday and here I speak as an East Londoner - is there a sense in other parts of the country of a neglect from "London" both financial and political? Is it a question of money on its own because there are plenty of southern councils who would claim they don't have enough either?
So, we whack 5p on income tax (calm down Barty) for example and say all this money is going to restore local services in the north and other parts of the country or on infrastructure projects. Is that it or is there something more fundamental going on in terms of communities, how people live and their aspirations/expectations?
Instead of the "South" telling the "North" what Levelling Up means perhaps the North should be telling the South what the problems are (and I'd be honest about politically sclerotic councils and apathetic communities) and what it is they actually want and need - is it free parking in the town centre, is it a nice health centre, is it more Police to stamp out anti-social behaviour and petty crime or a decent bus service?
I don't know but Levelling Up sounds like a solution in search of a problem.
No cricket on terrestrial TV doesn't help. Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game. Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
To be fair to them even if we were back in the single market as long as we were still out of the EU we would also be out of the CFP.
Hence Norway and Iceland are in the EEA but not the EU
UK, Irish and Danish fishermen were cynically mugged in 1973 when fish were declared a common EU resource a few hours before membership applications were received; I don't think we will be back in the CFP. Norway voted narrowly to stay out of the EU, partly over this.
I'm quite interested in whether Ireland may eventually come out teh CFP - can they do that? They get a tiny quota of their own fish, and it is all a bit tits-up including their fishing grounds management:
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
The indications that I'm getting from 2019 Boris fans is that his appeal has gone - completely - and it is very unlikely that it will return. The CP has a big decision to make and the sooner the better I think - would provide a couple of years for a new leader to re-fashion things.
All those months of those of us who knew what he was like being told that he would always be enduring electoral magic, and here we are, just as we always said we would be…..
Nobody is ever "enduring" electoral magic.
Saying that a political career will end doesn't make you wise or insightful.
Spot on - the site is full of very wise folk predicting with various degrees of certainty that the w/e will come and the being all smug when it happens - only to be saddos again the following Monday..
I feel privileged to be in at the birth of a new meme: we said Boris was the Messiah, but we never said for how long.
Just to repeat: White Star Line statement 17/4/1912 "It would be naive to overlook the fact that all ships have a finite lifespan..."
Just to repeat: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very very brightly Roy."
Hahaha hahaha haha ha ha
You need to distinguish between someone burning brightly and someone wallowing in a shallow puddle of their own bodily waste. Boris has not spent the last two years watching C beams glitter by the Tannhauser Gates.
No cricket on terrestrial TV doesn't help. Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game. Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
That was what the Hundred was supposed to help with.
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Quite a few in Scotland - notably the inshore ones who sent a lot of e.g. crustaceans to France - didn't, I be lieve.
I think the perception on fisheries will turn around more quickly than on farming.
I note, eg, that the recent UK / Norway / EU agreement has been welcomed, as a straw in the wind.
What I would say it needs is a long term policy from UK Gov, about how they will be managing fisheries in the long-term ie 2026 and beyond. We are now able to have a more resource-conservative conservation oriented policy than the CFP. The sooner the better, and needs to be cooperative across devolved nations and perhaps with other coastal states. I'd frame it as part of a policy for the coastal economy post-Covid and post-EU.
Won't happen whilst BoJo is in Downing Street, as he can't plan beyond the end of the current half hour.
Quite so. One issue is that fisheries are devolved - but HMG Brexit legislation has ignored this. Not sure of the current state of play but it certainly has not helped get sorted out.
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
How on earth you can be so blind sided by Boris amazes me, especially on the day Conhome puts him way out on his own at the bottom of their cabinet league table at -33.8 with Mark Spencer at -24.1
As I have said before, you need to wake up and smell the coffee
HYUFD has a point. If the tories novichok Johnson now they are stuck with his successor right up to the next GE. Far better to let him take a few more arrows first and change closer to the election.
