The timing of Bopara's wicket could not have been worse. Personally, I blame Kieswetter.

Was bad timing. Plenty of hitters came in afterwards though, just that they could not read Ajmal and the seamers bowleed too full to hit boundaries. Why Kieswetter?

Don't rate his keeping. As a batsman, he's supposed to get us off to a flier and he isn't doing that. 14 off 18 balls yesterday before backing away so far to leg that he was bowled leg stump by one he couldn't reach. If he isn't getting us away in those first six overs, his keeping isn't good enough to warrant selection. Better to bring in a proper opener (Hales and Cook both in the squad) and hand the gloves to either of the middle order wicket-keeping biffers who are also in the squad in the shape of Buttler and Bairstow.

Rant over

good showing from young Bairstow today, and excellent catching generally

That last ball from Dirtbag last night... Way to hold your nerve under pressure. Still don't rate him though



Morgan dropped from the Test squad going to Sri Lanka. James Tredwell is in, as is Fat Sam.

Last in, first out it seems.

That final Test double century against the Indians last summer seems to have bought Ian Bell some leeway.

Given Morgan is going to play next to sod all in the way of first class cricket between now and the start of the summer home Test series it's hard to see how he can get back into the side from here.

A Neil Fairbrother [ide nos jours[/i

I'd forgotten just how bad a Test player Fairbrother was. A quick visit to Cricinfo shows a Test batting average of 15.67 from 10 matches.

Morgan's more Anthony McGrath but without the bowling threat.

Fairbrother not as prolific or as quick-scoring as I thought he was either, but it was a different era when needing 8 off the last over was all but impossible.

And Morgan will never match McGrath's figures (waist size, for instance)

Don't think it's just a case of last in first out. Morgan only averages 30 in test cricket, while Bell averages 47, and scored heavily last year, even before that double ton. While the batsmen all had poor series, Morgan was the only one yet to prove himself at test level.

Will be interesting to see who they replace him with in the team. Suspect it will be Bopara, as an easy option (next in line, can bowl a few overs), but may be a case for Patel, as a third spinner, or an attack of Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson and Panesar. The latter is unlikely though.

Fairbrother was ahead of his time, as i guess Bevan was too, aggressive running, lively in the field. Your average test match nowadays in like T20 compared to one day world cups back in the day (unless Sir Viv was firing on all cylinders)

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/video--virat-kohli-133-off-86-523406.htmlBoom from Kohli[/url

Gave Malinga some jip there!

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/fire-in-babylon-on-iplayer-523777.htmlfire in babylon if you missed it last night[/url

Bevan less so, but certainly could be said to be a pioneer of modern one-day cricket - pushing into gaps, running the first one hard and clearing the front leg for some late-overs biffo. Not that he ever needed to resort to much biffo as he'd generally timed his innings to something approaching perfection. Obviously, he learned all that at Headingley...

I was reading something about him the other day, just can't remember it where, but the just of it was he just loved the challenge , and just saw chasing 8 - 9 - 10 per over as an excuse to pile the pressure on the bowlers


[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/video-craig-mcmillan-catches-a-524555.htmlBrian Macmillan catchs Martin Guptil - in the commentary box[/url

Remember going to see Yorkshire v Warks in a cup quarter-final at Headingley in the mid 90s. Low scoring game and we were behind and behind and behind all the way through, but Bev and Peter Hartley scrambled us over the line with a ball to spare. Easy lolly, never in doubt. Still got it on VHS somewhere. If only I had something to play it on.



My new favourite catch ever

looking at the youtube description, it's hardly what you'd call a 'straight 6' is it?

More of a V8 turbo, although a lot of the pace had gone off the ball by the time it got to him.

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/runako-morton-dies-527851.htmlRunako Morton dies[/url

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/video-nixon-was-offered-mil-529087.htmlPaul Nixon was offered 'millions' to fix game[/url

Millions of rupees, presumably.

(Just checked, and right now 1,000,000 rupees = £12,712.79)

Good stuff by New Zealand overnight, especially The Phantom.
Watching a bit of the t20 series highlights while waiting for the rain to clear in Dunedin, I feel sure I saw a Martin Guptill misfield, but that can't possibly have happened. Can it?

Sir Vivi, 60 today #legend

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/video-60-today-sir-isaac-viv-529991.htmlmore here[/url

Speaking of legends, The Wall. Man, hero, icon, cricketer of some repute, retiree. [url=http://tastymorkels.blogspot.com/2012/03/wall.htmlMore here.[/url