View Full Version : Nathan Lyon.
MIDDLE EXILE
01-07-2023, 05:41 PM
Could The MCC not have let him use the lift rather than make him hobble up and down the stairs from the dressing room?
James Cohen
01-07-2023, 07:21 PM
Could The MCC not have let him use the lift rather than make him hobble up and down the stairs from the dressing room?
Just spoke to in the pavilion as he is ‘wandering around’ on crutches. Told him he was unbelievably brave but was it really necessary? He said he would have done anything to ensure a win.
Personally I don’t think it was remotely necessary and I only hope he has not made things worse.
John (Fingers) Fingleton
01-07-2023, 09:24 PM
Just spoke to in the pavilion as he is ‘wandering around’ on crutches. Told him he was unbelievably brave but was it really necessary? He said he would have done anything to ensure a win.
Personally I don’t think it was remotely necessary and I only hope he has not made things worse.
I think the whole performance was an absurd fiasco and came close to bringing cricket into disrepute.
If he has done himself any further damage, it will come straight under the heading of "Self-inflicted wounds". And for what - apart, I suppose, from taking some time out of the game in which England could reply and chase?
michael morgan
01-07-2023, 10:10 PM
I think the whole performance was an absurd fiasco and came close to bringing cricket into disrepute.
If he has done himself any further damage, it will come straight under the heading of "Self-inflicted wounds". And for what - apart, I suppose, from taking some time out of the game in which England could reply and chase?
As u will know fingers it’s not the first time in a test match acts of bravery have occurred in a test match to further the cause ( cowdrey )comes to mind !!
John (Fingers) Fingleton
01-07-2023, 11:12 PM
As u will know fingers it’s not the first time in a test match acts of bravery have occurred in a test match to further the cause ( cowdrey )comes to mind !!
Indeed - but horses for courses ... and it wasn't to win a match on its last legs/closing stages.
There is a difference between bravery and idiocy!
MIDDLE EXILE
01-07-2023, 11:18 PM
Cowdrey's was a totally different situation. Had he not batted, England would have lost a Test Match they eventually drew. He did not have to face a ball. He would have been cowardly not to bat.
Paul W
02-07-2023, 07:17 PM
I see a member of the MCC got involved in an altercation with one of the australian players (not sure which one) in the long room.
Presumably a comment along the line of 'Disgraceful' or 'Cheat' in relation to the Bairstow dismissal, and he didn't expect the player to stop and 'discuss' the matter with him.
What happens under those circumstances?
Is said member called in front of the board to explain himself?
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/news/23628090.ashes-2023-mcc-apologise-members-verbally-abused-players/
Andrew Fraser
02-07-2023, 09:55 PM
The last wicket stand put on 15 runs which could have been critical. That England persisted with short pitched balls which were the only ones Lyon ( and Starc) could swish at comfortably is one of the abiding mysteries of the 21st Century. Can anyone remember an England bowler trying a Yorker ?
MIDDLE EXILE
02-07-2023, 10:11 PM
Australian players were subjected to vile abuse and being sworn at by MCC members. Feelings were running high in the long room and the club should have anticipated trouble and seen that proper distance should have been kept between spectators and players and they be escorted through the long room rather than expecting a few ancient stewards to intervene, Three members have immediately been suspended pending further inquiries. By no means is the first time Members have misbehaved, an umpire was grabbed round the throat by a member during The centenary Test of !980 and almost thrown to the ground, after conditions had delayed play The offender later received a letter of warning as to his future behavior,
James Mitchell
03-07-2023, 07:24 PM
As you might expect, this has caused a great deal of discussion amongst (and condemnation by) members in the MCC section of the MIOLP. Six pages at the time of posting this and growing quickly. Fingers was on talk Sport this afternoon and had quite a lot to say about it:
https://talksport.com/radio/listen-a...00/1688391000/
start at about 7:20
James While
03-07-2023, 07:37 PM
Hello you lot.
I wrote this for The Times - tomorrow's edition.
By James While
The Spirit of Cricket was enshrined in the laws of the game by the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2000 following an initiative by Ted Dexter and Lord Cowdrey. The preamble to the laws states that any action seen to abuse the Spirit of Cricket “causes injury to the game itself”.
In 2014, I was asked by the MCC Players & Fixtures Chairman to draft a note outlining how the club’s Playing Members should behave. Playing Members are those who are gifted enough as cricketers alone to be fast tracked into membership due to their contribution to the sport on the field of play.
The note reinforced that representing the MCC was not only an honour but an ambassadorial quest to champion the values of the sport.
To frame Spirit of Cricket is hard. It’s not about objectives, it’s not about measuring individual decisions, it’s about how you as a player or spectator honour subjectively the traditions and the intrinsic sportsmanship of the game - a philosophy over a strict doctrine - so to capture that I kept it short and sweet:
“How does my behaviour in other cricket matches affect my M.C.C membership?
