Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Your Cricket => Topic started by: play-yourself-in on March 02, 2017, 01:35:46 AM
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I was just thinking about my own, very poor, cricket career which is in limbo at the moment while I live overseas. I have played with some players much worse than myself (I am pretty poor) who have somehow scored 100s and taken bags of wickets.
One lad springs to mind who batted with his feet and legs together, hovered the bat about 6 inches of the ground with no back lift and got a ton one game!
Who (no names please) is the worst player you've seen do well?
I just hope one day I become one of these players! :)
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I used to play with a lad who would bowl wobbly 90km/ph and he had an incredible nack of taking a lot of wickets.
Not sure what his best figures were while I played with him, but I definitely witnessed some handy 6+ wicket hauls
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Stupid thread, in my opinion. You are only ever as good as the amount of runs and wickets you get.
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Stupid thread, in my opinion. You are only ever as good as the amount of runs and wickets you get.
And how many do you get?
An isolated incident as he went for plenty after but I got out to a filthy long hop from a part time off spinner a few years ago. As I rocked back to pull it rolled along the ground and bowled me! A combination of the bowler, the pitch and the batsman being absolutely terrible
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Who is this Will?
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And how many do you get?
Not many. I don't claim to be any good.
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Maybe more the worst looking player you've ever seen do well.
Years ago we had an aussie lad turn up, good lad, keen enough, didn't look like he'd played much proper cricket before.
Had an inter club pre season game and he whacked 20 odd, enough to get a run in the 4's top order. Proceeded to batter runs everywhere for the 4's, then the 3's and then the 2's and even managed the odd outing for the 1's. I think half his secret was convincing bowlers that he was no threat and was just opening the batting because someone was on holiday.
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Aussie came over and got a duck in his first game for the club playing in the 3s. Think he now captains Australia.
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In a Sunday development game the opening bowlers struggled as the pitch was very slow and it just sat up nicely for the batsmen, the skipper turned to me as a frontline spinner to try and slow the runs down which did as the pitch was turning miles (in my view turning too much) but I got us back in the game bowling my 8 overs 1 wicket for 26 which turned the game around. However our normal keeper came on to bowl some part time spin and somehow managed to bag himself 3 wickets for 21 bowling basically pies, it was quite amusing in some ways fielding at deep mid wicket watching this.
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Aussie came over and got a duck in his first game for the club playing in the 3s. Think he now captains Australia.
This doesn't surprise me. Playing low level cricket can seem like a different game altogether.
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Aussie came over and got a duck in his first game for the club playing in the 3s. Think he now captains Australia.
Steve Smith remains the worse looking player I have seen and I have absolutely no idea how he does it.
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Steve Smith remains the worse looking player I have seen and I have absolutely no idea how he does it.
I second that..if you look him play, you are likely to think that he wont last long but i think what matters at the end is how many runs you score and not whether you look good playing or not.
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Steve Smith remains the worse looking player I have seen and I have absolutely no idea how he does it.
Everytime I see him bat I'm convinced it won't be long till he gets "found out" due to his technique but there he is 51 Tests in with 18 tons and an average over 60, shows how much I know :)
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This doesn't surprise me. Playing low level cricket can seem like a different game altogether.
Evidently this is true. When I was playing modest level league cricket in Kent in the mid 90s, Richie Richardson (who was a pretty decent bat ;)) came to play a season for Lashings in the same league as us, when they were a "proper" club and not just playing charity games. I didn't play against him but I recall that his returns were very poor and he said in an interview how difficult the pitches were for him.
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Stupid thread, in my opinion. You are only ever as good as the amount of runs and wickets you get.
It's not a stupid thread at all. I think it actually raises a rather valid point - With so much emphasis on technique in cricket, especially when young players have had raw natural ability coached out of them in order to conform to MCC coaching manual instructions, are we seeing a change towards a more result driven player.
Ultimately the old adage of 'it's not how, it's how many' does ring so true, but if that's the be all then why do so many people queue up to watch the Tendulkar's, the Ponting's, the Bell's, the Pietersen's of this world above other players. It's because they're all brilliant players but all classical, elegant and 'easy on the eye'.