A new leader is likely to call an election relatively soon, I think. And carrying on with the lame porker for too long is also damaging to Tory prospects.
Surely not before the boundary review, which is Autumn 2023 or Spring 2024 implementation afaics?
No cricket on terrestrial TV doesn't help. Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game. Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
Super short sighted decision by the ECB to move it all to Sky. Just think of the momentum if it had stayed there, after that dreamy series in 2005.
No cricket on terrestrial TV doesn't help. Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game. Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
That was what the Hundred was supposed to help with.
Thing is, you could have done that very easily with the existing Blast, just by separating domestic and international cricket in the broadcasting rights deal.
Not much mention from OGH of the fact the current Tory position of only a 7% deficit under Boris is made significantly worse under a Truss leadership, which would see a 16% Labour lead and even worse defeat than 1997. Making Truss a Tory Kim Campbell. Gove does even worse.
Sunak does a bit better but even he only cuts the Labour lead to 3%, he does not take the lead so Starmer would still end up PM albeit in a hung parliament. Better therefore for the party to focus on avoiding any further restrictions as Boris is doing and getting people boosted rather than focusing too much on personalities
The indications that I'm getting from 2019 Boris fans is that his appeal has gone - completely - and it is very unlikely that it will return. The CP has a big decision to make and the sooner the better I think - would provide a couple of years for a new leader to re-fashion things.
All those months of those of us who knew what he was like being told that he would always be enduring electoral magic, and here we are, just as we always said we would be…..
Nobody is ever "enduring" electoral magic.
Saying that a political career will end doesn't make you wise or insightful.
Spot on - the site is full of very wise folk predicting with various degrees of certainty that the w/e will come and the being all smug when it happens - only to be saddos again the following Monday..
I feel privileged to be in at the birth of a new meme: we said Boris was the Messiah, but we never said for how long.
Just to repeat: White Star Line statement 17/4/1912 "It would be naive to overlook the fact that all ships have a finite lifespan..."
Just to repeat: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very very brightly Roy."
Hahaha hahaha haha ha ha
You need to distinguish between someone burning brightly and someone wallowing in a shallow puddle of their own bodily waste. Boris has not spent the last two years watching C beams glitter by the Tannhauser Gates.
80 seat majority. ✅ Higher vote share in England than even Tony Blair every achieved. ✅ New trade deal that scrapped the backstop. ✅ Got Brexit Done. ✅ Got the country through a global pandemic. ✅ First country on the entire planet to be rolling out vaccines. ✅ Best in the world amongst major countries for rolling out both vaccines and boosters. ✅
That's a fantastic record of achievement. He's burnt out now and needs to be replaced, but one of the best post-war PMs compressed into a two-year period. We have had about ten years of "events" in that two year period though.
EDIT: Even after burning out he's still better than the Leader of the Opposition and the devolved administration leaders. Only such leader to resist imposing even more unnecessary Covid restrictions. ✅
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
Aye but technically its not a current one.
Fair point, conceded.
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Bramall Lane is a Test ground but only hosted one match and is no longer used for cricket.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
Aye but technically its not a current one.
Fair point, conceded.
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Bramall Lane is a Test ground but only hosted one match and is no longer used for cricket.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lords, the oval, Southampton, Bristol, edgbaston, Trent bridge, Cardiff, old trafford, headingly, Durham. Where is number 11?
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
Aye but technically its not a current one.
Fair point, conceded.
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Bramall Lane is a Test ground but only hosted one match and is no longer used for cricket.
That was 120 years ago!
Quite a few County grounds have hosted ODIs and T20Is, I'm not sure if any others are currently used for England home matches. Maybe Taunton?
Another problem these days with test cricket, they don't "tour" and play warm up matches. So especially as a batsman you have no opportunity to adjust to conditions. Its clear the English batsman are struggling with the significant more bounce you get in Australia.
