Cricket- the sport not the insect

[movingtarget]

Good to see Steve Smith get a hundred after so many starts going to waste. He gets a bit of a roughing in the press at times but when he's selected usually brings something to the table, either a few decent middle order runs or a couple of wickets. Always been worth investment as he seems to be a smart cricketer and team player.

Would have liked his and Watson's 100s to have come a few tests ago though.

And when we do do better it rains...........Hopefully this will give them more confidence for the return series. Watson has been copping it in the media for a long time now so good to see him turn it around and hopefully keep going. Smith is unorthodox but good to watch. Hopefully Clarke's consistency returns and our openers can build good partnerships.

 

[thrawn]

Mitchell Marsh would be preferable for me over Fulkner and Nic Maddinson should be given a go after the Ashes.

Yes... let's give Mitchell Marsh a go. His outstanding first class batting average of 20, and stunning 38 wickets in 26 matches is screaming out for test selection.

Would like to see Maddinson score some big runs in shield this year before giving him a go. He hasn't done much since bursting onto the scene with some good scores.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Bad for Australia that Smith has now cemented his place for a while - not good enough. Would be the same for England if Bairstow had fluked a century.

Watson not really Test match standard either, but he's still in your best 5 batters so you've got to cut your cloth according to your resources.

 

[superqualicast]

Its good stuff started bout cricket.. Cricket is my favorite game. I love cricket. But before few months due to fixing cricket is passing through tough time.. However there are good cricketers who lead this game for further..

 

[darwin553]

Bad for Australia that Smith has now cemented his place for a while - not good enough. Would be the same for England if Bairstow had fluked a century.

Watson not really Test match standard either, but he's still in your best 5 batters so you've got to cut your cloth according to your resources.

Smith - future captain - you heard it here first.

Haha - comparing Bairstow and Smith in the same line...haha

 

[darwin553]

Mitchell Marsh would be preferable for me over Fulkner and Nic Maddinson should be given a go after the Ashes.

Faulkner's a better bowler. Bowling ability takes precedence.

 

[Alphabet]

If this pitch was Asian, we would never hear the end of it. "Oh mate, it's killing test cricket!"; "Oh mate, an Asian batsman who averages 50 is as good as a non-Asian who averages 35, because they get all their runs on roads!"; "Oh mate, Adam Gilchrist is better than Kumar Sangakkara!".

 

[Pricey_sky]

If this pitch was Asian, we would never hear the end of it. "Oh mate, it's killing test cricket!"; "Oh mate, an Asian batsman who averages 50 is as good as a non-Asian who averages 35, because they get all their runs on roads!"; "Oh mate, Adam Gilchrist is better than Kumar Sangakkara!".

This wicket has been terrible, however on the whole most test venues in England produce 'positive result' wickets whereas on the whole most sub continent wickets are absolutely dead.

At least in Australia the wickets will have much more pace in them which I believe will suit both sides batsmen much more. For England the likes of Cook, Trott and KP will benefit from having the ball coming onto the bat much more quickly.

 

[movingtarget]

This wicket has been terrible, however on the whole most test venues in England produce 'positive result' wickets whereas on the whole most sub continent wickets are absolutely dead.

At least in Australia the wickets will have much more pace in them which I believe will suit both sides batsmen much more. For England the likes of Cook, Trott and KP will benefit from having the ball coming onto the bat much more quickly.

Cook and Trott have been unimpressive unlike the last Ashes Series. Luckily Bell is playing for England. I had to switch it off last night, England were averaging 0.9 runs per over or something and the bowlers were not getting much from the pitch. Thank god Australia has Harris, without him the series would have been a turkey shoot instead of just a good beating. As an Aussie fan there are signs of improvement but Australia will need much more than just Australian conditions to start winning some tests.

 

[SirLes]

I see England have decided to weaken their bowling attack at the expense of their batting.

Still given the dominating performances from the top 5 we could afford to do that.

5 batsmen, 3 bowlers a wicketkeeper and 2 fielders. Not unlike some of the junior b and c teams I've selected.

In all seriousness I really am struggling to understand the selections this time. In fact no one I know- including some very experienced players and watchers of the game can.

Perhaps it was a case of telling the others: right we're playing with 9 so you'd better pull your fingers out

Or they saw the weather forecast, figured there wasn't much chance of a result and even if we lost it make difference so on that basis selected two people they didn't really think should be selected for the tour and just wanted to make sure.

 

[SirLes]

I really hope I'm proved wrong over time but this has brought back memories of the selection process in the late 80s and most of the 90s

 

[the asian]

This wicket has been terrible, however on the whole most test venues in England produce 'positive result' wickets whereas on the whole most sub continent wickets are absolutely dead.

At least in Australia the wickets will have much more pace in them which I believe will suit both sides batsmen much more. For England the likes of Cook, Trott and KP will benefit from having the ball coming onto the bat much more quickly.

