Piers Morgan In The Firing Line

[johnnya24]

The background: the England cricket team have been playing like rabbits in Australia. They are getting thrashed 4-0 in a 5 game series, after starting as favorites and winning the summer series 3-0. Piers being the mouthy dick he is, went on Twitter to call out the England batters. He called them cowards and boasted that he could do better etc. So he was challenged by Brett Lee (retired Aussie fast bowler) to face an over (6 balls). Incidentally, Brett Lee was one of the fastest bowlers in the world for about 10 years ... he retired in 2008.

This is what happened :



Here's Lee in his prime ... coincidentally, the player he knocks over here (Jaques Kallis) is a legend who has just got a hundred in his final game this very morning.

[Fresno Bob]

Does no one hit it straight up the middle back to the pitcher, how come he doesn't have any protective gear?

[johnnya24]

The fuck did I just watch? So you just drill the batter over and over? Uh, way to go or something.

I suppose it must seem a bit weird to see the bowlers targeting the batters. It's a legitimate tactic to bowl short and hit the body ... but it's only a tactic that can be employed on fast pitches (and by fast bowlers). If the pitch is slow, it's easy pickings for the batsmen. Morgan kept running away from the ball, then ducking into it. You need to move inside the ball, and then either get out of the way, or playing a cross-bat shot.

Rickey Ponting was the best player I ever seen playing the short ball ...

[johnnya24]

Does no one hit it straight up the middle back to the pitcher, how come he doesn't have any protective gear?

It's very hard to hit the short bouncing ball back up the middle. The batsmen try to move inside the line of the ball, so their natural momentum means they will be hitting across the line. It's dangerous to try and hit the short ball down the ground ... the ball will often just go straight up in the air (see clip above). If the ball is short on the other side, then the batsmen look to play the cut shot (that is normally bad bowling).

The ball is hit down the middle when it's pitched up, or over the top when the slow bowlers come on.

Sachin Tendulkar was the master of the straight drive (aka "on drive") ... it's technically the hardest shot to play because it requires perfect balance and timing, but he makes it look so easy:

[gungy 2]

Slow news day as who actually gives a flying flip about cricket.
Major props to Morgan for facing off with that a**hole -
" Bring it On" ? LOL.
I would guess the loud mouthed Aussie prique never believed Morgan would accept the challenge - well played Morgan.

also - who the flip is Piers Morgan?

[johnnya24]

Slow news day as who actually gives a flying flip about cricket.
Major props to Morgan for facing off with that a**hole -
" Bring it On" ? LOL.
I would guess the loud mouthed Aussie prique never believed Morgan would accept the challenge - well played Morgan.

also - who the flip is Piers Morgan?

In ordinary circumstances it would have been an a-hole move to fire 5 short balls at him. But Brett Lee would have looked like a dick if he let Morgan tagged him back over his head. So Morgan made his own bed there.

[gungy 2]

In ordinary circumstances it would have been an a-hole move to fire 5 short balls at him. But Brett Lee would have looked like a dick if he let Morgan tagged him back over his head. So Morgan made his own bed there.

Very unlikely Morgan would have laid wood on ball -
Lee's ego and complete lack of sportsmanship provided Morgan a stage; Morgan leveraged the whole thing to his benefit and looked good doing it as Lee turned the opportunity into a flat out assault.
LMAO - retired cricket player assaults paparazzi journalist - Do Da, Do Da, snore, snore.

[revo]

Where was the guy who screams "goooooooooooooooaaaallllllll" ?

[fuhrdog]

The fuck did I just watch? So you just drill the batter over and over? Uh, way to go or something.

No kidding...I'd rather watch paint dry.

[johnnya24]

Where was the guy who screams "goooooooooooooooaaaallllllll" ?

In cricket that'd be "BOWLED HIM!!"

[johnnya24]

No kidding...I'd rather watch paint dry.

Definitely a sport you need to grow up with. Same with baseball. Very hard to get neutrals interested because of the apparent slow pace.

But can anything beat Curling for weird and strangely intriguing alien sports? It's got all the boxes ticked.

[x] Rocks
[x] Brushes
[x] Incomprehensible Yelping

[Don Quixote]

In ordinary circumstances it would have been an a-hole move to fire 5 short balls at him. But Brett Lee would have looked like a dick if he let Morgan tagged him back over his head. So Morgan made his own bed there.

Exactly. You mess with the bull, you get the horns. Morgan, being much more familiar with the bull's other end, got what he had coming. He's no different from most sports talk hosts and callers. Now he'll be whining because Lee exploited his obvious weakness, that he didn't just throw soft lobs down the middle.

[Judge Jude]

curling is mostly just shuffleboard on ice, not that complicated

I enjoy the people who keep brushing furiously after the toss, though

[chancellor]

Dang, that was sweet. If there's a more self-righteous prig in the English-speaking world, I don't know who he or she is.

[Pogues]

Definitely a sport you need to grow up with. Same with baseball. Very hard to get neutrals interested because of the apparent slow pace.

But can anything beat Curling for weird and strangely intriguing alien sports? It's got all the boxes ticked.

[x] Rocks
[x] Brushes
[x] Incomprehensible Yelping

I love curling. One of the top 3 reasons I watch the Winter Olympics.