Yes, good point. Traditionally, the team would have taken a couple of weeks off at the end of the domestic season, then headed down under for a month before the Ashes started.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lords, the oval, Southampton, Bristol, edgbaston, Trent bridge, Cardiff, old trafford, headingly, Durham. Where is number 11?
It's not that they are going to get shafted; small children in Grimsby knew that. It's that they were told they wouldn't be shafted.
The UK has left the CFP, exactly as the fishermen of Grimsby voted for
Absolutely. And they were told it would be in their best interests to do so.
UK fishermen have always wanted that as it means they get more of their catch.
For goodness sake fishermen in Grimsby and the Southwest voted UKIP for years before the EU referendum they got what they voted for
I have about as much sympathy for Brexit voting fishermen as fishermen have for fish.
Quite a few in Scotland - notably the inshore ones who sent a lot of e.g. crustaceans to France - didn't, I be lieve.
I think the perception on fisheries will turn around more quickly than on farming.
I note, eg, that the recent UK / Norway / EU agreement has been welcomed, as a straw in the wind.
What I would say it needs is a long term policy from UK Gov, about how they will be managing fisheries in the long-term ie 2026 and beyond. We are now able to have a more resource-conservative conservation oriented policy than the CFP. The sooner the better, and needs to be cooperative across devolved nations and perhaps with other coastal states. I'd frame it as part of a policy for the coastal economy post-Covid and post-EU.
Won't happen whilst BoJo is in Downing Street, as he can't plan beyond the end of the current half hour.
Quite so. One issue is that fisheries are devolved - but HMG Brexit legislation has ignored this. Not sure of the current state of play but it certainly has not helped get sorted out.
I'd start by entirely retiring the current quota system in 2026, and rebuilding from the ground up with a strong priority on inshore fishing (to 6 or 12 miles) perhaps for locally owned boats under 10m.
No cricket on terrestrial TV doesn't help. Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game. Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
Does it matter who the England coach is when, with a few noble exceptions, the talent just is not there. Especially in the batting.
I’m sure the talent is there, but one day cricket has corroded the art of defence. So what does the eco do? Invent another form of short cricket... Our county 4 day cricket is not at the same standard as Sheffield Shield in Aussie, partly as there are 18 counties. The two divisions was an attempt to change this, but it didn’t work. I think the ecb is using the hundred as a back door to 8 franchises for the long form of the game. It would benefit the England test team, but the counties will fight to the bitter end. There is a huge amount of history and tradition to lose.
The other question is, would they pick the right 8 or 10 counties? For example, no way should Glamorgan, Middlesex or Kent be in that number on merit, but you can bet they would be as they have the right friends. Meanwhile Somerset, one of the strongest sides in the country, and Gloucestershire, with an international venue, have been deliberately overlooked in the Hundred. Durham, not so long ago one of the best sides in the land and the home of Ben Stokes, have been shafted so often for specious reasons you wonder if their chairman actually killed Tom Harrison's cat.
There is a reason the counties are sceptical of the ECB's plans, and it's simply because the ECB can't be trusted to do what's right for the game instead of what's right for their mates.
Well quite. I think this is the plan, or outline idea, but I’m not in favour. I hoped that two divisions and promotion/relegation would work. I got endlessly fed up with radio 5 not understanding that division 1 was above division 2. How often did they report on second division games ahead of first? They would never report on championship football ahead of the premiership. I think the ecb needs to look at what it wants to achieve. It’s clear the main focus has been world cups (T20 and one day), and fair enough we won one, and lost the other on the toss. But the test team is being done no favours. Back in the day of 17 counties all playing each other home and away (more or less), batsmen got time in the middle. It’s easy to mock Boycott, but by god he’d be first on the sheet right now.
The 18 county system was able to provide the players that have done well in limited overs cricket. Not sure why it isn't possible for it to do the same for the Test side.
