Cricket thread

[luisenrique]

Impressive from Marsh I have to say. Not surprised by Handscomb but I did expect Marsh to wilt. 

 

Agree with btron on the pitches...you could say the first two were a bit too bowler friendly, but by the same token you shouldn't have a 5th day wicket where the only real threat is from the rough.

[btron3000]

the only real threat is from the rough.

... from one end!

 

They showed a stat halfway through day 5 and the spinners were averaging 37 from one end and 235 from the other!

 

Both teams set records for balls bowled and balls faced, and in 5 days there were only 25 wickets for 1258 runs. Too flat and slow. Edges should carry to slip on day one of a test. It was intriguing more than anything.

 

But hey Brett Lee said it was a good ground for test cricket because the commentary box was all nice and comfy for him! What a mimbo.

 

Hope Cummins pulls up ok. What a talent! Can do it all. With the amount of righties in their team we miss Starc's rough, but Cummins is probably a better bowler. Gee I hope that all four top pacemen are fit for the Ashes, they'll demolish England.

[luisenrique]

How everyone laughed when I said Cummins for Starc wasn't such an issue!

[btron3000]

Haha alright smartie, when you say enough stuff designed to downplay your team's chances you're bound to get it right sometime!

 

All through the second test: india's batsmen are shot, Ashwin and Jadeja are crap, blah blah

 

Cummins has always been rated the best of the lot, but bringing in a guy who's played one shield game since his last test 6 years ago, to replace your spearhead, was always a risk. He's still got to back up for another test too, and not break down again. All signs look good, but that was a mammoth effort. Fingers crossed.

[luisenrique]

Ashwin is crap tbh. 

 

(Obviously he's not crap, but he's been pretty average. Maybe cos he's bowled a million balls this season).

[btron3000]

It will be interesting to see what sort of pitch we get and how that affects Ashwin and Lyon. Only Jadeja really had an impact on this pitch. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to give Ashwin a pitch he's happy with.

[luisenrique]

Such a picturesque ground for the next test

 

[btron3000]

I just did a google search - the only nearby things that come up on google maps are a waterfall and the cricket club!! Haha

 

Dharamshala is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by cedar forests on the edge of the Himalayas, this hillside city is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Thekchen Chöling Temple Complex is a spiritual center for Tibetan Buddhism, while the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives houses thousands of precious manuscripts.

 

The serenity is about to be spoilt by Kohli v the Aussies! I wanna be there

[luisenrique]

Yeah, I've always wanted to go there, chill in some Buddhist monasteries and such. Some great trekking to be done in those parts too by all accounts. 

 

 

I have been to that state but never to that city. Would love to have gone for this test! I wouldn't be surprised if the Dalai Lama makes an appearance...

[nmh94]

Ashwin is crap tbh.

 

(Obviously he's not crap, but he's been pretty average. Maybe cos he's bowled a million balls this season).

 

I have thought for a little while niw that Ashwin gets the plaudits Jadeja deserves. This series has only confirmed that for me. Jadeja was brilliant yesterday, Ashwin pedestrian. The same applies any time India go abroad.

[luisenrique]

 

Ashwin is crap tbh.

 

(Obviously he's not crap, but he's been pretty average. Maybe cos he's bowled a million balls this season).

 

I have thought for a little while niw that Ashwin gets the plaudits Jadeja deserves. This series has only confirmed that for me. Jadeja was brilliant yesterday, Ashwin pedestrian. The same applies any time India go abroad.

 

 

Yeah, Ashwin is only effective when the pitch is doing a lot. As btron said above, I did bag Jadeja earlier in the series too (although it was mainly about his batting, but maybe I should stop thinking of him as an all-rounder given that he comes in at 9!), but he is dangerous, or at the very least economical, on most wickets. He literally bowled maybe 3 loose balls throughout the entire test (one even got a wicket lol). Ashwin bowled 3 in just one over (the one that Handscomb took 19 or something off).

 

They obviously both got their start in limited overs cricket, but I feel like Jadeja has adapted his bowling to test cricket, but Ashwin is still essentially a limited overs spinner. He struggles to consistently put the ball in the same place and work a batsman over. He has some decent variations but that's about it. 

