England v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Edgbaston, 10-14 June, 2021

Moral of the story - STAY TF off Twitter.

Amen.

Social media - the blight of the 21st Century.

And yes, the irony of posting that sentence on a Forum is not lost on me.

People don’t realise it’s effectively published media, they treat it as a private conversation (and surely everyone’s privately said something in bad taste or that they wouldn’t want broadcasting further, at one time or other) when in legal terms and in terms of the fact it potentially stays around forever, it’s more equivalent to writing it in a newspaper column.

Robinson:goose.

Anderson: gander.

This might be the first time two opening bowlers whose name ends in - son get banned for ‘hate speech’ after the same test.

Can’t help but reflect on Gillespie enduring racist taunts from baying hordes in 2005 (“where’s your caravan”, “gyppo”, etc), and several forumers on C4 (Rob S, Norfolk Ian) thinking it highly amusing ‘banter’. It wasn’t.

The Anderson one doesn’t really rank very high on the offensiveness scale, whereas some of the Robinson ones (and there were quite a number of them) do. Does every speeding offence rank the same, for example, whether you’re 1mph or 50mph over the limit? Whether you do it once or 20 times?

What’s offensive is a matter for debate but some things (e.g. use of the N-word by non-black people) are beyond any reasonable defence. The “gypsy” one is an interesting example, it’s only more recently that people have really understood it to be an ethnic slur, and some still see it as an “acceptable” one due to the conflict of lifestyles that sometimes happens between travelling people and others.

Speaking of Dizzy ....

Williamson ruled out, blow to the Snoozers... but as with the Ashes a couple of years ago, the opposition’s main man being absent still leaves us with the upstart South African import to deal with!

Minnow-basher takes the captain’s armband.

beamer wrote:Williamson ruled out, blow to the Snoozers... but as with the Ashes a couple of years ago, the opposition’s main man being absent still leaves us with the upstart South African import to deal with!

Minnow-basher takes the captain’s armband.

...and as i predicted, Boult comes in for Satner.

Looks like we’re going to swap Wood for Stone, though both are actually made of glass...

Leach the likely replacement for Tommy, so a long tail in prospect. Although he has made 90-odd as an opener and the greatest 1 not out in Test cricket history, so who says he weakens the batting?

embee wrote:Speaking of Dizzy ....

Ah Dizzy. Still dining out (tongue in cheek) on his double v Bangers all those years ago.

Oh yeah, took me a moment to realise the significance of that, was wondering if he’d just taken some stick in the past for complaining about Yarported players in other Test teams...

Still cheaping Test double centuries, after all these years!

Given the heat raging over light, with showers of sparks firing in all directions - and given this is the Bails - it's perhaps unwise of me to post anything more on "that" issue, ....

but FWIW I think at the end of this post is a sage, measured and fair contribution to the debate from a previously unexpected quarter.

One takeaway from it (for me) is that certain politicians rowing in - I'll add: to pander to their fanbase, as those politicians always, relentlessly do - doesn't actually help Robinson himself to get his thoughts or career straight.

Because it makes sanctimonious "victims" of non-victims ... some of them indeed not only non-victims, but perpetrators.

And stokes resentments that help no one but the worst.

LINK:

I reiterate that teenagers are idiots. They are the most evil, arrogant and idiotic part of any generation. They are largely pompous, cruel and unthinking. They derive disproportionate pleasure from the outcome of their posting on social media. As beams says, these posts may as well be carved in stone, such is their permanence.

"Thinking" is not something they do in the midst of a social media moment.

I suggest that a large majority of rational thinking adults may have all sorts of prejudices and biases but they are wise enough not to air them on public media. Adults generally (albeit there are many who still post stoopid things) know what is couth and what is uncouth to post on social media.

Teenagers are different. They post before they think of the consequences. They post on a wave of euphoria, sought glory and "look at me, I'm have huge balls" snap shot moments. It is the way of this social media world.

To crucify Robinson (or anyone for that matter) for some ill-considered posts from their younger years is totally unnecessary, inappropriate and devoid of the understanding of the idiocy of youf.

