chrisobee

Well I guess that's as good a reason as any for one of the more baffling selections in Test match history !

Another ex-Saints player who is a Manager in Martin Foyle, wonder why no one backed him for the Saints job !

Trott is I believe only about 6 months younger and Pothas has a 1st class average this season better than all of them. Does not mean I would select him though.

Possibly Shah, the others ? Nope.

Yes, my thoughts exactly, I wish there were 5 better options but quite simply there aren't !

Best of luck !!

My Goodwood tips: 2.10 Sweet Lightning 2.45 Urban Poet - though I think Harbinger is a worthy favourite. 3.25 Main Aim- though too short for me 4.00 Archers Road e/w The Channon connection so a sporting bet ! 4.35 Waldgovel- but a minefield of a race in my book 5.10 No idea but Sohcahtoa looks value at 25/1- 26/1 on BF 5.45 Too many newcomers but If you want to bet, note that all bar one of the winners in the last decade started at 4/1 or shorter. The exception was a 50/1 boilover. Given they’re likely to bet circa 4/1 the field, I’d not be looking beyond the co-protagonists

This is interesting, maybe Onions and Harmy should both play ! http://www.cricinfo.com/engvaus2009/content/current/story/416537.html

Who :smt102

In that case thank heavens for that !

Not sure I agree, I certainly don't get the point. Sky do cover all the main PDC events and show every game of every player. It just so happens that Taylor is involved in more games than anyone as he keeps winning ! I agree to a point that Sid Waddell is a bit OTT at times but in his book a Taylor 100 is usually classed as poor so that comment is just plain wrong.

Actually he does get a mention on that link, the "not" being a typo. Which is what you would expect anyway since Darts is patently a sport as per post 23 but in any event to call it anything else is just playing with words.

Which is really one of the main points. I don't particularly like golf for instance but can still appreciate the brilliance of Tiger Woods.

Blimey, Phil Taylor does not get a mention on the BBC website !! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/darts/8169426.stm

Well it is partly a confidence issue and I'm sure he will recapture his form but it's not likely to be this summer.He will be left out on Thursday I'm sure but if he plays then that's good news for us!

Yes, which is a disgrace. He demolished the field in the World Matchplay last week but is still not satisfied and is heading straight back to the practice board. He's won an incredible 130+ (including 75 major tournaments) professional tournaments, no one else comes close. These are the highest 3 dart averages in TV history: 116.01 Phil Taylor 8-3 John Part, PL 2009 115.62 Phil Taylor 10-0 Mark Lawrence,UK Open 115.51 Phil Taylor 9-3 Ken Mather, UK Open 2009 114.54 Phil Taylor 9-3 Wes Newton, UK Open 2008 114.15 Darryl Fitton 6-0 Davy Richardson, IDL 2004 113.92 Phil Taylor 9-3 Mervyn King, EDC 2008 113.43 Phil Taylor 8-0 Gary Mawson, Matchplay 1997 113.33 Phil Taylor 11-7 Robert Thornton, EDC 2008 112.68 Phil Taylor 11-1 Adrian Lewis, PL 2008 112.56 Chris Mason 11-8 Adrian Lewis, UK Open 2005 112.17 Phil Taylor 16-7 Chris Mason, World Matchplay 111.74 Phil Taylor 8-3 John Part, PL 2008 111.35 Phil Taylor 3-0 Dennis Priestley, US Open 2008 111.21 Phil Taylor 6-1 Shayne Burgess, PDC WC 2002 111.14 Phil Taylor 8-3 Raymond van Barneveld, PL 2008 111.03 James Wade 5-3 Denis Ovens, GSOD 2008 110.94 Phil Taylor 7-1 Raymond van Barneveld, PDC WC 2009

Indeed I needed to leave out KP and Johnson ( even if he plays which is unlikely) and have brought in Flintoff and Clark who surely must play. I still have 2 changes if anything happens between now and Thursday.

Yes, I'm amazed that Stuart Clark was not picked for the 1st 2 tests, strange decision especially as he has experience in English conditions. It is North the Aussies are considering dropping it seems with Watson or McDonald coming in though there is talk both could play and Hauritz left out as well. Seems to me they are in disarray ! I was a fan of Bell but too many poor test innings have left me feeling rather uneasy at his selection though I'd gladly be proved wrong and he scored a big ton! He does indeed deserve a place as much as Bopara though to me that just underlines how thin on the ground we are with our batting options unless we go with an untried player like Denly or Carberry.

24 hours TBH !

Well as I said elsewhere many are just playing with semantics and many are wrong since any dictionary I know of will define sport along these lines: 1 a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. b. A particular form of this activity. 2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. 3. An active pastime; recreation

You consider you have the monopoly on discussing this topic, how absurd.

Kayaking is very much a sport, not sure how it can be classified otherwise unless you are going to discount pretty much all motor sports for example and even rowing if you really want to get involved in semantics. In terms of Fox's event the Slalom he won 5 world titles and is rightly considered the world’s greatest of all-time in that event. Unfortunately his event was not on the Olympic calendar at the time he was at his peak but the Olympics are not the be all and end all of sport especially in the current era when you have the likes of professional tennis players competing.

Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn. Competed in 12 events over 3 Olympics 1920-28, 9 golds and 3 silvers. Was then banned from competing in 1932 as he was considered a "professional" , the main instigators of this being Sweden who claimed he received "too much in travelling expenses" for just one meeting in Germany. Considered by many to be the greatest Track & Field athlete of all time.

I've always been equally passionate about both. Used to love the Saturdays where I could watch Hants at the County Ground until about 2.45, stroll to the Dell for the Saints match and then back for the final session at the cricket. Not so easy nowadays !

The above refers though for future reference trying to get through the thick skull of that dullard Stevo is an exercise in futility