February 15, 2008
Watching the highlights of England’s win over the Kiwis. Blimey, Vettori is a good player. How many speccies are there in the international game? Not many I’d reckon. At least he isn’t ginger, mind you, fine allround performance from Captain Ginger has done us proud.
Oh, and I managed to stumble across these bad boys on the internet. Stick Bats is selling some cricket bats with personality. Love the stickers!
February 14, 2008
The handbook for the league in which I play there are limits to what you can say to your opponents - go too far with the verbals and you can expect to receive some form of censure - quite right. There is also a bit in the handbook which makes it explicitly clear that sledging the juniors is prohibited. Quite right too, although some of the hill-billy types you end up playing against don’t seem to know about this and enjoy harassing our younger players - which really is not on. I am in favour of limits to sledging, being too aggressive or too insulting does nothing more than cause aggro. CricInfo would have us believe that the Indian’s want to ban sledging all together - this is ridiculous, completely lacking in logic. It is great to have some banter, and even greater to smite a mouthy bowler to the fence a few times to shut the f*cker up. If you ban sledging you’ll then have to ban bouncers (cause if sledging hurts too much then a smack in the chops definitely does too). What’s more, you’d probably have to ban fielders being too close to the bat, because it’ll hurt. Then you’ll start playing with a tennis ball, because it is safer.
Ridiculous move from a nation that seems to think it has the devine right to boss the game to the detriment of cricket lovers around the world (anyone else looking forward to seeing Shane Bond play against England? Not any more you’re not). Grow some balls and play the game like adults.
Speaking of sledging, here is Peirs Morgan writing on the subject . Much as I hate to agree with him on something, it supports the point I am trying to make.
February 12, 2008
Kiwis 2, England 0. Yus. A puss poor iffort from a puthetic Inglish team today. Beaten by a keeper and a fat bloke playing cricket in the way it was intended - village-esque slogfest. Lads, say no to attempted quick singles and play some shots. Sound the attack, chhhhhhhhhiiiiiiarge!
February 11, 2008
Kiwis 1 - England 0. Read all about it from Derek Pringle in the Telegraph. Also, in the same paper, Mike Atherton gives a spot-on assessment of Shane Bond’s ‘boning’.
February 7, 2008
Another puss poor iffort from the Kiwis, who got smished around the park before stumbling to eighty sux for sux in reply and iventually funishing 50 runs short of England’s 198 for 8.
CrucInfo called it a “proficient and professional allround display from England”, for whom keen as Mustard and Mr Wright starred up front. Collingwood and Shah put on a great partnership too. All the bowlers were good, especially so Sidebottom and Mascaranhas.
February 6, 2008
** Stop press - the pics have been published and are available here **
Have been reliably informed, and had it confirmed by the National Magazine Company, that England cricketers Stuart Broad, Alistair Cook and James Anderson, participated in a naked photoshoot for Cosmopolitan magazine.
Apparently it was for charity, and Sky Sports filmed it. What would Richie Benaud or Geoff Boycott think?
Speaking of semi-naked cricketness…
February 5, 2008
The Village Cricketer has decided that there is no time like the present for making awards and today calls on bloggers, readers and cricket tragics from around the world to make nominations for the first ever ‘The International Village Cricketer Awards’. You are invited to make your nominations through the medium of comments to this blog, with reference to any international cricketer, team or moment from 2007. Please also include your reasons for nominating.
The categories for nomination are as follows (click here for a guide on what constitutes village behaviour):
Village Cricketer of the Year
Most Village Emerging Player of the Year
Village Captain of the Year
Spirit of Village Award (to be awarded to the most village Test playing nation)
Most Village Non-Test Playing Cricketing Nation
World Village Team of the Year (please nominate players, from any country, to be named in this international XI)
International Village Moment of the Year
Please note that TVC reserves the right to remove any comments that are overly offensive because it can’t afford to be sued.
February 5, 2008
By way of offering a Kiwi commentary to balance views on the forthcoming massacre of New Zealand cricket, TVC offers a link to Sideline Slogger, a fush and chup eating blogger from the puss poor crucketing nation of En Zed. Let battle commence!
Was delighted to see an England victory in the fust TwintyTwinty mitch today. Sideshow Bob carved through the Kiwi batting, which included proper village cricketer turned international ‘athlete’ Jesse Ryder. Ryder is only 23, but has already been labelled “fat, disloyal and… having a bad attitude“. He obviously enjoys a good meal, but he also gives the ball a whack. TVC wants more of this sort of player on the international scene.