 

I did read a stat (can't find it) yesterday about how he's bowled thousands more balls than anyone else this season, so that might be an issue. 

[btron3000]

Ashwin has 11 more wickets than Jadeja this season, so it's possible we're not seeing his best. I don't buy the wear down factor though - he's a spinner! From what I've seen I think he's probably a bit like our spinners in that he struggles on pitches that don't suit him.

 

Most of the time our spinners get to India and get figures like the ones we got this test. Likewise, Indian spinners get to Aus and get spanked. We had a pitch that O'Keefe liked in the first test (and the Indians went into meltdown), and then Lyon got a bouncy track in the first innings of the second test. Faced with a more typical flat track, they struggled. That's why I'm intrigued what the pitch will be for the fourth - they need a result but are they going to risk a pitch that could suit our bowlers? Or will they go another flat track in the belief they can get us out?

[btron3000]

On topic:

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2016-17/content/story/1087753.html

 

If they have to bowl so much faster in the second innings maybe Ashwin is worn down.

[luisenrique]

I think they will got for a flat track (but not quite as flat), and play 5 bowlers, another spinner instead of Nair. 

 

Or they'll just take a massive gamble and prepare another Bangalore wicket. I think Dharamshala is supposed to be pretty helpful to the seamers though?? I think I read that before the series. Definitely the area it's in seems like a place where it would swing around a bit.

[btron3000]

After they way this series has gone I wouldn't be totally surprised if the pitch favoured swing or seam and India won by picking one or both of the guys mentioned here.

 

Edit: wrong link lol

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2016-17/content/story/1088024.html

[luisenrique]

Yeah they are definitely both better bowlers than at least Ishant, and probably Yadav as well on a helpful pitch (although I think Yadav has been quite good). 

 

Clarke really does like being a renegade:

 

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/michael-clarke-rubbishes-criticism-of-virat-kohli/news-story/b01de1606804d224c5a16a1ce4fc6b5e

 

I disagree, I think Kohli has gone over the top at times (not saying it from a moral point of view, I couldn't give a ****, but just unnecessary stuff). And I think that's a big part of why he's batting so poorly, his mind is filled with all this nonsense.

 

I do agree that people like Healy calling others out on their behaviour is funny. I'm sure Heals was always a saint behind the stumps!  

[StringerBellend]

Yeah they are definitely both better bowlers than at least Ishant, and probably Yadav as well on a helpful pitch (although I think Yadav has been quite good).

 

Clarke really does like being a renegade:

 

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/michael-clarke-rubbishes-criticism-of-virat-kohli/news-story/b01de1606804d224c5a16a1ce4fc6b5e

 

I disagree, I think Kohli has gone over the top at times (not saying it from a moral point of view, I couldn't give a ****, but just unnecessary stuff). And I think that's a big part of why he's batting so poorly, his mind is filled with all this nonsense.

 

I do agree that people like Healy calling others out on their behaviour is funny. I'm sure Heals was always a saint behind the stumps!

I think Clarke has a point

 

It's funny to see ex-Australian players get upset over unsportsmanlike behaviour

[btron3000]

 

Yeah they are definitely both better bowlers than at least Ishant, and probably Yadav as well on a helpful pitch (although I think Yadav has been quite good).

 

Clarke really does like being a renegade:

 

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/michael-clarke-rubbishes-criticism-of-virat-kohli/news-story/b01de1606804d224c5a16a1ce4fc6b5e

 

I disagree, I think Kohli has gone over the top at times (not saying it from a moral point of view, I couldn't give a ****, but just unnecessary stuff). And I think that's a big part of why he's batting so poorly, his mind is filled with all this nonsense.

 

I do agree that people like Healy calling others out on their behaviour is funny. I'm sure Heals was always a saint behind the stumps!

I think Clarke has a point

 

It's funny to see ex-Australian players get upset over unsportsmanlike behaviour

 

Clarke does have a bit of a point, but he is always the first one to take an alternate, anti-Aus view, so he's hard to take seriously. He was a terrible vice-captain because he didn't support his captain, then he wanted all the support when he was in charge, and now he loves to make so-called objective views that undermine his own ex-teammates. He's a *****, basically.

