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Summary
Jonathan Howcroft
Thanks for your company this afternoon. We made our own fun, didn’t we?
England now have to play New Zealand and Sri Lanka, while Australia face Ireland and Afghanistan. The result of group 1 is still open.
Stay tuned for more from a drenched Melbourne and a fascinating T20 World Cup.
Updated at 11.14 BST
This is very interesting and is very important to answer the question “who benefits more from washing” first.
Group 1 classification probability (after double dropout)
🇳🇿 61% (+6%)🇦🇺 43% (-1%)🏴 37% (-4%)🇱🇰 34% (-2%)🇦🇫 (+4%) (+ 4%) 🍀 12% (-3%) #T20WorldCup
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) October 28, 2022
Okay, that’s the perfect note to end our communication on. From Simon Bennett-Beck: “Pro tip to avoid soggy nachos… layer nachos on an oven-safe plate or baking sheet, then a layer of shredded cheese, then bake until the cheese melts. Then, the cheese forms an impermeable membrane Load your guacamole, sour cream, etc.
Andrew Lambe just blew me away. “Churchill’s dog. Vic Reeves? Bob Mortimer will be mortified…it was Bob not Vic. Was it really? I’ll dig into those Youtube ads soon.
I can also keep up with the latest emails and share the latest nuggets from the field.
Abandoned party
The outfield was deemed unsafe.
Phil Johns joins the conversation about assists. “I texted my daughter this morning who lives in Melbourne. I’m in the UK. I said it looks like Australia v England is going to get rained out. Her reply. I didn’t know they were playing.”
As a Melbourne resident I have been aware of some marketing but it has not taken over in any way. The weather has been horrible, for years, I can’t stress that enough. Also, I wonder if we are all still a bit conditioned by the confinement and are still not used to participating in important events if we don’t want to?
Poor stumps. Lying there like soggy nachos.
Stephen May has a tip for finding a SLOGFEST™️ champion. “The winner must be the team that gets the ball the most to clear the MCG moat and into the stands.”
I’m not sure if it’s still part of the MCG tour, but guides used to lead visitors past the location of the biggest sixes in the ground’s history (by this point, it may have been replaced). The six was hit by Simon O’Donnell and the destination is commemorated with a slightly faded chair.
Now all together… boooooooooo George boooooooo!
More rain is in the air again, I’m afraid. It is light. but it is there
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) October 28, 2022
“I haven’t seen much commentary about the truly dismal attendance at the games from the Australian public,” emails Craig Murray. “There seems to be no evidence of Australian neutrals turning up to enjoy great cricket, and some matches have been played in front of almost completely empty stadiums. How can Melbourne, for example, claim that Sky tells us we are ‘the cricket capital of the world’ when people will only support home teams? This is not an interest in the sport, it is an interest in tribalism. If you take away the touring fans and diaspora support, the sale of tickets is almost zero.
“In the Australia/New Zealand match most of the spectators had left hours before the arrival because their team was being devoured. If Sri Lanka or South Africa played in my home town, I would go to see some great cricket, despite not supporting either. It seems there are no real sports fans in Australia.”
I think it’s a story that my dear colleagues on the ground need to follow, and a story that’s worth following.
Mitigating factors include: climate; it’s not yet cricket season here (the AFL/NRL finals only recently concluded); it’s out of school holidays; the venues they’ve chosen are all huge, so anything other than a huge crowd seems small.
But as I say, I think it’s a decent observation Craig and worth following up on.
“Hi Jonathan, they don’t seem to be doing anything on the grass anymore. What’s the point in inspecting again at 8.50?” Good question Nancy Grunwald. The answer may be that there is no point in further inspection. I guess it’s no longer a problem of surface water, but of loose grass at the edge of the square that presents a slip hazard. Presumably this isn’t something that can really be cleaned, but needs to be drained and dried.
Any professional turf experts out there, please let me know the correct answer.
“If Peter Jones is not happy with the result of this match which is decided with 5-overs; How did it feel when the world’s last 50-over was decided at 1-over?”
Shots fired from David Holder. Also, it reminded me of that lovely exchange between Tim Southee and Joe Root.
