TDK's International Test Cricket Update's

[mal]

Another moral victory for the Poms

Well summed up Jimleg
To play this test virtually with 10 men v 11 , they did well to be narrowly defeated

[jackpot jim]

Great Game
Great Series
2 - 2 a fair result

But HTF did England lose it after being 3/301with 2 batsmen in complete control ?
Needing just 73 more with all the time in the world they just need to dot the "I"s and cross the "T"s.
Brook then throws his wicket away . Yes people will say thet's the way he bats and how he got to a ton to put them in a winning position but that was just a pre meditated hack.
Then at 4/332 and only needing 41 more with Root cruising , Bethell who couldn't hit the ball off the square played a ridiculously selfish shot to throw his wicket away and give India a sniff. He'd made 5 off 30 balls. So what? Why the need to panic? Just support Root for another 10 overs and the game is over. Just one of the dumbest shots ever
Then Root nicks off and well the rest is history.
Not that it should've came down to Atkinson and harsh to blame him at all but even his shot he got out on was a brain fade.

So whilst the cricket public applaud and rejoice in watching such an exciting and entertaining series, what are the repercussions behind the scenes?
What consequences do certain players who stuffed up suffer? What blame does McCullum take for seemingly giving a license to his players to play recklessly? Sure there's a time and place during a match to take risks but England poor judgement when to are costing them wins which i find quite amusing tho i wouldn't think all their supporters and even dare i say it some of their players would?
Even when from the outside looking in, team harmony looks rosy, in reality we all know there's always some level of tension between players which generally increases when a team loses. It happens at all level of team sport to certain degrees. Like would Joe Root really be happy to fight like hell to win only to see several of his teammates throw it away? Or it may be some of the pace bowlers that bowl themselves into the ground that would'nt be pleased to be handballed the job of getting the last 30 runs when they never should have had to?
Maybe if Bethell showed the same courage as Woakes did to go out to bat they may have been celebrating a 3 -1 series victory ?

Bring on the Ashes which promises to be just as intriguing with many twists and turns i'm sure.

[shoe boy]

Brilliant.

[dedja]

It goes both ways JJ … you could easily argue the way the Poms play, BazzBall if you like, won them the 1st Test.

[mal]

When batting
Its not how you make the runs, its how many you make

This applies as a rule most of the time

Batting blasters Like Harry Brooks are at times, gunna LOOk ordinary on dismissal
But should we judge them more on what they achieve pre dismissal?

I think if we condone The Harry for playing an attacking shot which is mostly of immense profit, then should we also condemn Joe Root for his careful prodding dismissal.?
NO
Both played shots associated with how they accumulated their 100s

[The Dark Knight]

England v India series stats-
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/engl ... hs-1498067

[dedja]

About f…ing time …

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/mcc- ... al-1490045

MCC changes law to make boundary catches with 'bunny hops' illegal

The new law will be integrated into the playing conditions this month and into the MCC's Laws in October 2026

The spectacular boundary catches taken by Michael Neser and Tom Banton - with an assist from Matt Renshaw - in the Big Bash League (BBL) will not be legal under the updated law regarding boundary catches that is set to become operational later this month.

As per the updated law, which will be integrated into the ICC's playing conditions this month and then into the MCC's laws in October 2026, a fielder who is airborne can only touch the ball once beyond the boundary and will need to come back inside the field for the catch to be called fair. The "bunny hop" that Neser pulled off - palming the ball up as a second contact while airborne outside the boundary but also landing outside - will no longer be legal.

During BBL 2023, Neser, playing for Brisbane Heat, was chasing a lofted drive at wide long-off from Sydney Sixers' Jordan Silk. Neser caught the ball with both hands but his momentum took him over the rope. Neser, attuned to the Boundary Law, tossed the ball up initially while airborne, landed outside the boundary, jumped again, and palmed the ball back into the field with both feet in the air before hopping back into the playing field to finish the catch. Silk was ruled out, and he walked back shaking his head.

Neser said he was inspired by fellow Heat player Renshaw's effort to catch Hobart Hurricanes' Matthew Wade during BBL 2020 at the Gabba. Responding to a powerful lofted stroke from Wade, Renshaw ran to his left towards wide long-on and caught the ball a yard inside the boundary line. He then lost his balance and skipped over the rope but before that he lobbed that ball up. Realising the ball would land outside the boundary line, he skipped again to spike the ball back into play for Banton to complete the catch, while he himself landed outside the boundary line.

