National TV Awards

What a travesty that was. I wasn't concentrating on the show 100%, which was probably for the best.
There were several things hideous about it, and I shall enumerate them here:
1. The venue. It was the O2 arena, if I'm not mistaken. It was too large, and bizarre.
2. The presenter. Dermot O'Leary, as much as I like him, couldn't pull it off. He needed to be 'bigger'.
3. The guests. Jedward. With Vanilla Ice. Normally that would be 'nuff said. But I feel I have to add that I have watched some of Vanilla Ice's recent performances on YouTube, and when he does that song, I get goosebumps. I would go and see Vanilla Ice to hear him perform that song. But now he's compromised himself (even more than he has already, you might say) and my nostalgic regard for The Iceman has turned to ambivalence.
4. The acceptance speeches. With the exception, of course, of Stephen Fry. That bloke off Corrie was excruciating, and D. Tennant was poor.

I played Wolfenstein instead.

- Posted using BlogPress on the move.

Bill McLaren, a fixture of our national sporting life, passes away aged 86 | Sport | guardian.co.uk

Bill McLaren, a fixture of our national sporting life, passes away aged 86

Sad news. The Six Nations was never the same once he stopped commentating. The man had such a voice, it was like going back to a familiar pub year after year. RIP.

Another Test Series Ends (S.A. vs. ENG)

So, that was another nail-biting series. Drew 1-1 with South Africa, the test side ranked #2 in the world. It was a bit unconvincing - when South Africa won, they whupped our ass. When we won, it was by the skin of our teeth.

Still, we held our own - for the most part - and frustrated Graeme Smith and his cohorts. Not bad for a team ranked #5 and playing more games than anyone else. I'm not surprised Strauss is being rested for Bangladesh.

Still, Cook as captain? I'm not sure that's a good idea, but I don't know the guy. He strikes me as very young, but he's been V-C for a year, so must have the support of the team... Glad to see Carberry is getting a look-in. I hope he acquits himself well, I have high hopes.

I think we have all the elements we need for a world-class team, we just need the pieces to click into place. With Strauss, Colly and KP as batsmen, supported by Prior, Swann & Broad, we should be scoring 400+ in every innings. And with Jimmy, Swann and Broad in attack, we should be taking wickets much more cheaply than we are doing. I'm sure we'll have some good games during the summer, and I'm off for a rest until then (I wish)...

ENG vs. SA Revisited

So, who can we blame for England’s close shave at Newlands? | The Nurdler

Excellent piece from The Nurdler, advising that we can expect more of the same if we are to be world-beaters. I'm off to buy some spare pants...

The Great Escape, Part III

England save yet another thriller | South Africa v England, 3rd Test, Cape Town, 5th day Report | Cricket News | Cricinfo.com

So, England managed to do it again. They batted all day to draw the match, in the same way they did in Cardiff vs AUS and at Centurion vs. SA. in the first match of the series.

England are showing an admirable stickability at the crease, and a refusal to lose. I am pleased that we have now beaten AUS in the Ashes and at worst we are going to draw this series in SA. What we need to do, in my opinion, is turn that refusal to accept defeat into a hunger for victory. Our bowling attack was the best in 2009, with Swann at 2, Broad at 3 and Anderson at 5.

I am firmly of the opinion that we can be top of the tables, with little change. We need our openers to do a better job, play as if they like it, and be confident that the middle order can hold things up if wickets fall quickly.

Pietersen needs to temper his approach and get into a groove where he's regularly getting 40s and 50s. Cook and Bell, although they both play well, need to turn that class into runs more frequently. Although Cook is quietly coming on - I read that he and Strauss have the third highest opening partnership aggregate scores.

So the parts are all there, they just need to click into place. I would like us to have been tested against India this year, but tests against Bangladesh and Pakistan should keep our eye in...

TTFN.

Snow in Worthing

What's happened to my lovely mild Worthing? The snow is coming down hard with no sign of stopping - look at those clouds...

Posted via web from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site

Unthinkable? England become the world's best cricketers

From the Guardian

I've been thinking that with a run of luck and self-belief, England are on the way to a massive improvement. I don't think it'll be showy, and I don't think it'll be an even run. I think we'll probably suffer massive defeats and set backs, but we could get to mid-2011 and suddenly realise we're within touching distance of being (officially) the best team in the world. We'll look back and think 'how did we get here?', and we'll point to the South Africa ODI victories and the test victories as where we really started to gain momentum. Holding our own against the Aussies in the Ashes (ranked 3rd) and South Africa (ranked 2nd) is a pretty good platform for world domination.

Or could I be reading too much into a few fortunate results? ;-D

Posted via web from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site

Graeme Swann No3 and Stuart Broad No7 in ICC world rankings

Graeme Swann has plenty to smile about. Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad have climbed to their highest ever positions in the ICC player rankings after helping England to beat South Africa by an innings and 98 runs in the second Test in Durban.

The off-spinner Swann took five for 54, including the wicket of Dale Steyn that secured victory at Kingsmead, and is third in the Test rankings behind Steyn and Australia's Mitchell Johnson.

Broad, the hero of the Ashes-clinching victory over Australia at The Oval in the summer, took four for 43 and is ranked seventh. Swann has taken 14 wickets in the current series, Broad nine.

There are no Englishmen in the top 10 of the batting rankings – Kevin Pietersen is 12th.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship bowling rankings

1 Dale Steyn (South Africa) 823pts

2 Mitchell Johnson (Australia) 809

3 Graeme Swann (England) 756

4 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 752

5 Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) 720

6 Harbhajan Singh (India) 712

7 Stuart Broad (England) 697

8 Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 685

9 Stuart Clark (Australia) 682

10 Shane Bond (New Zealand) 676

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship batting rankings

1 Gautam Gambhir (India) 877pts

2 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) 836

3 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 835

4 Virender Sehwag (India) 804

5 Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) 793

6 Michael Clarke (Australia) 7827

7 Younus Khan (Pakistan) 769

8 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 765

9= Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 763

9= Ross Taylor (New Zealand) 763

via guardian.co.uk

Good work Swanny and Broad. Your 2010 resolutions should be to get on the batting top ten lists as well... :-D

Posted via web from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site

Happy New Year

I hope you are all well and saw in the New Year in appropriate style. TW & I were tucked up warmly in bed, and asleep, at least until the barrage of fireworks was released over Worthing.

New Year's resolutions:

• Drink less
• Weigh less
• Watch a test match at Sussex
• Carry out maintenance (on the house, the car, etc.), when it's due
• blog more regularly
• watch less telly

So not too much then...