Voll Blau

You go outside of the top Euro leagues and I'd say its largely going to be weighted in the national teams' favour?

Could have done with this 48 hours ago...

9 hours ago, The whole world smiles said:

It's hypothetical but Essex probably do have the attack to exploit those conditions and we would have been 80-5 or something at tea and everyone would have been saying why the hell did we bat! 

 

I don't necessarily think it's toss decisions letting us down we just have comfortably the worst/most unbalanced team in the division

 

 

No probably about it but like I say, this is Div 1. Most sides do.

They're without Cook, so if there was any time not to worry about seeing off a difficult hour, it was this one. Stick Hill up the order to protect the others if it's that much of a concern.

Anyway, it is possible to salvage things but we need to play bloody well today.

1 hour ago, The whole world smiles said:

Normally i agree but they were unbelievable conditions to bowl for the first hour today. 

If you have the attack to exploit that, fine. Only B. Green had them in any trouble though.

Looking at the forecast and our recent record, we should have backed ourselves to bat. We keep putting all our chips on having sides 50 for 7 within an hour but that just ain't gonna happen in Div 1.

2 hours ago, DezFox said:

This commentator has said Andy Green and Jason cox, god he is awful 

Sheldon Gums too.

Another game likely lost at a toss we won. Again. Sick of this now.

47 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Seems like Keith Piper, our old coach and Warwickshire legend with local links (Matt Pipers half brother) has passed away  

Very sad. Had no idea about that relationship.

12 hours ago, NorthWalesFox said:

Cricket, not just English cricket has an issue with drink. I honestly can’t think of any other  “top” sport that the “athletes” go on the booze so often.

 

In a sport where you have to potentially concentrate for 5 days straight let alone the physical exertion what it requires why on earth would you be going out on the lash in between games. 
 

this hole England set up seems so rotten, and it comes from the top. Doesn’t seem to be an discipline.

 

i love stokes as a cricketer but i do question him as a leader. 
 

 

There's a reason for that, though. In what other sport are you away from home as regularly for as long? And you've got 8+ hours a day of potentially needing to be switched on each day, especially if you're the captain.

I can't imagine how bored snd tempted I'd be by all sorts of things if I was a pro cricketer. I can't blame any of them for letting loose every now and then, especially after a win with a day to spare like that.

That said, they did need to clean up their act and they haven't. But that's a failure of culture, not just of one individual in a leadership role. If Stokes does go then he can't just be the fall guy. Others above him should follow suit.

On 08/06/2026 at 09:35, Sunbury Fox said:

Maybe the way forward is to produce slow, stodgy wickets for T20s at GR. In a low scoring game, it gives the underdog a better chance of winning, I think. If yesterday's pitch had been a road, it's very unlikely we would have outscored their batting line up. 

I can see the benefits but I wonder about the impact it'd have on the team's mentality. Trying to bore snd grind our way to survival in the Championship hasn't worked so far.

From an entertainment point of view, I'd be all for it though - much prefer a T20 game with bowlers on top to a slogfest!

Feels inevitable.

36 minutes ago, Corky said:

Are Middlesex still looking to move out? That might ease wear and tear.

They are looking at a site in West London but they're barely there anyway this season. Playing a lot at outgrounds.

Wasn't expecting to see that result when I had to go out five overs into the second innings.

Fair play. Love seeing us grow into this tournament.

18 minutes ago, CoventryFox said:

Rehan opens 

Not for long...

7 hours ago, EastAnglianFox said:

I do understand why people are going in at the state of the wicket but surely the weather has played a massive part?

 

I mean it could have been an absolute road but with dark clouds, humidity and rain hanging around then surely wickets were likely to tumble at a serious rate?

I prefer games where bowlers are slightly on top but some of the uneven bounce was impossible for anyone to deal with.

There was a stat on TMS earlier about the one Bethell got being the lowest bounce of any wicket-taking ball in a Test in England since ball tracking records began.

43 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

Big shout out to that Hunt lad if we win this

Simpson had a shocker with the gloves too.

We've owed Sussex one for a while. Iron out the unnecessary aerial stuff and that's about as complete a win as you'll get in this format.

Come on Rishi man. Any need?

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

This pitch is appalling and you can guarantee if it was Cardiff or Durham, they’d lose a test match over this.

 

Genuinely bouncing lower than Broomleys mid April. 

The Cricketer had the Lancashire chief exec messaging into their post-match podcast last night to have a go at the pitch (about 3 mins in)...

5 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

The problem is instead of using their majority to actually make some positive changes and facing the reality of where we are, they are doing very little, and not even taking the argument to the factions of the labour party.  Its so depressing.  Surely by now they can see they are heading for screwed and might as well do something.

They're doing decent stuff but not much of it's very showy, that's the problem.

Seeing a doctor has become much easier where I am since they got in, for example.

Mad end to that game at Taunton.

Nice chaser to the Test.

39 minutes ago, The Bear said:

It's the 150th anniversary kit, hence the Wolverhampton town crest instead of the wolf head hexagon badge. 

I like it. Wearing it would make me feel like I was in a licensed taxi in a town that isn't Wolverhampton.

Not managed to see much today but have been listening. Buzzing to see the reactions of two disgruntled batsmen grousing about lbw decisions that were literally hitting the stumps.

Do away with umpire's review. If we believe the machine says it's hitting then you're out. Simple.

Saw Jimmy Carr at St Pancras on his way to play at De Montfort tonight. Only one bloke got a pic with him, which surprised me a bit.

10 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I can see the logic in a way - sunlight being the best disinfectant for such viewpoints in the "marketplace of ideas" had worked pretty well up until the last couple of decades. 

 

Unfortunately, now that advances in tech have managed to make such ideas spread and with them has come a dedicated attempt to subvert the very idea of truth in order to make them stay there. 

 

The world has changed, and is changing. Such paradigms as the one above are well meaning in principle, but may well no longer hold now or in the immediate future. 

Good point. That one appearance on Question Time ended Nick Griffin but the same rules don't apply now.

Just now, Voll Blau said:

The sily ****'s been given open season to say what he likes for two decades now.

 

His rise is the most abject failure in the history of British journalism.

Oh, turns out you can't even say **** on here by spelling it with a v these days. Maybe are Nige is right!