Why has all the talk over the last few days been about Alastair Cook's presence in the T20 squad? Why is it that the snippets of interviews I've heard on the radio and seen on TV have been of Stuart Broad having to deny that Cook's presence is undermining his captaincy?
It would appear to me to be total and utter press led bollocks - as usual, let me add.
The press are yet again digging for something that probably isn't there and putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 58, not even 5 - as is the usual level of incompetence.
It's pretty much the same in football, in particular with England managers and the same with the England Rugby team, our loyal gutter press are reading and waiting with a large knife to stick in the back at the first opportunity.
Continually trying to stir things up throughout the Test series with regard to Ajmal's action clearly didn't work (ok, Andy Flower gave them a bit of a story), but undeterred our press keep going, in the hope of finally unearthing some muck that they can spread, or in this latest case, trying to create a story that probably isn't even there.
Why is it that the question of Cook and Broad undermining Strauss' captaincy in the Test team wasn't raised at the start of the series? What's the difference in what is being asked at the moment?
This latest story is utter crap and should be treated with the contempt it deserves. The three men (Strauss, Cook and Broad) clearly have the utmost respect for each other as men, cricketers and captains, and seem happy to me to let each other get on with their respective jobs.
It is testimony to the team spirit England have built up over the past 18-24 months how effortlessly the three captains can switch.
Finally, by all means if there is something that needs exposing, by all means the press are well within their rights to do so and I would expect nothing less. But all this digging and scratching around for something that clearly isn't there and trying to create a conflict (as with the Ajmal issue) is totally out of order in my view.
Alastair Cook in T20 Squad - So What!!
Friday, 24 February 2012 Posted by Betfree247 at 00:45 1 commentsMike Parry V Stan Collymore on Twitter
Sunday, 19 February 2012 Posted by Betfree247 at 17:44 0 comments
There was an amazing spat between two old Talksport foes on Saturday evening/night, as the Twitter accounts of both Mike Parry and Stan Collymore went into overdrive in an extraordinary exchange of insults and views.
The immediate row seems to be an overspill from a clash in the Director's Box at the Everton V Blackpool game on Saturday, Collymore claimed a drunk Parry abused him, while Parry has claimed Collymore called him out publicly, and left him with no option but to reply.
I follow them both on Twitter and from that I know that Parry has been goading Collymore for a few weeks now. I'll nail my colours to the mast before I go on, I am not a massive fan of either man for various reasons, I am on no ones side here, this is just how I see things.
On Twitter, Collymore seems to get into quite a few rows, but from what I've seen they are usually in retaliation to people having a go at him. And yes, he can also be a bit spiky at times. It may be also be a bit more than just a coincidence that this always seems to happen to Stan, who knows? Form your own opinions there.
On the whole though, I find Collymore is constructive and doesn't go out of his way to cause trouble, he doesn't shy from an argument either though and I suppose it would be fair to say that he uses his Twitter account to retaliate to anyone who has upset him.
Whereas Parry seems to use Twitter to have a go at people or goad them. He did a similar thing with Robbie Savage some months back, when he seemed to be having a dig at him almost every day.
I noticed a similar theme developing between Parry and Collymore. A few weeks back I seen a tweet from Parry calling Collymore a disgusting individual who threatened to throw a young Talksport employee off a balcony of their hotel in South Africa while covering the world cup in 2010.
It seemed unprovoked, I didn't see anything from Collymore towards Parry that prompted him to raise this issue. I have also never seen Collymore deny this claim, but I got the impression that Parry was trying to draw Collymore out into an argument back then.
If this claim is true - and I have no reason to doubt it isn't - it doesn't paint a great picture of Collymore, it only further serves peoples (already well established) views that he is bullying woman beater. But did Parry really need to come out with it though? It could be one of those 'what goes on on tour, stays on tour' scenarios.
Either way, Parry continued with his attack on Collymore with further tweets about his chequered past. It seems obvious that Parry hates Collymore, but I got the impression that he was maybe trying to create a name for himself.