The fairness of both catches was debated widely and there were strong calls on both occasions to tweak the existing law, which was last updated in 2010. As per Law 19.5.2, the fielder's last contact with the ground before they first touch the ball must be within the boundary (this part of the law will remain in the new iteration). As things currently stand, the fielder cannot touch the ball and the ground outside the boundary at the same time. If the fielder meets those criteria and completes the catch, the catch is legal.

Earlier this year, however, the ICC cricket committee asked the MCC, the custodians of the laws, to review the law in question and the two bodies have worked together on the new version. An MCC note, which was sent to member boards by the ICC, said that while the existing rule had "led to some spectacular" fielding, it had also created room for "some unusual-looking catches that, to the majority of the cricketing public, feel unfair".

Describing the Neser catch, the MCC said, the Heat fielder "bunny hopped" before completing the catch "inside" the boundary. While it fulfilled the law, the note said it "felt like the fielder had - quite literally - gone too far".

While there have been suggestions, including from players such as Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, to dial back to the law to what it was before 2010, the MCC said doing that was "probably too draconian". Before 2010, if a fielder stepped outside the boundary after their first contact with the ball, they needed to have touched the ground inside the boundary again before making any subsequent contact. According to the MCC, that would "rule out some spectacular fielding that feels like it is now fully part of the game. Examples include catches from Harleen Deol (vs England in 2021) and Alex Hales (in BBL 2020), where the fielders don't reground themselves inside the boundary before taking the catch, but land inside the boundary to complete it."

By way of a "solution", the MCC has said that if a fielder goes outside the boundary and jumps up to make a subsequent contact with the ball, they must land within the field of play; otherwise a boundary will be scored. "Multiple touches" outside the boundary will no longer be allowed, as was the case when Neser caught Silk, the MCC note said.

"MCC has devised a new wording where the 'bunny hop' wholly beyond the boundary is removed, but these catches where the fielder pushes the ball up from inside the boundary, steps outside and then dives back in to catch the ball, are permitted.

"Our solution has been to limit any fielder who has gone outside the boundary to touching the ball while airborne only once, and then, having done so, to be wholly grounded within the boundary for the rest of the duration of that delivery."

The same would apply in the case of relay catches. The fielder who has touched the ball outside the boundary would need to jump back inside the field, even if the catch is completed by a team-mate. "Even if the ball is parried - to another fielder or inside the field of play - if the fielder lands outside the boundary, or subsequently steps outside, then a boundary will be scored. For clarity, that means the fielder gets one chance, and one chance only, to touch the ball having jumped from outside the boundary. After that point, the boundary becomes a hard line - and any time they touch the ground in that delivery, whatever else happens, they must be inside."

While the ICC playing conditions will be updated as early as the new WTC cycle, which starts with Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh on June 17 in Galle, the law itself will take effect from October 2026, when the next round of changes will come into play.

Law changes

19.5.2 A fielder who is not in contact with the ground is considered to be grounded beyond the boundary if, prior to their first contact with the ball, their final contact with the ground was not entirely within the boundary. This applies to any fielder who makes contact with the ball after it has been delivered by the bowler, whether or not the ball has previously been touched by another fielder.

19.5.2.1 If a fielder's first contact with the ball does not contravene 19.5.2, that fielder may then jump from outside the boundary in order to make contact with the ball whilst airborne. After making contact with the ball once airborne, all subsequent contact with the ground by that fielder, until the ball becomes dead, must be within the field of play. Any subsequent contact with the ground outside the boundary by that fielder during that delivery, whether or not in contact with the ball, will result in a boundary being scored.

19.5.2.2 If the ball is returned to the field of play, whether to another fielder or onto the ground, by a fielder who has jumped from outside the boundary, that fielder must land, and remain, within the boundary until the ball becomes dead. Otherwise, a boundary shall be scored.

Great explanation of the changes to boundary catches …

https://youtu.be/QsvFbNjTwmQ?si=N1S4zPIxF6MNKv-W