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Topic: God help me - the Test Cricket thread (Read 84946 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #315
Anyone interested in class keeping then watch Englands Ben Foakes, there is daylight between Foakes and the other world keepers especially keeping to spinners. Given the emphasis on keepers being able to bat its reduced the standard of keeping IMHO but this bloke is the real deal and it must be politics keeping him out of the English team because he makes Butler and Bairstow look like hacks with the gloves and its not like he cant bat either.
Got robbed of a stumping too, forgot the Indian batsmans name but he had him cold with the bat on the line not behind it but the 3rd umpire didnt have the gonads to give it out as the Indian public would have disassembled the stands but it was out and brilliant keeping.
1000% in agreement here @ElwoodBlues1‍, the world has been conned by the career of Gilchrist!
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #316
Vics showing that some of the NSW test "stars" are no where near as good as they think they are.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #317
Vics showing that some of the NSW test "stars" are no where near as good as they think they are.
Individual games are swings and roundabouts, but to me it's clear being a welded on test player is not good for cricket in general. There isn't that much difference between Smith and the rest, not as much as the media and managers make out. I have much the same opinion about AFL players, if you sacked all the incumbents and replaced them with the next 750 in the pecking order you would hardly notice a difference after just one pre-season.

I'm not asking for babies to be thrown out with the bath water, but players have to have a fair crack at being selected or else we'll find fewer and fewer players interested in playing Test Class cricket for Australia, they'll become too jaded and end up IPL pros who are slowly removing themselves from Australian cricket, IPL and BBL is not Australian cricket.

In fact I'm not even sure T20 is cricket at all, you could well replace most bowlers with a machine and pitches with concrete runways!
The Force Awakens!

 

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #318
Faf Du Plessis just retired from test cricket to chase the T20 retirement dollars.
Graham Smith is right when saying the game now revolves around the big 3 cricket nations and the once strong South African team is a shadow of the old era that had AB, Steyn, Smith, S Pollock and crew. They may get some players back who signed Kolpak deals to play in England now that scheme is over which should give them more depth but we need a strong Saffie team to keep Test Cricket alive and have a voice in world cricket to help stop the Indian domination of the game.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #319
Needs a bloc of test teams to counter India's game dominance ... and how likely is that?


Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #320
Needs a bloc of test teams to counter India's game dominance ... and how likely is that?



Not likely when India unofficially underwrite the game and can attract/bribe the best players with offers too good to refuse.
Indian cricket is bordering on a reality series with Kholi a cricketing Kardashian and everyone else acting/playing along, none of the big money reaches the grass roots except in India.
When you see a team like South Africa get smashed by a Paki team of no names half of whom are probably on the take it just tells you what state the game is in.
Chris Gayle knew the future and gave test cricket away early, why knock yourself out when you can dress up in pretty colours, act like a rock star and collect the big dollars by playing the short formats around the world all underpinned by his status in the IPL.. Still playing at age 41...just too easy driving that Hummer around Jamaica and being the resident Snoop Dog, WTF would you want to play test cricket if you were a Windies kid..and we have India to thank for this demolition of Test Cricket and the weak ICC who just rubber stamp every tournament the Indians throw at them and change everyone else's calendar to suit.
The ICC and the WHO could swap seats and you wouldnt know the difference, both just puppet organisations beholding to their benefactors...

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #321
The Saffies were finished as soon as the quota system was introduced.  Disenfranchise the senior players and youre always kaput.   Heck,  Kallis had to leave to get a coaching job because of his colour.   There's one who you'd want in the tent,  not in the opposition's camp.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #322
The Saffies were finished as soon as the quota system was introduced.  Disenfranchise the senior players and youre always kaput.   Heck,  Kallis had to leave to get a coaching job because of his colour.   There's one who you'd want in the tent,  not in the opposition's camp.
Agree on the quota system, you never see their best team now, its ridiculous how they have to top up their team with players who are not good enough, just to make the quota. You pick the best team whether it be all black, all white or a mixture based on form and only form not the colour of your skin.
Kolpak contracts also robbed them of talent having players being able to play as local players in  English county cricket, they could probably field another team with the players who left for the bigger dollars.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #323
Agree on the quota system, you never see their best team now, its ridiculous how they have to top up their team with players who are not good enough, just to make the quota. You pick the best team whether it be all black, all white or a mixture based on form and only form not the colour of your skin.
Kolpak contracts also robbed them of talent having players being able to play as local players in  English county cricket, they could probably field another team with the players who left for the bigger dollars.

