Now this is the real U19 Action.

I mean it has to be right, it's the only U19 Tournament I've seen that's got more defection issues that a whole Cuban Oylimpic Team: http://www.cricinfo.com/u19wc2010/content/story/444043.html. Meanwhile action today (tomorrow?) has started with four first round games. In game one, they're currently in a break, as Afghanistan went 118 all out in 49.2 overs. The rumor I am hearing is that India will bat one handed in their innings just to make it fair (this is of course totally made up by me). In match number 2, Canada (RELIVENT TEAM ALERT) put up 201 in a full 50 overs, with Zimbabwae still to bat. In match number 3 (which is also probably the match of the day, Ireland put up 216/6 against South Africa, which has players that have played in international settings against much better teams than u19s, so it will be interesting to see how they respond. In the fourth match of the day Pakistan (which obviously has to be one of the favorites of the tournament, put up a 297/7 which the West Indies must have quite the confidence in being able to top, since they won the toss and elected to bat first.


However, I think the biggest news will come at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon, when for the first time since I've created this blog, an American Team will step out into an international tournament , they open their tournament up against Austrailia, and would probably have to be considered to be in the group of death (since it's also the Ireland-South Africa group) but hopefully they can put on a good face for Americans, and I know I for one am proud of the team for even making this far. So good luck USA!

Post Game Show: Blogiversary Edition

I'm not going to lie, I fell asleep during that live blog last night (I guess that would make it more of a dead blog, since no one showed up either *rim shot) but every so often, I keep getting woken up with announcers yelling "What a shot!" Turns out Taylor was going for 118 and I was sleeping through the whole thing (it was 65-2 when I went to bed) but in the end it turned out again that his effort was for not, because Bangladesh got some hot batting and ended up winning by scoring 222.

I would like to thank everyone who has read this little corner of the internet for the past year, whatever your reason, it's your eyes that keep me typing on this page, I know I've failed you lately in being timely, and probably even being good at writing, so if you're still around, it'd be nice to know, and hopefully this winter will be a time to improve my writing and maybe turn a few fans onto this game that I've fallen in love with myself.

Zimbabwae v Bangladesh ODI 5

This game is also technically being played on my Blogiversary (since it's already tomorrow over there)


Links to watch:

http://espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index

I'm back

And now that I'm back, there is Cricket on to be watched:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bangladesh-vs-zimabwe

Bangladesh vs Zimbabwae ODI, (and while we're at it let's welcome back Zimbabwae) I'll see if I can get a Cover It Live up, but the Blog will be open for now if anyone is around.

I'm Still Alive, and the happy Afghan story no one is telling.

*blows the dust off*

Sorry about that, school and work have gotten the better of me lately, I often come home, eat dinner and go to sleep, so a month has flown by since I wrote anything (and I left an embittered taste in all of your mouths anyways) I'm back, and just in time, because The Qualifying tournament for the 2011 ICC World Cup just finished (yeah, that's how it is in the cricket world, we get shit done two years in advance) It's a good thing too, since 2015 qualifying starts up this month!

Here's the basic lowdown:

*Ireland won the tournament (I would like to do a serach for a "Bowl Me: I'm Irish" pin, but I don't think I'd get what I want)

*Canada came in second, and qualified for the World Cup (which is an ODI tournament held every four years) along with Ireland, Kenya, and the Netherlands.

*Along with the four Qualifiers Soctland and Afghanistan were granted ODI status for four years (which means they can play ODI's against test nations, which is two steps below full test status)

That brings me to the other half of the title. For a nation that has been suffering through so much strife and turmoil, the media has been jumping at the chance to say "Look at this, they're getting on the right track." They tried their hardest to do so in Beijing, only to have a very unlucky Afghan contingent in the games. Here we are six months later, and everyone has decided to completely ignore that the cricket team has turned it around so much, they've been told they're one of the 25 best teams on the planet, and get to play with the big boys, and get extra funding from the ICC, and NO ONE SAYS A DAMN THING. It's a crying shame, I congratulate you Afghanistan, that was an impressive accomplishment, I know you can do great things, and now you have four years to prove it!