A funny exchange between Joe Root and Tim Southee just before the start of the 2019 Test series in 🇳🇿
(From Ross Taylor’s autobiography.) pic.twitter.com/LR5SHwJQPG
— Michael Appleton (@michelappleton) October 25, 2022
Thoughts?
@JPHowcroft I wonder if there should be a rule that if the match ends up being less than 10 overs, the winning team gets 1.5 points and the losing team gets 0.5 points? So between 1 point for an abandoned match and 2/0 for a normal win/loss?
— Paul Edgington (@pedg) October 28, 2022
The result of the 20.15 inspection is… another inspection at 20.50.
Back to the nachos.
The trio of magenta-clad refs re-emerge in the middle doing their second inspection. This one was much faster. I expect action soon.
Mike Ward emailed his wrong (wrong!) opinion on nachos. “Dear Jonathan”, (at least start off on the right foot) “I’m writing to be outraged by your assertion that nachos are the most overrated food. Bad nachos are, in fact, the culinary equivalent of a full-on toss, but good nachos? Ahhh the crispy, crunchy handmade tortillas; the fresh, tangy guacamole; just the right amount of oozing, melty Monterey (less is more); tongue-tingling diced jalapeños. Heaven.” Harrumph Mike! Harrumph!
“Instead of nachos for the most overrated food, the other element of the original comparison: truffles. Expensive, overwhelming and lazy: some restaurants think that grating the truffle on everything means they can double the price of a dish. No ta. Nachos forever!”
Updated at 10.30am BST
Brian Withington! A minute has passed. “I’m (almost) reluctant to weigh in on the Ben Stokes thing again, having so frankly rejected the ridiculous notion of him becoming Test captain in the dog days of January, but… if we’re looking at a thrash of five, then maybe Moeen Ali should bat ahead of him? See also Hales v Livingstone. And Malan v anyone. Lots of head movement and Vic Reeves-like sounds like Churchill the dog nodding in that office chair of ergonomic design Brian I posted a tweet from Cricviz earlier about the tactics of the five over pick It could get funky.
Peter Jones is unhappy with the likely outcome of tonight’s game. “How can the fate of two top teams in a T20 competition be decided by a five-for-all? I understand the need for reduced matches, but what possible relationship does a five over slog have with 20 overs a side? That’s like saying it’s reasonable to try to get four full tickets in a day and a half. This is a World Cup, not an exhibition game.”
Beautiful things by Max Bonnell. “Not that you ever need an excuse to refer to intermediates in any context, but as it happens, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan were cricketers – they played in the Brisbane Public Schools 1st XI competition.”
“I’m writing this from a particularly sunny and summery Brisbane, having just stepped out of the pool for another beer,” says Samuel Lobascher. “With rain forecast in Melbourne all week, surely there was enough notice to move today’s games to (indoor) Marvel Stadium?”
Good question, and one raised by Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott. Marvel Stadium isn’t one of their tournament hosts, so it’s not as simple as swapping it down the road. I don’t know why it’s not one of the seven venues chosen, but it hosted a big motocross event the other night, so maybe it was already booked?
“Very excited about this, rain delayed or not,” emails Em Jackson. “But more seriously, in response to 0918 -” to them [the ICC] they’re more tortilla chips than white truffle,” which is just fine as long as they’re jam-packed with jalapeños, topped with delicious vegan shredded cheese, guacamole, and sour cream served alongside ice-cold bottles of lager. . . . – but how often do we find that it’s just a bag of chips and bland chopped tomatoes with a fizzy pop?
Nachos, the most overrated food. Guacamole tastes like a crayon in a Nutri bullet. Sour cream? The clue is in the name. And halfway through you’re bored with the experience and dreading the shoulder you’ll soon face, where the tortillas have turned to cardboard and the base of the bowl is a double-dip petri dish. Nuh-uh. Cold beer, crisps, job done.
A reminder that a high five has to start around 10pm.
Buying all the time he can to get five overs later tonight. I can see why there is a push for this. But also, don’t think players will be eager to have their tournaments decided this way in conditions they would never normally be asked to play. #T20WorldCup https://t.co/J86dHEX9ap
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) October 28, 2022
It’s not raining at the MCG at the moment. The obstacle to start playing is the volume of water that has landed on the ground today and how it poses a risk to the health of the players.
Remains…