Cricket

[spud_gun]

Excellent bowling from England this morning. Curran's inning yesterday afternoon took the game away from India

[Buzzo]

Not the best day for Ben Stokes today.

Brawling, homophobic drunken monster.

[Yozza]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-45082248

****ing hell - doesn't paint a pretty picture at all....

Cricketer Ben Stokes 'mocked gay men before nightclub fight'

England cricketer Ben Stokes mocked two gay men and flicked a cigarette butt at one of them before brawling with two other men, a court has heard.

The Durham all-rounder, who will miss the second Test against India at Lord's, denies affray.

Bristol Crown Court heard Ryan Ali, 28, and Ryan Hale, 27, were knocked unconscious by Mr Stokes in Bristol on 25 September 2017.

They also deny affray and are on trial alongside Mr Stokes.

The fight outside a nightclub was "a sustained episode of significant violence" in which Mr Stokes "lost control", jurors were told.

Nicholas Corsellis, prosecuting, said Mr Stokes, 27, had "started to attack" Mr Ali and Mr Hale "with revenge, retaliation or punishment in mind".

Broken eye socket

He said: "He knocked Mr Hale unconscious and then - after time to pause for thought, to calm - he did exactly the same to Mr Ali."

Mr Corsellis described Mr Stokes's actions as "well beyond acting in self defence or defence of another".

An altercation took place in the Clifton Triangle area of the city just after 02:00 BST after the three defendants had left a nightclub, the prosecutor said.

The court heard Mr Ali had sustained "significant injuries", including a broken eye socket, after he was attacked.

Mr Corsellis told the jury a bottle was used at the beginning by Mr Ali, and a broken street sign brought into the fray towards the end by Mr Hale.

The defendants had been drinking in Mbargo nightclub, with the alleged incident taking place after it closed, jurors heard.

Mr Stokes and his teammate Alex Hales left the nightclub at 00:46 but both returned at 02:08.

Bouncer Andrew Cunningham explained to the pair the club was closed and they would not be allowed in.

However, an "obviously upset" Mr Stokes became "aggressive" and insulted Mr Cunningham about his appearance, jurors heard.

Mr Cunningham said Mr Stokes's attention then turned to two "openly gay" men - Kai Barry and William O'Connor - outside the venue.

He claimed the cricketer had mimicked their voices and mannerisms in what he described as "a derogatory way".

Mr Corsellis said CCTV footage showed Mr Stokes "copying hand gestures made by the men", while the bouncer claimed he had flicked a cigarette butt at Mr O'Connor.

Mr Cunningham reportedly said to Mr Stokes: "If you want to start on anyone, start on me."

"Mr Stokes's behaviour outside the nightclub sets an important tone for what happened that night," Mr Corsellis said.

"He was clearly frustrated and annoyed. He took to acting in a provocative and offensive way towards Mr Cunningham and then Mr Barry and Mr O'Connor."

Mr Stokes, of Castle Eden, Durham, was arrested in the early hours along with Mr Ali, of Bristol, and Mr Hale, of Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol.

The fight took place several hours after England had played a one-day international against the West Indies at the city's County Ground.

The trial continues.

[ChesterDave]

I'm fairly sure the gay lads were quoted in the paper at the time saying he was sticking up for them. Will be interesting to see if they are called as witnesses for the defence or prosecution.

[captainfog]

That's a disgraceful article by the BBC. They are reporting the prosecution statement as fact and not prefixing anything with allegedly which most other publications are and should be doing. The BBC really has become a big bag of ****.

[Buzzo]

That's a disgraceful article by the BBC. They are reporting the prosecution statement as fact and not prefixing anything with allegedly which most other publications are and should be doing. The BBC really has become a big bag of ****.

He’ll be alright the articles probably buried beneath all the chuckle brothers stuff...

[EwarWoo]

I'm fairly sure the gay lads were quoted in the paper at the time saying he was sticking up for them. Will be interesting to see if they are called as witnesses for the defence or prosecution.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2017/10/27/ben-stokes-real-hero-saving-us-say-gay-menfollowing-homophobic/

[Yozza]

Back to the cricket.....

MCC panel explores idea of introducing a ‘shot clock’ to speed up cricket

• Over rates in Tests at slowest for 11 years
• Proposed solution would involve a time limit

The MCC World Cricket Committee has floated the idea of introducing a “shot clock” to the sport that would cut down the amount of time wasted between balls and overs to counter the slowing pace of matches.

According to this MCC advisory panel, which is made up of current and former players, over rates in Test cricket are at their slowest for 11 years, while those for Twenty20 matches are at an all-time low since the format’s introduction in 2003.

While financial punishments are already in place for slow play, and five runs can be docked for a slow Twenty20 innings, they remain at the discretion of officials. This proposed solution is for a time limit that ensures players are ready to start the action, be it before a ball, over or after the fall of a wicket, with on-the-spot run penalties if not.