He seemed to be attempting to follow in the footsteps of his mate (whom he regularly brown noses on Twitter) Piers Morgan, who can often be seen just trying to pick a fight by insulting people, mainly Manchester United footballers.
People might think this is ok or amusing, but it seems to me a bit childish to just pick people out to attack them on Twitter just because you don't like them or they have pissed you off in the past, some might well say it's a form of cyber bullying.
Parry has regularly called Collymore a bully, but is what Parry's doing also a form of bullying? Anyway that's another debate.
According to Collymore's tweets on Saturday, Parry was drunk and abusing him at the match, he claimed that it has been reported to officials at Goodison Park, so it will be interesting to see what (if anything) happens there.
I first noticed the tweets at about 6.30pm, I went out for a couple of hours and put Twitter back on at about 11.30pm after watching the boxing and the tweets were still flowing from Parry's account then, it was unbelievable.
What had started out as a bit amusing and a bit of a laugh at about 6.30 had now become farcical. Both men seem to be entrenched with their opinions on each other, and neither look set to back down.
I've just looked and Parry is still having a go and it's a full 28-30 hours after this latest spat started, Collymore has also tweeted that he has spoken to his solicitor and that Parry will need to substantiate some of his claims.
Where's it all going to end?
The immediate row seems to be an overspill from a clash in the Director's Box at the Everton V Blackpool game on Saturday, Collymore claimed a drunk Parry abused him, while Parry has claimed Collymore called him out publicly, and left him with no option but to reply.
I follow them both on Twitter and from that I know that Parry has been goading Collymore for a few weeks now. I'll nail my colours to the mast before I go on, I am not a massive fan of either man for various reasons, I am on no ones side here, this is just how I see things.
On Twitter, Collymore seems to get into quite a few rows, but from what I've seen they are usually in retaliation to people having a go at him. And yes, he can also be a bit spiky at times. It may be also be a bit more than just a coincidence that this always seems to happen to Stan, who knows? Form your own opinions there.
On the whole though, I find Collymore is constructive and doesn't go out of his way to cause trouble, he doesn't shy from an argument either though and I suppose it would be fair to say that he uses his Twitter account to retaliate to anyone who has upset him.
Whereas Parry seems to use Twitter to have a go at people or goad them. He did a similar thing with Robbie Savage some months back, when he seemed to be having a dig at him almost every day.
I noticed a similar theme developing between Parry and Collymore. A few weeks back I seen a tweet from Parry calling Collymore a disgusting individual who threatened to throw a young Talksport employee off a balcony of their hotel in South Africa while covering the world cup in 2010.
It seemed unprovoked, I didn't see anything from Collymore towards Parry that prompted him to raise this issue. I have also never seen Collymore deny this claim, but I got the impression that Parry was trying to draw Collymore out into an argument back then.
If this claim is true - and I have no reason to doubt it isn't - it doesn't paint a great picture of Collymore, it only further serves peoples (already well established) views that he is bullying woman beater. But did Parry really need to come out with it though? It could be one of those 'what goes on on tour, stays on tour' scenarios.
Either way, Parry continued with his attack on Collymore with further tweets about his chequered past. It seems obvious that Parry hates Collymore, but I got the impression that he was maybe trying to create a name for himself.
He seemed to be attempting to follow in the footsteps of his mate (whom he regularly brown noses on Twitter) Piers Morgan, who can often be seen just trying to pick a fight by insulting people, mainly Manchester United footballers.
People might think this is ok or amusing, but it seems to me a bit childish to just pick people out to attack them on Twitter just because you don't like them or they have pissed you off in the past, some might well say it's a form of cyber bullying.
Parry has regularly called Collymore a bully, but is what Parry's doing also a form of bullying? Anyway that's another debate.
According to Collymore's tweets on Saturday, Parry was drunk and abusing him at the match, he claimed that it has been reported to officials at Goodison Park, so it will be interesting to see what (if anything) happens there.
