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That's the issue. Competition is supposed to give a better deal to the consumer, instead it made everything more expensive. To watch everything I want to watch, I need 4 different subscriptions (and I don't watch football outside Scotland). It is a 3 figure monthly number and far too expensive. Not hard to see why illegal streams have taken off.

Looking forward to this tonight. Love day 5 of a test match when all results are possible.

India definitely come away with a lot of credit, been dogged. Although questions need asked why so many muscular injuries on a tour?

Brees just gave them an absolute gift.

Buccs struggling offensively against this Saints defence

Horrible news, really hope that it isn't serious / cancer Well done to the Pacers medical staff for picking it up and hopefully it means that they can treat whatever it is and have him back healthy ASAP You dread to think if he hadn't been traded, what could have happened as I don't think players are routinely put through MRIs on annual basis as part of their pre-season checks

Poor end to England's innings, losing the last 5 wickets for only 50 runs Still think this is 80/20 in England's favour, at least

Extraordinary to think Sri Lanka have a potential road to victory in this.

Lovely ball from Leach to take that late wicket. Sri Lanka need Thirimanne to convert to a century and a Thirimanne-like innings from at least one other player to at least try and make a game of this. England having to bat even chasing 150 on the final day on a worn, spinning wicket, we've all seen that kind of story on the sub continent. First 2 sessions of Day 4 absolutely crucial for both teams

Yeah, I think that's spot on. Lots of corruption and missing funds. The Lanka Premier League was a bit of a shambles, the draft was mental and the officials literally never knew the correct rules / draft restrictions etc because they were only ratified on the day of the draft for it. The ownership of the teams is also unclear, they never bothered to perform proper due diligence from bids for teams. The Government also then gets involved, which goes against ICC rules but there's always a power struggle in the sub continent. I think Murali came out a few years ago and absolutely slated them I remember years ago Haroon Lorgat was hired to perform an independent review and he made loads of recommendations, most of which have still not been implemented now and it has been at least 5+ years, I can't remember exactly when the review was done It's very, very similar to Pakistan, except in Pakistan there is a clearer reason for it and that's the bizarre rivalry between Karachi/Lahore and the constant power struggle. Pakistani cricket is also slightly better off financially purely driven by the size of the country and the population with cricket being the number 1 sport.

I worked with a Tamil Indian and Sri Lankan who knew a load about cricket (indeed the Indian guy had top domestic level experience and is still at 40 odd playing in the UAE domestic league). Both were so critical of the politics and administration of Sri Lankan cricket, which both said developmentally varied between being incompetant and mental. The biggest holding the country back.

It's a very young Sri Lankan team and I don't think the level of talent coming through right now is very good there but I have always said I'd rather lose with youth than continue with older players who have consistently failed, which seems to be the Pakistan approach

Slightly annoyed at how ridiculously bad Sri Lanka were yesterday having spoiled the test match. England showing today that wicket isn't particularly hard to score off (as yet) and barring a monumental fuck up - which tbf..... its England - have breezed this.

Yes, which is why they took a big step forward (with a controversial chemical castration policy for convicts) with their anti-rape laws in December: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/16/pakistan-law-comes-into-effect-amid-outcry-over-victim-blaming-by-police As with every single law in Pakistan though, the enforcement is entirely down to the police. Pre-marital sex for example is illegal in Pakistan under the Islamisation laws introduced by Zia-Ul-Haq in '79. The punishment can range from a fine to getting publicly whipped to being sentenced to death. The only time these cases are ever exposed or come to light is when the couples who get caught refuse to bribe the police to turn a blind eye, usually.

@McEwan's Lager I saw earlier today that the woman accusing Babar Azam of sexual assault retracted her accusation and issued an apology. Obviously, unsure if she was paid off or was actually lying

Is this aimed at me ?

I read that KD, Harden and Kyrie are 3 of the top 10 ball usage players in the entire league so how they will fit together is totally unclear. One of them will have to defer and accept a lessened role. There's no way that's going to be Kyrie and if you were coach, would you want KD to take a lesser role? No chance. Very interesting times ahead Serious question marks around whether Kyrie plays again this year (or ever). He clearly has significant mental health issues. He will get hammered by the NBA for breaking the COVID bubble too but the fact he hasn't even spoken to the Nets GM or Steve Nash about when he will be back speaks volumes about the level of respect he has for the organisation IMO I went in December 2019 for my 30th, Nets v Nuggets at the Barclays Centre. Was a great game and brilliant to see guys like Allen and even Dinwiddie in person for the Nets and Jokic/Murray for the Nuggets. I want to try and get over to Staples for the first game fans are allowed in, if possible. Tickets will be like gold dust but what an occasion that will be to see number 17 lifted into the rafters

If a pretty average test level spinner like Dom Bess is taking a 5fer off you on day 1 of a test match - and taking a 5fer without even playing particularly well, then..... you have to say that it hasn't been a good day with the bat. 4 or 5 of those dismissals today were gift wrapped and given to England. Really poor batting and unlike England, Sri Lanka should be test sharp! England will steam roll them in this series.

Sri Lanka are not a good test side.

Oh shit, now that's interesting The Pacers are going to be a real problem this year

I wonder if they will be as heavily criticised as the Lakers were for trying to build a "super team" ? The Nets have given up a LOT for James Harden there but offensively, they will be ridiculously good. Defensively...lol Their only centres are 32 year old Deandre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton, a 21 year old 2nd round draft pick. Would imagine they'll be seeking someone on the buy-out market later in the season as you can get away with that in the regular season but not the play-offs...and if they are heavily relying on Jordan he has a history of recent injury issues

That was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking good from LeBron Also they can't trade Joe Harris until March I think, he re-signed with them just before the season started in December and there's a 3 month no-trade restriction If Kyrie keeps acting the cunt, I could see the Nets cut their losses with the guy and ship him off as part of the trade

Not sure the Aussies bowled that badly, once the bounce went off the new ball the pitch really wasn't offering much. It was slow, flat, ball wasn't swinging, etc. Commentary said with Covid it was the first it had been played on for almost a year, which maybe was a contributing factor to the pitch not breaking up as you'd expect. India could have won that match if Vihari didn't do his hammy and couldn't run.... and I wasn't expecting the pitch to even allow that to be a possibility, regardless of how well they played.

Passed out asleep earlier after a few beers watching out game - so definitely up to 4.30am now. Test match is shaping up - could all collapse very quickly and still a lot of batting to survive - but love day 5 of a test when the result isn't totally certain. Aussies still 80% likely to win, but it's getting interesting.