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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 11, 2022 10:47:42 GMT
Sorry to hear Villa got knocked out of the FA cup. (Sky Blues of course are through to the next round). |
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Jan 11, 2022 13:28:02 GMT
Sorry to hear Villa got knocked out of the FA cup. (Sky Blues of course are through to the next round). I know, last time they played us in the cup they lost as well IIRC. I think it’s nice seeing fellow West Midlands teams do well (though maybe not so much against us!). I think it’s two all against us in cup games (?) but they have done rather better in league games. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 15, 2022 15:32:13 GMT
Having hoped after the Sydney Test that England had remembered how to bat in Test matches again, their performance in Hobart has been back to the beginning of the Series.
At 12-3 the Aussies were in real trouble and if Crawley hadn't tried to take Root's catch we might have seen the Aussies all out for less than 100. But Crawley's drop then Labuschagne's counter-attack followed up by Head and Green putting the woeful Wood to the sword (his 3-115 really flattered him). England then managed to contrive yet another first-innings batting collapse; Australia could not have imagined that they would be batting in their second innings on only the second day and with over 100 runs lead on first innings. 
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2022 16:22:09 GMT
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Post by lululemonmustdobetter on Jan 15, 2022 18:34:56 GMT
Well done to the Roses - 71-47 win over South Africa!
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 15, 2022 20:26:28 GMT
colin Sadly, the only way they can lose their match fee is for 'ungentlemanly conduct'; personally I wish they could be fined for getting themselves out in stupid ways. Anyone can come to the wicket and get out to one of the first few balls they face, but a proper batter (and I would count anyone down to Billings as a proper batter) who gets into double figures and then plays a stupid shot deserves to lose their match fee. All the runs you get from your bowlers are a bonus (and some of them are quite decent batters) but it is really the top seven who should be scoring the runs to put the team in a strong position and give the bowlers a reasonable chance of getting the opponents out.
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 16, 2022 13:08:23 GMT
Having hoped after the Sydney Test that England had remembered how to bat in Test matches again, their performance in Hobart has been back to the beginning of the Series.
At 12-3 the Aussies were in real trouble and if Crawley hadn't tried to take Root's catch we might have seen the Aussies all out for less than 100. But Crawley's drop then Labuschagne's counter-attack followed up by Head and Green putting the woeful Wood to the sword (his 3-115 really flattered him). England then managed to contrive yet another first-innings batting collapse; Australia could not have imagined that they would be batting in their second innings on only the second day and with over 100 runs lead on first innings.  |
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 18, 2022 14:02:06 GMT
RIP Francisco Gento www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60037044My father took me to the 1966 World Cup match between Argentina and Spain at Villa Park, so I am privileged to be able to say that I saw this great footballer play.
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Post by mandolinist on Jan 22, 2022 20:49:32 GMT
I managed not to comment on the Ashes, mostly because I couldn't bear it, but now even the pretend cricket (T20) is going down the swanney in the West Indies.
I am crying into my herbal tea. Gulp, snivel.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2022 22:30:08 GMT
RIP Francisco Gento www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60037044My father took me to the 1966 World Cup match between Argentina and Spain at Villa Park, so I am privileged to be able to say that I saw this great footballer play. My memory is Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt-1960 European Cup Final. Gento, Puskas and Di Stefano. I thought I was dreaming-never imagined football could be played like that. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 25, 2022 10:51:53 GMT
Watford set to appoint Roy Hodgson as new manager: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60122964Possible outcomes: Hodgson is sacked before the end of the season and Watford set a new Premier League record of 4 managers in a single season; Watford go down and Hodgson is sacked at the end of the season; Hodgson keeps Watford up, but is still sacked at the end of the season; Hodgson keeps Watford up, but is sacked next season because he hasn't got Watford contending for a place in Europe. Why does any manager want to work for the Pozzos? |
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Post by mercian on Jan 27, 2022 0:29:28 GMT
Another defeat by England in the T20. They put up a decent show, but based on the rankings they should be winning easily.
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Post by mercian on Jan 30, 2022 0:07:12 GMT
England won the latest (4th) T20 to square the series with 1 to play tomorrow. Great performance by Moeen Ali.
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Post by leftieliberal on Jan 30, 2022 17:17:46 GMT
When I saw earlier that Rafeal Nadal was two sets down against Daniil Medvedev, I thought it was all over, but he came back to win a five-setter. Truly he is the GOAT in men's Tennis and no-one misses Novak Djokovic (who it seems faked the date of his positive covid test so he could go to Australia). A true victory for sport and sportsmanship. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/60183864 |
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Post by birdseye on Feb 6, 2022 15:43:42 GMT
But no comment on the pitiful England performance against Scotland in the 6 Nations? Or an even worse Welsh performance?