I first noticed the tweets at about 6.30pm, I went out for a couple of hours and put Twitter back on at about 11.30pm after watching the boxing and the tweets were still flowing from Parry's account then, it was unbelievable.
What had started out as a bit amusing and a bit of a laugh at about 6.30 had now become farcical. Both men seem to be entrenched with their opinions on each other, and neither look set to back down.
I've just looked and Parry is still having a go and it's a full 28-30 hours after this latest spat started, Collymore has also tweeted that he has spoken to his solicitor and that Parry will need to substantiate some of his claims.
Where's it all going to end?
Whitewashed
Wednesday, 8 February 2012 Posted by Betfree247 at 16:28 0 comments
I could put a spin on things and say that in the 1st test England were a bit rusty, in the 2nd test we dominated things until the final day, and in the 3rd test we just had nothing to play for - but that would be a load of bollocks.
Fair's fair, a spade is a spade on this blog and credit goes where credit is due. And the facts are, that Pakistan comprehensively outplayed England over the 3 tests and fully deserved their 3-0 whitewash.
No excuses, none of this rubbish about Ajmal's action, it was a good old fashioned hammering, brought on by a combination of home conditions, good responsible leadership and an excellent well balanced Pakistan team.
It would now appear that there are 5 evenly matched competitive teams in test cricket, Pakistan, England, India, Australia and South Africa.
People will debate about who is better than who, but in my view they are all of similar ability. All are strong at home and all are decent in their own conditions, while some don't travel too well and some can't play at all in differing conditions.
It will be an interesting next 12-18 months to see if one team will emerge from the pack as the outstanding side.
Onto England, and I've said it on this blog for a few years now - if the batsmen can put the runs on the board, then the bowlers are good enough to win us the test matches.
Since Trott and Broad put together that massive 332 run partnership against Pakistan at Lord's in 2010, England's batting has gone from strength to strength, that's why we have won as many test matches as we have lately, and as soon as it starts misfiring again, this is what happens.
I expected our batsmen to struggle a bit in this series, but not to this extent. On the whole they all struggled, I half expected Trott and Morgan might, as they haven't really toured in these conditions before, but the rest...
Bell didn't know what end of the bat he was using, and he is supposed to be our most technically sound batsman, he must be embarrassed at how stupid Ajmal has made him look.
Pietersen can't get to grips at all with slow left armers - this could be starting to become a fatal flaw for him, Strauss has been struggling for some time now, while Cook at least showed glimpses of what he is capable of.
I don't expect massive changes in the batting for Sri Lanka, and in fairness they have built up some credit over the years and deserve some loyalty. I suppose only Eoin Morgan's place will be questioned, and lets be honest the only alternative, Ravi Bopara, has hardly demanded to be picked with his performances, has he?
Onto the ODI squad for the remainder of this tour and I have no problem with Ian Bell being left out, he has no place in the middle order, so unless he is going to open there is little point in keeping him in the squad.
A top 3 of Cook, Bell and Trott probably wouldn't strike fear into anybody, which is why I'm happy to see Kevin Pietersen opening the batting instead. I think this is a good positive move and I really hope England stick with it and give him and Cook a run together and a chance to really build a partnership.
Pietersen opening also gives him the chance to play himself in against the seamers, it would be a hell of a brave captain who gives his slow left arm bowler the new ball in 50 over cricket.
I'm happy to see Jonny Bairstow retained, and call ups for Danny Briggs and Jos Buttler, the middle order needs a hitter like Bairstow or Buttler, or maybe even Kieswetter for that matter. Kieswetter is a lucky boy to retain his place and needs to make a significant contribution in this series.
And finally Samit Patel, I would like to see England really back him and give him a run in this side to give him the chance to prove himself. I do believe he could be a really handy cricketer if things click for him.
Fair's fair, a spade is a spade on this blog and credit goes where credit is due. And the facts are, that Pakistan comprehensively outplayed England over the 3 tests and fully deserved their 3-0 whitewash.
No excuses, none of this rubbish about Ajmal's action, it was a good old fashioned hammering, brought on by a combination of home conditions, good responsible leadership and an excellent well balanced Pakistan team.
