Cricket- the sport not the insect

[greenedge]

I think it is just a publicity stunt but i agree that he could. He does dismiss the idea though so maybe i should not be so harsh.

Watson was accurate but only bowled 18 overs (probably due to his injury) but in the 2nd innings took no wickets, Johnson did, even though he was inconsistent but it was his 1st game at test level in a year.

 

[movingtarget]

Personally, I have always been a big supporter of Warne, despite his past. If anyone could do it, he could comeback.

Warne is one of the all time great bowlers but 20/20 cricket is not Test cricket. He has not played test cricket for a long time. Can't see it happening. Lyon is improving but is a long way from Warne's skill level. Warne was a fierce competitor and used to psyche out plenty of good batsmen.

 

[Alphabet]

I think Warne would be a raging success if he turned out for us, even if just in the Ashes. First of all, he is in far better shape now than he was his entire career. Along with that, his reputation is earth shaking, particlarly in England. English batsmen probably still have nightmares over him. Also they are really poor these days at playing spin, even though they are dismantling India atm. They were destroyed by first Ajmal and then Herath this year, and while both are certainly good spinners, Warne is better than the pair of them combined.

If he's serious about this, he should come back to Shield cricket with Victoria. He hasn't played a game longer than 3 hours in 5 years, a few Shield matches would give himself and us a better idea as to how he is these days.

 

[Alphabet]

Anyone watching the T20? Warne is getting absolutely massacred, his two overs have cost 41. This is brutal ****

 

[auscyclefan94]

Anyone watching the T20? Warne is getting absolutely massacred, his two overs have cost 41. This is brutal ****

No test cricket now!

 

[Alphabet]

I feel for Warne. That's got to be the worst thing possible to happen after stating your intent to return to international cricket.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I feel for Warne. That's got to be the worst thing possible to happen after stating your intent to return to international cricket.

On the radio, he has stated that he won't really be coming back.

 

[Cyivel]

Glad we weren't chasing much more than 40,whatever happens in the last test it's gone better than I thought.

 

[greenedge]

Ah- trapped in the US and missing out on the cricket- the best thing about an Aussie summer.
Hobart i think will go well.

 

[Alphabet]

More Big Bash madness. Malinga ripped through Perth, taking 6/7.

Shame that the new rules have essentially destroyed Malinga as a bowler in 50 over cricket. The two-new-balls-at-either-end rule means he loses his best weapon, reverse swing, which is why you see him get carted so much more often these days.

 

[Alphabet]

Sri Lanka's team is just a meaningless arrangement of letters. UWMBCA Welagedara, HMRKB Herath

 

[42x16ss]

Sri Lanka aren't bowling too badly considering they only have a bunch of solid medium pacers. If Malinga wasn't playing so much T20 he could cause some real issues at Bellerive, especially with the uneven bounce.

How come he wasn't chosen for the Test squad? He is looking fast and dangerous ATM.

 

[Alphabet]

Sri Lanka aren't bowling too badly considering they only have a bunch of solid medium pacers. If Malinga wasn't playing so much T20 he could cause some real issues at Bellerive, especially with the uneven bounce.

How come he wasn't chosen for the Test squad? He is looking fast and dangerous ATM.

Malinga retired from test cricket. His action is way too tough on the body to sustain having to bowl 25+ overs per innings.

Also, India are playing hilariously badly against England. They need to clear out Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dhoni. Sehwag didn't trouble the scorers today, while Sachin made 2, and Dhoni is not only one of the worst captains going around at the moment but also in horrible form with the bat.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Sri Lanka aren't bowling too badly considering they only have a bunch of solid medium pacers. If Malinga wasn't playing so much T20 he could cause some real issues at Bellerive, especially with the uneven bounce.

How come he wasn't chosen for the Test squad? He is looking fast and dangerous ATM.

I was thinking the same thing. Didn't realise he had retired.

 

[Froome19]

With an action like that you can not sustain bowling the sort of overs required for a test or at least you would not want to. Especially as he probably makes more money playing in one IPL game then playing in all tests for a year. I know as a fast bowler that bowling that fast takes a toll on your arm, shoulder and particularly back pretty quickly.

 

[del1962]

Yeah Malinga - Great one day bowler / white ball bowler, never seems to be able to translate it to the longer form, perhaps his action doesnt allow for long spells and when batsmen dont have to score quickly he is less effective.

Sometimes it is the other way round, like Jimmy Anderson.

 

[Alphabet]

He was actually a pretty good test match bowler, he just packed it in when he got one stress injury too many. Which is fair enough, you can't blame him for trying to prolong his career.

Malinga is a far more principled man than the T20 slogger brigade that seem to come out of the woodwork in the West Indies. Guys like Gayle, Pollard, Narine, etc. who actually turn their back on their national team to play T20 competitions.

 

[the asian]

Bloody Malinga retired from test cricket.

Disgraceful mercenary. Never performs for us in big games, but always performs for the Mumbai Indians and any other T 20 rabble he plays.

Brett Lee played test cricket until he was about 32 or 33. Akthar played well in to his 30s.

Malinga is only 29. All he's bothered about is money. Doesn't realize that if he didn't play for the NT in the first place he wouldn't have got the opportunity to play IPL.

Should have left him playing soft ball cricket on the beach.

 

[the asian]

He was actually a pretty good test match bowler, he just packed it in when he got one stress injury too many. Which is fair enough, you can't blame him for trying to prolong his career.

