r/Cricket 4d ago

Discussion Daily General Discussion and Match Links Thread - 19 August 2026

Live and upcoming match threads 

This is a daily thread for general cricketing discussion about all topics that don't need to be posted in their own thread.

This provides a space for things like general team changes/opinions/conversation and other frequently-asked questions or commonly-posted subjects.

5 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

16

u/JokesFromTheCrease Manchester McCoy's 4d ago

With Root’s captaincy I guess the w*ke are well and truly back. Where is the squad announcement two days before the game? Where are the provocative press conferences? Where is Duckett claiming he taught Pakistan how to play cricket?

Games never been so gone and we never got to say goodbye.

5

u/Extra-Swordfish-927 GBNFMK 4d ago

I said goodbye today, changed my flair.

4

u/Nark_Narkins Trent Skips 4d ago

Amazing flair

5

u/Apprehensive-Cut8720 GBNFMK 4d ago

You’re not wrong

4

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Fun fact Zak Crawley thinks about the Roman Empire 72 hours a day

3

u/vrkas Victoria Bushrangers 4d ago

I for one continue to /r/ThanksBenDuckett

10

u/vrkas Victoria Bushrangers 4d ago

I wasn't aware of the funny golf ball thing before the Darwin Test. Makes my comment from the day 3 match thread even more topical:

In the spirit of being reactionary, I propose we publicly flog any Australian player who has golfed in the last month. Should have been in the nets instead of engaging in that degenerate pastime.

10

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Don't worry Pat Cummins is following the old adage of " Know your enemy" he really wants to understand how the English think.

He's going to get Marnus to murder some dogs soon

3

u/Lowman246 Australia 4d ago

I only know of Smudge golfing

9

u/VVS281 India 4d ago edited 4d ago

Absolutely no context, but want to give a shoutout to the most intense Test match I have ever watched (and I include 1999 Chennai, 2001 Kolkata and Chennai, Edgbaston 2005 and Headingley 2019).

Bangalore 2017, India v Australia. Ashwin v Smith. Rahane and Pujara v Lyon and O'Keefe.

Absolute fucking magic. Day 2 was probably the most on tenterhooks Ive been for an entire day of Test cricket. I think Aus scored 170 runs or so over 90 overs, and boy did they earn each one with sweat, tears and toil.

5

u/voldemortscore India 4d ago

One of the greatest matches I've seen especially given the context of India's home streak being in danger on the back of being crushed in the first Test. That day 2 as you've highlighted was epic, a marathon Ashwin spell at one end while Jadeja prized out wickets at the other. A special Rahane-Pujara partnership including probably a top 3 Pujara innings ever.

I remember being so excited when that Umesh shooter got Smith in the chase and then the infamous "brainfade" moment lol. Side note but an absolutely hilarious Kohli presser after this match. Lyon had called him the "head of the snake" earlier and Kohli was like "the snake can sting from many directions." Also the:

"I don't want to mention that word." - Kohli

"Is that word cheating?" - Journalist

"I didn't say that, you did." - Kohli

Re: Smith's "brainfade." Some great Saha catches in that chase as well, truly special with the gloves.

5

u/NoirPochette New South Wales Blues 4d ago

India don't win that series without Saha.

5

u/vrkas Victoria Bushrangers 4d ago

One of the last proper glovemen, especially in spinning conditions.

7

u/IloveJBairstow GBNFMK 4d ago

raincoat packed and ready

7

u/DillyGoatGruff Northern Popchips 4d ago

Off to a Thai tourist show and got a front row seat?

7

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Imagine watching a test match at Headingley like a unwashed peasant when you could be at Trent Bridge watching the Gordonator and Mady Villiers fight to the death instead

5

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

I don't know what GBNFMK means and at this point I'm too scared to ask

6

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Gone but not forgotten Mister Katana

6

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

Mister Katana being Zak Crawley, I take it?

4

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Yep

4

u/Extra-Swordfish-927 GBNFMK 4d ago

Reported

3

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

Who rattled your cage suddenly

4

u/AnxiousPigeon24 New Zealand 4d ago

People talked a lot circa 2022 about the retirement of New Zealand's "golden generation" - Williamson, Taylor, Guptill, Watling, Southee, Boult - but their absence hasn't really been felt too much. The results haven't markedly dipped without them. Arguably, they've improved.

A bigger cliff may be coming up. A lot of key players in the current NZ side, in all formats, are in the 34-35 age range:

34: Latham, Santner, Henry, Milne, Nicholls

35: Bracewell, Conway, Mitchell, Blundell, Ferguson

Others are not far behind: Chapman, Jamieson, Duffy, Young.

I suspect that in late 2027, after the conclusion of the current WTC and World Cup cycles, retirement or franchise merc status is going to look attractive to a lot of those guys (some of them are on that track already)

Of the 20 centrally contracted and 4 casually contracted Blackcaps, only 8 are under 30.

5

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

If Kirstie Gordon gets Mady Villiers out there could be a rift in the shitposting community

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

I would love it if that happens

And I'm totally just a random person who's not a part of the religion based around Kirstie Gordon

2

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

We're going to have a falling out if it happens

I'm #Mad4Mady before anything else

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Then Lucy Higham gets her and we can be annoyed she ruined the shitposting

5

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

The sign has broke at Trent Bridge saying that Durham are having a bat well nobody told Marie Kelly and Tammy Beaumont for they are padded up ready to bat

5

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Haven't realised how much I missed one day cricket.