It would now appear that there are 5 evenly matched competitive teams in test cricket, Pakistan, England, India, Australia and South Africa.
People will debate about who is better than who, but in my view they are all of similar ability. All are strong at home and all are decent in their own conditions, while some don't travel too well and some can't play at all in differing conditions.
It will be an interesting next 12-18 months to see if one team will emerge from the pack as the outstanding side.
Onto England, and I've said it on this blog for a few years now - if the batsmen can put the runs on the board, then the bowlers are good enough to win us the test matches.
Since Trott and Broad put together that massive 332 run partnership against Pakistan at Lord's in 2010, England's batting has gone from strength to strength, that's why we have won as many test matches as we have lately, and as soon as it starts misfiring again, this is what happens.
I expected our batsmen to struggle a bit in this series, but not to this extent. On the whole they all struggled, I half expected Trott and Morgan might, as they haven't really toured in these conditions before, but the rest...
Bell didn't know what end of the bat he was using, and he is supposed to be our most technically sound batsman, he must be embarrassed at how stupid Ajmal has made him look.
Pietersen can't get to grips at all with slow left armers - this could be starting to become a fatal flaw for him, Strauss has been struggling for some time now, while Cook at least showed glimpses of what he is capable of.
I don't expect massive changes in the batting for Sri Lanka, and in fairness they have built up some credit over the years and deserve some loyalty. I suppose only Eoin Morgan's place will be questioned, and lets be honest the only alternative, Ravi Bopara, has hardly demanded to be picked with his performances, has he?
Onto the ODI squad for the remainder of this tour and I have no problem with Ian Bell being left out, he has no place in the middle order, so unless he is going to open there is little point in keeping him in the squad.
A top 3 of Cook, Bell and Trott probably wouldn't strike fear into anybody, which is why I'm happy to see Kevin Pietersen opening the batting instead. I think this is a good positive move and I really hope England stick with it and give him and Cook a run together and a chance to really build a partnership.
Pietersen opening also gives him the chance to play himself in against the seamers, it would be a hell of a brave captain who gives his slow left arm bowler the new ball in 50 over cricket.
I'm happy to see Jonny Bairstow retained, and call ups for Danny Briggs and Jos Buttler, the middle order needs a hitter like Bairstow or Buttler, or maybe even Kieswetter for that matter. Kieswetter is a lucky boy to retain his place and needs to make a significant contribution in this series.
And finally Samit Patel, I would like to see England really back him and give him a run in this side to give him the chance to prove himself. I do believe he could be a really handy cricketer if things click for him.
Play Up Sky Blues
Wednesday, 1 February 2012 Posted by Betfree247 at 16:47 0 comments
Going to take a little break from blogging about Cricket tonight to have a moan about something else close to my heart, Coventry City football club.
Last night's 2-1 defeat away at Blackpool was the second time this season that the team I support has managed to lose an away game after leading 1-0 going into the final 3-4 minutes, the other game was against Crystal Palace early on in the season.
When you are leading a game going into the last 5 minutes, the worst case scenario you can imagine is drawing the game, so to end up losing it must be a real kick in the teeth.
I believe last night's defeat could be far more significant though, we already looked doomed to go down to Division 1 for next season, but what happened last night could just about have sealed our relegation.
If the team had hung on for all 3 points we would have been off the bottom, we would have had an away win to go with the recent 3 home victories, all of a sudden we could have looked back at our recent results and taken heart from them and maybe believed that we had a good chance of staying up.
That's why I think this defeat could be so significant. How does a young inexperienced team come back from that again?
To most Coventry City fans these days what goes on on the pitch is almost secondary to what is happening off it. There is the constant fear of administration, even liquidation has been mentioned in some quarters, as the clubs owners SISU continue to cut costs down to the bone.
I can totally understand cutting costs as to keep losing money is unsustainable, but SISU's current position at the club is also unsustainable.