Weather forcast looks pretty good for the five days.

Looks like we’ll be the sensible ones by playing a spinner on this occasion. Whether it will compensate for the longest tail seen since the equivalent 1999 series, who knows.

beamer wrote:Looks like we’ll be the sensible ones by playing a spinner on this occasion. Whether it will compensate for the longest tail seen since the equivalent 1999 series, who knows.

Or maybe not, Leach left out and we play Stone and Wood alongside the two old stagers.

Six Snoozie changes, three injury-enforced but they do opt for Ajax to clean up in the spin department... Southee and Jamieson also benched.

On the spin theme, I did notice that Root averages comfortably below 45 with the ball now, there have been worse specialist spinners by that measure. Captaincy and back issues should discourage him from over-bowling himself, but the ability is clearly there. If batting average above bowling average makes you an all-rounder... (and there’s some renowned all-rounders who didn’t manage that!)

Doesn’t sound like a thrilling first hour. Still, beats going to lunch at 100-5 I suppose.

A few wickets straight after lunch puts that to rights. Once again it seems to be all resting on the shoulders of Burns.

If you take out that innings, making up nearly 40% of his career total, Crawley would average under 20 from 14 Tests. And this England team, if they all scored their averages, would only register a total of 241. Only Root averages above the low-30s, they’re the sort of figures we’d associate with Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and more recent West Indies teams. I know batting in England is hard and some of them are inexperienced, but remember when we used to have a go at the likes of Bell, Collingwood and Vaughan for just about keeping their averages around 40?

Pope’s not even justifying being The Cheese (baby Bell) at the moment, more like a poor man’s James Vince...

And Bracey, oh dear... two innings, 7 balls faced, no runs, out twice. He was being touted as a top three batsman before being forced into taking the gloves.

One thing that this is proving, Buttler and Bairstow are still among our best six Test batsmen, whether they keep wicket or otherwise.

Honours just about even at stumps.

beamer wrote:The Anderson one doesn’t really rank very high on the offensiveness scale, whereas some of the Robinson ones (and there were quite a number of them) do. Does every speeding offence rank the same, for example, whether you’re 1mph or 50mph over the limit? Whether you do it once or 20 times?

What’s offensive is a matter for debate but some things (e.g. use of the N-word by non-black people) are beyond any reasonable defence. The “gypsy” one is an interesting example, it’s only more recently that people have really understood it to be an ethnic slur, and some still see it as an “acceptable” one due to the conflict of lifestyles that sometimes happens between travelling people and others.

I agree with that. No comparison.

Also because "lesbian" is not generally a term of abuse in itself. It's a neutral statement of sexual orientation/preference ,,,,

"Ah, but applied to a man, surely that's demeaning to the man, and worse, the same-sex women???"

No, not really. Anderson's joshing reference didn't seriously demean any man, woman or beast. ... It was immature - "daft/anxious man banter" - but then, if men were pulled up, carpeted and shut down for showing immaturity, this Forum (for example) would hardly have lasted a month.


Incimidentally, let's not forget that Robinson hasn't been banned for life. He's been handed a temporary suspension. A significant break, but not some sort of eternally damning verdict. And, to me at least, more charitable than some who rant rather questionably about the massive injustice of the measure.

I'd say NZ have an edge after Day 1 - not just that of the dreadful-looking Crawley's and Bracey's hapless bats - but there's a long way to go yet.

Good for Lawrence, and I'm glad they gave Stone a runout.

Not a heck of a lot to enthuse about with the England batting in the three innings so far. Even Burns, with his wackily dislocated stance and continuing look of a walking wicket about him. Though he has (somehow) put runs on the board.

"Give me lucky openers", as Count Mazarin might have said.

"Mazarin noted that one must not ask of a general, “Est-il habile?” (“Is he skillful/clever?”), but rather, “Est-il heureux?” (“Is he lucky?”)"

So Burns saved England again. Well done him.

And just what the fark is this thing called James Bracey? It seems to be some sort of shadow or phantom lurking around the England team. The team is aware of it but it contributes nothing to the team cause.

A bit early to be writing Bracey off after two ducks?

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