Regarding Steve Smith I personally find him unwatchable, but that's not because of his batting style at all. I actually rather like watching him bat, but it's the amount of fidgeting and OCD repetitiveness during his pre ball routine that I can't stand - much the same way I find David Warner annoying due to him constantly messing with his gloves. Both great players though.
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You may have the best text book technique like Daren Ganga and still fail nonstop.
Or you have weird techniques like Stephen Cook and still make bucket loads of runs.
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Steve Smith remains the worse looking player I have seen and I have absolutely no idea how he does it.
Agreed! Every time I see him he looks like a walking wicket yet he scores a shedload of runs.
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Hand eye coordination is key,
stand and deliver like Sehwag while the eyesight is still there.
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Steve smith had a game plan. He knows his shots, he's mentally stubborn and he sticks to what he is good at.
Prime example you don't have to bat like Ian bell to score runs. If you think about it and have a plan that works for you you should score runs
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Steve smith had a game plan. He knows his shots, he's mentally stubborn and he sticks to what he is good at.
Alastair Cook has made 11,000 runs with that exact same principle.
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Well organised.
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Stupid thread, in my opinion. You are only ever as good as the amount of runs and wickets you get.
So much aggression!
James Vince has scored a lot of runs, and he is rubbish....i mean really rubbish!
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MS Dhoni...lacks technique but makes it work with good temperament. Always believe that good temperament is more important than good technique for being successful.
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I've managed to knock a few 50s out in my time. One of which I was dropped 5 times on my way to 55.
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So much aggression!
James Vince has scored a lot of runs, and he is rubbish....i mean really rubbish!
No, he isn't.
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Can I nominate myself?
I have a premier league winners medal and I'm sh!te...
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I've managed to knock a few 50s out in my time. One of which I was dropped 5 times on my way to 55.
I've never been dropped. Ever.
Every time I'm caught it's an absolute blinder.
That and I have an annoying habit of letting the ball hit the stumps.
As far as I can tell, the only reason I don't have a 1.9M pound IPL contract is crippling bad luck.
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As far as I can tell, the only reason I don't have a 1.9M pound IPL contract is crippling bad luck.
It's a right place, right time kinda situation isn't it.
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No, he isn't.
Oh he is, he's the new John Crawley!
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Oh he is, he's the new John Crawley!
Creepy smoked like a chimney; the last of the great sporting smokers!!!
Now there's a thread
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I'm sorry, I don't have anything to add to this thread, but the Subject was doing my head in!
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I've never been dropped. Ever.
Every time I'm caught it's an absolute blinder.
That and I have an annoying habit of letting the ball hit the stumps.
As far as I can tell, the only reason I don't have a 1.9M pound IPL contract is crippling bad luck.
Haha sounds like a guy I used to play with!
He was never out LBW, everytime he was bowled it was a jaffa or the umpire was a cheat for not calling a no ball. He was deadly serious about this to the point where he would go and sulk for the rest of the game and into the evening in the bar too.
The worst part of it all is that he was a genuinely bad cricketer only playing 1s because no one else wanted to bat 11 and not bowl yet thought he was the best player in the league!
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People who go to cricket once a year to get drunk are usually the best players never to do well. They know, because they said so.
James Vince is a fantastic player. Not only has he scored many thousand more first-class runs than any of us; he has done so in a manner that makes him possibly the most attractive batsman to watch in the country.
Clearly he has a temperament issue at Test match level, but he wouldn't be the first.
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Do most of the worst players play with worser players which makes them look good.
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Do most of the worst players play with worser players which makes them look good.
Can also work the other way, funnily enough. As a relatively technically correct batsman, it's nice to know roughly where the ball might be pitching. Or at least the number of times it's going to bounce!
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And imagine the fear associated with the possibility of getting out to a 14 year-old girl?
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This is a very amusing thread!
:)
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Steve Smith quite possibly got one that rolled along the floor playing in someone's 3rds? You know, one that not even, er, Steve Smith could have kept out?
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Now I think of it, imagine the fear of getting out to a 14 year-old girl, when using a GN 50+ with full matching softs?
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Steve Smith quite possibly got one that rolled along the floor playing in someone's 3rds? You know, one that not even, er, Steve Smith could have kept out?