There is no way in the current climate that the club can become profitable, to do that SISU would need to own the ground. There is no way that is going to happen, as the grounds owners - the City council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity - will not even entertain the thought of selling an asset of the whole of the City of Coventry to a group of faceless venture capitalists.
In reality, I believe that it is checkmate against SISU at the moment, they would appear to have no where to go, so why they are hanging in there I don't know. There is a group of would be investors fronted by City fan Gary Hoffman, who has contacts in the world of finance after spending 30 years in the business which at one time seen him as chairman of Barclaycard.
I am in no doubt that Hoffman has the finances, he also is rumoured to already have a deal struck with the council to buy half of the Ricoh arena, paramount if the club is to be run as a profitable going concern.
So at the moment, all I can see that SISU are doing is holding out for a better deal. But the club is worthless, they have no home, a threadbare playing squad and are heading for relegation. Hoffman is also a businessman and is all too aware that the club has no value, so it would appear that a game of Poker is currently taking place - while the team slides toward Division 1.
If a deal is to be struck in the next couple of weeks, we could have a chance as I would presume that manager Andy Thorn would be given the funds to go out and strengthen his squad with loan signings - hopefully much needed experienced ones.
But as it stands we have our squad if willing kids, who are currently giving their all. This coming Saturday sees Coventry at home to Ipswich, this could really be the defining game of the season. If we can show character and bounce back, we have a chance. If Tuesday's result really has knocked the stuffing out of us and we lose again, I think we are all but condemned to Division 1.
Last night's 2-1 defeat away at Blackpool was the second time this season that the team I support has managed to lose an away game after leading 1-0 going into the final 3-4 minutes, the other game was against Crystal Palace early on in the season.
When you are leading a game going into the last 5 minutes, the worst case scenario you can imagine is drawing the game, so to end up losing it must be a real kick in the teeth.
I believe last night's defeat could be far more significant though, we already looked doomed to go down to Division 1 for next season, but what happened last night could just about have sealed our relegation.
If the team had hung on for all 3 points we would have been off the bottom, we would have had an away win to go with the recent 3 home victories, all of a sudden we could have looked back at our recent results and taken heart from them and maybe believed that we had a good chance of staying up.
That's why I think this defeat could be so significant. How does a young inexperienced team come back from that again?
To most Coventry City fans these days what goes on on the pitch is almost secondary to what is happening off it. There is the constant fear of administration, even liquidation has been mentioned in some quarters, as the clubs owners SISU continue to cut costs down to the bone.
I can totally understand cutting costs as to keep losing money is unsustainable, but SISU's current position at the club is also unsustainable.
There is no way in the current climate that the club can become profitable, to do that SISU would need to own the ground. There is no way that is going to happen, as the grounds owners - the City council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity - will not even entertain the thought of selling an asset of the whole of the City of Coventry to a group of faceless venture capitalists.
In reality, I believe that it is checkmate against SISU at the moment, they would appear to have no where to go, so why they are hanging in there I don't know. There is a group of would be investors fronted by City fan Gary Hoffman, who has contacts in the world of finance after spending 30 years in the business which at one time seen him as chairman of Barclaycard.
I am in no doubt that Hoffman has the finances, he also is rumoured to already have a deal struck with the council to buy half of the Ricoh arena, paramount if the club is to be run as a profitable going concern.
So at the moment, all I can see that SISU are doing is holding out for a better deal. But the club is worthless, they have no home, a threadbare playing squad and are heading for relegation. Hoffman is also a businessman and is all too aware that the club has no value, so it would appear that a game of Poker is currently taking place - while the team slides toward Division 1.
If a deal is to be struck in the next couple of weeks, we could have a chance as I would presume that manager Andy Thorn would be given the funds to go out and strengthen his squad with loan signings - hopefully much needed experienced ones.
But as it stands we have our squad if willing kids, who are currently giving their all. This coming Saturday sees Coventry at home to Ipswich, this could really be the defining game of the season. If we can show character and bounce back, we have a chance. If Tuesday's result really has knocked the stuffing out of us and we lose again, I think we are all but condemned to Division 1.
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