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Post by mercian on Feb 6, 2022 21:49:01 GMT
How about you making one?
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 6, 2022 22:25:04 GMT
After Kidderminster Harriers just failing against West Ham United, Boreham Wood beating AFC Bournemouth was a reminder that cup upsets still happen.
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Post by mercian on Feb 8, 2022 11:57:41 GMT
Any offers for a used ticket for the 1977 League Cup Final at Wembley (Aston Villa v Everton)? I've just found it in a drawer.
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 9, 2022 13:54:02 GMT
Worst England batting collapse ever. Having got Australia all out for just 155, with Wood finally remembering what he was supposed to do with the ball, and their openers putting on 68 for the first wicket (well above par for any England opening partnership in this series) all 10 wickets went down for just another 56 runs. There is an interesting article in today's The Guardian about Jos Buttler's batting. www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/09/jos-buttler-england-cricket-test-hopes-tyranny-of-choice-the-spinThis idea of the tyranny of choice really puts the finger on the problem facing so many of the English batters, with Buttler as the prime example. If you have only a few good shots in your armoury then decision-making is simple. Alastair Cook is the exemplar of this. Buttler's problem is that he can play so many shots to the same ball that he ends up in indecision, not playing any one of several shots well. So many of the other batters who are really effective in limited-overs cricket cannot make the transition to Test cricket because they are always thinking in terms of striking the ball, not leaving the ball. The judgement to leave balls, particularly those just outside the off-stump (what is called the 'fourth-stump line') is the one characteristic that differentiates great Test batters from the rest. Unlike limited-overs cricket, in Test matches, the opposition has to take 20 wickets to win. Even 19 just leaves them with a draw, as Sydney showed. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2022 14:40:17 GMT
Worst England batting collapse ever. Having got Australia all out for just 155, with Wood finally remembering what he was supposed to do with the ball, and their openers putting on 68 for the first wicket (well above par for any England opening partnership in this series) all 10 wickets went down for just another 56 runs. There is an interesting article in today's The Guardian about Jos Buttler's batting. www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/09/jos-buttler-england-cricket-test-hopes-tyranny-of-choice-the-spinThis idea of the tyranny of choice really puts the finger on the problem facing so many of the English batters, with Buttler as the prime example. If you have only a few good shots in your armoury then decision-making is simple. Alastair Cook is the exemplar of this. Buttler's problem is that he can play so many shots to the same ball that he ends up in indecision, not playing any one of several shots well. So many of the other batters who are really effective in limited-overs cricket cannot make the transition to Test cricket because they are always thinking in terms of striking the ball, not leaving the ball. The judgement to leave balls, particularly those just outside the off-stump (what is called the 'fourth-stump line') is the one characteristic that differentiates great Test batters from the rest. Unlike limited-overs cricket, in Test matches, the opposition has to take 20 wickets to win. Even 19 just leaves them with a draw, as Sydney showed. I agree entirely with this. But I don't understand why they can't do it. Professional cricketers. Coached to play Test Cricket. Presumably doing it in the nets. They go out and......what ?....forget what they were told?.....forget how to do it?.........forget they are playing five day cricket? wtf  ?? |
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 9, 2022 15:25:57 GMT
I agree entirely with this. But I don't understand why they can't do it. Professional cricketers. Coached to play Test Cricket. Presumably doing it in the nets. They go out and......what ?....forget what they were told?.....forget how to do it?.........forget they are playing five day cricket? wtf  ?? "Coached to play Test Cricket." I don't think they are, and haven't been for at least the last two decades. The attitude these days seems to be to encourage them to play their shots and not worry about technical deficiencies. I was never a good enough cricketer as a child to benefit from any coaching, so not surprisingly I developed (many) technical faults. It doesn't matter if you are only playing cricket socially (as I did). But I could well appreciate the difference between me and the better players in the team who could (and some did) play cricket for local clubs. The thinking then was that you had to instruct children in the right technique before they were 10 (I hadn't even picked up a cricket bat until I went to Grammar School after passing my 11+). The other point is that playing shots in cricket depends to a large extent on muscle memory. You have at the top level 0.5s from the point at which the ball leaves the bowler's hand (for a medium-fast bowler). Some of that time is needed to judge the flight of the ball and hence where it will pitch, which dictates whether you go forward or back to it. If the ball deviates off the pitch you will often have a human reaction time (or less) to adjust your stroke. Some people have cat-like reactions (0.10s for eye-hand), but the average is 0.14s. So, if you have a technical deficiency like your weight being back on your heels, or your feet being slightly in the wrong place, you have to compensate with how you swing the bat at the ball. The best batters always play the ball under their eyes; imagine a plumb line hanging from your nose, the bat as it swings through should contact the ball on that plumb line. If the bat hits the ball in front of that line you lose control, while if the bat hits the ball off to the side of the plumb-line (usually the off-side) then you cannot judge the line of the ball as well. This is a very simplified description, but I think that it captures the importance of teaching proper technique early. |