Having played at the ground in question I can confirm the ground had better decks than a lot of first team pitches at the time, most definitely would not have rolled along the floor.
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Evidently this is true. When I was playing modest level league cricket in Kent in the mid 90s, Richie Richardson (who was a pretty decent bat ;)) came to play a season for Lashings in the same league as us, when they were a "proper" club and not just playing charity games. I didn't play against him but I recall that his returns were very poor and he said in an interview how difficult the pitches were for him.
Where did/do you live felix? I remember going to watch Richie i that season where he came to play against the team closest to where I grew up (New Ash Green)
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Seen plenty of pretty shocking looking players score big runs or people get lucky and ton up after being dropped 4 times early on or something, more power to them!
Who's to judge, particularly if someone scores a ton then go tell them well batted, that's what cricket's about isn't it. Worst fifty I've ever scored - on a dog of a pitch, I came in towards the end of an innings with us below par and slogged viciously, got dropped a bunch of times including a dolly on the shot that got me to 50, was amazed when the whole opposition generously applauded and a few even came to shake hands at the end of the innings and said how well I'd batted (even as the abuse rang out from my own team ha). Their sportsmanship made my day far more than the poor quality runs I'd scored, more games should be played that way.
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Worst looking player I've seen do well is easy - once put on 360 in a 45 over game, went in for tea feeling pretty happy with ourselves. Even more so when the oppo skipper opened batting like a right handed Chanderpaul, fully face on to the bowler in his stance. A chanceless 140odd* from him later to take the win and he didn't look so bad! Best innings I've ever seen in a game I've played in.
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Just thinking about this is making my head hurt.
There was a county T20 game on TV last year in which a medium pacer (possibly Ravi Bopara) was, in the modern way, bowling 'pace off the ball' crazy variations, in order to frustrate the batsman. The commentator (possibly Nasser or Rob Key) suggested that the best way for a batsman to practise facing this type of bowling would be to go and play some club 3rd XI cricket.
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all the people talk about technique smith got this got that look at the head just the head of players it will show you who has what.
Technique is mainly associated to body movement but in truth look at the head that's where the best players score there runs both inside and the usual stillness of the head.
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Creepy smoked like a chimney; the last of the great sporting smokers!!!
Now there's a thread
Brian Barnes once marked his golf ball with a can of beer, this was during a professional competition back in the day when a ball marker had no size restrictions as long as it was circular.
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all the people talk about technique smith got this got that look at the head just the head of players it will show you who has what.
Technique is mainly associated to body movement but in truth look at the head that's where the best players score there runs both inside and the usual stillness of the head.
I think this is probably right. Unorthodox doesn't necessarily mean poor technique.
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Creepy smoked like a chimney; the last of the great sporting smokers!!!
Now there's a thread
There are smokers on the county circuit even now. Unbelievable really.
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This thread is brilliant and a great read. Can somebody please change the title to well!! The title is so frustrating to look at 🙈
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My top 3 who made it big Graeme Smith, Shiv Chanderpaul, Chris Rogers
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My top 3 who made it big Graeme Smith, Shiv Chanderpaul, Chris Rogers
Ugly? Yes. Poor techniques? I don't think so.
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Where did/do you live felix? I remember going to watch Richie i that season where he came to play against the team closest to where I grew up (New Ash Green)
Back in the day I used to play for Sherwood, a (then) little club in Rochester. Played at New Ash Green a couple of times. I actually moved away from Kent in 96, the year Richie played for Lashings, but in 95 they had Murali playing for them, he was going to make his debut against us and was buzzing with the thought of batting against him. Sod's law, it p***ed down the night before and we didn't play. In those days Lashings were a truly weird outfit, they'd turn up with a couple of South African U21 players and the rest of the team was proper village.
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@felix don't suppose you remember a guy called Nick Edwards do you? Used to umpire/score for Sherwood?
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@felix don't suppose you remember a guy called Nick Edwards do you? Used to umpire/score for Sherwood?
Yeah of course I do, played with him many times, bowled nippy seamers off 2 paces and did a lot of the ground work in those days. Small world! Used to be a really fantastic club. What's your connection?
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He's actually my uncle!
