Filed under irish

King KOB

I was watching Kevin O’Brien in the restaurant that Zully Q-Dawg gave a famous press conference in.

All around us were Pakistani fans who were just happy that it wasn’t their side that was looking like losing to Ireland. And even happier that it was England.

Then next to me was the other prick/chuck, Sam, who is from the country that was losing.

And to make it just right, at the crease was an out of shape agricultural ginger axe wielder.

It was all set up perfectly.

Then KOB lost his fitness.

Serious ass kicking takes it out of the fittest of men, KOB is not that.  His running between the wickets became more of a drunken stumble in the general direction of the other crease as his innings went along. It was England’s only hope for a while.

Eventually it was his running that kept him from finishing the job.

When Prior took off the bails all KOB could do was slide on his face.

England celebrated the way you do when you realise there is still a chance you might not end up as the world’s punch line.

KOB just stayed on the ground, face only separated from the dirt by the helmet grill.

I have no idea how long he stayed there, the cameras left him well before he looked like moving.

To me it meant more than the whole innings.

The innings had edges, a drop, some luck and one of the best consistent spells of hitting you’ll ever see under pressure.

I liked the face on the ground more.

Ireland play their cricket like a shit New Zealand from the 90s.

Everyone joins together like Voltron to defend Ireland’s pride. Now, Voltron wasn’t an A grade cartoon, and Ireland are not an A grade team.

They’re just plucky, handy and better than they would be as individuals.

When KOB went wild, you didn’t want a catch or a run out, you just wanted them to get home in any way they could.

That’s why it was so disappointing to see him grill down in the dirt, he thought he’d let down his team. Even though the team that without him wouldn’t have even been close to winning.

I like that, a lot.

KOB is just an unfashionable man who hits the ball hard and tries to win a match for his country.

If I was picking a player to score a record breaking match winning ass kicking hundred in a world cup over his closest rivals, KOB would be about perfect.

Tagged , ,

You know the cricket world cup is here when you see a viral with Trent Johnston in it

It’s a little known fact that before Trent Johnston became Ireland’s Chris Cairns he used to hustle indoor cricket facilities with his bowl the ball onto a coin trick.

Tagged ,

the world t20 team report card

Afghanistan – Turned up with a bowling unit that most Minnows would be proud of, but their bowlers also ended up being their batting.

They were very loud, but showed real aptitude, but were kicked out of the library after being caught urinating on the technique books.

Australia – Finally selected a T20 team and got a test player to captain it. Took the gamble on 3 front line bowlers and it worked until their batsmen bottled it in the final.

Bullied their way around the schoolyard, and everyone sucked up to them. Next time they should stay focused until the end of the day.

Bangladesh – Tried hard at times but never had the firepower to scare Australia or Pakistan.

Truancy is a problem, if Tamim isn’t around the rest of the boys lose confidence. Perhaps they were promoted too quickly and could do well if they were to repeat this grade a few times.

England – Was the best performed and coached side in the entire tournament, Wright at six was a gamble, but their middle order stuck around and they deserved to win.

Polite, courteous, well mannered and simply a delight to teach. About time too, before this they were a disorganized bore that should have been spanked daily.

India – Arrived with a hangover, played like they were in a coma, picked the wrong side and then performed like their entire family had been killed by drunk drivers.

Spank them, send them to bed without their dinner, cut all extra curricular activities and make sure you give them a curfew.

Ireland – Showed yet again that they are a plucky yet largely untalented bunch. Bowling display against England was a masterclass in bowling slow seam.

Since Eoin has moved classes the Irish boys have looked slightly stupid, it might be time for remedial studies, again.

New Zealand – At times it felt like they were in the tournament, but that they also weren’t. They beat 2 of the Semi finalists, but not in the semi finals.

A very eager student who would do extra work than required, it was just that their best work was only just a pass.

Pakistan – Were shocking, brilliant and wonderfully insane, just like Pakistan should be. Need a captain, not an excitable poodle.

Were truant at the start of the semester, then came in late doing lots of work to try catch up. They almost passed but it wouldn’t be fair to students who turned up all the time, like M Hussey.

South Africa – had one of the bowlers of the tournament in Charl Langeveldt, and almost no one else. Picked the wrong team, stayed with the wrong teamand then failed to actually chase Pakistan’s total.