 

And I'm not sure that saying Kohli is no worse than Hayden, McGrath or Warne is any great advocacy. Two of those three were/are complete arseholes, and McGrath could turn a bit too when pushed. Ponting is the only one he referenced there who was basically just a guy who played hard but fair.

[btron3000]

This is awesome. One test each, one rearguard draw, now the decider down to the 2nd innings, and the Indian opening bowlers are channeling Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall!

 

Who'd have thought the Aussie openers would be so unsettled by Indian pacemen?

 

Loving it.

 

EDIT: Not loving Warner getting out though. Two seconds after I posted lol

[StringerBellend]

Proper test cricket this, Aussies digging in but if you don't score runs you are just delaying getting out on this pitch

 

 

Oh there it is

[luisenrique]

Marsh pathetic, averages 20 (maybe less even) for the series. Warner pathetic overseas, always has been. There was always gonna be a day when Smith didn't make runs. 

 

Impressed with Yadav in particular, he's come a long way. Fair to say I was wrong about Jadeja as well!

 

All in all a brilliant test series, been quite a while since I've watched some proper intense cricket like that. And I think this match has been the best of them all. So much tension all the time. 

 

I dare say the twists are over now though, but you never know. 

[DCWSW]

[luisenrique]

Rahul, 6 fifties out of 7 innings.

 

Warner, one scratchy fifty, average of 20. 

 

Makes a big difference.

[ManfredSchaefer]

Dipping back into my cricket loving past with this book:

 

 

Must say it's both an enjoyable dose of nostalgia but also a reminder of how shitty things were back during the Establishment vs WSC war. I was very much a partisan of the anti-Packer forces, and still think that the Goanna did more harm than good to the sport. For those of you not old enough to remember, think how bad code wars and NSL bitters can be, multiply it by about a factor of ten and that'll give you some idea how divisive that time was.

[btron3000]

Dipping back into my cricket loving past with this book:

 

 

Must say it's both an enjoyable dose of nostalgia but also a reminder of how shitty things were back during the Establishment vs WSC war. I was very much a partisan of the anti-Packer forces, and still think that the Goanna did more harm than good to the sport. For those of you not old enough to remember, think how bad code wars and NSL bitters can be, multiply it by about a factor of ten and that'll give you some idea how divisive that time was.

So is this ad administrator tale or about the players eg Hughes, Yallop, Simpson's return etc?

[ManfredSchaefer]

 

Dipping back into my cricket loving past with this book:

 

 

Must say it's both an enjoyable dose of nostalgia but also a reminder of how shitty things were back during the Establishment vs WSC war. I was very much a partisan of the anti-Packer forces, and still think that the Goanna did more harm than good to the sport. For those of you not old enough to remember, think how bad code wars and NSL bitters can be, multiply it by about a factor of ten and that'll give you some idea how divisive that time was.

So is this ad administrator tale or about the players eg Hughes, Yallop, Simpson's return etc?

 

 

It's mostly focused on the players, with some observations on how the old ACB managed (or probably more correctly) mismanaged the whole WSC conflict. There is lots of good stuff about players who emerged out of the wilderness and played for Australia, and how many of them went back into the wilderness after a deal was struck between Packer & the ACB. The book does a pretty good job of revealing the stories and experiences of the players like Rick Darling, Tony Mann, Gary Cosier, Peter Toohey etc, and dare I say helps redeem their position in Oz cricket history. The administrators though...they really didn't deserve the loyalty they got from these guys.

 

My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1964517613?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

[btron3000]

Cool. Was trying to find kindle version, seems there is only hardcopy. Hmmm

[ManfredSchaefer]

Cool. Was trying to find kindle version, seems there is only hardcopy. Hmmm

Picked it up for $10 at QBD...bit of a bargain

[btron3000]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/18/the-spin-county-cricket-slow-movement

 

This "In praise of slowness" sounds appealing.

[luisenrique]

 

 

Their main worry seemed to be whether or not their bottle of Pimms would last past tea

 

Ah, Pimms at the cricket. One of life's greatest pleasures.