He was still scoring/umpiring for them up until a few years ago when he moved apart from the club a little. It is a weirdly small world we live in
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He's actually my uncle!
He was still scoring/umpiring for them up until a few years ago when he moved apart from the club a little. It is a weirdly small world we live in
Blimey, well say hi from me next time you see him, hopefully he'll remember me, couldn't hit it off the square then either. I was sad to lose touch with the club, had some of my best cricketing days there over 8 seasons, some awesome liver-destroying tours of North Devon were special highlights.
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I will do, the clubs still nice enough and I know a fair amount of the lads there now, but it's certainly got to a bigger club level now and plays a decent standard too. Still a good family oriented place mind
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Back in the day I used to play for Sherwood, a (then) little club in Rochester. Played at New Ash Green a couple of times. I actually moved away from Kent in 96, the year Richie played for Lashings, but in 95 they had Murali playing for them, he was going to make his debut against us and was buzzing with the thought of batting against him. Sod's law, it p***ed down the night before and we didn't play. In those days Lashings were a truly weird outfit, they'd turn up with a couple of South African U21 players and the rest of the team was proper village.
Lashings' Sunday league side was indeed bizarre at times! I played against them for Gore Court towards the end of the 90s and they had Richardson, Junior Murray and I think it was Campbell (the opening bat for West Indies - Sherwin I think), plus a couple of young West Indian quicks then some proper village stuff led by the Lashings moneyman David Folbs. Wasn't long after this they pulled out of the league and a certain Shoaib Akhtar started playing for them.
I think Murali played for Lashings in some Maidstone midweek stuff before he played any games for Sri Lanka so that might have been his debut 2nd time round you're referring to?
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Lashings' Sunday league side was indeed bizarre at times! I played against them for Gore Court towards the end of the 90s and they had Richardson, Junior Murray and I think it was Campbell (the opening bat for West Indies - Sherwin I think), plus a couple of young West Indian quicks then some proper village stuff led by the Lashings moneyman David Folbs. Wasn't long after this they pulled out of the league and a certain Shoaib Akhtar started playing for them.
I think Murali played for Lashings in some Maidstone midweek stuff before he played any games for Sri Lanka so that might have been his debut 2nd time round you're referring to?
I didn't know he'd done an earlier stint but he definitely played for them in league games for part of the 95 season. It was big news in the Kent Messenger, he was an established test player by then though his most stellar achievements were still a couple of years away. IIRC he didn't take a lot of wickets, his spells were just blocked out, but he made a shed load of runs, which says something about the standard of that league.
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There are smokers on the county circuit even now. Unbelievable really.
I had a couple of current Aussie contracted players visit work the other week. They had to be told not to smoke in front of the building. I couldn't believe it.
Then there is this legend:
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h243/nwillia/IMG_1676_zpsbbsxh3bu.jpg) (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/nwillia/media/IMG_1676_zpsbbsxh3bu.jpg.html)
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Much as I enjoyed watching Wayne Larkins bat, the idea that people are legendary because they drink and smoke is so outdated.
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Much as I enjoyed watching Wayne Larkins bat, the idea that people are legendary because they drink and smoke is so outdated.
lighten up Bats, that was a different era......lots of cricketer smoke in the pro game
yes......they might be better changing to VAPING :) (check the great british vaping thread on here we are FLYING)
rumour has it...although I did get this from an ex pro cricketer....is when Rob Key got a late call up for England for some T2O games(and didn't play a game IIRC) Flower wanted extra training and asked where Key was-the answer back was
''he's round the back having a fag''
went down like a surprise meal for two with Kevin Pieterson apparently.
:)
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in some respect technique counts for very little in club cricket, its more about knowing your own game and what you can and cant do
you see some incredibly limited batsmen with 1 or 2 shots scoring lots of runs as theyve worked it out, so much of it is mental
and i'm sure we've all played with the guy that looks top draw in the nets and fantastic out in the middle until he gets out for single figures every week
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Lots of cricketer smoke in the pro game
I know. It was me that pointed it out.
Rob Key is often mentioned, but Kent still have an England. capped player who is a smoker.
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and i'm sure we've all played with the guy that looks top draw in the nets and fantastic out in the middle until he gets out for single figures every week
You can't all have played with me.