Malinga is a far more principled man than the T20 slogger brigade that seem to come out of the woodwork in the West Indies. Guys like Gayle, Pollard, Narine, etc. who actually turn their back on their national team to play T20 competitions.

what is Malinga doing differently?

Guys like Clarke and Amla are the principled guys.

The way things are going, it will be pretty hard for us to field a respectable test team in ten years' time.

 

[the asian]

Malinga retired from test cricket. His action is way too tough on the body to sustain having to bowl 25+ overs per innings.

Also, India are playing hilariously badly against England. They need to clear out Tendulkar, Sehwag and Dhoni. Sehwag didn't trouble the scorers today, while Sachin made 2, and Dhoni is not only one of the worst captains going around at the moment but also in horrible form with the bat.

It's the only reason I watch cricket these days. To see India getting humiliated
Selfish Sachin won't retire until he plays 200 tests.

 

[Tom375]

what is Malinga doing differently?

Guys like Clarke and Amla are the principled guys.

The way things are going, it will be pretty hard for us to field a respectable test team in ten years' time.

T20 is ruining test cricket in Asia..

 

[Alphabet]

what is Malinga doing differently?

Guys like Clarke and Amla are the principled guys.

The way things are going, it will be pretty hard for us to field a respectable test team in ten years' time.

Be fair, he's far better than Gayle or Pollard, guys who actively refuse to play for their country in order to participate for the IPL. He's never, as far as I know, skived off a Sri Lanka ODI match to play a T20, which for me automatically means he's rated above the others.

He had a serious knee injury a few years back that forced him to stop playing tests for a while, and if I remember correctly, he made a brief comeback to tests but broke down mid-test and announced his retirement shortly after.

Here's what he has to say:

I picked up this injury in 2008, and that's when I had a long time away from Tests. For three years, no one looked at me for Test selection, no one looked to see how I was bowling. ......

In three years I hadn't even played a two-day match. But still, I was able to be the Man of the Match, by taking seven wickets and making 64 runs, and Murali aiya got to take his 800th wicket.

I only played that Test because he (Muralitharan) asked me. After 2008, I had given up any thoughts of playing Test cricket. The reason was that the knee injury I have is something only four or five other people in the world have - mostly Aussie Rules football players, no cricketers. My doctor told me it would never get better, and that I might have to give up cricket altogether. There was a small chance it would get better, but I would have to spend a long time away from the game. Luckily I got to the stage where I can bowl a few overs a day, but that's why I had to give up Test cricket.

I loved playing Tests because you get the chance to bowl so much. In ODIs it's only ten overs and in T20s it's four, but in Tests you can bowl 20-25 overs a day. Because of that, in Tests you gain a lot of experience, and learn what to do in specific situations. How should you bowl with the new ball in the morning? How should you bowl in the afternoon when it's hot? How to bowl at the end of the day? But I can't do that anymore, and there's no point dwelling on the past. I can only play well in whatever formats I can still play in.

I'm 29 now. I think I will only have three or four more years to play. I think going back to Tests now would be very difficult. I've been away from Tests for one and a half or two years. I have 100 Test wickets now, and I feel like if I were to play again, I would want to get to at least 150 wickets. To do that I would have to play at least ten or 15 Tests, and I don't think I can do that, given how bad my injury is. I think it's much better for the team if a new bowler comes through and plays three or four years at a stretch than if I play for just a few.

I have never done that (compromised his international career for Sri Lanka). I only played in the IPL after I stopped playing Tests. I haven't neglected any limited-overs matches for Sri Lanka because of the IPL. As long as I am playing cricket, I am always ready to play ODI and T20 cricket for Sri Lanka.

And his failure to execute under pressure situations isn't really a reason to call him a mercenary who doesn't care. He's not the first nor will he be the last cricketer to have a poor big match temperament.

 

[Alphabet]

T20 is ruining test cricket in Asia..

And you can see it right in front of you. It's no coincidence that India and Sri Lanka have declined since the IPL started, while ****stan, who haven't been allowed to play in the IPL, have actually improved their test team by a vast margin. They're comfortably the best Asian team and it's all because their youngsters don't get their heads turned by Indian rupees.

]The way things are going, it will be pretty hard for us to field a respectable test team in ten years' time.

I was thinking this to myself when watching the test earlier today. There appears to be little talent coming through in Sri Lanka, either with the bat or ball. You look at the key men of this team and they're all around 35- Dilshan, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Herath. All of them, Herath aside, distinguished themselves as special cricketers in their youth, while none of the Sri Lankan youngsters expect maybe Mathews seems to have done so.

If it makes you feel better, your fierce rivals India aren't going to be much better off, and you'll always be better than the West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and New Zealand

Edit: Why is Pak istan blocked?

 

[Tom375]

They're comfortably the best Asian team and it's all because their youngsters don't get their heads turned by Indian rupees.

Agreed their the best test side with the best players coming through at the moment on sub-continent, will be very difficult to beat next year too.
With regards to the Indian Rupees they may not get any in the IPL but have to beware of those rupees for the old match fixing though

 

[Alphabet]

Pak istan are really only one or two world class batsmen away from being far-and-away the best team in the world. Younis Khan, Misbah etc. are all good but they haven't been able to replace Inzamam or Mohammed Yousuf.