Stanford opener offers lacklustre outing
If the Stanford Super Series is slated to save cricket from its purportedly inevitable descent into the gloomy depths of unwatched five-day matches, then we’d better hope it can come up with something a bit more thrilling than the opening spectacle offered last night.
Thrill-seekers would frankly have been far better off tuning to BBC Two for the showcase NFL match featuring the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers than tuning their radios to TMS.
Nevertheless, everything has to start somewhere – and, to be fair, there weren’t a number of small fortunes riding on the outcome. Heaven forfend that anyone suggest that it’s the money lending this occasion a sense of drama…
Here are five stories to read if you want to catch up with what happened:
- Cricinfo match report: “England beat Middlesex by 12 runs in their opening warm-up ahead of Saturday’s $20 million match, but it was a poor performance and they relied on some excellent bowling from Stuart Broad and Andrew Flintoff to get them out of jail after a turgid display with the bat.” Read on >>
- The Telegraph: “The latest gimmick to emerge from Stanford towers is the prospect of what has been termed, in true Texan style, as a “Super Over” if next Saturday’s match ends in a tie. The whole $20 million could ride on hammering as many runs as possible from six balls as the Stanford organisers abandon the traditional bowl out to determine a winner in a tied limited overs match.” Read on >>
- The Guardian: “For all the intricately calibrated perfection of Sir Allen Stanford’s boutique cricket ground, it has one rather crucial flaw – the pitch. The wicket itself is slow, and according to Shaun Udal, it is also corrugated, with a ridge running down its middle. As lush as the outfield looks, the ball tends to plop onto the turf rather than speed across it.” Read on >>
- The Mirror: “If you were expecting to witness Twenty20 cricket at its thrilling big-hitting best, think again as both sides struggled to clear the ropes in a low scoring game.” Read on >>
- BBC Sport: “‘I am as concerned about the lights as I am about the wicket,’ said Pietersen… ‘There could be someone under a $20m catch on Saturday.’” Read on >>
Tags: Antigua, Middlesex, Stanford Super Series, Twenty20
This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 11:52 and is filed under County, England squad, Twenty20. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.