It is mostly the Indian pitches that are roads. Both Sri Lanka and ****stan have plenty of sporting pitches.

 

[thrawn]

If this pitch was Asian, we would never hear the end of it. "Oh mate, it's killing test cricket!"; "Oh mate, an Asian batsman who averages 50 is as good as a non-Asian who averages 35, because they get all their runs on roads!"; "Oh mate, Adam Gilchrist is better than Kumar Sangakkara!".

The problem is that the sub-continent teams produce pitches like this in a large number of tests. This pitch is terrible, but really is the only pitch this series that was incapable of producing a result (Aus would have won the 3rd test if not for the weather).

For what it's worth, Sangakkara averages 62 in the sub-continent, 44 away from it. That should give you an indication of the types of pitches they throw up.

 

[Froome19]

Went to the oval Thursday and Friday, never been at a more boring day's play of cricket than Friday

 

[Pricey_sky]

Went to the oval Thursday and Friday, never been at a more boring day's play of cricket than Friday

I feel for you mate, it was bad enough having to watch it but at least I had the likes of Bumble and Warne to keep me ticking over.

 

[Pricey_sky]

For what its worth this would be my England team for the first test at the Gabba:

Cook
Root
Trott
KP
Bell
Woakes
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett

 

[movingtarget]

For what its worth this would be my England team for the first test at the Gabba:

Cook
Root
Trott
KP
Bell
Woakes
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett

Woakes might be the only query. Most of those are givens as the English side is much more settled than the Aussies. Why change a winning team ? Tremlett probably has to be included as well.

 

[darwin553]

Woakes might be the only query. Most of those are givens as the English side is much more settled than the Aussies. Why change a winning team ? Tremlett probably has to be included as well.

I think it's a good side. Although the inclusion of bairstow could give it more balance

 

[Cyivel]

Bit harsh on Tremlett's batting to have him below Anderson

 

[Alphabet]

The problem is that the sub-continent teams produce pitches like this in a large number of tests. This pitch is terrible, but really is the only pitch this series that was incapable of producing a result (Aus would have won the 3rd test if not for the weather).

For what it's worth, Sangakkara averages 62 in the sub-continent, 44 away from it. That should give you an indication of the types of pitches they throw up.

Asian pitches come in for massive criticism because the non-Asian world has this cultural mentality of having fast bowlers as the be-all-and-end-all, and spinners are 2nd class citizens.

If fast bowlers can't do anything, then it's automatically an easy pitch to bat on. If it's a greentop and some military medium trundler takes 7/20, it's a sporting pitch; but if it's a dustbowl and Michael Clarke takes 6/9, then the pitch is 'not suited for international cricket'.

Asia is one of the toughest places to bat in the world, because it doesn't just spin there, it absolutely rips. The only categorically 'easy' batting country in the world is Australia. Nice and even (but steep) bounce, fast outfields, no grass on the pitch, doesn't turn much- absolute highway conditions. Yes, Asian tests occasionally throw up disgraceful pitches where it doesn't bounce unevenly, seam, swing, or spin, but that is quite infrequent. There's always spin and reverse swing available. You can't say the same for Australia, where the only weapons bowlers have is that touring batsmen go all to pieces when it bounces around their chest instead of their knee- technically, they shouldn't struggle at all, because the ball bounces at chest height every single time; but when you spend a lifetime on low pitches, it can be really hard to adjust to a sudden injection of bounce. When you have teams that can handle bounce visit Australia, like South Africa, it instantly becomes a 800 runs a piece match.

People can point at say, Jayawardene's or Sehwag's records and say 'well they were flat track bullies, nothing ever happens in Asia', but on those same supposedly batsman favouring pitches, Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble have well over 1000 wickets between them.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

After all Shane Warne's bull**** about attacking Australian mindset they resorted to bowling miles down leg and going at 9 overs an hour to force the umpires to bring them off.

Pretty pathetic stuff.

 

[movingtarget]

After all Shane Warne's bull**** about attacking Australian mindset they resorted to bowling miles down leg and going at 9 overs an hour to force the umpires to bring them off.

Pretty pathetic stuff.

Over the series you have to say England win the time wasting award hands down. How many times does Broad have to remove his footwear to retie them or replace them ? Not to mention the over rates and conferences after every over. There is no way Cooke would have offered such a sporting declaration. The rain ruined the last test and the third test but that's test cricket and it's not unusual for the weather to play a part.

 

[Alphabet]

Ryan Harris has injured his hamstring and will miss 6-8 weeks.

So typical that I can't even laugh at CA's idiocy, giving him 4 tests in a row.

 

[Cyivel]

Yer brer Finch can't half hit a ball, looks like a comprehensive win for Australia here.

 

[del1962]

Ryan Harris has injured his hamstring and will miss 6-8 weeks.

So typical that I can't even laugh at CA's idiocy, giving him 4 tests in a row.

He looks a good bowler (possibly the best seamer on either side in the Ashes) but really injury prone