zimcricketforums.com • View topic - 2 Divisions for Test Cricket

There are 10 full member nations and in four of them their cricket is in decline.
Pakistan have huge problems, not least of which is an inability to play home games.
West Indies cricket is in decline and they only appear competitive in T20. That will also change because the big nations have really learnt how to play it now and the natural athleticism and flair of the West Indians has been matched.
SA have massive problems with quota systems. It's being felt in the national side with one or two selections, at franchise level in 3-4 positions, at age group level in 4-6 positions. If someone could access accurate stats on how many top schoolboys have been overlooked and how many who believe they are good enough to actually leave and try their luck elsewhere, I believe it would be staggering. There may well be thousands. It's not just individuals who are leaving, it's entire families. If you've followed the student demonstrations and understand the repercussions, you will know it spells the beginning of a sharp decline in SA fortunes- socially, economically and in sport. They have knowingly copied a model from Zim that has had a shocking outcome for all but a tiny elite and some real low level folk that will do their Masters' bidding for a subsistence wage.
Zim is proof of what SA could end up like in the not too distant future, but with a lot more hate and bloodshed. Quota is less of an issue because most of the whites have fled, but sport and the economy will never be the same again. The regime has the advantage of 3 decades of independence so the majority of the population are born-free's that are too young to ever make a comparison. They are malleable enough to believe a lot of nonesense about much of our history.
As Eugene said, all these countries have one thing in common and that's inept, thieving, corrupt boards. It's certainly something that the ICC could put their foot down over. If they insist on control over finances there's no choice but to agree.
There's certainly been enough evidence of what's happened here for them to take action and they haven't bothered, but with 4 of the 10 members in direct trouble it surely is time for a rethink.

Flakeman wrote:Kriterion, one of my mates has just returned from Penn State and he was the running back. He says there is no fitness required, BUT some of them are obviously great athletes. Rugby is better to watch but if I lived in USA id probably play it !

My third cousin played minor club cricket in England and before that played with Talha Jubair in Bangladesh. He says Sachin Tendulkar was half as a good a batsman as I am. And I believe that because my story is fictional as f**k. Well I did have a cousin play for some club in england, but the rest is as honest as a Fox News broadcast.

Sorry I don't buy your story for the following reasons.

Penn st is a major football school, meaning your friend was either heavily recruited while in high school or walked on, which is fairly rare. Either way, he'd have to be DAMN good football player. Tom d**k or harry might be able to walk on to Akron Polytechnic, but not to a historic powerhouse like PSU.

Now if your buddy played in high school, he'd likely have done whats called two a days. Practicing in the summer twice daily. Its not cricket where you do throwdowns in the nets. Its running full sprints, weight training, etc. Every summer, at least a few kids die from heat stroke. Its so rigorous, I would never let my kid play even though its my favorite sport.

If I were you, I'd have a conversation with your friend about not filling your ears with crap that when you repeat on the internet, its embarassing.

Flakeman wrote:Take a walk mate, why would I lie? He played RB for Penn State University. 2nd string i believe. Dont get your little panties tied up in a knot ! Your p**sing off quite a lot of people on here ive noticed. Dont get yourself banned lile Bavuma Rabada

Being banned from here isn't exaclty on top of the list of things I'm too worried about, so if you want to ban me, please proceed. I do appreciate your concern about my underwear...its good to know my comfort is important. However, as a lifelong freeballer, I must say that I only wear underwear outside the house.

Football doesn't require fitness? I literally cannot fathom how someone could believe that. If Richie Benaud told you bowlers don't need legs, would you just shrug your shoulders and say "That Kriterion idiot doesnt know jack s**t, but if Richie says bowlers don't need legs, it must be true!" If someone was a white supremacist racist, I could conceive how someone might be one. It actually makes superficial sense if one is a moron that white people could possibly be racially superior. But I don't fathom how the hell someone would think a sport that is BASED on running not require fitness. Like does it makes sense for Nobel prize winners to not require any intelligence?

Firstly, i guess this depends on your definition of 'fit'.
An NFL/Americam football player is certainly not as fit over an entire match as a soccer player or a league player etc, but I'd back the Running back in a 100m race.
Explosive power is the NFL game.

Secondly,
I have to lean towards what Flakemans saying.

