Cricket thread

[ManfredSchaefer]

A few days late but a few words I want to pass on about Max 'Tangles' Walker.

 

When I was a kid my first national team I fell in love with was the 74 Socceroos. Hot on their heels was the Australian cricket team of 1974/75...a bunch of blokes who were that season to become one of the best ever squads to collectively wear baggy green caps. Ian Chappell was a captain who everyone respected, his brother Greg an elegant batsman. There was Doug Walters for explosive batting brilliance, Ross Edwards and Ian Redpath as stable solid run accumulators and Rodney Marsh the best wicket keeper and batsmen we'd seen for decades. The attack was lead by the amazing Jeff Thomson, whose raw speed was cruel to the Poms, whilst DK Lillee had lost a yard of pace but had grown a brilliant bowling brain. They were backed up by my hero, Ashley 'Rowdy' Mallett on spinners' duties.

 

And then there was Max.

 

His washing machine action was the stuff of nightmares for any cricketing purist, and a delight for kids like me to try and recreate in back yards. He would always give every last dying fabric of his body when toiling as first change, and he could really swing the ball. He was beloved by what would know be considered bogans in Bay 13 of the MCG, and he fielded a bit like how our legend St Dino would run. He could fling the bat with purpose, and he was crucial to that 74/75 team.

 

Come forward to the next season and we were playing the Windies, when they were on the cusp of their almost 20 years of world cricket domination. Under Clive Lloyd that squad were up against our Ashes holding greats, putting Andy Roberts and Michael Holding against Lillee and Thommo. Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharian against Greg Chappell and Ross Edwards. Lance Gibbs versus Ashley Mallett. 

 

And Max was still there.

 

Come the first day of the 4th test in Sydney we were up 2-1, and I was lucky enough to get the chance to go with my dad and my younger brother to the match. This was when the old SCG was basically a combo of grass, Edwardian stands, concrete pavilions and a similarly surfaced track in front of the Brewongle and stand end. Men would bring in polystyrene eskies filled with steel cans of KB into the ground and drink em all without the coppers doing a thing. There was no such thing as safe seating or folding chairs...for the 50,001 of us there that day almost all of us were standing or sitting on pain in the arse places. Some of us, including yours truly, could sneak onto the ground and sit just at the fence line, watching the action (which that day included a streaker).

 

Anyway, as the day went on the word passed around that Australian players out in the deep were signing autographs. I raced around to an area which is not to far from the Ladies Stand, had my ABC Cricket book at the ready, when big boofy Max Walker and his terry towelling hatted head came over. Et voila:

 

 

Now I still had a hero worship thing going for Rowdy Mallett, but Max Walker was just the ducks nuts when it came to epitomising what me and many kids of my era wanted from our cricket icons. The reason why he was in all those Aeroguard ads, the Tooheys 2.2 ads, was a successful author, an entertaining commentator, a successful public speaker, was he was a no bullshit old-style honest Australian sportsman who did all he could on and off the pitch to be as good as he could, and have fun whilst doing it.

 

I was shocked and saddened to hear of his passing ,and not ashamed to say I got a bit weepy. I'm not sure if there are more recent Australian sportsmen or women who may evoke similar feelings for younger generations. I guess with Max dying so suddenly and at a still not too old 68 it brings back good memories for me and others of my age, and reminds us that our time on this earth is fleeting. If we can do something as big hearted and as honest as Tangles did...well, that's not a bad thing.

[nmh94]

Can someone tell me why we are in SA playing meaningless ODIs?

[btron3000]

$$$

 

No doubt part of some stupid reciprocal arrangement. If you play 5 meaningless ODIs in October we'll play a meaningless T20 in [fill in a non-summer month here], and we might even play a day-night test too.

[btron3000]

Can sportspeople get any more narcissistic you ask?

 

How about 3 hours of MS Dhoni montages set to soft rock music?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/04/ms-dhoni-biopic-fans-bombastic-movemaking-montages-the-spin-cricket

Edited October 4, 2016 by btron3000

[luisenrique]

Haha I love the sarcasm of that review:

 

 

 

It sounds exhaustive, but, sadly, we don’t get to hear anything about how Dhoni felt when his team principal at the Chennai Super Kings, Gurunath Meiyappan was implicated in illegal spot-fixing and banned from the game for bringing it into disrepute. 

[DCWSW]

Whilst I don't agree with that point of view that the series is all about money I think it's important that we take them somewhat seriously.

 

Having a look at last night's scorecard, our bowling looked like it lost us the game. Are all our bowlers injured or something? We had a massive pool of quality fast bowlers in recent years and it seems like it's vanished.

[Beer]

Starc and hazel wood are being rested for a big summer I thought?

[luisenrique]

I couldn't give a **** about a 3 match odi series tbh. Especially not on the roads that seem to have been served up.

[btron3000]

Was talking to my cousin't husband tonight and he said exactly the same thing. Not only that, but he said the over-saturation of cricket and it being played all year round was deadening his excitement for it in general. Said he used to get excited for summer, but now it just seems like another stop on the never-ending cricket cycle.

 

I have to say, I agree.

[luisenrique]

Yep. Completely lost interest in all limited overs cricket now. 