These boys are clearly too old for schooling, and didn’t look interested either. Perhaps getting them into the workforce would benefit them.

Sri Lanka – Surfed the wave of Mahela all the way to the finals, but outside of him and some isolated performances they were pretty ordinary.

Had one mature age student who was of no use, a cool student who didn’t seem interested and some experimental student who produced very little. Very disappointed in them.

West Indies – Teams who host these tournaments are usually useless, the West Indies proved that rule.

The entire class sit around waiting for Chris Gayle to do the work, and he can’t always be bothered. Andre Fletcher needs private tuition or home schooling.

Zimbabwe – Had a great array of spinners and almost entirely nothing else. Played good honest cricket, but are missing several components.

They seemed to be driven by fear of being spanked by their parents, but are generally a very poor academic group. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Ray Price is surely too old to be at school, and I think I saw him beat up the Lunch Lady.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The World T20 thingy (chapter 2)

England

Since losing to the West Indies the English team has become the hardest working team in world cricket. That isn’t a great thing, but somehow this team of largely average cricketers gets wins. Andy Flower must have remote control electrodes on their genitals, or, you know, something like that.

Can they win?

In order for England to win absolutely everything must go right. Kieswetter must become some sort of batting God, England will need to find a bowler who just shuts down an end at all times, and every single player will have to play at maximum ability at all times. Of all the teams with a chance of winning England has the least amount of proven match winners, so I can’t see them winning it.

Players to watch or not

Kieswetter can hit a cricket ball. But he has been hitting a cricket ball a lot on County Cricket’s run highway at Taunton, and against pretty ordinary attacks, what can he do in the big league.

James Tredwell’s bowling action is a homage to the sight of a 65-year-old man pushing a trolley through a super market at 2pm.

India

Gary Kirsten said the last IPL made his boys all tired, and then MS Dhoni took over a squash court to show he loved Sehwag. I think that is what happened. This year they bring Vinay Kumar.

Can they win?

All their players have been playing T20 non-stop for weeks, they have a captain who knows how the game works. Their side is probably only missing one proper quick like quick, but everything else is in their favour. However, if they were tired last time, they should be this time as well. They should win, but I wouldn’t be betting on them.

Players to watch or not

Yousuf Pathan played the most mocked innings ever thanks to Shane Warne’s over the top praise. But I like the boy, although not nearly as much as they boy likes himself.

When it comes to grump faces no one does it better than Praveen Kumar. I also want him to get smashed just so I can see his angry face, although he usually has an angry face when he takes a wicket as well.

Ireland

Looking at any Irish team on paper will cause you to ignore them. But the Irish have spirit. To be sure (I apologise). This is one of those largely useless looking squads but perhaps it is that thinking that leads to teams continually losing to them.

Can they win a game?

England and the West Indies are their opposition. The West Indies recently lost to Zimbabwe, and Eoin Morgan might throw the match. I can’t see Ireland getting close winning either game.

Players to watch or not

Kevin O’Brien is scary ginger, a little chubby and has a brother who is a better cricketer. All of this deep psychological anger comes out when he hits the ball.

If Boyd Rankin were not a cricketer he would be the side of a mountain.

Tagged , , ,

the questions

Thinking about the play doh tigers today led me to thinking about the Irish team.

As a cricketing nation Ireland is good enough to get 2 players into the English set up.

The way Niall O’Brien is going about his cricket; combined with the way England churn through wicket keepers, he could very well end up in the English side as well.

How many Bangladeshi players could push into the English side?

Shakab, yes, Mortaza, doubtful, Ashraful, possible.

Ireland has beaten Bangladeshi two International tournaments in a row.

And the first time they did it without Ed Joyce, the second without Eoin Morgan.

Bangladesh certainly has more people playing the game, and a much greater love of the game.

But Ireland has its young stars playing in county cricket, which has to be at least 3 times as strong as Bangladesh domestic cricket.

So here is my question for you balls’ fans, if Ireland were part of the subbie block, and Bangladesh were a European country, which country would be a test playing nation right now?

And before I get flooded with irate Indians & Pakistanis calling me a racist pigeon fucker, this is not dissing the subbie, here is the second question, if both sides were in the subbie, who would deserve test playing status more.

Tagged ,
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 8,531 other followers