Jimmy Anderson - what's the point??

[Parson Henry]

In what way is he arrogant?

He's a good young bowler desperately short of confidence, trying to do well in the ruthless world of test cricket.

In the fourth test against SA he looked so low about his performance he was nearly in tears.

What a horrible c*nt you are.

Well I have been well and truly flamed here. On reflection my comments were not fully thought through and borne out of frustration that Anderson was selected ahead of Kirtley.

Apologies to all who I have upset.

I have learned something here and will move on.

Maybe the use of the c word was over the top but hey I am big enough to take it.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Jimmy Anderson is a ****.

There, I said it.

 

[Parson Henry]

Jimmy Anderson is a ****.

There, I said it.

Yes but did you mean chav?

 

[Kev the Ape]

Jimmy Anderson bowling action is terrible to say the least, when he runs in he doesnt look at the off stump he always has his head down. He is a good player for the future but its time to bring someone else in and he needs to work on his action.

 

[Chesney Christ]

Well I have been well and truly flamed here. On reflection my comments were not fully thought through and borne out of frustration that Anderson was selected ahead of Kirtley.

Apologies to all who I have upset.

I have learned something here and will move on.

Maybe the use of the c word was over the top but hey I am big enough to take it.

Sorry mate, I was totally over the top.

However, I have just seen a young (just 20 years old) England bowler visibly struggling in one of the toughest sports in the world, and utterly drained of confidence in the full glare of the world's media - and thought you were being incredibly harsh calling him arrogant. If anything, he is the opposite.

As for the Kirtley thing I think it is purely down to age - Kirtley is probably past his best, whereas Anderson is a long way from it. I think that is probably the thinking of the England selectors.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I have just seen a young (just 20 years old) England bowler visibly struggling in one of the toughest sports in the world, and utterly drained of confidence in the full glare of the world's media

The WORLD'S media? Are you sure? You're talking about cricket, for fucks sake!

 

[Chesney Christ]

The WORLD'S media? Are you sure? You're talking about cricket, for fucks sake!

Fair point. Its still a very big audience to have a complete breakdown of confidence in front of.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Fair point. Its still a very big audience to have a complete breakdown of confidence in front of.

With all due respect, cricket is a minor sport by this country's standards, let alone world standards. I've never been able to understand the media coverage it gets in England and Wales even though I quite enjoy watching the game now and then. After all, the average attendances at the cricket are pathetic. Is there really the level of national interest to warrant the amount of coverage cricket is given?

Anyway, young player / confidence breakdown / vitriolic criticism. You're right, that is harsh in any sport. But let's not forget that these guys are highly-paid professionals who are at the top of their game and who are earning large sums of money for doing something that we, the public, actually pay to do in our spare time. The criticism comes with the territory. Let's not shed too many tears for these lads, eh?

 

[Chesney Christ]

With all due respect, cricket is a minor sport by this country's standards, let alone world standards. I've never been able to understand the media coverage it gets in England and Wales even though I quite enjoy watching the game now and then. After all, the average attendances at the cricket are pathetic. Is there really the level of national interest to warrant the amount of coverage cricket is given?

Anyway, young player / confidence breakdown / vitriolic criticism. You're right, that is harsh in any sport. But let's not forget that these guys are highly-paid professionals who are at the top of their game and who are earning large sums of money for doing something that we, the public, actually pay to do in our spare time. The criticism comes with the territory. Let's not shed too many tears for these lads, eh?

Money doesn't buy happiness.

My response was due more to the fact that PM called him arrogant, when clearly he is quite the opposite - which I suppose is the problem.

The suggestion that people who earn good money don't have as many problems as the rest of us is dull, cliched and infantile.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

The suggestion that people who earn good money don't have as many problems as the rest of us is dull, cliched and infantile.

That wasn't my point at all! My point was that the lad is at the top of his chosen profession. If he can't handle the resultant pressures, then perhaps he is not suited to his current position.

 

[Pevenseagull]

With all due respect, cricket is a minor sport by this country's standards, let alone world standards.

minor sport by world standards?

cricket?

erm, where are you getting this information from?

 

[Pevenseagull]

The Tsunami appeal charity match attracted a t.v. audience of over 1 billion and was broadcast live in over 120 countries

not bad for a minor sport

 

[Stumpy Tim]

What happened to Kirby at Yorkshire. He was brilliant when he first played?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

minor sport by world standards? cricket? erm, where are you getting this information from?

How many countries in the world play cricket? There's England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, India, the countries that make up the West Indies team, erm, oh yeah, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, erm, uhhh, don't the Netherlands have a team? I seem to remember Canada playing it once or twice. And there's Bangladesh of course. Didn't the Kenyans have a go at it once? And how about Fiji?