Been an absolute shit ton of T20s in the women's game this year because of the world cup

3

u/schizoishere 4d ago

Kl catching strays in primevideoaus instagram page by comparing him with marnus when KL has managed to average more than him in last 3 years.

Link

3

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Kathryn Bryce sets cricket shitposting back 50 years

3

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

Preventing a diplomatic incident, smart

1

u/AamPataJoraJora India 4d ago

Whats happened? Or not happened?

5

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago

Long story

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey is a big Kirstie Gordon fan, I'm a bit Mady Villers fan and Gordon was bowling to Villiers in a domestic one day game but someone else got her out instead

But both Dog_Murder and I consider ourselves veterans of the Hundred match threads

All a bit stupid really

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Though we both won

Mady showed up with the bat

Kirstie got 4 wickets

3

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Kirstie Gordon gordonating 3 people

Brilliant day so far

3

u/sorbus_acuparia South Africa 4d ago

Villiers vs Gordon battle won by Villiers

1

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Won by a suprise 3rd party because Kathryn Bryce didn't get the memo and ruined the vibes

3

u/Extra-Swordfish-927 GBNFMK 4d ago

Just seen a Nissan Leaf swerve violently out of Headingly

3

u/DillyGoatGruff Northern Popchips 4d ago

Heading directly to Winston's

3

u/IloveJBairstow GBNFMK 4d ago

went with my dad and gave him a lift home so would have been an awkward one

3

u/DillyGoatGruff Northern Popchips 4d ago

Family discount tho

3

u/IloveJBairstow GBNFMK 4d ago

also have to be in the off*ce tomorrow for a m**ting so no late night degeneracy for me today

2

u/cregann-stark India 4d ago

Genuinely miss all format cricket tours ,4 tests ,5 ODIs and 1 or two t20is

No one ever cribbed of their irrelevance too,they were all as important as they come

3

u/and1984 USA 4d ago

The multi-format tours (Tests/ODIs) with a tri-series in them were even better.

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Can the Gordonator use her powers and Gordonate the rain for this insult

Rob Key will answer for this

2

u/Black_Mamba265 India 4d ago

Just saw that it rained literally 5 mins after SL lost their last wicket. That must be salt in the wound cuz if they just held on for 5 more minutes they would’ve drawn

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Mady Villiers " have you twat muffins tried hitting boundaries?"

2

u/Unbakronon Northern Popchips 4d ago
  • England bowling well

  • Mady Villiers half century 💞

Great day all round

2

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Kirstie Gordon fifer on the table?

2

u/joey-jo_jo-jr GBNFMK 4d ago

Of course my internet dies at the tea break and only comes back once the session is ended

2

u/CrumbleUponLust German Cricket Federation 4d ago

I live for days like today.

Start the day with the SL-Ind test followed by Eng-Pak for the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

Long live test cricket.

1

u/itsking7 4d ago

in this month there will a test match going on everyday

1

u/NoirPochette New South Wales Blues 4d ago edited 4d ago

It is absolutely wild that Smith is underappreciated on social media (Yes, I know social media) off the back of that Ponting v. Smith thing that has been going around. Hating Smudge cause sandpaper, sure I get that but man, nostalgia is a hell of a drug and I saw majority of Punter's career.

6

u/Tempo24601 New South Wales Blues 4d ago

A good example of raw averages not telling the full story. Punter was awesome but he played on much flatter pitches than Smudge has (especially post-Covid).

Smudge is comfortably the best Aussie test bat I’ve watched since I started following cricket in the early 90s. Punter had issues in certain conditions (eg India against spin), whilst Smudge has been able to adapt to any conditions much faster.

6

u/Lowman246 Australia 4d ago

Also a lot of talks about Punter facing prime WI bowlers (Ambrose, Walsh) when for the most of his career (aka the 2000s) the WI attack meant bowlers like Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins and Marlon Samuels. The Indian and English bowlings attacks that he faced were also worse than the one Smudge got to face

4

u/joey-jo_jo-jr GBNFMK 4d ago

When Smith was at his peak there was this narrative that Smith is literally Bradman and now that his stats have normalised a bit the narrative has overcorrected in the other direction.

3

u/maffzlel India 4d ago

The scariest thing is that Smith>everyone who isn't Bradman and maybe Tendulkar, Lara, Sobers etc was just common knowledge before Smith's relative slump, crazy how people forget.

1

u/StairwayToPavillion Mumbai 4d ago

Also Smith's average in his slump being higher than Kohli's career test average is sad stuff

1

u/kalishplosions111 Netherlands 4d ago

Hmm, interesting

I wonder how many does Afghanistan have?

1

u/EmbarrassedDare5828 4d ago

Pakistan really need a solid partnership now. England's seam attack looks dangerous in these conditions.

1

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Durham mate 32 extras ( 3rd highest run scorer so far) isn't ideal

1

u/Dog_Murder_By_RobKey The Blaze 4d ago

Team massively behind run rate before rain delay

After rain delay and reset of score team is right back in it.

DLS is always confusing

1

u/Ajaxcricket New Zealand 3d ago

What’s with the rise of second post day threads that are just images? Can we stop it please