The Ashes !

Eldron said:

Did someone say 20-20?

Eldron flashes his Pro20 tickets for SA v. Pakistan on 2 Feb 2007....

Should be a thriller - pace bowling vs. big hitters on a mild to lively pitch!

/prays that Graeme Smith finds some form and runs soon.......

You lucky bugger.

Pakistan have some great hitters, Inzamin being the pick of the bunch.
Pollock and co better have their strategy right.

Enjoy.

davidmc said:

Reminds me of the rider's when I was a youth such as the vaunted Greg LeMond.

LeMond? Bit of no hoper wasn't he? I mean, he only won 5 TdFs 😄

Great rider, one cycling can be proud of, let alone you yanks 😉

And getting back to Ashes. The poms were hopeless. And now we're into the one day series. A radio commentator commented the other day that England and New Zealand like playing each other in this three way series ... because one of them gets to win 😉

Richard

Europa said:

LeMond? Bit of no hoper wasn't he? I mean, he only won 5 TdFs

Not unless you're counting his "virtual" victories.

limerickman said:

You lucky bugger.

Pakistan have some great hitters, Inzamin being the pick of the bunch.
Pollock and co better have their strategy right.

Enjoy.

Indeed!

We are currently in the middle of a 3 test series - poised nicely at one win each with the final test starting on Friday (I think).

Then it's a one off Pro20 and some ODI's.

Ah cricket fest!

limerickman said:

Here is some help :

cs.purdue.eduexplanation.htmOpen ↗

Cool. I always wondered what cricket was all about. Now I know that it is much too complicated for me. Although I am not really sure why, other than tradition, this could not replace baseball.

davidmc said:

Quite some time ago, I'm afraid 🙁 😉

Agreed young davidmc, we live in hope of fairer days, of competition glorious, accolades and laurels to they who have given of their best, not tarnished by scandelous pointing and underhand dealings. Lemond, yes, not liked by even his own countrymen, why was this so, tall poppies must have strong stems.

Bro Deal said:

Cool. I always wondered what cricket was all about. Now I know that it is much too complicated for me. Although I am not really sure why, other than tradition, this could not replace baseball.

Agreed. I don't think cricket would match the US sport culture.

American's seem to want "big hit" style sport where the action lasts a few seconds but the intensity is high.

Eg: american football:a couple of downs with HUGE hits vs. rugby that can have passages of play lasting a few minutes.

Baseball vs. cricket is a tough one. Pro20/limited over cricket is very similar to baseball but the "classic" 5 day game is much more about patience and strategy that big hitting.

Ice hockey vs. outdoor hockey - ice is big in USA/canada where taking out players is part of the game. outdoor is more popular elsewhere. Although that could be because of the lack of sub zero winters :-)

Basketball vs. netball - basketball has it's slam dunks & 3 pointers whereas netball which is more popular in SA/Aus/England is much more sedate.

WWF vs. boxing: 'nuff said :-)

OK so some of the comparisons were rather iffy but I guess the question is:

Is US sport all brawn and no brain or are the rest of us just boring old gits who like to sip gin'n'tonics whilst watching our sport?

Somewhere in between I guess....

davidmc said:

Surely they didn't perform as badly as my country consistently does in soccer. Interesting, unrelated-mind you, pic 😉

Soccer you say, football I say, original game of street ruffians, played now by gentlemen mostly, the America's will evenyually progress. David Beckham will bring flair and panarche to his new home. I predict many Beckham schools of football excellence. Money will atract more money and the empire gets bigger by the day.

Eldron said:

Indeed!

We are currently in the middle of a 3 test series - poised nicely at one win each with the final test starting on Friday (I think).

Then it's a one off Pro20 and some ODI's.

Ah cricket fest!

Question about SA Cricket.

As you know SA were banned from playing internation cricket from 1969-1992, because of apartheid.
As the ban came in the place, SA were probably the strongest team in the world and unfortunately a lot of us never got to see the likes of Barry Richards play at test level.

One guy who - in the words of Don Bradman - was a genius was the legendary Graeme Pollock.
Did you ever get to see him play? And if so was he as good as they say he was?

limerickman said:

In Athens, the Brits got the better of the Aussies on the track.

It would be great to see a matchup though between both teams again.

That would be the Athens Olympics where Australia got 5 golds on the velodrome vs Great Britains 2 golds? You are reading too much 'Cycling Weekly' limerickman.