Welcome to 2021 where how good you are at your job doesnt matter so long as you have equal representation from all colours creeds and sexes.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #324
Welcome to 2021 where how good you are at your job doesnt matter so long as you have equal representation from all colours creeds and sexes.
It's driven by fear of litigation.

Lawyers do not have the Hypocritic Oath, doing no harm isn't even a consideration for them, maximising remuneration is the main issue!

What would Amal Clooney think if George and herself were replaced on quotas? But she doesn't have to worry that ever, because the laws she helped draft do not apply to her!
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #325
Yes... Quotas and the "diversity" issue.   I'm wondering who actually wins in that situation.

This has come up a bit lately in our household,  primarily discussions about role models.   Where are they these days?  Who are they?  For example, my son brought up the fact that he can't identify with any of the Australians of the Year group, and that every time he watches a Hollywood

-type movie the key figure is 35 kg model chick who acquires world class martial arts skills overnight,  with offsiders typically including a meathead alpha male, an attitude-saturated man hater, a black person and an Asian.   The other males are either pretty (and useless) window dressing or an unathletic, geeky tech type.  The protagonist is typically an greying,  middle aged man who is always (lacking back story)  evil, especially to women.  How many stereotypes can be served up in one setting!?!  In the rush to embrace "diversity" I fear we are actually disenfranchising great swathes of the community.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #326
Yes... Quotas and the "diversity" issue.   I'm wondering who actually wins in that situation.

This has come up a bit lately in our household,  primarily discussions about role models.   Where are they these days?  Who are they?  For example, my son brought up the fact that he can't identify with any of the Australians of the Year group, and that every time he watches a Hollywood

-type movie the key figure is 35 kg model chick who acquires world class martial arts skills overnight,  with offsiders typically including a meathead alpha male, an attitude-saturated man hater, a black person and an Asian.   The other males are either pretty (and useless) window dressing or an unathletic, geeky tech type.  The protagonist is typically an greying,  middle aged man who is always (lacking back story)  evil, especially to women.  How many stereotypes can be served up in one setting!?!  In the rush to embrace "diversity" I fear we are actually disenfranchising great swathes of the community.
The real issue with it, is we start to practice the exact sort of discrimination they fight against.

Imagine campaigning your whole life to smash the glass ceiling, only for them to prioritise the hiring of people who are not the best candidate available, but instead making the decision based on quotas and targets to have equal representation.

You went to university, but you are a heterosexual male who is married with two kids?  Really sorry, but you miss out on the job.  We need to hire someone who is either Aboriginal, or of Asian/African background, ideally a female, and ideally in a same sex relationship.  Birth gender being the opposite of the one you currently identify for bonus points and credentials just need to be somewhere close to your level of qualification and it will do.  Oh, no experience necessary in that case to.  You go straight to go.

Its not the society I was told we should be fostering.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #327
The real issue with it, is we start to practice the exact sort of discrimination they fight against.

Imagine campaigning your whole life to smash the glass ceiling, only for them to prioritise the hiring of people who are not the best candidate available, but instead making the decision based on quotas and targets to have equal representation.

You went to university, but you are a heterosexual male who is married with two kids?  Really sorry, but you miss out on the job.  We need to hire someone who is either Aboriginal, or of Asian/African background, ideally a female, and ideally in a same sex relationship.  Birth gender being the opposite of the one you currently identify for bonus points and credentials just need to be somewhere close to your level of qualification and it will do.  Oh, no experience necessary in that case to.  You go straight to go.

Its not the society I was told we should be fostering.
Humans are the problem.

A great example are some recent indigenous activists, some who turn to be not indigenous at all but accepted into a tribe, the rule being if the tribe says you are part of the tribe you qualify as indigenous. However, I noted that after recent public disputes some tribal elders are now questioning that individuals indigenous status, they are now seen as turncoats, they were really perhaps labelled "conveniently indigenous" for a cause that is no longer a priority!

What would Derrida think, woke isn't always what woke says it is, Indigenous today Euro or Imperialist tomorrow!

It's untenable to leave these definitions up to the opinions of people, but that is exactly where the law currently sits! Racism, persecution, oppression and discrimination is in the eye of the beholder!
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #328
Thry, that post is scarily close to home,  I've seen exactly that situation play out first hand within large Australian companies. 
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #329
Yes... Quotas and the "diversity" issue.  I'm wondering who actually wins in that situation.
Many of the academics that argue along the lines for quotas have academic "tenure", it's a huge contradiction!

Like Amal Clooney, they debate something that doesn't apply to them!
The Force Awakens!