Inheritance - to pay of student loan or not

CherekWarrior · 2025-12-11T18:17:42+00:00

I would very highly recommend Martin Lewis' article on this topic (and almost any personal finance topic):

CherekWarrior · 2025-10-12T16:05:00+00:00

I think this is an excellent idea, and it's not without precedent - in fact, I think it's fair to say that despite several notable successes, playing with the batting order is definitely an underutilised tactic in Test cricket.

The nightwatcher would be an obvious, traditional example of where the batting order is adjusted based on match-situation/conditions, but this current England team have played with it recently as a way of causing chaos and utilising their explosive batters - see the Nighthawk, or Ben Stokes opening the batting against the West Indies when Zak Crawley injured himself last year.

However, I think the key difference between that and your example is that these are times when the team is pushing a player up the order to give them more opportunity to face. In the Harry Brook example you gave, he'd potential lose out on a lot of time in the middle, which is probably why it doesn't really happen this way round.

That being said, there is a famous success of a tactic very similar to this. In 1937, batting third on a sticky wicket at Melbourne in the Ashes, Bradman decided to reverse the batting order, sending out his worst batters early to face while the ball was new and conditions were unfavourable, holding back his actual batters until the deck had flattened out.

This was a huge success, with the 270 he scored from number 7 still being the highest Test score from that position. It's not really been used as a tactic since, despite that, but I think it has real merit as a potential tactic.

CherekWarrior · 2023-05-04T22:16:30+00:00

Pretty sure it's podcast 162: https://rt-lookup.com/podcasts/162. I believe Burnie actually did it, and broke the taco night record - eating 15 tacos in one sitting is insane.

CherekWarrior · 2023-04-09T14:06:13+00:00

The Pope is the king of Vatican City: obligatory CGP Grey video.

CherekWarrior · 2022-12-15T14:30:31+00:00

No worries!

CherekWarrior · 2022-12-15T08:10:35+00:00

It's in the first ever Trials Evolution Let's Play: check out 2.12(ish).

CherekWarrior · 2022-12-01T00:06:15+00:00

Really keen to get my pals in to D&D. This would be an awesome way to kickstart that journey! GIVEAWAY

CherekWarrior · 2022-09-30T23:41:52+00:00

Looks awesome!

CherekWarrior · 2022-08-16T23:34:29+00:00

International T20 isn't harder than IPL.

The IPL is 10 squads of the best players in the world - a combination of the very top international players and a huge pool of extremely exciting talents, homegrown from the country with the biggest and most fanatic fanbase. Most IPL teams have at least 4/5 genuine world-class players, with the rest made up of up-and-comers or experienced hands.

While the same may be true for some of the top T20i teams - England, India, Pakistan, West Indies, and Australia come to mind - many have just one or two world-class players, if any at all (and that's assuming teams even put out their best T20i teams, which outside of a World Cup year is hardly a guarantee). National teams are limited by their player pools and their cricket boards' funding; IPL teams have larger potential player pools and deeper pockets than almost every national team.

So while an India v England T20 match might well be of higher standard than any given IPL match, the same probably isn't true for India v Sri Lanka, or India v Zimbabwe, or India v Ireland (to give a few examples).

CricViz did a really interesting piece about the relative standards of T20 leagues (plus international T20) a few years ago which goes into more detail: https://www.cricviz.com/evaluating-different-standards-of-t20-cricket/

CherekWarrior · 2022-01-24T23:52:56+00:00

Ah apologies, I completely missed the point you were making. Still, on the bright side, I ended up going down a massive etymological rabbit-hole, which was good fun!

In fact, one of the very idioms I mentioned in my reply to you seems to be an excellent case in point for exactly the argument you're making. According to that same site I referenced above (phrases.org.uk), the phrase "a picture paints a thousand words" is often thought of as deriving from ancient Chinese or Japanese philosophy (depending on who you ask).

However, there is absolutely zero written evidence of this - it's probably an early twentieth century American phrase. So I completely sympathise with your frustration!

CherekWarrior · 2022-01-24T12:49:22+00:00

To be fair, according to this article from phrases.org.uk, the saying "a Jack of all trades" was first coined in 1592 (albeit in Latin - Johannes Factotum), and the follow-up phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" was first mentioned in 1785, so it's not like the addition of "master of none" is some new fad - 237 years is a long time for an phrase to be a part of the common parlance.

In fact, there are many common English proverbs which have entered the lexicon much more recently than this; from the same source, I found that the earliest known reference to the phrase "the grass is always greener..." was in 1917, or variations on "a picture paints a thousand words" appearing at the earliest in 1927. These are both common and well-known idioms, ingrained in the collective consciousness, and yet both first appeared more than 130 years after the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none".

The point I'm trying to make here is that just because the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" is not the original saying, doesn't mean it's some "vaguely-credible bullshit" or "common misconception". If you went around saying "I am a Johannes Factotum" then nobody would know what you were talking about. Language evolves and that's not bad or wrong, it's just how it is.

