Friday, January 15, 2010

Ludicrous decisions at the test

From The Times :

A second highly contentious ruling in successive days by Darryl Harper, the third umpire, may yet prove a pivotal moment in this third Test.

If Harper’s decision not to call a no-ball when Alastair Cook was leg before on the first day was one of those 50-50 cases that England eventually chose to accept, the Australian official’s failure to pick up the noise of an edge from Graeme Smith appeared to have been a bad error on his part.

Cutting at Ryan Sidebottom early in the morning session when 15, Smith was reprieved by umpire Tony Hill despite impassioned appeals from England close fielders, who clearly heard something. The South Africa captain added a further 90 runs to his score before England eventually dismissed him, Andrew Strauss taking a smart catch at first slip after Smith edged a ball that left him in the air - but the damage had been done.

The decision to give Smith not out had immediately been referred to Harper, who rejected the review. When the television tapes were played back, a noise was clearly audible, although no deviation could be seen either by Hawk-Eye or the naked eye. Often, a very thin edge, or ‘feather’ as it is known in the game, cannot be picked up on TV, but the noise could not have been anything bar an edge as the bat was a long way from the pad and ground.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article6989297.ece

AbNormal service?

Ugh...after the optimism of the two battling last wicket draws and the comfortable win what has happened at the final test?????

Well it looks like the South Africans have definitely prepared a "result" wicket but both teams have to play on it.

England look like batting first, being asked to follow on and still lose by an innings.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Don't count your chickens. Liverpool 1 - 2 Reading (AET)

Oof, not having a gloat or anything...we’ve all been there (Oldham, Shrewsbury etc) but prior to Reading’s FA Cup win at Anfield last night Liverpool FC were sending this around to its cup ticket scheme members. Did they learn nothing from their pre-decorated Athens Champions League victory parade bus?

 

Dear XXXX,

As a valued member of the Auto Cup Scheme, we’d like to confirm details for the following FA Cup match:

FA Cup
Liverpool v Burnley (4th Round)
Saturday 23rd January 2010. Kick Off: 12.45pm
The Ticket Office will begin taking payments for the above game from Thursday 14th January.

Please note: customers whose payments fail will not be notified due to the short timescale involved. Payment failure and subsequent non purchase of a ticket for this game in the competition will result in the removal from the scheme.

We do advise that you check your 'purchase history' on line at www.liverpoolfc.tv to ensure that a seat has been purchased for this game. Alternatively, please contact Customer Services on 0844 844 2005.

Season Ticket Holders whose normal seat is available (i.e. the seat used at F.A. Premier League matches) for this match WILL NOT receive a match ticket. The respective fan cards will be activated for this match and Season Ticket Holders should access the stadium using their fan cards.

Season Ticket Holders who cannot be offered their normal seats WILL receive a match ticket for an alternative seat.

Those customers who are unsure whether their normal seats are available can check for this information on-line or alternatively contact the Customer Services Department for clarification (0844 844 2005).

If your credit or debit card has expired or is about to, or you have had a replacement card (even if one or two numbers have changed) can you please ensure that your details are updated as soon as possible to ensure that you are allocated a seat for this game. Details of updated credit or debit card numbers, expiry/start dates etc can be provided by calling Customer Services - 0844 844 2005 or alternatively can be faxed to 0151 261 1416 for the attention of the ACS Team or put in writing to the ACS Team, LFC Ticket Office, PO Box 204, L69 PQ. Please be advised that we are no longer able to accept Maestro, Switch or Solo cards for recurring debit card payments relating to card schemes.

For further details, please refer to the terms and conditions in your season ticket renewal booklet.t.

Kind Regards,

The Ticket Office

 

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Sooooo cold

Bloody freezing here in the UK. It's crazy...can hardly ever remember it being this cold, snowy & icy