If we are to reduce the number of first-class sides then I hope there is an explicit link to the counties in the tier of cricket below them. I'd think a Wessex team, explicitly linked to counties like Somerset and Hampshire, would be a more sensible approach than the city-based franchises they invented for the decimal competition.
There are 11 current international grounds.
If theyw ant a list of about 10 .... ?
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Headingly Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
Excuse me but ...
Lord's Oval Sophia Gardens Rose Bowl Trent Bridge Chester Le Street Old Trafford Edgbaston Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
Headingley will be back on the list as soon as a large bribe is paid a process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.
Aye but technically its not a current one.
Fair point, conceded.
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Bramall Lane is a Test ground but only hosted one match and is no longer used for cricket.
That was 120 years ago!
Although Yorkshire played County games there into the seventies.
I'm often vaguely tempted to subscribe to The Atlantic, as they do produce interesting articles. Here's one with some PB relevance (in terms of how we see each other):
What kind of biscuits are we having at this week's panic? Or is it postponed to Thursday due to the Bank Holidays?
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
What kind of biscuits are we having at this week's panic? Or is it postponed to Thursday due to the Bank Holidays?
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
Biscuits? I thought you were more of a Marathon man.
What kind of biscuits are we having at this week's panic? Or is it postponed to Thursday due to the Bank Holidays?
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
Biscuits? I thought you were more of a Marathon man.
It was his flagship promise to ‘level up’ places that have put up with decades of decline. Now the PM’s white paper is delayed, the Cabinet is in disarray and most of Britain doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. We deserve so much better than this. https://politi.co/3qvmOdd
What kind of biscuits are we having at this week's panic? Or is it postponed to Thursday due to the Bank Holidays?
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
Biscuits? I thought you were more of a Marathon man.
It was his flagship promise to ‘level up’ places that have put up with decades of decline. Now the PM’s white paper is delayed, the Cabinet is in disarray and most of Britain doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. We deserve so much better than this. https://politi.co/3qvmOdd
Do we? We all knew the man was a chump before we went to vote. Now it turns out he's a chump, it's no good saying we deserve better. We got what we asked for.
It was his flagship promise to ‘level up’ places that have put up with decades of decline. Now the PM’s white paper is delayed, the Cabinet is in disarray and most of Britain doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. We deserve so much better than this. https://politi.co/3qvmOdd
"The spokesperson specified that leveling up “means boosting living standards, improving public services, enhancing civic pride and strengthening local leadership.” "
What kind of biscuits are we having at this week's panic? Or is it postponed to Thursday due to the Bank Holidays?
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
Biscuits? I thought you were more of a Marathon man.
I find it interesting that cricket is so widely discussed on here. In real life the only person I ever knew who followed it my was, now departed, Grandad. And I’m in Yorkshire. I just don’t know anyone who plays or follows cricket. These people must be out there, there are small local clubs dotted about clinging on. I just don’t know anybody who gives a shit.
Just driven past a mobile Covid testing lab in a car park. The car park wasn’t huge, about 20 spaces, but with the van and all the people wanting to get tested it was rammed. Cars queuing on the road. Talking to people, lots and lots of people are testing positive. It’s ripping through the population but everyone seems resigned to it. Perhaps that’s where we are as a nation now. Get your jabs, get it and feel crap for a few days. Don’t get jabbed, it’s your own bloody fault if you die.
Anecdote alert: my mum, a keen Leave voter said, admittedly with a couple of gins inside her on Boxing Day, that Brexit is crap, we were lied to, she wishes she’d voted Remain.
PS would be rude of me not to comment on the header. I understand Mike, but I can hear Bruce Forsyth saying, just a bit of fun, just a bit of fun.
I confess. In the cold light of morning (err afternoon?) I got it wrong. It wasn’t Bruce Forsyth I was thinking of. It was Peter Snow.