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Post by mercian on Feb 10, 2022 22:38:25 GMT
I agree entirely with this. But I don't understand why they can't do it. Professional cricketers. Coached to play Test Cricket. Presumably doing it in the nets. They go out and......what ?....forget what they were told?.....forget how to do it?.........forget they are playing five day cricket? wtf ?? "Coached to play Test Cricket." I don't think they are, and haven't been for at least the last two decades. The attitude these days seems to be to encourage them to play their shots and not worry about technical deficiencies. I was never a good enough cricketer as a child to benefit from any coaching, so not surprisingly I developed (many) technical faults. It doesn't matter if you are only playing cricket socially (as I did). But I could well appreciate the difference between me and the better players in the team who could (and some did) play cricket for local clubs. The thinking then was that you had to instruct children in the right technique before they were 10 (I hadn't even picked up a cricket bat until I went to Grammar School after passing my 11+). The other point is that playing shots in cricket depends to a large extent on muscle memory. You have at the top level 0.5s from the point at which the ball leaves the bowler's hand (for a medium-fast bowler). Some of that time is needed to judge the flight of the ball and hence where it will pitch, which dictates whether you go forward or back to it. If the ball deviates off the pitch you will often have a human reaction time (or less) to adjust your stroke. Some people have cat-like reactions (0.10s for eye-hand), but the average is 0.14s. So, if you have a technical deficiency like your weight being back on your heels, or your feet being slightly in the wrong place, you have to compensate with how you swing the bat at the ball. The best batters always play the ball under their eyes; imagine a plumb line hanging from your nose, the bat as it swings through should contact the ball on that plumb line. If the bat hits the ball in front of that line you lose control, while if the bat hits the ball off to the side of the plumb-line (usually the off-side) then you cannot judge the line of the ball as well. This is a very simplified description, but I think that it captures the importance of teaching proper technique early. I had a tiny bit of coaching from a club cricketer that my dad knew, and some at secondary school, but was only ever taught the forward and back defensive shots and told that not until I'd mastered those could I be shown anything else. Buttler's problem seems to me to be more than technical though. I understood that he was brought in to be our Gilchrist, to play devastating innings from number 7. I can't remember him ever doing that. He has played one or two redoubtable defensive innings, including one in the last series but never (or rarely) what he was brought in for. Thank goodness they're bringing in Foakes for the West Indies. He can bat (probably better than Buttler in Tests and FC) and is widely supposed to be the best wicketkeeper. He should have been in the side for years. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 11, 2022 13:37:33 GMT
A rather interesting 'More or Less' this week: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bmz69nAs well as the usual political statistics, there is a section beginning at 13:48 into the podcast, dealing with transwomen in athletics. And yes, it turns out that the big factor is whether the athlete went through puberty as a male, while drugs to reduce testosterone levels, while reducing the male advantage nowhere near eliminate it. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2022 14:10:02 GMT
Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at Brentford. But we are still in the Cup!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 18:20:52 GMT
Congratulations to the GB Winter Olympics team on their curling success. It's just a pity that global warming will have melted all the ice by the time Scotland achieves independence  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2022 21:31:31 GMT
Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at Brentford. But we are still in the Cup! and 4-1 winners at Watford. EEEEEAAAGLES! |
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Post by leftieliberal on Feb 27, 2022 20:09:25 GMT
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Post by c-a-r-f-r-e-w on Feb 27, 2022 20:27:44 GMT
wow. More than half?? That’s sobering. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Mar 10, 2022 10:13:59 GMT
UK Government seizes Chelsea as part of Abramovich's assets (BBC News). Could this be our first nationalised football team and is it a coincidence that they play in Blue.  www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/60688168We all know that David Cameron was a Villa supporter (except when he thought they were West Ham; Burnley, the third Premier League team who play in claret-and-blue have every right to feel outraged). Will we see Johnson come out as a Chelsea supporter now? |
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Post by shevii on Mar 10, 2022 17:31:30 GMT
crossbat11Collectors item for Leeds Villa tonight:
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