Andrew Strauss was 34 years old yesterday. I hope he lives to celebrate many more birthdays. One drawback: For the rest of his days, once a year on March 2nd, he'll think of Bangalore and a big Irish bloke with funny hair hitting his team all over the place.
Happy birthday, mate.
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Three memories of cricket in 2024
1 day ago
4 comments:
Well Brian I saw your headline and I thought it was directed at me as it's my birthday today!
I watched yesterday's game and loved every moment. I do have an Irish surname and therefore almost certain Irish roots and I have to say I really wanted Ireland to win the game. There's just something about England's approach to limited overs cricket I don't like and I think they consistently underestimate lower ranked opposition. O'Brien's inning was marvellous and was remarkable for its pure power and timing - slogging it wasn't!
I'm off to raise another glass of stout to the team in green!
Simon
Good to hear from you, Simon. I hope the stout was appropriate and enjoyable.
I think there has been some inadvertent complacency and shoddiness about England ever since the Ashes series finished. They achieved the main objective of the winter in great style and haven't been done much since. They will claim they're just as motivated and are trying just as hard but I don't think they are. Perhaps a reflection of the fact that England is the only country in which Test cricket still takes precedence over ODIs in a majority of people's minds.
Also, there's a real tendency for English professionals to look down on players they think are beneath them. Whatever they may say they probably undestimated Ireland and thought they'd won the game when they were 111-5.
I too was glad to see Ireland win.
It's Kevin O'Brien's birthday today. I think his present arrived early. Funny how vulnerable England can be when they have their opponents not many for five. In their warm-up match, Canada were 28-5 chasing 250-odd and only lost by 16 runs. Complacency?
It would seem highly likely, Paddy.
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