Cricket- the sport not the insect

[El Imbatido]

As an Englishman, I'm rather amused to see how poor the two sides supposedly chasing us have been this week.

To be fair i think Cricket Australia (CA) has finally put the word out to the curators that Aus can no longer bat other teams out of a match on a pan flat wicket then have a McGrath or Warne type bowler get them the victory.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

To be fair i think Cricket Australia (CA) has finally put the word out to the curators that Aus can no longer bat other teams out of a match on a pan flat wicket then have a McGrath or Warne type bowler get them the victory.

Australia are not one of the two teams chasing.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Australia are not one of the two teams chasing.

haha ouchh!!!

 

[Spider1964]

Australia are not one of the two teams chasing.

Yes they are.

England deservedly No 1 team ATM... but no matter where the England & Australia teams are on the bs rankings... they will need to bring their A game to win against each other.

Let's hope Cummins, Pattinson, Siddle, Hilfenhaus & Harris are all fit and firing for the next Ashes series... And the ICC bring in a rule that you have to be English to play for England

Wait... on second thoughts... get more Saffers in the team... we can beat them!

 

[Ferminal]

Australia are not one of the two teams chasing.

He was referring to India I'd think, although I don't see how they are chasing after they failed miserably on your turf. They couldn't win/force a draw because the pitch wasn't as easy as it would have been 2-3 years ago, Australia on the other hand collapse on any pitch (hence El Piti's comment that CA should be making sure pitches do something).

 

[El Imbatido]

Yeah i just assumed waterloo was talking about India and Aus

But i also stick by my comment that Aus wickets are doing more now then 5-10 years back. And i think it could be because we can't win as much on a pan flat wicket like we used to

 

[Ferminal]

Interesting game tonight, Renegades are 0-2 but are so much better on paper than Syd Thunder who have an average bowling lineup and have everything on Gayle with the bat.

 

[Ferminal]

Renegades only make 140 after a very decent start. Horrible batting display from Razzaq at the end. Still in with a chance though if they get Gayle early. Credit to Sydney for bowling well.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Team Matches Points Rating
1 England 37 4634 125
2 India 41 4846 118
3 South Africa 24 2781 116
4 Australia 37 3815 103
5 ****stan 31 3081 99
6 Sri Lanka 31 3062 99


4th, and not even close to 3rd.

 

[Spider1964]

As I said, rankings mean jack **** when the two teams face off.

Oz 1 nil up on the 2nd ranked Curry munchers and drew (the far above them in the rankings) Saffers 1 all last month.

Englands world 11 will have to bring their A game to beat Australia, wherever the teams are on the bs rankings.

Have a nice 2012

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

As I said, rankings mean jack **** when the two teams face off.

Oz 1 nil up on the 2nd ranked Curry munchers and drew (the far above them in the rankings) Saffers 1 all last month.

Englands world 11 will have to bring their A game to beat Australia, wherever the teams are on the bs rankings.

Have a nice 2012

We've beaten you perfectly comfortably home and away, and we'll do it again when you next come knocking.

If by A game you mean above average form, then your statement is clearly false. England would win on average form, and they'd win more often than not against the Aussies even with poor form. Your team just isn't very good anymore.

 

[Spider1964]

Yes, you're right.. Bring your B game and see what happens.

But who cares about tests... We're a specialist one day side now -

Reliance ICC ODI Ranking
TEAM MATCHES POINTS RATING
1 Australia 33 4291 130
2 India 44 5149 117
3 South Africa 22 2537 115
4 Sri Lanka 33 3693 112
5 ****stan 37 4018 109
6 England 35 3706 106
7 New Zealand 25 2174 87
8 West Indies 27 2146 79
9 Bangladesh 32 1995 62
10 Zimbabwe 30 1402 47
11 Ireland 12 492 41
12 Netherlands 9 137 15
13 Kenya 7 0 0

Hopefully the Poms will improve on 6th?

And BTW, let me know when you've been on top of the rankings for a few years.. Not months

World rankings for the top eight teams from 2003 to June 2011

Team. Start End Total Months Highest Rating
*Australia. June 2003 July 2009 74 143
*South Africa August 2009 November 2009 4 122
*India December 2009 July 2011 20 130
*England August 2011 present 5 125

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

No-one's denying you used to have 2 great players. The point is you don't have any now.

It's almost sad watching Ponting struggle on, diluting his average like crazy, so far past it he can't even see it anymore. But then he's still better than all his would be replacements.

One day cricket is not cricket.

