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Did someone just turn the world upside down and I didn't notice?

Post 1

There is only one thing worse than being Gosho, and that is not being Gosho

England are playing five test matches against India this summer. Apparently they begin on:

1. Wednesday (Trent Bridge)
2. Thursday (Lord's)
3. Sunday (Southampton)
4. Thursday (Old Trafford)
5. Friday (The Oval)

I'm confused. Test matches always used to begin on a Thursday. When I first started going to them there was no play on Sunday, so they'd play Thursday to Saturday, then Monday and Tuesday if the match lasted that long. I'm not sure exactly when they got rid of the rest day and started playing straight through, but I think that was a good idea. It seems silly to take 50% of the weekend out of the game when that's the only time a lot people can go.

There's so much cricket played these days though (hope I'm not starting to sound like Geoffrey Boycott smiley - headhurts) that they often can't leave a full week between tests, and have recently started the practice of having one test run from Wednesday to Sunday, then the next one begins the following Thursday, or perhaps Friday, so there's potentially only three days between games.

Now, on the one hand that's great for someone like me who loves listening to and watching cricket, but it can't be too good for the players, not getting enough time to rest, recuperate and train.

But starting a test on a Sunday? smiley - huh

I'm dreading what Boycs is going to have to say about this when he comes to mic for his summariser stint on TMS, and how long he's going to bang on and on about it and how there's too much cricket played now.

And uncovered pitches. And how bowlers don't pitch it oop. And sticks of rhubarb. And how Fred Trueman would have done it. And his mum's pinny. And the corridor of uncertainty. And buffet bowling. And how batsmen aren't getting their foot to the pitch of the ball. Or any kind of footwork. And so on. And on, and on, and on, and on smiley - facepalm


Did someone just turn the world upside down and I didn't notice?

Post 2

Bald Bloke

You are not alone in your thinking
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/28201361

"The schedules are a little bit crazy," Broad said. "In the next 42 days we've got 25 Test-match days, so it doesn't leave a lot of time to rest.


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