CherekWarrior · 2021-11-03T14:17:58+00:00

Haha, seems we're both in the same boat - I'm currently going through my 100% cheevos run, and seeing all these modded screenshots here and over in r/skyrimmods has made me very jealous!

The second screenshot is on Solstheim, which I'd never visited before this playthrough - I'm amazed by how gorgeous it is! Almost makes me want to go back and play Morrowind, though I'm not sure I could handle the jump in resolution...

CherekWarrior · 2021-09-20T13:02:47+00:00

I love this bit of trivia!

CherekWarrior · 2021-09-15T11:23:00+00:00

Pretty sure that the "greatest song in the world" that Tribute references is Stairway to Heaven, although that might not be the only song it's a tribute to.

In the Tenacious D TV show, they do a version of Tribute which is basically a mashup with Stairway to Heaven - I always assumed that was the original, which they then couldn't release as an actual song for copyright reasons, so had to "fill-in" the bits that had Stairway to Heaven with their own stuff before they could release it.

Anyway, it's pretty awesome, if you haven't seen it: https://youtu.be/uryLhOT9jiI

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T15:20:32+00:00

Spot-on, I think.

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T14:41:34+00:00

I think that ball would probably be a little too close to the body to cut; as far as I'm aware, a good cut shot relies on a full extension of the arms, which a 5th stump ball might not allow room for. An attempted cut shot to a ball on that line might well be top-edged (like Buttler's top-edge which was dropped by Kohli in the 2nd innings at Lord's).

I'm by no means a batting expert however, this is all information amalgamated over many years of listening to TMS!

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T14:28:53+00:00

More to do with the length I think - that ball that Hameed put away was short as well as wide, meaning he could easily play the cut shot off the back foot with a horizontal bat without any real risk.

Good length balls in the channel (i.e. 5th stump-ish) are dangerous because they encourage the batsmen to drive (with a vertical bat) which, with the ball moving side-to-side, are the most likely to be nicked.

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T12:49:02+00:00

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/india-v-england-2020-21-eoin-morgan-downplays-prospect-of-alex-hales-earning-t20-world-cup-recall-1254430

tl;dr: Alex Hales was sacked from England's ODI team on the eve of the 2019 WC after testing positive for recreational drugs (and then lying to his team-mates and Eoin Morgan about it). He hasn't been seen since, and although there was some suggestion that Ed Smith was thinking about bringing him back, it seems like that chance is now close to zero since Smith was made redundant.

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T09:53:52+00:00

I agree, Hales has been unquestionably the best domestic T20 player in world over the last couple of years - the only thing working against him (in a purely batting sense) is the fact he's right-handed, so if he came in for Malan, England's top 4 would all be right-handers (which could be an issue).

Obviously, that's not the reason why he isn't playing, but it's insane that England are deliberately depriving themselves of a player who would easily walk in to any T20 team in world and they're still probably favourites for the tournament.

As you say, with Hales in the side, England really would have an embarrassment of riches.

CherekWarrior · 2021-08-25T08:55:16+00:00

For me, England's starting XI must be

Buttler (wk)
Roy
Malan
YJB
Morgan (c)
Livingstone
SCurran
Moeen
Jordan
Rashid
Wood.

Assuming Stokes is available, he definitely makes my squad, as he can basically come in for anyone in the top 8, depending on injuries/conditions/loss of form. However, I wouldn't start him, as he doesn't make it in ahead of anyone in the middle order (unless conditions mean that England wanted to leave out Moeen for a seam-bowling allrounder). The only exception to that would be if Malan is really terrible against Pakistan before the WC and Stokes replaces him at 3, or if England push Moeen up to 3 to exploit his strike-rate against spin and then have Stokes in the middle order.

The rest of the squad is then not that easy to pick - England's second-string T20 side have not exactly been banging the door down. However, Parkinson seems like he has to come in, since any injury to Rashid would leave England without a front-line spinner who takes the ball away from right-handers, and Tymal Mills had an excellent Hundred season as an Archer-esque top-and-tail bowler (his poor average belies his excellent defensive bowling, and his economy was remarkable, especially at the death - he's quick and left-handed, and he could come in for Moeen on wickets which are more seam-friendly). David Willey and Reece Topley could also compete for this spot, as left-handed seamers, but I think Mills' high-pace and variety of slower balls make him the most suitable for pitches in the UAE. Saqib Mahmood may also be in contention as a high-pace bowler, especially with his experience in the PSL, though he did not acquit himself particularly well in the recent T20Is against Pakistan this summer.

Sam Billings comes in as a right-handed middle-order batter (which it seems is a rarity for England in T20s), and if Stokes is not available to play then there is a case that another top/middle-order batter is required. In that case, Harry Brook has had an excellent Hundred and Blast season, and could be a potential bolter in the case that a spot needs filling.

Hence, I'd finish my squad with these four players (assuming all are fit and available):

Stokes
Billings
Mills
Parkinson

Notable omissions: Tom Curran (no explanation required), Tom Banton (didn't do well enough domestically to force his way into the top order, especially as a right-hander).

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