Royal Oak

I bought some records recently, and on the inner sleeve of a Harry Beckett LP is written the date and "LP in good shape but music clever avon garde?"

True enough

Well, to get even more confusing, in The Hundred, a bowler can bowl two "sets" (there are 5-ball sets in The Hundred, rather than 6-ball overs) consecutively, from the same end.

You get a similar mix in England. For bigger games, there are usually stands dedicated to certain groups. You get member's areas, "family" (alcohol-free) stands, and at Old Trafford, the "Party Stand". The latter, as you can imagine, gets quite raucous. It's usually good-natured (lots of singing and a beer snake or two), but perhaps not for the purist. I had good fun the twice I sat there.

Big win for TSK - match report please, including food and mid-innings entertainment, if any?

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If a bowler bowls a ball which does not pitch (hit the ground) before it reaches the batsman, it is known as a full toss. If a full toss reaches the batsman at waist height it is a no-ball. When a fast bowler bowls a full toss which reaches the batsman at waist high or above, it is called a "beamer", which is both a no-ball, a cause for a warning from the umpire, and very much frowned upon if in any way deliberate. You don't get many deliberate beamers in cricket, they're usually the result of a misfire on the bowler's part. Full tosses are usually dispatched to any part of the park the batsman wishes, although in club cricket the full toss is a deadly delivery. The batsman's eyes light up as he throws the bat at it, quite often resulting in him spooning a catch or missing it completely and being bowled. I took many of my club cricket wickets with full tosses.

The batsman Brian Close was forty-five years old in that clip.

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So is sign stealing one of those "beyond the pale" crimes in baseball? I ask because ss someone who has never watched the game, it seems a fairly innocuous act. Likewise with ball-tampering in cricket - I find it hard to get too uptight about it, because I suspect it's been going on for decades, and it's one of those things where you only cry foul when it's the "other" team that does it.

Sent me to Wikipedia - so was that a big deal when it happened?

Exactly, Warner can do one as well. Bancroft one could almost feel sorry for.

New York look a strong side. Pooran is one of the hottest tickets in T20 cricket, as is Rashid Khan. Kieron Pollard is getting on now, but would be one of the absolute legends of the T20 game. Washington have three big Australian stars in Maxwell, Head and the famous cheat Smith. For JSangry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Australian_ball-tampering_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_tampering#Faf_du_Plessis,_2013 - huh, didn't know Texas skipper Du Plessis was a two-time offender.

A suitably anticlimactic outcome. I suspect there may be a few international retirements after today, and also think Buttler might lose the captaincy. I expect India will boss the final, given South Africa's reputation as arch-chokers in big games.

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Here you go........ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckworth–Lewis–Stern_method I don't think anyone fully understands this method, which has been around for years now. Scoreboards at games now have a running "DLS target" which is updated ball-by-ball throughout the chasing innings so you don't have to try and work it out yourself.

Interesting developments the last couple of days. England into the semis without beating a first-rank team, and the distinct possibility of Australia being knocked out. We're all Afghanistan aren't we?

Ugh, duff sporting 24 hours for England

I think the Aussies did a bit of trolling, playing that starting eleven. Still, on the Super 8s! A bad 48 sporting hours for Scotland.

And relax. Just need to ensure no points for Scotland and I can continue to care about the tournament

The prospects for England vs Namibia look very dicey here.........

Thanks. Indeed- about the same duration and not dissimilar pricing. Correct - quite a turn up. I think everyone expected India and Pakistan to go through.

How does the price and length of game compare with Major League Baseball? Curious

Yes, the club grounds are so much better - closer to the action, smaller and with real character. One thing I will say about OT is that it has impressive toilet facilities. Talking of the World T20, it seems that England are in real danger of exiting the tournament at the first stage. If Scotland's game against Australia gets rained off, then England are out. Even if Scotland lose to Australia, England are going to have to absolutely whup Namibia and Oman to progress. For the non-Brits here, Scotland knocking England out of a major cricket tournament would be beyond the pale. It would be bad enough in football......