The Cricket Thread

[Azza]

I think England have it now I’m not sure whether to laugh or to cry given how badly we went in India earlier last year

[BadnMean]

I think England have it now I’m not sure whether to laugh or to cry given how badly we went in India earlier last year

Nostradazus


Ashwin turns Stokes innocuous half hour call into a masterstroke in literally ... one ball! charges down like an idjit and stumped

[BadnMean]

India looked steady enough at 7fer.

Bit of a late day choke- curious psychology -Bazball?

No joke at all winning a Test in India.

[Azza]

How good is test cricket - two exceptional test matches on the same day

Not really happy to see either England or India win, but England get away with it

[BadnMean]

How good is test cricket - two exceptional test matches on the same day

Not really happy to see either England or India win, but England get away with it

Oh both can get on my nerves but I'd rather see India's bubble pricked once again.

And brace yourselves for pitch #2 !

[BadnMean]

Patience is a rare commodity in 2024

[PNGRaider37]

Little late. But that last delivery to take Hazelwood wicket was a beauty. Well done to the WINdies

[Rick]

Little late. But that last delivery to take Hazelwood wicket was a beauty. Well done to the WINdies

Was nice (albeit frustrating) to see the stumps cop it a few times during the innings. The Aussie bowlers should take some lessons and start targeting the stumps for the tail.


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[Northern Raider]

Little late. But that last delivery to take Hazelwood wicket was a beauty. Well done to the WINdies

Was nice (albeit frustrating) to see the stumps cop it a few times during the innings. The Aussie bowlers should take some lessons and start targeting the stumps for the tail.


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They do such a good job of it against the top order. Too often lose the plot against the tail and in games like this it proves costly. It's more a tactical flaw so blame needs shift towards captain and coach.

[Azza]

Our bowling to tail enders and dare I say it our middle order batting are two areas of major concern for us moving into some big series' over the next 12 months or so.

[-PJ-]

Is there a left arm pace option in the country behind Starc ?

Yeah I know, hundreds of wickets at test level but he’s very erratic and bowls some horrible spells amoung periods of pure swinging pace.

I don’t watch Shield so don’t what’s behind Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Boland etc.

[-PJ-]

Cummins is the youngest of the 4 quickies mentioned.

Cummins 30
Starc 33
BigWood 33
Boland 35 soon.

They can’t play forever, Cummins of course will be around for a few years yet.

[Matt]

Our bowling to tail enders and dare I say it our middle order batting are two areas of major concern for us moving into some big series' over the next 12 months or so.

Middle order?!? More like all the order. Uzi has been the rock. Marsh and Head tended to trade innings. The rest were very hit and miss... more miss.

Yes, tail bowling has been mud. Short stuff stinks!

[Azza]

Our bowling to tail enders and dare I say it our middle order batting are two areas of major concern for us moving into some big series' over the next 12 months or so.

Middle order?!? More like all the order. Uzi has been the rock. Marsh and Head tended to trade innings. The rest were very hit and miss... more miss.

Yes, tail bowling has been mud. Short stuff stinks!

I was trying to be nice, you oaf. But yes, our batting stinks atm.

[Matt]

Our bowling to tail enders and dare I say it our middle order batting are two areas of major concern for us moving into some big series' over the next 12 months or so.

Middle order?!? More like all the order. Uzi has been the rock. Marsh and Head tended to trade innings. The rest were very hit and miss... more miss.

Yes, tail bowling has been mud. Short stuff stinks!

I was trying to be nice, you oaf. But yes, our batting stinks atm.

I like mean Azza more

[Northern Raider]

Is there a left arm pace option in the country behind Starc ?

Yeah I know, hundreds of wickets at test level but he’s very erratic and bowls some horrible spells amoung periods of pure swinging pace.

I don’t watch Shield so don’t what’s behind Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Boland etc.

The most likely candidate is Spencer Johnson. Needs to get a few more red ball games under his belt first.

[Azza]

Our bowling to tail enders and dare I say it our middle order batting are two areas of major concern for us moving into some big series' over the next 12 months or so.

Middle order?!? More like all the order. Uzi has been the rock. Marsh and Head tended to trade innings. The rest were very hit and miss... more miss.

Yes, tail bowling has been mud. Short stuff stinks!

I was trying to be nice, you oaf. But yes, our batting stinks atm.

I like mean Azza more

Most people say the same

[-TW-]

Is there a left arm pace option in the country behind Starc ?