 

That's one thing about football, at least the format will never change. Although you never know with FIFA.

[DCWSW]

I see it as a good opportunity to play more cricket in different conditions... something we clearly need more practice in. 

[nmh94]

Whilst I don't agree with that point of view that the series is all about money I think it's important that we take them somewhat seriously.

 

Having a look at last night's scorecard, our bowling looked like it lost us the game. Are all our bowlers injured or something? We had a massive pool of quality fast bowlers in recent years and it seems like it's vanished.

You kind of answered your own question though, it is the totally irrelevancy of the series that has resulted in a bunch of mediocre state trundlers (Worrall, Tremain, Mennie) being sent over to SA, and predictably, getting pumped.

[btron3000]

I see it as a good opportunity to play more cricket in different conditions... something we clearly need more practice in.

 

But we keep losing Tests despite playing more and more limited overs games in other parts of the world.

 

Players were better at playing away when a) they played county cricket and the like during the break in international cricket, and b) they had more 4 day lead up games against local state/county teams before Test series.

Edited October 7, 2016 by btron3000

[btron3000]

This is just sad. Do we really need to blame someone for this? If they targeted him with bouncers it is because they thought he had a weakness with bouncers. No-one was trying to kill him.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/fears-the-phillip-hughes-inquest-will-turn-into-a-witchhunt-20161010-gryvwb.html

[luisenrique]

It's ridiculous. 

[Alexander]

Coronial inquests are never easy, but they are important. That said, I really feel for everyone involved in this

[luisenrique]

Yeah don't mind the inquest, but making headlines out of the 'revelations' that they bowled short and sledged in a cricket match is low.

[Alexander]

The media do this with every case that gets the attention of the public. Some the headlines I've seen from a 'revelation' from a day in Coroners/Criminal courts over the years are a disgrace

[btron3000]

Yeah it looks the Guardian are taking a more measured approach to their coverage.

 

SMH have pretty much become another tabloid hey?

[luisenrique]

Yep, the sooner they all go bust and I get my redundancy the better.

[nmh94]

Agreed, it's all quite sad. I agree it's needed, but seriously, nothing happened that isn't standard fare in any serious cricket match. It was a horrible and tragic accident, but that is what it was: an accident.

[DCWSW]

Yeah i don't understand why they are having this inquest... Is it because the family are seeking compensation?

 

Bouncers will always be part of the game... I was even bumping blokes in the nets this arvo. 

 

What happened was an unfortunate accident and that's it. 

 

So sad

[Alexander]

Coronial inquests are quite common when there is sudden death such as this. They're not just done in order to find who is at fault, but also to determine if anything could b done in the future to prevent it happening again.

 

If the family wanted money they'd just take the ACA, NSW a Cricket or the players to court. I think they're well within their right to want a Coronial Inquest. And FWIW, a government doesn't conduct an inquest just because a victim's family want one.

 

What happened was an unfortunate accident, but if it causes cricket rule makers to sit down and have a think about whether they can fix some part of the game, then that's important. Even if they determine that nothing should change, at least they've had a look at it

[DCWSW]

Nothing should be changed.

[Alexander]

I don't get the hostility? First suggesting that his family are just seeking compensation and then ubruptly saying 'nothing will be changed'.

 

Its not just about trying to change the game mate. They're also assessing whether an ambulance getting there quicker could have saved him. Whether they should have taken his helmet off or left it on. It's about trying to learn from this tragedy. All these questions need to be asked.

 

This is about trying to save lives in the future. If they learn nothing from it, his death would've been for nothing

[DCWSW]

The first couple days of the inquiry seemed like it was more to create headlines than to improve the game.

 

Everything was normal that day. The short ball is a normal part of the game. I don't understand why they are talking about sledging when that's not going to make the game any safer.

[Alexander]

That's just about dotting their i's and crossing their t's. It's excruciatingly pedantic in some cases, but if they don't follow the correct procedure, it can make people liable.

 

It's also for the witnesses to get their accounts on record. I kind of like that Bollinger gets to clarify officially what he said. Helps to stop the painful rumours

[btron3000]

I think it's good to see if they can do things better, like ambulance time and medical access on the field etc, but the focus on sledging is bizarre and unhelpful.

 

If what we are reading is true and the Hughes family have a legal rep who seems intent on exposing the sledging and tactics of the NSW players, then that is the saddest part. When it happened I thought the family were unusually... I don't know the right word here... philosophical or accepting of the situation, at least in public. The dad was even the one who told the cricketers to let Phil go because he wasn't going to regain consciousness. Grief can work in different ways for people and it seems that over time they have struggled to deal with it and now they seem to need to lay some sort of blame. Really sad because these players were all friends and proving that Bollinger sledged Hughes isn't going to help anyone. The whole thing was and still is horrible.

[Alexander]

Don't base your opinion of the Hughes family on media reports. In terms of Coronial inquests and criminal trials, the media tell the whole story as often as I run marathons

[btron3000]

Don't base your opinion of the Hughes family on media reports. In terms of Coronial inquests and criminal trials, the media tell the whole story as often as I run marathons

True or not I just feel sorry for them.

 

But what you say also highlights why it's so important that the media do a decent job, and it's sad what's become of the media these days. Society is much worse off for it.