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain who sits on the MCC panel, said: “It probably seems a little extreme, the idea of the shot clock, but most of the members of the committee and other committees have been talking about declining over rates for 20 years and once again this year in all three formats the over rates have been in decline.

“It’s basically the dead time in the game. So at the end of the over, the fielders and bowlers have to be back in position and that’s non-negotiable. The same with the new batsman coming in, the bowling team have to be ready when he gets to the crease. We are of the belief that a ‘there and then’ run penalty in the game would be definitely worth looking at. You would imagine then the captains would take a huge responsibility in making sure their players are ready to go.”

[Yozza]

This was announced a while ago...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/19/ecb-unveil-plans-100-ball-domestic-cricket-tournament

ECB unveils plans for tournament with 100-ball format and 10-ball special over

• New format proposed for eight-team city-based competition
• ECB hoping to attract a younger family audience to cricket

The England and Wales Cricket Board sprung a surprise on Thursday by announcing it has dispensed with Twenty20 for the new eight-team city tournament and will instead adopt a format of 100 balls per innings.

This new competition, which begins in 2020 and is understood to have a working title of “The Hundred”, will offer faster matches, with 15 traditional six-ball overs and a single 10-ball over to complete each innings. A women’s tournament, run along the same lines, will also be launched.

With each match 40 balls shorter than a T20, the action will be cut to around two and a half hours. It is hoped families with younger children will be attracted to attend evening games, while the BBC, which will show 10 of the 36 matches, should have had any concerns over scheduling eased.

Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive officer, said: “This is a fresh and exciting idea which will appeal to a younger audience and attract new fans to the game. Our game has a history of innovation and we have a duty to look for future growth for the health and sustainability of the whole game.”

The shock news came out after the ECB put the concept to the 18 first-class counties and found little pushback. They will not be taking part, of course, with the five-week competition played by new teams based at Lord’s, the Oval, Old Trafford, Edgbaston, Headingley, Trent Bridge, Cardiff and Southampton. But the counties, who as partners will earn a guaranteed £1.3m each per year from the competition’s revenues, are understood to have welcomed this differentiation from the existing Blast, which will remain the sole domestic T20 competition in the men’s game and run earlier in the season.

The existing Kia Women’s Super League is to be disbanded, though, with new teams formed in line with those of the eight city-based men’s sides. There will be eight double‑headers – matches played before men’s fixtures at the main grounds – with the rest of the women’s competition played at other venues.

Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, said: “To build the women’s and men’s competitions and identities together, side by side, is a prospect that few sports ever have and will give us greater reach, scale and prominence. It will attract more women and girls to the game.”

It is unquestionably a bold move by the ECB, which pioneered the T20 format in 2003 but has since seen the Blast fall behind the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League in terms of international recognition and prestige, even if crowds have grown significantly year on year.

While the new tournament will use a draft system to select 13 players per squad, with a further two added as wildcard picks from the Blast tournament that comes before, it was felt a significant point of difference was still needed, as well as a reduction in time in order to entice a family audience.

Recent matches in the IPL, such as Mumbai Indians against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday night, have swelled to four hours in length following the introduction of reviews on top of the existing strategic timeouts. The ECB plans to start day games in “The Hundred” at 2.30pm and night games at 6.30pm, allowing families with young children to get home in good time afterwards.

Though the primary broadcaster Sky Sports faces less time pressure than the BBC, which had feared matches running into the 10 o’clock news should there be significant rain interruptions or slow play, it is understood to be equally enthusiastic about the concept at this stage.

In terms of the precise playing conditions, the ECB’s appointed committee will now work over the coming weeks to put flesh on the bones of the new 100-ball format before presenting the final form to the ECB board in June. The 10-ball over, for example, could end up finishing off an innings or be offered to either the batting or bowling side to be taken when they deem it tactically best.

Marylebone Cricket Club has been part of the consultation and will likely sign off in terms of the laws of the game – not least since Lord’s is a host venue – while the International Cricket Council is also expected to give its approval.

[Yozza]

England v India - second Test..

England, leading 1-0 in the series, host India at Lord's in the second Test.

Start delayed due to rain

[Alex]

Excellent

Hottest summer is decades and we have a rain delay at the start of the test match.

[Yozza]

Excellent

Hottest summer is decades and we have a rain delay at the start of the test match.

Yeah forecast isn't good for the entire day...

[Yozza]

India 107 all out...

[RichC]

Take Kohli out of that side and there’s not much there at the moment

[Zapater]

Pujara, Ashwin and Shami are all excellent players too. The rest do blow hot and cold. Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be unplayable in these conditions. It's a big miss. But I agree that sometimes India are appalling on the road. It's not easy to win away tests for any one but sometimes I can't understand how they can be that poor.