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Topic: God help me - the Test Cricket thread (Read 86888 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #660 –
Quote from: capcom on
Might be time to think about calling it a day Warner ....
I'm not opposed to blokes like Warner extending their career, but I am opposed to welded on selection, it should be more of a horses for courses, just as winning a spot shouldn't mean long term tenure, losing your spot should not mean oblivion.

I think Head is a prime example of this, he is a guy who's bread and butter is square of the wicket, and they play him on pitches that have variable bounce, it just doesn't make sense. Possibly the ACB think sending him to Pakistan is a reward for effort, is it a reward or punishment?
 
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #661 –
I'm not sure why folk want to see the back of Warner.  Is it because Khawaja is doing OK and another whipping boy is required?
“Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?”  Oddball

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #662 –
Because he's got old batsman disease.   Patchy form and inconsistency.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #663 –
Quote from: Professer E on
Because he's got old batsman disease.  Patchy form and inconsistency.
Yes it's a huge problem, because of the way we haven't given enough opportunities to the types like Green. You can see it coming Warner, Hazelwood, Lyon, Smith, Starc, Marsh, Khawaja even a relative newbie like Boland, they are all going to shuffle off in quick succession.

FFS, look at Payne's replacement Carey, he is already 30 years old and they talk about him like he is a newbie with a long career ahead of him, when it's more likely he only has a few years left!

When I discuss this I get labelled ageist, but in fact the way the ACB has behaved is the exact opposite, it's an old boys club, but I suppose you could say as much about cricket as an institution in general. Even this week Bob Simpson was being used as an example of "potential longevity", is respect to the potential for selecting 30 year olds, but the bulk of his career was played in a era when 12 to 18 tests a year was the total playing demand.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #664 –
Pakistan crumble 7 gone for 20 .... we might win this series yet. 

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #665 –
Quote from: capcom on
Pakistan crumble 7 gone for 20 .... we might win this series yet.
The series is being defined by Pakistanis batting collapses, the Pakistan inconsistency is more influential than Australian performance.

It's like Australia just have to hang in long enough for the Pakistanis to self-destruct, those of us with a long term interest in the game will see this as quite a contradiction given the history of Pakistan cricket tends to be built in the grind.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #666 –
On the evidence, it was fantastic bowling by Cummins / Starc that put us where we are now.

They were completely outclassed.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #667 –
Reverse swing is a real weapon when bowlers are bowling around 145 clicks. That produces late swing and little time for batsmen to adjust. And the dirt around the pitch provides a perfect means of preparing the ball for reverse swing. Well thrown returns to the keeper on the bounce on that abrasive surface accelerate the process.

It's funny that ball tampering is okay as long as it's not achieved using obvious tactics like sandpaper. But it has my seal of approval as it has provided some balance to the battle between bat and ball given the improvements in bats these days. Imagine how lifeless this series would be without reverse swing.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #668 –
When a team loses 5 wickets for 4 runs is it really related to the bowling?

See here below, some of the deliveries swung from the arm and others barely get off straight!

https://youtu.be/TW1DJWNJ-uo?t=321
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #669 –
The presence of reverse swing is like a pitch providing sideways movement: it unsettles the batters and forces them to change their way of doing things. Just as the arm ball can bring a batter undone on a spinning pitch, reverse swinging deliveries can bring batters undone when they play for reverse swing that doesn't happen. Not that this is what happened here as to me there was movement. It doesn't have to swing much, particularly to bring slips into play.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #670 –
I guess the bookies didnt want another draw, couple of quick phone calls to the Paki dressing room, agree on a price and make it look like it was reverse swing. More chance of Putin pulling out of Ukraine than getting an honest game of cricket on the continent...
Imran of course to busy buddying up with Vlad the invader than worrying about cricket....

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #671 –
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 on
I guess the bookies didnt want another draw, couple of quick phone calls to the Paki dressing room, agree on a price and make it look like it was reverse swing. More chance of Putin pulling out of Ukraine than getting an honest game of cricket on the continent...
Imran of course to busy buddying up with Vlad the invader than worrying about cricket....
It seems we share an unbounded love for cynicism relating to continental cricket, is it justified, maybe so!

Some in the media today are pointing to the vulnerability of the Pakistanis to genuine quick bowling, but painting that perspective relies on the ignorance of the general public to the truth that Pakistan Cricket is overloaded with young tearaway quicks as a result of it having a dedicated local academy, modelled on the similar MRF Academy setup by Lillee in India, many of the young Pakistanis quicks bowl faster than Cummins or Starc. The players are exposed to them in local competitions as well as the PSL.

Really, this collapse and the one in the test before it are mystifying. Batting the opposition bowlers down to their knee stubs is Pakistan bread and butter cricket.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #672 –
Quote from: LP on
It seems we share an unbounded love for cynicism relating to continental cricket, is it justified, maybe so!

Some in the media today are pointing to the vulnerability of the Pakistanis to genuine quick bowling, but painting that perspective relies on the ignorance of the general public to the truth that Pakistan Cricket is overloaded with young tearaway quicks as a result of it having a dedicated local academy, modelled on the similar MRF Academy setup by Lillee in India, many of the young Pakistanis quicks bowl faster than Cummins or Starc. The players are exposed to them in local competitions as well as the PSL.
Agree...the Big Bash here has also fostered some young Paki quicks who have gone onto play in the Test team and there is no shortage of pace bowlers in the Paki version of the Big Bash either who bowl at good pace.
I'm just cynical of anything Pakistan and India serve up in the way of collapses, dodgy wickets, dodgy umpires etc.
Imran was all about straightening the game out at home as well as the politics when he came to power in Pakistan but quickly found out the country doesnt operate very well that way and has sold out like the previous regimes to graft and corruption.
His recent visit to see Vlad and refusal to acknowledge the aggression in Ukraine tells you where Imran's politics and moral compass is pointing these days....

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #673 –
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 on
Imran was all about straightening the game out at home as well as the politics when he came to power in Pakistan but quickly found out the country doesnt operate very well that way and has sold out
Sold out or given up?

Until Pakistan education becomes widely available to both sexes and all income levels nothing will change, it's too easy for the same old same olds to hang onto their old ways, they offered boiled lollies to the starving. Even this tour the relocation of the remaining games to Lahore is a prime example. Imran doesn't even exhibit control his own backyard and cannot stop a grass roots uprising. We should all be worried and remind ourselves that Pakistan has nuclear capacity.

FWIW, I've seen similar issues in Indonesia. I'm a long long term advocate of Australia doing more and more with Indonesia, but I have no illusions about how hard that will be. However, in my opinion it's still a better long term option than China because of fundamental differences in social values between China and Indonesia.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #674 –
Quote from: LP on
When a team loses 5 wickets for 4 runs is it really related to the bowling?

In this day's play?  Yep, they were beaten, all ends up