Yeah I know, hundreds of wickets at test level but he’s very erratic and bowls some horrible spells amoung periods of pure swinging pace.

I don’t watch Shield so don’t what’s behind Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Boland etc.

The most likely candidate is Spencer Johnson. Needs to get a few more red ball games under his belt first.

SJ is a jet, I'm honestly shocked he's not in the squad for the one dayers

[Matt]

Is there a left arm pace option in the country behind Starc ?

Yeah I know, hundreds of wickets at test level but he’s very erratic and bowls some horrible spells amoung periods of pure swinging pace.

I don’t watch Shield so don’t what’s behind Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Boland etc.

The most likely candidate is Spencer Johnson. Needs to get a few more red ball games under his belt first.

SJ is a jet, I'm honestly shocked he's not in the squad for the one dayers

His form came late in the tournament, so missed the initial selections. But he'll find his way in

[Northern Raider]

Batting tells a story...

Smith avged 60. Half the runs in this last innings. He had 2 not outs, which helped.

Uzi was 2nd avging 46. He was pretty consistent.

Head and Cummins were 3 and 4, avging 39. Cummins being this high is a serious worry! Heads only score was his 100, the only 1 of the entire series.

Carey 27, Green 21, Marsh 12, Labu 6. For the best Test nation vs a B WIs side. That's poor.


TBF, only Sinclair has a good avg for WIs, of 64. McKenzie was 34.5. They had 3 more of 27-28. So, contribution scoring.

Labu is out of form and Green makes me nervous.

Green reminds me of early Marsh/Watto. On the edge of your seat til they get to about 30-35. And even then you're not comfortable.

It's frustrating, coz the talent was there for all of them, but they look like deer's in headlights.

At least his bowling took a big step forward in this Test. To the point where they didn't bowl Marsh.

There is growth, but F Me, can it be faster ....

My thoughts on Green have been made previously. He's been jerked around by CA trying to shoehorn him into every format. He needs some time at the crease to develop his game for Test level. Give him a decent run in 1st class cricket to work on his game and get some runs. The last thing he needed was exactly what they've done. Stick him straight back into the Test team at no4 with no cricket under his belt. Mind boggles that our highly paid experts running the team would make such a a move.

100%.
Looked very rusty in game 1.
Game 2 he gets a few catches, drops 1, a couple of wickets and a 40, though scratchy.

Interestingly the Sheffield Shield starts up this weekend. Same time as the ODI series against Windies. Of course they have Cameron Green in the ODI squad instead of getting some valuable time with the red ball. Gotta laugh.

[Azza]

Yeah they'll be regretting it in a year or two when, with a few further retirements, our batting completely goes down the toilet and we're losing tests left right and centre. Same thing happened around the 2010 mark, I'm expecting it to happen again.

[Matt]

Interestingly the Sheffield Shield starts up this weekend. Same time as the ODI series against Windies. Of course they have Cameron Green in the ODI squad instead of getting some valuable time with the red ball. Gotta laugh.

Yup... dumb

[Matt]

Yeah they'll be regretting it in a year or two when, with a few further retirements, our batting completely goes down the toilet and we're losing tests left right and centre. Same thing happened around the 2010 mark, I'm expecting it to happen again.

It could happen

[Azza]

Yeah they'll be regretting it in a year or two when, with a few further retirements, our batting completely goes down the toilet and we're losing tests left right and centre. Same thing happened around the 2010 mark, I'm expecting it to happen again.

It could happen

I think it will happen. We were in dire straits for a few years after the greats of the 00's retired, until eventually Smith started to find his feet as a batsman. Then Warner came into the side, and a few other things clicked and our batting became stronger. I can see the same cycle repeating.

[Northern Raider]

Yeah they'll be regretting it in a year or two when, with a few further retirements, our batting completely goes down the toilet and we're losing tests left right and centre. Same thing happened around the 2010 mark, I'm expecting it to happen again.

It could happen

I think it will happen. We were in dire straits for a few years after the greats of the 00's retired, until eventually Smith started to find his feet as a batsman. Then Warner came into the side, and a few other things clicked and our batting became stronger. I can see the same cycle repeating.

A lot will rely on Head and Labuschagne during the transition. They will be the senior members of the batting lineup. We're yet to establish who the other players are going to be.

