Joe Ashdown

@BHT_Sussex admin, quiz host @brightonwelly, @ManUtd fan. Keen on sport, walking, reading, quizzing, travel, music, comedy & nuance. Less keen on intolerance.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Still, Stephan Shemilt's happy as the scorecard on day 2 without Stokes and the other absentees from the 1st test gives him another opportunity to stick the poison pen in.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Ian Botham criticised Stokes for this? As in THE Ian Botham who once got so drunk the night before a match that he walked out to the crease without his bat? Jeez, Alanis Morissette's irony detector is officially broken beyond repair.

[Test Match Special @bbctms]

Lord Botham criticises Ben Stokes over alleged curfew breach 🗣️

Stokes and Gus Atkinson were ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand following an alleged curfew breach during celebrations after the Lord’s Test.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

I get the impression Botham and Stokes have fallen out somewhere along the line as he used to be a big cheerleader of his, but that no longer seems to be the case.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@curtiswoodhous8 What are we defining as 'major titles'? He won 2 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups and 1 European Cup Winners' Cup (beating Barcelona in the final) as a player. If you are meaning no international titles, then that would disqualify everyone bar 11 English male players.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Amazes how after all these years people still underestimate Croatia at tournament football. They're a proper hardened tournament football team who tend to rise to the occasion and have a mix of experience & younger talent. Just cannot afford to switch off against them.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

It's weird how people seem to get hung up on 'batter' rather than 'batsman', yet people have always said 'fielder' rather than 'fieldsman' and have always said 'bowler' rather than 'bowlerman', so not really sure what the fuss is about.

[jim maxwell @jimmaxcricket]

Calling batsmen ‘batters’ is just plain batty

And how has maiden survived the genderising
Fad? https://t.co/0HiAaQYRwf

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Portugal's biggest problem is shaped in the figure that adorns Madeira international airport.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@primevideosport Well, yes. None of those have been competitive matches though, have they? Friendlies are not always an especially reliable barometer for what will happen in a major tournament. I doubt France are panicking after losing 2-1 to Ivory Coast the other week, for instance.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

https://t.co/mPdel2SGDB : 'Progressive Capitalism'? To paraphrase Richie Benaud when he described Mike Gatting fielding at fine leg, is that not a contradiction in terms?

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@NoleLondon It's child's play compared to what 1 of Castle's colleagues, a certain Mr J P McEnroe, used to get up to in his playing days.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@ChrisRGollop @TimesSport @matthewsyed @BBCSport @Wimbledon @the_LTA @russellcfuller @ChrissieEvert @RobbieGibb @TheBorisBecker @BillieJeanKing I would think Andrew Castle's obsession with celebrities in the crowd rather than focusing on tennis which is what irked Andre Agassi when he did co-comms with him on the Alcaraz-Fritz SF last year will be a factor in this.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Seem to recall that All England Club said last year that the BBC needed to modernise their coverage if they want to retain the rights to Wimbledon long-term, so presumably BBC's Head of Sport see Castle as a barrier to modernising.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

Good. His style of commentary is very much set up to appease the middle England, Daily Mail-reading set who are more interested in celebrity fluff than the tennis, as proven when Andre Agassi got the hump with him when he commentated with him on the Alcaraz-Fritz SF last year.

[Times Sport @TimesSport]

EXCLUSIVE: BBC to drop commentator Andrew Castle after Wimbledon

The former British No1 tennis player reflects on the "best gig in broadcasting" | ✍️ @matthewsyed
https://t.co/Ws8UpuaZsR

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@ChrisDSmyth @TheLyricSlinger @Nick_Metcalfe That will come down to whatever rights issues FIFA agree with individual broadcasters around length of their highlights packages. I believe MOTD can't show highlights on Premier League matches longer than 8 minutes (although some highlights of matches on iPlayer are longer).

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

https://t.co/kmmgs89b3l : Using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut springs to mind. The problem, I suppose, is that global tech companies now have more power than governments of countries, so those governments feel unable to properly regulate their more toxic & nefarious aspects.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

So, theoretically, you could pair San Fran & LA, Houston & Dallas, Boston & New Jersey, Miami & Atlanta, Philly & Toronto, Seattle & Vancouver, Mexico City & Guadalajara. That would just leave Kansas City & Monterrey that would be far apart, but just give them 1 group.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

With all the air miles teams will accumulate during the World Cup, wouldn't the sensible thing have been to pair venues by regions and then allocate them to groups? That's what happened in Italia '90, I seem to recall, e.g. Cagliari & Palermo had the matches in England's group.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

@TheAthleticFC @mjshrimper They broadcast from Television Centre in London during the World Cup in the US in 1994 & then flew Des Lynam & co out for the final in Pasadena. From what I recall, ITV received a lot of flak that year as they broadcast their coverage from Dallas in a studio with no windows.

[Joe Ashdown @Joeash78]

I don't really see this as something that should be regarded as a positive milestone or a cause for celebration. Really, with a lot of problems in the world caused by the poverty gap and monopolisation of resources, it's pretty obscene.

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

Elon Musk becomes world's first trillionaire as SpaceX shares soar on stock market debut https://t.co/VVpcm4UrrW