I was just saying that cricket has not always been played in accordance with the spirit, that people disagree as to what the spirit requires, and that many people think its better to go for the doctor and win than play in the spirit and lose.

Can't argue with that…

I got up for the middle overs in which Vettori exacted precisely the kind of revenge I'm only capable of dreaming about! What a brilliant spell of bowling (mostly) ably backed up by his field.

I was thinking about this last night while listening to the game, and I wonder how much of that annoyance stemmed from the rain-affected one-dayer, when England's habitual slow over rate took another victory away from NZ.

Yeah. If Gillespie hadn't gotten those last two runs, NZ could have claimed…

I don't want to second guess Vettori, or suggest that he wasn't justified in being angry. Declining to shake hands at the end of the game certainly suggested that he was rather annoyed by Collingwood's decision.

I was thinking about this last night while listening to the game, and I…

I also don't understand the Vettori-bashing.

I don't want to second guess Vettori, or suggest that he wasn't justified in being angry. Declining to shake hands at the end of the game certainly suggested that he was rather annoyed by Collingwood's decision. I'm glad that captains were able to eventually…

Sidebottom may not have been as near to the ball as the batsman (who was practically standing on it), but he was one of the best placed to move to the ball.

Actually having seen it again on the sports new last night, I don't have a problem with what…

This is not dissimilar to the…

Isn't that what we want in our sports captains? Some passion for the game and their team. I would've been more concerned if he had just sat back and sulked or just shrugged it off.

Maybe all his f-bombs fired up the team to…

The unique character of cricket in this respect is demonstrated by the fact that a captain can call back a player who has been adjudged out. Is there another international sport that provides for this kind of thing?

In American football you are asked if you want to accept or…

There are perfectly good reasons to stipulate over-rates, some of them relevant off the field. Paying crowds have a right to see a decent amount of cricket played, and the broadcasters who put so much money into the game need it to run roughly to schedule.

I understand the…

W G Grace "They came to see me bat, not to see you umpire"

I heard a rather different version of that story, with the following elements:
A Yorkshire charity match, at which Grace had attracted a record crowd;
Grace caught out of his crease and stumped in his first…

OTOH, best thing about Geoff Boycott is that he inspired a dressing room mutiny on an NZ tour, with his team sending Ian Botham out with instructions to deliberately run him out. While Boycott was captain. Now *that* is the spirit of cricket.

Indeed.

But it’s when he tries to be funny, like the repetitive Parnell “jokes” that I change to Rhema or something.

And the incessant “PC Brigade / rope sandal wearers / tree-hugger comments are inane beyond belief.…

Let's just move on. In comparrision to the underam, this is about as interesting as Dennis Conner walking out on…

But this looked to me like Sidebottom running where he shouldn't have been, and not watching the batsman, who surely had right of way given that the ball was no where near the bowler.

I understand the general rule to be that the batsman does not have right of way…

Except Boycott’s funnier than that.

In NZ he'd be an MP, or mayor of some hick town.

Like Wanganui perhaps?

Still, he's only a cricket commentator. In NZ he'd be an…

Echoes of W G Grace "They came to see me bat, not to see you umpire".

Professional cricket has less and less room for the notion of "the spirit of the game". If there were any spirit in the game then people would be motivated by it. Instead the only motivation left is what can be gained for oneself. The spirit of the game is…

I'm wondering WWTAD?

As noted earlier, even Brett Lee, one of the most competitive players in the Australian cricket team, has shown more sportsmanship that Collingwood did (but I still think Collingwood did the right thing later which is relevant).

But, I still think we should avoid overplaying the victim's…

From reading a bit on the Guardian blogs over the last 24 hours, one of the main reasons English are condemning Collingwood is that they perceive themselves as the Moral Guardians of the Spirit of the Game. They’ve obviously got over Bodyline.

As for the Styris sun-out; are…

In that instance if there was a collision, I could understand the batsman ending up out.

Make it no contact where the ball is not involved, then? In reality, probably too much effort to sort out something which just doesn't happen all that often.

I have to say I thought…

Greg Chappell – I trust this guy as far as I can throw him off a tall, tall building, so yes
Kim Hughes – No
Allan Border – No
Mark Taylor – No
Steve Waugh -…

There was more than…

Yes and no. Most of the game’s dramas, like that Indian – Aus soap opera from earlier in the year, are all about the spirit of the game.

What spirit was upheld there? All I saw were more rules against things we can say on the pitch. We aren't allowed…

Please. If players didn't cynically knobble their bowling rates to cripple the opposition, there would be no need for formal regulation of over rates. You're confusing cause and effect.

I understand why they introduced the rules regarding over rates, but it will always be impossible to legislate against the inner…

My fiance doesn't even like sport and he was still trying to find a clip which he could slow down to see what Vettori was really saying.

I think it's pretty clear at full speed. Slowed down it would be "FFFFFAAAAARRRRKKKKYYYWWUUUU" :)

all this talk of relative ball motion and refs just makes one wonder what happens when they all start moving close to the speed of light .....

Wait a minute...if they are traveling at or close to the speed of light and then they throw it forward then the ball…

Where NZ lost the moral high ground, however, was in the embarrassingly petulant display on the balcony.

It might not have been on the moral high ground, but I don't think you can fault them for reacting in the heat of the moment. And it did have high amusement value.…

With each new penalty for over rates or behaviour or something equally ridiculous the freedom of expression that any sport thrives on is being turned into another set of rules by which we must conduct ourselves.

Please. If players didn't cynically knobble their bowling rates to cripple the opposition, there…

Emma; first of all Sidebottom did nothing wrong; it was an accident.

I saw some suggestion, early in the day before I'd seen film of the incident that either a)Sidebottom had deliberately got in Elliot's way, or b) once he'd hit him, he held onto him for a couple of…

The Murali incident…

Richardson was referring to an incident in 2006 when, in a test match against Sri Lanka, Brendon McCullum ran out Muttiah Muralitharan while he was walking down the pitch to celebrate Kumar Sangakkara scoring a century.

I was glad someone mentioned that, because that seemed to me to be worse…

So when English captain Paul Collingwood did not withdraw the appeal the New Zealand camp was furious.

And thanks to Mark Richardson for reminding us that we're not only sinned against...

Richardson was referring to an incident in 2006 when, in a test match against Sri Lanka, Brendon McCullum ran out…

all this talk of relative ball motion and refs just makes one wonder what happens when they all start moving close to the speed of light .....

As player speed reaches c (the speed of light) everyone will look like they are playing for Wales/Tonga or France/Samoa (due to red/blueshift)…

This training video found by Sideline Mike encourages referees in Australia to ignore the official idea of the rule and instead go with their relative observation.

Yeah, I've seen that too. Didn't know it wasn't consistent with the rules but... what a surprise!

But yeah, the relativity argument about forward passes will never die.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkCI5YNl7mc

Watch also for nasty Lawrence Dillaglio kneeing Lomu well after he touched down.