 

[ramjambunath]

Weird way to start the new year.
spanky Roebuck- Baseless allegations, troubled man or Sandusky?
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-roebuck-tragedy-a-tale-of-love-beatings-and-blackmail-20111231-1pgmk.html

 

[greenedge]

6 Englanders in Chloe Saltaus' team of the year. He put Bell in for Dravid ( 1145 ) runs his year. No Amla as well.

 

[Frosty]

He was referring to India I'd think, although I don't see how they are chasing after they failed miserably on your turf.

I thought that was down to their mental state. In the second test they had england at 124-8 on the first day before Broad and Swann clouted some runs. Then, in reply to england's final 221, India were 267-4 and collapsed to 288 all out. They managed to get a few quick wickets in the england second innings but then seemed to crumple in the rest of the game and indeed the series with two innings wins to follow.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/engine/current/match/474473.html

not sure why there were so down, maybe a case of playing too much, discord within the camp, caring more about one day games and 20-20s more. Just seemed that they were a good side but when the wheels came off they really did come off. Zaheer Khan getting injured on the first day of the series probably made a big difference.

Looking forward to the next aus versus india test. One of the very few bonuses to doing nights at this time of year is the ability to watch some test cricket. Just hope work isnt that busy!

 

[craig1985]

Pattinson gets Gambhir out for a duck in the 1st over of the Test. It was a good ball, but a poor shot by Gambhir as he tried to open up the face of the bat to work it through the leg side and edged it to Clarke at 1st slip. Gambhir doesn't look up to it against Australia in Australia.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Pattinson gets Gambhir out for a duck in the 1st over of the Test. It was a good ball, but a poor shot by Gambhir as he tried to open up the face of the bat to work it through the leg side and edged it to Clarke at 1st slip. Gambhir doesn't look up to it against Australia in Australia.

Who do they bring in?

 

[craig1985]

ramjam is the best person to ask, but Gambhir looks like he needs a lot of time to adjust to Australian conditions. This is what I thought would happen with the little preparation India had when they arrived. Two non-FC matches in Canberra is not enough. England had three FC matches to prepare for the Ashes, and after a slow start in Brisbane, they saved the Test and won the series with three crushing victories.

 

[ramjambunath]

Easy question that- Rahane. He's the hardest working Indian youngsters and has built his reputation the proper way ie the Ranji trophy. An average of 68 or some similar figure and no wonky technique like Fuse.

Harder question is- if Lax man fails through the whole series will the selectors have the balls in them to tap remind him that his isn't a secure spot without scoring runs ala Inverarity and Captain Drunky Ponting. India's batting is just as weak as the Australian one and the only reason it has been papered over is because of the performances against WI and the inability to see the obvious till its a serious problem. Another question- Coolie or Rohit Sharma?

Why no match on the bank holiday 2nd?

 

[craig1985]

Kohli was looking good out there until Siddle tricked him with two bouncers and then pushed forward to a ball he shouldn't have pushed forward to. India is going to be a serious problem when the 'big 3' go, and it has to start soon before it's too late, if Laxman fails then you need to tap him on the shoulder and start pushing through his replacement so when Dravid and SRT go, you don't have a situation like Australia went through when Lillee, Marsh, and Greg Chappell all retired at once and have 3 inexperienced Test batsmen plus a guy who hasn't proved him self (ie Kohli), and I don't think they really want to go back to Yuvraj Singh in Tests. Do you rate Puraja?

 

[auscyclefan94]

I might not get to watch much cricket on day 4 due to how the game is turning out and the weather.

 

[ramjambunath]

Kohli was looking good out there until Siddle tricked him with two bouncers and then pushed forward to a ball he shouldn't have pushed forward to. India is going to be a serious problem when the 'big 3' go, and it has to start soon before it's too late, if Laxman fails then you need to tap him on the shoulder and start pushing through his replacement so when Dravid and SRT go, you don't have a situation like Australia went through when Lillee, Marsh, and Greg Chappell all retired at once and have 3 inexperienced Test batsmen plus a guy who hasn't proved him self (ie Kohli), and I don't think they really want to go back to Yuvraj Singh in Tests. Do you rate Puraja?

Pujara's form is awful at the moment. Definitely has to score runs to get back into the team, his returning would be a bit similar to Phillip Fuse's second run in the team, undeserved. He's a decent player but still has a long way to go to be a proper test player.

The problem is that Coaly has to play. He's useless at the moment but he'll be in the team by 2014 as one of the mainstays of the side. The same applies to Rohit Sharma (who's a bit less useless) and the other player who comes in, whoever he is.

 

[craig1985]

Australia 2/8 and Zaheer is on a hat-trick.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Laxman should be dropped for the 3rd test, barring an incredible knock from him in the second innings. Another failure would mean that a change is made on one condition.

That India has a spare batsman on their tour squad.

Oh, and that said batsman is under 37 years of age...