Marsh has been very good since his recall. Average over 50 in that period. The true test will be whether he can sustain it for another 3-4 years. The infatuation with Green cannot last if he doesn't score runs. Next in line is tough to ID at this stage. I'm a huge fan of Aaron Hardie and would love to see him given a crack at no.5 or 6 if the opportunity presents.

[Matt]

Yeah they'll be regretting it in a year or two when, with a few further retirements, our batting completely goes down the toilet and we're losing tests left right and centre. Same thing happened around the 2010 mark, I'm expecting it to happen again.

It could happen

I think it will happen. We were in dire straits for a few years after the greats of the 00's retired, until eventually Smith started to find his feet as a batsman. Then Warner came into the side, and a few other things clicked and our batting became stronger. I can see the same cycle repeating.

A lot will rely on Head and Labuschagne during the transition. They will be the senior members of the batting lineup. We're yet to establish who the other players are going to be.

Marsh has been very good since his recall. Average over 50 in that period. The true test will be whether he can sustain it for another 3-4 years. The infatuation with Green cannot last if he doesn't score runs. Next in line is tough to ID at this stage. I'm a huge fan of Aaron Hardie and would love to see him given a crack at no.5 or 6 if the opportunity presents.

Yup, Smith and Uzi very much have the end in sight as they are 34 and 37. Carey and Marsh are both 32. So there might be a 3yrs left... maybe.

So the new core needs to revolve around Labu and Head as the senior 2, either side of 30, and Green at 24.

[Matt]

Marsh is the AB Medalist... why does that make me feel like we sucked this past 12months?!? And we won the Test Champs and a WC.

[Postman Pat]

Marsh is the AB Medalist... why does that make me feel like we sucked this past 12months?!? And we won the Test Champs and a WC.

Because as Australians in our 30’s/40’s(I’m assuming) we expect nothing but wins, we’ve been very blessed in the periods of crickets we’ve had the pleasure of watching.

We’re not as good as we used to be but we’re still the best in the world.

[-TW-]

Cause we're not winning by an innings every test and scoring 600 like they did in the mid 2000s

It's been refreshing to watch some cricket on tougher decks with lower scores where the game is still alive after Australia bats

[Matt]

Marsh is the AB Medalist... why does that make me feel like we sucked this past 12months?!? And we won the Test Champs and a WC.

Because as Australians in our 30’s/40’s(I’m assuming) we expect nothing but wins, we’ve been very blessed in the periods of crickets we’ve had the pleasure of watching.

We’re not as good as we used to be but we’re still the best in the world.

That's probably it.
I know he's been good this yr, but surely it was Cummins... weird

[julian87]

Cummins?

Head scored a century in the world test championship final and the World Cup final.

That alone should get the AB Medal, no questions asked imo.

[julian87]

And just on the earlier talk of the transitioning of this test team…. The Ashes showed the real glue of the side and the most irreplaceable player/person is Nathan Lyon.

There is no obvious way to try and ready Murphy or Sangha etc. We knew we’d never have another Warne but we’re also never going to have another Lyon.

I’d say his career and the way he is embedded in the Aussie culture will have the brains trust hoping he wants to keep playing through to 40 to try and ease the transition of the bowling unit.

[Postman Pat]

And just on the earlier talk of the transitioning of this test team…. The Ashes showed the real glue of the side and the most irreplaceable player/person is Nathan Lyon.

There is no obvious way to try and ready Murphy or Sangha etc. We knew we’d never have another Warne but we’re also never going to have another Lyon.

I’d say his career and the way he is embedded in the Aussie culture will have the brains trust hoping he wants to keep playing through to 40 to try and ease the transition of the bowling unit.

Unfortunately for Lyon he’ll never be seen as a great, even if he played until he’s 40 and gets 700 wickets he’ll never be seen in the same light a Warnie.

Shane’s shadow will cast as big a shadow as Bradman’s until generations that didn’t witness his career.

Stuey MaGill know all about Warnie’s shadow.

[-TW-]

They're almost too hard to compare.

Warnie single handedly revived leg spin bowling, which was falling away cause of how hard it is to bowl. Growing up I wanted to bowl leg spin cause of him, and I know plenty of other kids did too

Lyon is the best traditional off spinner of all time. The turn and bounce he's able to get I've never seen before, Ashwin probably has more subtle variations but Lyon just gets wickets with the amount of overspin he gets on the ball.

I've excluded Murali from that conversation as he had his own technique, rightly or wrongly.

[Azza]

Not sure how Darsh gets it over Head, but anyway…