Can anyone cut the WICB a check?

http://content.cricinfo.com/wiveng2009/content/current/story/397177.html

The West Indian team is threating to boycott the fifth ODI against England this Friday, unless the West Indian Cricket Board comes to an agreement with the West Indian Players Association about payments for previous overseas trips the team has made. The WICB is clearly in dire straits along with the rest of the world, although even moreso since the Board decided to jump head first into the cookie jar Allen Stanford offered them that quickly came apart at the seems. At the same time, I don't blame the players in the least. Just like everyone else who got trapped in a Ponzi scheme, there were sure to be other investment oppertunities available, they just happened to take the easy way out. And it's not like the West Indies are bad, although they lost game four, they took the Test Series, and have been doing a remarkable job in the last 5 plus months, and they deserve to be rewarded for those efforts. I hope there is some kind of conclusion that makes it easier for both sides and leaves no lasting hard feelings, because it's a slippery slope for both sides.

Well so much for that liveblog..

Turn out the lights and go to bed people, there is nothing left to see of the English Test Cricket Team. They must really like snow ball fights, because they layed an egg against the West Indies today, to the tune of 51 all out. Their highest scoring batsmen had 24 runs...let that soak in... two centuries, a 96....and the best they could come up with when it mattered most was...a twenty-four. 2009 clearly looks like it's going to be the year of The West Indies, as they are not slowing down from the manhandling they gave New Zealand last November-December. There is an ODI next weekend, it might be much of one, but I might try to get something up for that. Other than that...enjoy the rest of your weekend...the English sure won't.

What to Watch/Read/Ask Me About This Weekend

Well jeaz, this certainly kind of got off the cricket track for a while, so let's see if we can't get things back into gear by telling you what's going on in the circket world this weekend which is: One match. On Sunday (Saturday Evening our time) Tasmania will be playing New South Wales at Hobart in the Ford Ranger cup (the follow up match is a day night match, so I would guess they're playing 20/20) (nope actually looked it up and it turns out it's an ODI Tournament, so there you go) Also if you have a DSL connection or faster that is liked by the site you can go on ESPN360 to watch either this years Asia Cup, or the Stanford 20/20 for $10,000,000 tournament. Other than that, have a good weekend.

Test Cricket and ODI's

Since this site doubles as an explanation to the sport to people who have never even seen it before, it seems as though a proper explanation of the two types of cricket I have failed to mention so far goes in here.

ODI is short for One Day Interational, and is the most common version played on an international level. Unlike 20/20 which is one innings (yes the singular is plural, I've never tried to understand it either) with 20 overs (estinally overs are the baseball equivilent to an inning) ODI's have 2 innings usually 40 or 50 overs depending on the agreement between the two sides. From there, there's a coin filp (as there is in all forms of cricket) and winner decides to bat or bowl first. From there, it's standard cricket (which is complicated enough that it will probably get it's own post at some point).

Test Cricket, is simply put, what's killed any chance at all of cricket being a major sport in the west (with a notable exception I will cover next time). Test Cricket is the top level of Cricket in the world, unforuntately, one Test Cricket match can take up to 5 days to play. They only play during the day (20/20 is the only cricket that's played at night) and they stop in the middle of whatever they are doing once the sun goes down. It's required both teams wear entirely white during a test match, and since it istop level cricket, you actually need to show that you're able to play it, by winning your way up to the right, and being approved as a full member of the International Cricket Council of which there are currently only 10 members: England, Austrailia, New Zealand, The West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Zimbabwae. (for those who are curious the United States and Canada are associate members, and can only play ODI's if they reach World Cricket League Division 1, but for which Canada has an exception to play until next year).

The major problem with test cricket is it's never ever going to translate for tv, they play for 8 hours at a time, with one 30 minute tea break during the match, and an hour lunch break. How would you take any commerical breaks for a show that almost never stops?