“Now remember - this is just a bit of fun, just a bit of fun, but if the Shropshire North by election was repeated at the General Election, here we go, in our virtual reality House of Commons, the result of Shropshire North if the Tories can’t do any better General Election night, and who is going to be on the government benches? yes, it’s the Lib Dems. remember this is just a bit of fun but there they all go like a golden puddle over the seats that used to be blue, and still going, still flowing, over the benches that used to have Labour and SNP on them, not any more look how this golden shower floods the chamber, remember this is just a bit of fun, but no room for the speaker he is replaced by a Lib Dem, and still going, out the doors, passed the statue (we are all trying to guess who it is when TV interviews are in front of it) still going this Biblical flood of Davey’s Party, into Annie’s, a couple of hours later slipping out of Annie’s, down the river terrace - where at the buffet a lobbyist tries to sell you sunlit uplands - and still going, still going out onto the Thames into a boat chartered by Richard Branson, still going onto the boat that’s rammed it piloted by Farage, and there, finally, strapped in a harness high above Parliament beneath the Baby Trump blimp.
Remember this is just a bit of fun, likelihood voters will awake General Election Morning having forgotten the Lib Dems even exist.
These figures are scary. One in six think him trustworthy? One in four think him strong? One third find him likeable?
Who are these people? What would it take to change their minds?
An alternative or Opposition existing would be a starting point.
As badly burnt out as Boris has become, he's still been far stronger than the Leader of the Opposition and every single devolved administration when it comes resisting new restrictions post-Christmas.
What a shame when the PM is so weak, that the Opposition and devolved administrations are even weaker.
Comments
Oval
Sophia Gardens
Rose Bowl
Trent Bridge
Chester Le Street
Old Trafford
Headingly
Edgbaston
Bristol
Which one is the 11th?
If they throw away an 80 seat majority and call a snap general election that would be unforgiveable, even worse than May calling a snap election in 2017 which threw away her majority as it would likely lead to a Labour government
Lord's
Oval
Sophia Gardens
Rose Bowl
Trent Bridge
Chester Le Street
Old Trafford
Edgbaston
Bristol
Which one is the 10th?
a large bribe is paida process is followed to ensure that changes have been made at Yorkshire.Devon lost their most recent match, last August, against Shropshire by 3 wickets. Haggett and Wagg top-scored for either side, both with 109, but Wagg had match figures of 6-34 against Haggett's 5-81, and so Shropshire were the winners.
I fear that is the future for the first-class game as a whole. Recorded in a dusty corner of the internet by a small team of obsessed nerds, but ignored by the rest of the world.
The surge in UK inflation is threatening to result in one of the biggest annual price hikes in broadband ISP, phone, mobile and calling charges seen in years, which could hit customers of BT, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone, O2, TalkTalk, Shell Energy, KCOM and others with rises of around 9% come March-April 2022 (double the usual level).
I have outstanding bets with some people, I have no intention of them not knowing who I am, I just don't need my real life name and surname used.
Was it Alec Stewart who was the first down the path of batsmen who can keep? Time for change. Pick your best spinner, preferably a leggie, as Root can bowl off spin. Pick the best keeper in the country. If the batters don’t get the runs don’t blame the keeper and the bowlers for not doing so...
- 24% of Britons have never heard of levelling up
- 50% have heard the term but either have no idea what it means or are unsure.
https://twitter.com/estwebber/status/1475780916526346241
Still wondering where Matt's 11th ground is though. I know women's tests and ODIs are played at New Road and I think Taunton and Canterbury as well, but I don't think they're classed as international grounds.
Proportion of those who understood it had dropped by 7pp and those who said they did not know rose by 14pp, compared with a similar poll carried out in Dec 2020
Just to repeat: White Star Line statement 17/4/1912 "It would be naive to overlook the fact that all ships have a finite lifespan..."
1. Look unthreatening and patriotic (tick)
2. Look competent (tick)
3. Choose a convincing Shadow Cabinet and control the NEC (tick)
4. Develop some policies (work just starting)
5. Campaign! (see you in 2023/4)
PB is in general pretty sarcastic about Starmer, and even Labour loyalists like me are restive, but I concede he's good at having a plan and sticking to it.
