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21
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Name your team for Opening Round
Last post by PaulP -
Forwards :
McKay
Motlop
Williams
Hayward
Kemp
Moir

Mids + Ruck :
Pittonet
Cripps
Hewett
Walsh
Cerra
Smith

Defenders :
Weitering
Newman
Haynes
Dean
Florent
Cowan

Interchange : Evans, Byrne, McGovern,  O Hollands, Ainsworth

You could select a few combinations and still have a decent team. I found it tougher to select a starting line up than I have in several years.
23
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by LP -
The media are jumping on Stokes pitch criticism, but he is speaking with a forked tongue.

Stokes and his coach know all too well that to have any chance of winning a series let alone the odd test, the Bazball regime needs dead flat pitches. So what do the media and public expect, to hear him praising pitches with a bit of bowler assistance?

Bazball is basically cross bat cricket, deviation, turn or variable bounce are it's natural enemy.

The tragedy of the MCG Test is that the Aussies went soft letting the Poms win against the trend, they've used the pitch criticism as cover for their own abhorrent lacklustre play! When stoicism was needed to crush the opponents hope, we folded and left the doors open.
24
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Name your team for Opening Round
Last post by LP -
I doubt OH falls behind Chesser or Cottrell in the pecking order, Carroll might struggle.

So much depends on our game plan for 2026, it must surely change but to what exactly, we have no idea as yet!

Plus, there going to be an extra bench spot for 2026 so I'm sure one of them will be a ruck or KPP?
25
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: Name your team for Opening Round
Last post by JonDorotich -
Newman, Weitering McGovern
Saad Haynes Florent
Cottrell Cripps Chesser
Ainsworth McKay Motlop
Hayward Kemp Williams

Reidy Hewett Walsh

Cerra, Smith, Cowan, Carroll

Side looks well balanced however it’s clear that unless one of McGovern, Haynes, Dean or Kemp stands up as a key defender we’ll be exposed.  Other concerns are our ability to defend clever/strong small forwards & the durability of Cottrell & Chesser who could provide much needed pace.

All of Cripps, Weitering, Smith, Hewett, Walsh, Kemp, McKay, Cerra, Hayward, Saad and possibly McGovern have the ability to make the AA squad so let’s hope we see at least half of them get there.

Unlucky not to make the side  - Okeefe (could swap with Kemp), Dean (could swap with Haynes or McGovern), Lord, Pittonet, Acres, Boyd, Hollands, Moir & Evans
26
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by DJC -
The preponderance of T20 cricket has virtually eliminated the forward defensive shot from most batsmen's toolkits.  With its demise has gone the ability to protect one's wicket and build an innings.

27
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by crashlander -
Well, that was embarrassing. Losing a test in less than 2 days is never a good look, but the carnage to Cricket Australia for missing out on 3 extra days crowd may actually cause something worthwhile.

[1] The pitch could have been better. Leaving the grass 3 mm longer than last year is going to be hard to justify.
On the other hand, the pitch did not cause all of the batting woes.

[2] None of the batting was worth watching, but the Australian batting was particularly poor. To be out twice in less than 1 day's play is simply unacceptable.

[3] The Australian team was definitely still on holiday. There was no fight, no persistence and not a lot of thinking in our batting.

[4] Our line-up:
(a) If Khawaja, who has been our opener, is playing, then why didn't he open?
(b) Cam Green: he didn't bowl much (less than 1 over), his batting was faecal and he didn't do much in the field. Why is he there if that is how he is going to play?
(c) What has happened to Jhye Richardson? He used to bowl at 145 - 150 km/h. He didn't get anywhere near that. He got 2 wickets in the last innings, but really didn't impress. Very disappointing.
(d) Jake Weatherald: what has happened to him? His form has been ordinary, after an excellent start.
(e) Marnus Labuschagne: he has also fallen off the cliff after a good start. Where is the persistence he showed getting his spot back?

[5] England's style of playing: why did it work today and not before? They haven't improved that much. They betted like it was a 20-over game!
28
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by LP -
You could see the complaining apologists setting up for the barrage of pitch related excuses yesterday, and as you mentioned it came overnight.

These people are apologists for sh1t cricket, they expect the batsmen to be delivered billiard tables not a turf pitch.

Go back to the days of playing on the hession matting and it'll give this lot something to really complain about! Back in the day when 1st class was rained out, we would play against test bowlers who would come back to grade cricket to run out the cobwebs on the mats. We played in one such game where a certain bloke bowled short on the mats for 6 byes.

In Benaud's day, tests were played on hession mats when the pitch was deemed unsafe.

Yesterday's pitch was a good 1st day wicket 10, 20 and 30 years ago, now in the T20 era it's labelled a death trap by some extremists who think batsmen have the right to run at the express bowler regardless of the conditions. It's sh1t cricket, and as sad as I am hearing about Border losing the plot he's probably saved from watching yesterday's rubbish!
29
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by DJC -
The pitch copped it overnight … but the batsmen’s technique and decision-making and the bowlers’ planning and execution didn’t change.

The only discussion about the pitch that I recall from the commentary was that batting would become easier as the pitch hardened over the next couple of days and that the ball was carrying through to the keeper more in the last session.

I think that for the cricket media, as opposed to commentators who have batted/bowled on the pitch in question, 20 wickets in a day must mean dodgy pitch rather than poor batting/good bowling.
30
The Sports Desk / Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread
Last post by Professer E -
No there was a lot of "poor pitch" comments from the pommie media, I agree with the comments above, our batting was putrid...we batted like millionaires.
Weatherald...poor shot, again.
Marnus is not batting well, but got a good one.
Head chopped on to a ball too tight to cut (did this multiple times)
Khawaja jumped in the air and poked at it instead of using his feet. Finished.
Green ran himself out (plain stupid).
Carey fell for a trap (also stupid).
Tail batted mindlessly.

Pommies batted like they couldn't wait to get on a plane home quick enough.
So a lot of poor mindset coupled with a soft pitch due to rubbish weather. Maybe 7 mm of grass would have been better.