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In a way (obvious health risks aside) I used to enjoy smoking, and as I cut down, I really enjoyed my pipe.
I wish there was some sort of non-lung threatening herby substance you could smoke freely and without risk. That way I could still take my gentle turn around the boundary, puffing on 'old faithfull' and disgorging advice to the adoring young whippersnappers I play with.
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I know. It was me that pointed it out.
Rob Key is often mentioned, but Kent still have an England. capped player who is a smoker.
I don't know which player you are referring to. But my friend plays for Kent and def not a smoker(or drinker)...he's muslim so does neither
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In a way (obvious health risks aside) I used to enjoy smoking, and as I cut down, I really enjoyed my pipe.
I wish there was some sort of non-lung threatening herby substance you could smoke freely and without risk. That way I could still take my gentle turn around the boundary, puffing on 'old faithfull' and disgorging advice to the adoring young whippersnappers I play with.
Yes, obviously people enjoy it!
Have you been CRB checked?
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I don't know which player you are referring to. But my friend plays for Kent and def not a smoker(or drinker)...he's muslim so does neither
They have a sizeable squad?
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I've mentioned this one before. There was a guy who was enthusiastic, good club man, always turned up, but was generally pressed into service as an umpire and happy to do it, occasionally filled a gap in the field and got out for not many. Was never actually on the team sheet. Then one game when he was filling in, the opposition quick was running through their team until he went out and hit him to all parts on his way to a 90-odd red inker. Every dog has his day.
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I had a couple of current Aussie contracted players visit work the other week. They had to be told not to smoke in front of the building. I couldn't believe it.
Then there is this legend:
([url]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h243/nwillia/IMG_1676_zpsbbsxh3bu.jpg[/url]) ([url]http://s66.photobucket.com/user/nwillia/media/IMG_1676_zpsbbsxh3bu.jpg.html[/url])
When Castlemaine XXXX sponsored the Aussies one Ashes series over here, the team enjoyed a brewery hospitality visit and I believe that bloke had to be helped onto the coach...
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I sometimes think that the reason the don't play often/ whites hastily acquired from Sports Direct/ black trainer types often do well is because they put pressure on themselves in the way that some of us 'more serious' cricketers do.
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When a was a junior i was playing some senior park cricket on astro . There was a bloke , 6ft8 , who bowled 'off spin' .....lolly pop , nude balls that went a mile in the air and got enormous bounce on the synthetic wicket . Blokes struggled with goodish length balls bouncing rib height or higher . He got a few fivefors that i saw .Saw him a year later on turf . He didn't get any bounce at all on turf and was reduced to the pie chucker he really was . Got hit for 4 sixes in one over . Bowled about 8 overs for 0-70 odd .
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lighten up Bats, that was a different era......lots of cricketer smoke in the pro game
yes......they might be better changing to VAPING :) (check the great british vaping thread on here we are FLYING)
rumour has it...although I did get this from an ex pro cricketer....is when Rob Key got a late call up for England for some T2O games(and didn't play a game IIRC) Flower wanted extra training and asked where Key was-the answer back was
''he's round the back having a fag''
went down like a surprise meal for two with Kevin Pieterson apparently.
:)
Your right back then a certain Dennis Compton advertised fags didn't do his England cricket or Arsenal career any harm.
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Nor did not wearing a helmet...
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In a way (obvious health risks aside) I used to enjoy smoking, and as I cut down, I really enjoyed my pipe.
I wish there was some sort of non-lung threatening herby substance you could smoke freely and without risk. That way I could still take my gentle turn around the boundary, puffing on 'old faithfull' and disgorging advice to the adoring young whippersnappers I play with.
Not to try and tempt you in, but did you ever have a go on the vaping @FattusCattus ? Some very marmitey e pipes out there ;)
(http://www.smoktech.com/images/product/39/2016-06-13-17_48_455841.jpg)
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Get on it Fattus. cravat and leather armchair optional.
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@edge @ppccopener - what the hell is that? Do you have a link? I love it!!!!
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It's a vape, but in pipe form! https://www.ukecigstore.com/smok-guardian-sub-kit.html (https://www.ukecigstore.com/smok-guardian-sub-kit.html)
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I got into the mid 30s once 😬