Sheesh.....

 

[Gwylan]

TLB. You have a very parochial view here; just because cricket isn't big in Wales it doesn't mean that it's not a popular sport.

You mention that it's only played in a handful of countries (which is not really true, a glance at any Wisden will show the different parts of the world where cricket is played) and as such the appeal is limited,

What you don't point out is that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alone have more than a billion people living there. And they're fanatical about cricket.

You also forget that there are a lot of Asians living in other countries who follow cricket keenly. There are several cricket leagues in California for example.

A few years ago, I read that the most popular sporting website was a cricket one. I don't know if that still holds but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

I agree that cricket is not as popular as football but it's probably the second most popular team game in the world - scarcely the minority interest that you imply it is.

Ah yes, James Anderson. Good prospect but needs some time in a county side bowling a bit more. Harmison could probably do with a few overs in Durham as welll

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

TLB. You have a very parochial view here; just because cricket isn't big in Wales it doesn't mean that it's not a popular sport.

You mention that it's only played in a handful of countries (which is not really true, a glance at any Wisden will show the different parts of the world where cricket is played) and as such the appeal is limited,

What you don't point out is that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh alone have more than a billion people living there. And they're fanatical about cricket.

I agree that cricket is not as popular as football but it's probably the second most popular team game in the world - scarcely the minority interest that you imply it is.

Are you having a laugh?

Cricket is only the SEVENTH most popular spectator sport in Britain! Football, greyhound racing, horse racing, rugby union, motor sport and rugby league all draw bigger aggregate crowds.

Yes, some of the Asian countries are fanatical about the game (though you mentioned Bangladesh, and they don't even have a test side do they?), but most of the rest of the world couldn't care less about it. In fact, most of the rest of the world have probably never even heard of cricket!

The amount of coverage the game is given by our media has always amazed me as the crowds are so poor. I suppose the game must draw decent TV audiences or the likes of Sky wouldn't give it so much time, but nobody could seriously claim that it is a major sport either in domestic or world terms.

To suggest that ANY cricketer is EVER under the full glare of the world's media is simply nonsense!

 

[El Presidente]

With all due respect, cricket is a minor sport by this country's standards, let alone world standards.

Cricket has the second highest world TV audiences for a team sport in the world. I appreciate it is a dying sport here, (thanks in particular to Mrs Thatcher, who destroyed it in schools during the 80's) but there is a vast audience for it in Asia.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Cricket has the second highest world TV audiences for a team sport in the world. I appreciate it is a dying sport here, (thanks in particular to Mrs Thatcher, who destroyed it in schools during the 80's) but there is a vast audience for it in Asia.

I bow to your greater knowledge if that is true.

I did a bit of research on the net a couple of months ago which revealed that cricket is only the seventh most popular specatator sport in Britain, the fifth in Australia, the third in New Zealand and the second in South Africa and Bangladesh. And those are major cricketing countries.

Only in India and Pakistan is it the most popular spectator sport. When one considers that the vast majority of Europe and Africa, almost all of the Americas, and lots of heavily populated Asian countries neither play nor watch cricket, then I don't believe it can truly be considered a major sport.

 

[Gwylan]

Bangladesh is a test-playing country so you might need to brush up your research bit.

I also don't know where you get the idea that cricket is the fifth most popular sport in Australia - it's about the only national sport they have. Rugby league and Aussie rules have their strengths in different states and rugby union is just played by 'a couple of hundred public school drongos' as an Aussie friend sniffly said to me.

But you're missing the point about cricket. The fact that county matches are so poorly attended is more to do with the fact that not many people have unlimited holidays. That doesn't mean that people aren't interested - look at the number of people who used to dial the test match score over the phone - in the days before the Internet. And cricket websites do some amazing traffic.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

Bangladesh is a test-playing country so you might need to brush up your research bit.

I also don't know where you get the idea that cricket is the fifth most popular sport in Australia - it's about the only national sport they have. Rugby league and Aussie rules have their strengths in different states and rugby union is just played by 'a couple of hundred public school drongos' as an Aussie friend sniffly said to me.

I concede that Bangladesh do indeed have a test side - they just don't win any matches by the look of it! Incidentally, football is apparently the most popular specatator sport in Bangladesh. That surprised me as I would've imagined it would've been cricket.

I got the idea that cricket was the fifth most popular spectator sport in Australia from an Australian government website. They listed the most popular sports (and gave attendance figures) as being Australian rules, horse racing, motor sports, rugby league, cricket and football in that order. Rugby union was further down the list.