Pakistan v England, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi, 13-17 October, 2015

Bowlers have being bowling no balls since the beginning of time, but at least in the past the umpire was warning the bowler by calling the no ball or even warning the bowler if he was getting close to the line. Then if the bowler transgressed he was totally at fault.

I am a bit surprised that you seem to advocate not calling at all.

All we need now is some idiot to throw the back foot rule into the mix.

It's up to the bowler and the bowling coach to redress this no-ball shit... if they don't then why are they applying their trades as bowlers / bowling coaches.

But it's detracting from the proper business: Stokes simply can't be trusted for a spell.

Brass Monkey wrote:It's up to the bowler and the bowling coach to redress this no-ball shit... if they don't then why are they applying their trades as bowlers / bowling coaches.

But it's detracting from the proper business: Stokes simply can't be trusted for a spell.

Aye Dan, how often do you see them overstepping in the nets.

Finally the breakthrough. Hard to see Pakistan losing from here though, all things considered.

taipan wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:It's up to the bowler and the bowling coach to redress this no-ball shit... if they don't then why are they applying their trades as bowlers / bowling coaches.

But it's detracting from the proper business: Stokes simply can't be trusted for a spell.

Aye Dan, how often do you see them overstepping in the nets.

It's always amazed me that considering the amount of effort and money that goes into computer analysis, data, and stats that are fed to the players regarding fitness levels, biomechanics, and trends etc, not to mention 60 page menus involving quinoa, they don't even bother to pull the bowlers up in the nets when they're overstepping the front line by two feet. It's ridiculous.

taipan wrote:Bowlers have being bowling no balls since the beginning of time, but at least in the past the umpire was warning the bowler by calling the no ball or even warning the bowler if he was getting close to the line. Then if the bowler transgressed he was totally at fault.

Yes ... of course he could just get his run-up right, as many bowlers do. I'm not talking about the occasional no-ball here, the reason there are so many is NOT because of the umpires, it's because of the useless bowlers.

I am a bit surprised that you seem to advocate not calling at all.

Ah, the old false binary. I never said that. Must do better.

All we need now is some idiot to throw the back foot rule into the mix.

He hasn't been dead for much more than a month ...

I recall Greg Chappell saying that when he played ODIs, because no balls were crucial he would move his mark back slightly but keep the same run-up meaning there was no excuse to bowl a no ball. Of course one could argue that they're more costly in tests.

I tend to agree though that when umpires were more vigilant, the bowler was more aware of how close he was to the line and he received a wakeup call when he overstepped.

In some ways one could argue that in a close test match, the umpires only checking when wickets are taken and 'overlooking' other no balls could be telling in terms of extra runs that should have been awarded to the batting team.

lardbucket wrote:

taipan wrote:Bowlers have being bowling no balls since the beginning of time, but at least in the past the umpire was warning the bowler by calling the no ball or even warning the bowler if he was getting close to the line. Then if the bowler transgressed he was totally at fault.

Yes ... of course he could just get his run-up right, as many bowlers do. I'm not talking about the occasional no-ball here, the reason there are so many is NOT because of the umpires, it's because of the useless bowlers.

I am a bit surprised that you seem to advocate not calling at all.

Ah, the old false binary. I never said that. Must do better.

All we need now is some idiot to throw the back foot rule into the mix.

He hasn't been dead for much more than a month ...

And you knew I was referring to idiots on this board. Talk about upping your game.

We get told to warn bowlers they are close ...which should bring them back

If they dont come back ...call them (even if not sure its a no ball)

This should bring them back

The trouble with doing this in a higher level match is that everything is filmed and some smart arse will have a crack at the umps for guessing on no balls and produce video evidence of this

Well, there are those that will always whinge, and who can always find someone else to blame even when the fault is much closer to home.

If they fark up their run-up, and miss out on a wicket as a result more than occasionally, they've got no-one to blame but themselves. It's not your fault if they can't even get their run-up right at least 95% of the time. They're professionals, supposedly ...

I don't have sound at work but that looked like quite a big call to give that with no hotspot or snicko. Definitely didn't look anything like definitive proof to overturn but again I don't have sound.

vilkrang wrote:I don't have sound at work but that looked like quite a big call to give that with no hotspot or snicko. Definitely didn't look anything like definitive proof to overturn but again I don't have sound.

I haven't seen it, but the whole point of DRS is that the evidence should support a change of decision.

Astounding decision. 

Without snicko and hotspot, how can anything other than a clear deflection be considered CONCLUSIVE evidence to overturn the decision?

Henry wrote:Astounding decision. 

Without snicko and hotspot, how can anything other than a clear deflection be considered CONCLUSIVE evidence to overturn the decision?

Exactly. It is idiotic decisions like this that devalue both the umpires and DRS.

Has this been as slow all day as it looks?

I see Bell shelled one early. Hmmmm.

Can we use the words Bell and drop in the same sentence now?

taipan wrote:

Henry wrote:Astounding decision. 

Without snicko and hotspot, how can anything other than a clear deflection be considered CONCLUSIVE evidence to overturn the decision?

Exactly. It is idiotic decisions like this that devalue both the umpires and DRS.

Couldn't agree more - complete shocker

Congrats to Younis for beating Miandad's record.

Congrats to England for keeping it clueless. Raise a glass.

Don't spoil the score for me - I'll watch the lowlights later on.

I assume England have maneuvered themselves into an incredibly strong position on day one of an overseas Test. You know, the usual.

Apparently, England are fielding six bowlers. Don't ask me where. They seem to have only selected a couple of batsmen. I've never seen so many bits and pieces cricketers in my life. Which one of them will be put to pasture by the end of the South Africa tour? I predict Moeen, Bell, Bairstow and Rashid.

Henry wrote:Root should be at first slip, Stokes at second, Cook at mid off, Bell at short leg/cover home.

Surely the safest place for him.

How the ****** is he still given a place in the slips. He's a total liability. Anyone but Bell.

Rashid.

Bairstow.

Your mum.

How we are already rueing his potential retirement u-turn.

Brass Monkey wrote:

taipan wrote:

Henry wrote:Astounding decision. 

Without snicko and hotspot, how can anything other than a clear deflection be considered CONCLUSIVE evidence to overturn the decision?

Exactly. It is idiotic decisions like this that devalue both the umpires and DRS.

Couldn't agree more - complete shocker

Do Betfair, or any of those sites, offer a live cash out type facility on TV Ump referrals? Someone needs to check the TV fella's mobile and/or laptop 'cos that was utter balls. I can only presume the interminable delay was due to him waiting for the odds to rise about as far up as possible in his favour before he clicked the button. Ker-ching.

Ronald J. Knickershit dropped ANOTHER??? ANOTHER SITTER? Why the f*ck was I not made aware of this egregious bollocks? Wanker.

Brass Monkey wrote:Ronald J. Knickershit dropped ANOTHER??? ANOTHER SITTER? Why the f*ck was I not made aware of this egregious bollocks? Wanker.

Dello asked us not to spoil it for him.

My dreams already spoiled it. I dreamt that Pakistan scored 889/3. Two runs outs. The third dismissal was in Arabic, written in red. I didn't know what it meant. Possibly some kind of suicide bombing. That was just my subconscious being a bit racist.