Posted by If you report on player transfers before they’ve been confirmed, you’re starting out on a slippery slope. Next thing you know, you’ve got a section of your website called ‘transfer gossip’ which wastes people’s time telling them about things which won’t happen.
We’re not sure exactly where we’re up to with Jos Buttler’s move to Lancashire. They’ve been talking about it for weeks. We thought it had been confirmed yesterday, but then the article in question began: “Lancashire will confirm on Monday…”
Confirmation that there will be confirmation. Is that n0t confirmation in itself? Probably not. Confirmation isn’t what it used to be.
The most important development is that in writing the title for this post, we seem to have settled on calling the man at the centre of things ‘The Buttler’.
Just confirmed on Talksport.
Goodbye Gareth Cross?
He’d already gone. He wasn’t offered a new contract.
Cricinfo journalist on Twitter: “Buttler? Inevitable months ago.”
Bloody know-all journalists. They can’t just report the facts, can they? They always have to make it clear they know more than the rest of us.
Maybe he just meant it was inevitable that Buttler would have to move, but it does come across as being a bit jaded and sniffy, like it’s not even worth reporting the news.
“Good evening, welcome to the news. Tonight – Syria? Inevitable years ago.”
Everything in life is inevitable, Sam, following a pre-ordained plan. The journalist was just emphasising this point. Possibly he’d read about this transfer in Nostradamus’s work and inferred its inevitability from that:
From the place of headache-y apple juice will come the servantt
Master of the willow sword and keeper of the three-poled gate
To the old place of the rose where the great red boxes have recently arisen
And he shall literally feast on the flesh of a thousand sacrificed virgins
Interesting details of his salary agreement there as well.
“With hindsight, it was inevitable” – a pretty meaningless thing that people sometimes say.
If we’re going to start on pretty meaningless things that people sometimes say, this could be one of the longer comment threads. You could write a book just using quotes from Sky Sports. In fact, you could probably fill it just with Nick Knight.
“And will that reach the boundary?….Yep, will be four.”
There’s something particularly wrong-headed about determining inevitability after the fact though.
I knew you were going to say that.
Your mom’s inevitable.
I see Ben Stokes has been given the kiss of death accolade this year.
Playfair front cover?
I heard a rumour that Somerset wanted Eckersley to replace Buttler.
The reason Buttler’s departure was “inevitable” was Kieswetter’s place as Somerset’s number one keeper.
Eckersley was the backup keeper to O’Brien most of the season.
He’s sticking around one more year though, apparently.
http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/eckersley-staying-foxes-neck-woods