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CLOSE WAS A TOUGH MOFO

They forgot Bodyline

In reply to Chrissy

And 75/76 series in Oz

In reply to imusic
Off course - di Pommies nearly killed Bradman wid bodyline - blasted hypocrites

When the Aussies complained about Bodyline, the MCC gave it the usual platitudes, but refused to change the laws. The following summer, Constantine and WI touring England, gave them a dose of their own medicine. Then and only then did MCC change the rules. If satan and his 11 playing England, I’m back satan.

In reply to CricSham

Seems legit.

Era of no helmets all these guys were tough

In reply to CricSham

You too bad

In reply to hubert

Good morning Hubert! How are you doing young man?
I was never a fan of English sport. They often manipulate the rules to win. They “won” the FIFA World Cup in 66 by default. In Pele’s autobiography he talked about how Ramsey, then head of England’s football instructed the refs to go light on the tackles against the South Americans. And as we know, they almost broke both his legs and that’s when he decided he would never play in Europe again. I’m taking that directly from Pele’s book. And of course we all know what happened in the World Cup cricket finals against New Zealand. The scores were equal, but they “won” because they hit more boundaries. I was in India to watch them “defend” their World Cup last year. It was the most disgraceful performance by a defending WC champion.
Karma is a wonderful thing.

In reply to CricSham

We have mutual dislike for English when it comes to sports. Difficult to like them..They always look to gain unfair advantage
or manipulate rules to suit their own cause .Can't forget how they use
lbw rule to frustrate Ramadhin with May and Cowdrey use of the pads in that 411 4th wicket stand at Edgbaston
in 1957. BTW it still stands as the Test record partnership.
They were also quick to introduce the front foot rule in 1963 after Griffith and Hall strangled them in 1963 and
their own Fred Trueman had lost most of his fire. There was even some serious suggestion by English writers to
lengthen the pitch from its 22 yards.All because they never liked the idea of WI dominating the cricket.

That did not gain traction of course but decades later the one bouncer rule came into being aimed at ...WI
from the 4 prongs that abounded.
I just delight in seeing every other country stomp them
The Aussies ,far less complainers and somewhat of tougher mettle always take pleasure in hammering them.
Want India give them a 4-1 in current series.

In reply to hubert

I agree, and I believe they will get 4 -1 thrashing. I was not aware of the May/ Cowdrey/ Ramadhin affair. But I was at Bourda in 1968 when Cowdrey and Knott did the same to Gibbs. The cops had to escort Cecil Kippins off the field. They were padding out everything. He could not give them LBW.

In reply to CricSham

Very famous or infmous match.
It was Kanhai and Gilchrist debut .Rohan as wicketkeeper and opener ////
Ramadin took 7 wickets to dismiss for lss than 200.
WI through Waclott, Smith 161 and Worrell made close to 500 or so
England went back in and then after losing 3 wickets May and Cowdrey became entrenched..
Ramadhin wound up bowling 98 overs (Still the record I believe) in the second innings.
I think Val had the record from his 1950 Tour
England made nearly 600 if memory serves and WI were
left hanging on for a draw making less than 100 and losing more than 6 wickets.
It was frustrating listening to ball by ball commentary and missing classes to do so too.
Can never forget that tour.
It was also the 1st ever Test covered by BBC in what was the start of Test Match Special.
Apart from John Arlot, a West Indian Ken Ablack (think he was a Trini) was also part of the commentary team and I think
another was Rex Alston or Brian Johnson and Ablack did well under the pressure. wondering why neither May nor Cowdrey could
out LBW,
The year was 1957.
Ram never recovered from that ordeal and Goddard the captain was prepared to bowl him to death.
Wi lost the next Test at Lord's noted for an apology from MCC to Weekes for the pitch on which he stroked a 90 odd.
Sobers also batted well for 60 odd.
Third test at Trent Bridge was drawn after England piled up another huge total but Worrell opened and batted through
the innings for 190 odd .first WI batter to do his and in the second innings Smith with 168 steered WI to a draw.
The 4th test at Leeds saw WI crumble to a pacer called Loader who also took a hat trick. He was more than suspect
according to the Aussies.
The final Test at The Oval was lost badly on a spin track home to Tony Lock and WI were dismissed for under 100 in both innings.
Weekes got a pair but the game marked the coming of age of Sobers whose two knocks were spoken of highly by some British scribes and
they were right.
W next series was at home to Pakistan and the rest is history mainly of one man....the incomparable , Sobers.

In reply to hubert
Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that series. Kanhai and Smith are two of my favorite batsmen. I read so much about Collie Smith. It is interesting to note that after Smith died Sobers’ game took on a new dimension from an allrounder perspective.
That was a tough series for Rohan, thrown in at the deep end so to speak. Not only asked to open and being rotated up and down the order, but also keep. Off the field on the ship to England RBK said that it was Collie Smith and Gilchrist that kept company.
Hubert did you see Smith at bat or Everton weeks? Bro those are two I would’ve loved to see.
Yep, Sobers made 365 at the age of 21. I always tell guys when they talk about players don’t have enough experience. Nonsense! Step up to the plate.
I watched Shubman Gill in the last test. He was expected to be the next star, and basically did nothing for the last 20 tests. I believe that knock is his coming of age. He may make a lot more runs in future, but that innings will define him. They’ve got a group of very talented batsmen coming through the ranks. Though he failed so far Patidar is a classical batsman. I think he’ll come good in this test match. I love watching classical batsmen. Saw Lawrence Rowe at Bourda among so many others.

In reply to hubert

In a test match? You flat out lying.

That cannot be!

Openning soon come fuh you tail

Ah, but did Weekes get a king pair like Head??

Alexander was supposed to be th keeper but only played one test reportedly he could not read Ram. Next thing u know he is captain!