Well done England.

[Chippy_Tea]

Avoided the whitewash

How can the commentators say well done they showed a bit of backbone and it was a thrilling finish, the Aussies will be belly laughing.

 

[ScotchMist]

Avoided the whitewash

How can the commentators say well done they showed a bit of backbone and it was a thrilling finish, the Aussies will be belly laughing.

After the series that they've had, I admit to feeling a wee twinge of satisfaction.

What do you think they could do to be less rubbish in Oz though? I don't buy the whole 'english first class system isn't good enough' argument - there's much more red-ball in England than Australia, and but their team has been consistently better than England for so long.

 

[devexwarrior]

I think it's cultural thing. For the English, sport (or to be more exact, games -'sports' are traditionally hunting, shooting and fishing) are pastimes. Look at the culture of the amateur. Cricket was half and half until the 60s. Rugby Union was amateur (and some might say better) until the early 90s. Athletics the same. For Aussies sports are a way of life - be it Union, League, Aussie Rules (a contradiction if ever there was as there seem to be precious few rules in the game but it is a great way of teaching simultaneous equations ) or cricket depending on where you live. There is something of this in UK but on a smaller scale. I live in Wales and we've put up with Drakeford (spit) just 'doing the opposite of Boris because he wants to prove a point' throughout the pandemic. Now there s a chance of Wales' 6 Nations games being played either behind closed doors or in England there is a genuine anger. I'm not Welsh but I like living there. The Welsh are generally friendly, good natured and generous but they take their Rugby very, very seriously.

Anyway, nothing will change because the people that run cricket don't care about cricket. They only care about money. This is sad but true.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

What do you think they could do to be less rubbish in Oz though?

To be honest i cannot stand the game so i am not bothered we are rubbish i just wish they would admit it instead of spending day after day discussing who should be in who should be out as if it would make a bit of difference like they do every time the England football team play and lose.

 

[The Baron]

We showed them Aussies (am I allowed to say Aussie or is it PC inappropriate) we can lose with style

 

[Chippy_Tea]

we can lose with style

We have had lots of practice.

 

[devexwarrior]

We showed them Aussies (am I allowed to say Aussie or is it PC inappropriate) we can lose with style

The mark a true English Gentleman. It's not about whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. I was good at some sports (cricket, shooting) not bad at some others (golf, squash, rugby) and absolutely dire at many (football and others) but I never did anything than my try best at everything. My daughter beat herself up after an athletics event. I pointed out that she had just become a National Champion and set a personal best and her reply was 'yes, but I could have done better if I hadn't lost concentration in the last round'*. I know England have been utterly thrashed, but I don't for a moment believe that the individual players out there have done anything other than the best they can.

*This is the person who is about to submit her dissertation for a MRes (Research Masters) in a very obscure branch of Marine Biology- I have a general science background and I'm lost (I just checked her maths and punctuation). Her attitude is 'I now have to get a PhD' not because of academic rigour but simply because I have a Masters (MA in War in the Modern World from KCL) so she has to go one better. She has my competitive gene alright. I'm not absolutely competitive, other than against myself. I'm a firm believer in Sir Edmund Hillary's philosophy. Why did you want to climb Everest? "Because it's there". Likewise JFK said we don't choose to go both moon because it's easy, but because it's difficult. My colleagues at work often ask why at my age I chose to do the my job. My answer is that I have to have a difficult job in order to prove to myself the I can do it. I also believe the my job's important enough to be done and if I'm doing it then I'm going to do it right. I have however, set myself a limit of age 60 - three years hence and after that I intend to sit on park benches when I'm not playing golf, drink strong home brewed ale and shout at the pigeons.

Please excuse the long and rambling post but it makes me feel better.

 

[ScotchMist]

Please excuse the long and rambling post but it makes me feel better.

Well, that's the main thing! If it's any consolation, I'm confident that with a bit of coaching, you could be a world class pigeon-shouter-atter.

We showed them Aussies (am I allowed to say Aussie or is it PC inappropriate) we can lose with style

You should hear what they call us...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The mark a true English Gentleman. It's not about whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.

I have a feeling the fans who paid a lot of money to go and watch will have a different view.

 

[scomet]

I thought England (and Wales) played very well to force the draw, when the match can swing on the last ball of a 5 day test, the tension in our pool was; I had to go and have yet another pint of Mr Wheelers fine Old Pec. See you in Tasmania on Friday...