11 Comments
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Ghalieb's avatar

Hi Manners, I think its a little bit unfair to blame Shuks for Mulder not carrying on and breaking Lara's test record. Mulder himself said in the interview with Polly the next day that if he had another chance, "he would do it again". Lets applaud the growth of this test team under Shuks, and the emergence of a golden era in test allrounders.

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Neil Manthorp's avatar

Hi Ghalieb, I wasn't 'blaming' Shukri for anything. There is no 'blame' to be attached. I was just pointing out that the declaration was his initiative, not Mulder's. And what is said 24 hours after a huge event (by all of us) is naturally modified and refined. You may have seen that Lara's view is that he "should have gone for it. Records are there to be broken..." :)

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Ripley's avatar

Poor Mulder. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Next time I think he'll be more circumspect in his answers, because how dare he express a personal opinion! I hope he just blocks out the noise and carries on building that amazing form. Same for the team. . Just let bat and ball do the talking, guys, to shut up the ass hats trying to bring you down. We also know that if he had done it, he'd be getting it in the neck because it's 'only Zimbabwe' from the same a-holes reaming him for not doing it. 🙄.

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Neil Manthorp's avatar

Hell Rippers, there is definitely an element of that. But, just as Hayden was initially belittled for clubbing Zimbabwe for 380, people quickly accepted that it was, nonetheless, the world record. By the way, did you know that Gary Sobers' 365 was smashed against an exhausted two-man Pakistan bowling 'attack'?

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Ripley's avatar

Thank you so much for the reply. I'm looking at a vid about that match right now and not a helmet in sight. Not even the wicketkeeper! SM just makes it easier for people to express themselves, good, bad or ugly. Pity it's mainly ugly and nasty though. Hope you're having a good week. Thanks again.

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Aditya Roy's avatar

Hey Manners,

Don't you think, the Captain should call tha shots in these sort of a situation rather than a coach. Doesn't this undermine the captain the eyes of players ?

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Neil Manthorp's avatar

Hi Aditya, that is my personal opinion. Ideally, a captain should have the final decision on what happens on the field rather than carry out the instructions of the coach. But I guess, in this case, it was Mulder's first game as captain.

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Barry's avatar

Sukri knew it was not the thing to do Lawrence Booth bla bla… Zim is ICC member in name only Sydney B grade has better bowlers…!!

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Ahmad Malik's avatar

He was well in his right to go for it but I don’t know man, that record by Brian Lara is the crown jewel of test cricket. In an ideal world, I would like that to hold forever.

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Neil Manthorp's avatar

But records are there to be broken, no? That's what athletes do - strive to be the best...?

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Neil Manthorp's avatar

I'm not sure any records should be sacrosanct. You saw what Lara's opinion was, did you? That Mulder "should have gone for it" and that "records are there to be broken."

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