Cricket is a competitive sport and it is inevitable that, in the heat of battle, relationships between competing sides can become strained.
However, as an M.C.C Member you should always be aware of your wider responsibilities to the sport and understand where the boundaries of sportsmanship lie. Please refer to Spirit of Cricket."
Those are the words I wrote. That’s it, three sentences. I didn’t comment on specifics and nor does Spirit of Cricket itself. I merely asked players to consider what they themselves felt was appropriate in any given context.
Spirit of Cricket is like modern English. It’s the language of the game, one that should be spoken universally by anyone who picks up a bat or a ball and crosses the white line of hope, triumph and despair. But like all language it isn’t static; it moves and forms with the influence of its users and with its relative society itself. To define Spirit of Cricket in absolute terms is impossible. It’s the playing field cricketers perform within and the dictate by which you will be judged and, importantly by which you’ll judge yourself.
Context is all. At the Lord’s Test we saw a perfect storm: the Australian emotion following the (correct) ruling on Mitchell Starc’s grounded catch from Ben Duckett fuels anger. Jonny Bairstow then swans in to bat and walks up and down the crease as if he owns it to reclaim emotional dominance which irks Alex Carey.
Carey bites and throws the stumps down. All of this takes places within the highest pressure environment Test cricket knows: a Lord’s Ashes test.
Was any of that against the Laws? No. Was it against the Spirit of Cricket? Absolutely not. Spirit of Cricket clearly says you respect the Laws, Umpires and opposition. Those are indisputable facts. The players set their own agenda: a feisty and challenging one as close to the line as you will get, but one of their choosing.
However, what happened afterwards in the Long Room was reprehensible. To boo and to sledge players from the stands is one thing. It’s theatre, it enhances the atmosphere, it’s visceral and it’s very much part of the game.
What isn’t part of the game is taking that behaviour behind closed doors where face to face confrontation against international athletes within a privileged space is used to for one’s own emotional benefit by proxy.
The delicious irony is Lord’s is the Home of Cricket and the Long Room is its lounge. It should welcome all cricketers, with warmth and understanding, with the Spirit of Cricket overlooking events. By that measure, the MCC members who were at fault let both themselves and the game down.
Any club with 22,000 constituents will always have a fluid and varied mix of members, and it is impossible to categorise those people with one stroke of a broad brush.
Strength and resilience thrive in a vibrant and diverse environment and MCC has made incredible strides towards levelling up some of the historic criticism of the make up at Lord’s. Under Guy Lavender’s charismatic stewardship, there has been a significant increase in members from minority groups in the 22 years I have been a member, which is a welcome trend.
Yesterday was both an affront and a setback to MCC’s vision and most importantly, the Spirit of Cricket itself.
Byline: James While is Snr Rugby Correspondent for Planet Rugby and a regular contributor to The Cricketer. As an MCC Playing Member, he has represented the Club almost 200 times in eight different countries of the world.
Pindarus
03-07-2023, 11:41 PM
I would like to see Broad dropped for his childish playground behaviour during his innings. As for the spirit of cricket, was it not he who did not walk when blatantly caught some years ago. Hypocrite.
John (Fingers) Fingleton
03-07-2023, 11:54 PM
I would like to see Broad dropped for his childish playground behaviour during his innings. As for the spirit of cricket, was it not he who did not walk when blatantly caught some years ago. Hypocrite.
Were we watching the same Broad? I thought his performance was heroic - for the first time since he tried to eat a ball through his grille all those years ago. He played a superb foil to Stokes's amazing pursuit of the win.
Douglas Green
04-07-2023, 08:00 AM
I think the whole performance was an absurd fiasco and came close to bringing cricket into disrepute.
If he has done himself any further damage, it will come straight under the heading of "Self-inflicted wounds". And for what - apart, I suppose, from taking some time out of the game in which England could reply and chase?
Scoring important runs ?
James While
04-07-2023, 08:52 AM
For those with a subscription my piece for the 'Old Thunderer' is in this morning's edition.
@jamesmitchell - pls feel free to post elsewhere now it's up
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mcc-members-let-themselves-and-cricket-down-with-their-fury-bkd2v0tpd
adelaide
04-07-2023, 02:01 PM
I thought at the time that Lyon going out to bat was tacitly saying that he would be out for the series anyway, thus aggravating the injury wasn't really a concern, at least not in that sense.
richard
19-08-2023, 02:27 PM
I think the whole performance was an absurd fiasco and came close to bringing cricket into disrepute.
If he has done himself any further damage, it will come straight under the heading of "Self-inflicted wounds". And for what - apart, I suppose, from taking some time out of the game in which England could reply and chase?
He managed a crucial partnership of 28 which as they won by 43 runs, was certainly worth it.
John English
19-08-2023, 06:11 PM
Could The MCC not have let him use the lift rather than make him hobble up and down the stairs from the dressing room?
ME That’s quite strange as I saw him use the lift on Thursday.
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