Though that’s probably me being generous to them.
When playing Australia on their home wickets you need every advantage you can get and we've got nothing to help us. The fact is Root carries the batting disproportionately - top scorer in both innings once again and because of the various absences a long tail so once he went it is all too often a swift collapse and out to field.
Joe Root is a bit like Dean Smith at Norwich currently - the will may be there to fight but the means aren't and with every defeat the spirit of the squad deteriorates that little further. The same mistakes are repeated and as we all know if you repeat the same actions you're likely to get the same result.
Pietersen, Trott et al.
It would appear so.
Edit: Beaten to it.
I note, eg, that the recent UK / Norway / EU agreement has been welcomed, as a straw in the wind.
What I would say it needs is a long term policy from UK Gov, about how they will be managing fisheries in the long-term ie 2026 and beyond. We are now able to have a more resource-conservative conservation oriented policy than the CFP. The sooner the better, and needs to be cooperative across devolved nations and perhaps with other coastal states. I'd frame it as part of a policy for the coastal economy post-Covid and post-EU.
Won't happen whilst BoJo is in Downing Street, as he can't plan beyond the end of the current half hour.
Ultimately, though, the cross-subsidisation model doesn't work. If first-class cricket doesn't make enough money by itself to sustain the sport then we'll end up only with the one-day matches. And I think we will have lost something special.
At the moment Test cricket in England makes lots of money for the ECB, so they should recognise that they need to support a strong first-class county game to ensure that the mediocrity of the England team doesn't turns fans off. Instead we have the Decimal competition.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10349403/Noel-Gallagher-claims-Labour-Party-betrayed-working-classes.html
This was something @Taz touched on yesterday and here I speak as an East Londoner - is there a sense in other parts of the country of a neglect from "London" both financial and political? Is it a question of money on its own because there are plenty of southern councils who would claim they don't have enough either?
So, we whack 5p on income tax (calm down Barty) for example and say all this money is going to restore local services in the north and other parts of the country or on infrastructure projects. Is that it or is there something more fundamental going on in terms of communities, how people live and their aspirations/expectations?
Instead of the "South" telling the "North" what Levelling Up means perhaps the North should be telling the South what the problems are (and I'd be honest about politically sclerotic councils and apathetic communities) and what it is they actually want and need - is it free parking in the town centre, is it a nice health centre, is it more Police to stamp out anti-social behaviour and petty crime or a decent bus service?
I don't know but Levelling Up sounds like a solution in search of a problem.
Coaches report when they go into schools they have to spend most of the first session explaining the rules of the game.
Very few children these days have seen a game of cricket.
I'm quite interested in whether Ireland may eventually come out teh CFP - can they do that? They get a tiny quota of their own fish, and it is all a bit tits-up including their fishing grounds management:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-faces-losing-thousands-of-tonnes-from-fish-quotas-after-eu-investigation-1.4485289
You need to distinguish between someone burning brightly and someone wallowing in a shallow puddle of their own bodily waste. Boris has not spent the last two years watching C beams glitter by the Tannhauser Gates.
Also glad we went one size up, we were planning on the 65" but we got the 83" instead. Worth the extra IMO.
The Hundred is not a good enough excuse for that.
Higher vote share in England than even Tony Blair every achieved. ✅
New trade deal that scrapped the backstop. ✅
Got Brexit Done. ✅
Got the country through a global pandemic. ✅
First country on the entire planet to be rolling out vaccines. ✅
Best in the world amongst major countries for rolling out both vaccines and boosters. ✅
That's a fantastic record of achievement. He's burnt out now and needs to be replaced, but one of the best post-war PMs compressed into a two-year period. We have had about ten years of "events" in that two year period though.