You may have heard of the aussie league player (Jarryd Hayne) who's having a crack with the 49ers' at the moment. One of the bigger sports stories of 2015 in the aussie media, almost certainly the biggest (all frenzied hype).

There were a few interviews where Jarryd himself said he had to stop focusing on fitness, and his training became more on fast twitch power.

There are some concerns in the NRL that if he fails, he may not have the fitness to return to his league best.

Gee things can get b***hy when there is no cricket.

Rugby players need more endurance for the most part and take more hits during the game, but the hits in NFL are much worse. Having someone wearing a helmet diving headfirst at your knee is not something I would fancy. And the concussion rates in NFL seem much worse than Rugby.

But anyway, debating which sport is better is pointless. I never understand the need to run-down one sport, just follow the ones you enjoy. I for one follow everything from handball to bandy. Haven't got into Tchoukball yet however.

Flakeman wrote:Thanks Zimdoggy.

Kriterion please stop taking things so personally mate. Your just looking the fool here. Its obvious it doesnt require that much fitness as with the age long breaks after every play. The Jarryd Hayne story is a perfect example.

Same could be said about fast bowling where they aren't even sprinting full on. Even golf requires soms degree of fitness, and you have a caddy driving you around!

Flakeman wrote:Tiddlywinks?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchoukball

Calm down gentlemen, it's not good to see my cyber friends having hand bags at 40 paces.
All fitness is very different. For example I am currently drinking fit, borderline professional actually. Moto X is difficult to replicate. If you could magically make the fittest guys in the various sports good enough to handle a moto X bike they would last about 2-3 minutes, yet the top pros will do a 40 minute moto and then jump on another bike and do the next class, it's scarcely believable. Some guys have an operation that strips the coating off their forearm muscle and it helps prevent their fingers locking on the controls, true story. If a top moto xer gets his hand around your throat for any reason your life is over!!
I will Google Jarryd immediately.

For the record, in my humble opinion, cricket is the finest game in the world. For me it encapsulates qualities that are necessary to be successful in life. Front line batting is mentally the toughest thing in sport, nothing comes close to an opener walking out to do battle, especially coming off a bad run and fighting to retain a spot on the team. That's mental pressure that surpasses anything else in sport. There's also physical risk, you can't take too many head shots in a career before you get gun shy. I get goose bumps when I watch the top guys walk out with that 1000 yard stare. For the record, the guy with the best approach is Warner. He looks like, and I'm sure he is, a d**k, but you can see he's as tough as they come. I liked Atherton and Smith as well. The best batsman to ever grace the game is Kumar, no one else in his league.
I admit to being slightly contemptuous of baseball because it seems to be a bastardised version of cricket. I guess people might say the same of American football as well, but it doesn't bother me, whereas the baseball gives me a slight twitch.

Indoor cricket for the olympics? http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/conte ... 77123.html

foreignfield wrote:I got interested in baseball a bit after I read Chad Harbach's "The Art of Fielding" (a good read btw) and I tend to agree with the "a poor version of cricket" verdict, although it has its charms as there's a certain element of luck or chance in batting and a match is never over till its over, plus the statistical side of things is intrigueing as well. But cricket offers so much more variety and individuality in batting and bowling, and many more tactical subtleties. What makes it difficult to follow the sport if you are not a die-hard fan is the sheer amount of matches: imagine Zim playing 162 T20 matches almost on the trot ...

As for the tactical side of things in american football, it leaves me deeply unimpressed because it's all preconceived and implemented step by step (down per down) with the help of an enormous backroom staff. It is coaches playing chess with human beings. There is a good reason heaphones were banned in cricket. Aesthetically american football is about as appealing to me as synchronized swimming or the endless explosions and violence in action movies, but I won't deny there is a huge audience for it.

Thats because american football is too complex for a single player to make all the decisions. But yes, you are right in that much of the success of the team is centered around the backroom staff and not the actual men on the field. Never thought about it that way. Maybe cricket is the king of all sports after all!

Except plays don't always go to plan and the payers on the field, notable the QB and WRs have to improvise. Plus the human chess pieces have to memorize these huge playbooks.

Terrible idea. Means Division wont have Test status. No one will care if teams unless India, England, Aus are willing to play you.

Kriterion_BD wrote:Terrible idea. Means Division wont have Test status. No one will care if teams unless India, England, Aus are willing to play you.

Can you read?