EDIT: Even after burning out he's still better than the Leader of the Opposition and the devolved administration leaders. Only such leader to resist imposing even more unnecessary Covid restrictions. ✅
England v SA 2017.
(Says Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_men's_cricket_grounds_in_England_and_Wales)
It is a beautiful venue though. On a par with New Road or Chester Le Street for the backdrop.
But that's a future debate.
After awful Ashes defeat, will England ever be good at Test cricket again?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/dec/28/after-awful-ashes-defeat-will-england-will-ever-be-good-at-test-cricket-again-cricket-australia
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/liberals-conservatives-wrong-about-each-other/620996/?utm_source=feed
I wonder how high cases might get before they peak now? Thanks to the Bank Holiday impact I could easily imagine us surpassing a quarter of a million cases getting reported in a day which would be quite some achievement.
https://politi.co/3qvmOdd
A Conservative government led by Boris Johnson: 30% (-2 from 29 Nov)
A Labour government led by Keir Starmer: 20% (+1)
Neither: 28% (+2)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/economy/trackers/which-government-would-be-better-at-managing-the-economy?period=1yr https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1475797136793116674/photo/1
Competent: 22% (-7 from 1 Nov)
Incompetent: 64% (+7)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-boris-johnson-incompetent https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1475798037444403200/photo/1
They forgot the cute, fluffy kittens bit.
Trustworthy: 15% (-6 from 1 Nov)
Untrustworthy: 69% (+8)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-boris-johnson-trustworthy https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1475798528790249473/photo/1
Likeable: 36% (-7 from 1 Nov)
Dislikeable: 51% (+8)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-boris-johnson-likeable https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1475799021755191300/photo/1
Strong: 23% (-9 from 1 Nov)
Weak: 59% (+9)
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-boris-johnson-strong-or-weak https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1475799366774501376/photo/1
Just driven past a mobile Covid testing lab in a car park. The car park wasn’t huge, about 20 spaces, but with the van and all the people wanting to get tested it was rammed. Cars queuing on the road. Talking to people, lots and lots of people are testing positive. It’s ripping through the population but everyone seems resigned to it. Perhaps that’s where we are as a nation now. Get your jabs, get it and feel crap for a few days. Don’t get jabbed, it’s your own bloody fault if you die.
Anecdote alert: my mum, a keen Leave voter said, admittedly with a couple of gins inside her on Boxing Day, that Brexit is crap, we were lied to, she wishes she’d voted Remain.
Who are these people? What would it take to change their minds?
“Now remember - this is just a bit of fun, just a bit of fun, but if the Shropshire North by election was repeated at the General Election, here we go, in our virtual reality House of Commons, the result of Shropshire North if the Tories can’t do any better General Election night, and who is going to be on the government benches? yes, it’s the Lib Dems. remember this is just a bit of fun but there they all go like a golden puddle over the seats that used to be blue, and still going, still flowing, over the benches that used to have Labour and SNP on them, not any more look how this golden shower floods the chamber, remember this is just a bit of fun, but no room for the speaker he is replaced by a Lib Dem, and still going, out the doors, passed the statue (we are all trying to guess who it is when TV interviews are in front of it) still going this Biblical flood of Davey’s Party, into Annie’s, a couple of hours later slipping out of Annie’s, down the river terrace - where at the buffet a lobbyist tries to sell you sunlit uplands - and still going, still going out onto the Thames into a boat chartered by Richard Branson, still going onto the boat that’s rammed it piloted by Farage, and there, finally, strapped in a harness high above Parliament beneath the Baby Trump blimp.
Remember this is just a bit of fun, likelihood voters will awake General Election Morning having forgotten the Lib Dems even exist.
Over to you David.”
As badly burnt out as Boris has become, he's still been far stronger than the Leader of the Opposition and every single devolved administration when it comes resisting new restrictions post-Christmas.
What a shame when the PM is so weak, that the Opposition and devolved administrations are even weaker.