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Topic: God help me - the Test Cricket thread (Read 262495 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #735 –
Agree 100% EB, other than Marnus our batting is technically awful and decent bowling - spin or pace - shows it up very quickly.  The art of batting has been lost - playing yourself in, batting to the flow of the game etc. 

And I agree the pitch was bowler friendly, but the batting was awful. Simply awful. If Australia had of bowled well on day one instead of tolerably SA could have been for far, far fewer.  I don't think either side played well - batting ineptitude was the main thing I took from the test.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #736 –
Quote from: DJC – on
One of the ABC commentators, a former Aussie women's cricketer I believe, played down criticism of the pitch  and gave the bowlers, from both teams, all of the credit.  She said that she didn't think any dismissals were the result of poor batting, just good bowling.
Shizen, when you go back to the replays and see some of the gaps left between bat and pad it's hard to agree with that assessment, seriously some blokes were missing pills that barely deviated by almost two stumps!

I must admit, in live action I thought the bowling was better than expected, on review the batting was awful. They were batting like the bowlers were throwing grenades at them!

Boland stated after the match that they(Aussie bowlers) thought the pitch quickened up a bit in the 2nd day, but batting got worse! :o
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #737 –
Quote from: Professer E – on
Agree 100% EB, other than Marnus our batting is technically awful and decent bowling - spin or pace - shows it up very quickly.  The art of batting has been lost - playing yourself in, batting to the flow of the game etc. 

And I agree the pitch was bowler friendly, but the batting was awful. Simply awful. If Australia had of bowled well on day one instead of tolerably SA could have been for far, far fewer.  I don't think either side played well - batting ineptitude was the main thing I took from the test.
Agree...Marnus is probably the best technically but I thought he too looked rattled when it was quick and lifting, techniques are a long way off what they were in the eighties and it was an era dominated by quick bowling and you had to get in behind the ball, get your head in the right position and watch the ball while getting your bat out the road at times and all without the luxury of a helmet in the early part of that era.
The pitch was bowler friendly but had even bounce and the sideways movement was acceptable and not extreme.
Not sure what Elgar was on about with is unsafe criticism, no one got hit and it was his bowlers dealing out the short stuff in the main anyway. Their batting is horrible and with no one averaging over 40 in the team its not hard to figure out why they got rolled so cheaply twice and it wasnt the pitch. As you say building an innings and grinding your way through seems old school now and bazball has given an excuse for poor techniques and poor shot selection to be tolerated under the guise of entertainment.
Test cricket being turned into short format cricket doesnt do much for me and it wont be long before 5 day games become 3 day games if the present standards continue.
South Africa are planning on playing less test cricket and having their own IPL style league because they need the money which is coming from Indian IPL owners and its hard to see them being competitive in test cricket looking into the future.
Only Australia, India and England will be able to afford and provide a proper test format in terms of competitive cricket played in the traditional way and cricket purists who see test cricket as the ultimate level of the game are going to get robbed of that pleasure.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #738 –
It is almost like batsmen haven't played against a moving ball.  It would be interesting to look at historic stats (eg Siddons, Lehmann, Love days when they couldn't get a game). for a comparison in Sheffield Shield.  Season to date:

18 Games played, 64 innings - 10 wins (outright), 8 draws
7 scores above 400 - of these 5 matches have resulted in a draw

Total runs first innings - 4,649 (average team innings of 258.27) batsman average of 27.67
Total runs second innings - 3,500 - team average 194.44, batsman average 24.47

There seems to be a lot of results - maybe that is some of the issue that batting time doesn't necessarily get a result, so may as well hit out or get out.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #739 –
"It is almost like batsmen haven't played against a moving ball" - an almost exact quote of Richie Benaud regarding the Australian team performance against Richard Hadlee in Brisbane (1985 I think).

Some of the comments about techniques are interesting - go watch some of the footage of the 1980's and you will see just as many poor players, particularly in the Australian line-up.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #740 –
I wouldn't dream of stealing Richie's work - had no idea!  Yep 15 wickets for that match - not bad.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #741 –
Been a lot of undercooked wickets in the shield this year, not surprising given the very wet spring this year.  Soft wickets have been the norm at club level too.  Queensland is notorious for early season greentops, but mid December is much later than usual.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #742 –
They bitch and moan about the pitch, having scored nearly 600 run between them in less than two days!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #743 –
Bazball wins again Pakistan...will be a record 3-0 defeat for the Pakis at home who are about as competitive as the West Indies. Test cricket clearly not a priority  there  and that manic support they had at home isn't there either.
We are watching the sad demise of test cricket unless something changes....

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #744 –
While it is quoting former top level bowlers, I have to say I agree with the general comments in this Rage Article;
Quote
The mental and technical approach of batsmen who struggled in the two-day Gabba Test have been questioned by former bowling greats Jason Gillespie, Merv Hughes, Geoff Lawson and Daniel Vettori after Australia’s six-wicket win.

Gillespie, now coach of South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers, suggested most batsmen had been mentally defeated by the green colour of the pitch and the quality of the opposing pace attack before they went out to bat.
I think much of the Gabba wicket hysteria is coming from people who think T20 pitches are fair cricket.

To me that is more of a commentary about the state of test batting than the pitch!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #745 –
Don't get the hype around Green.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #746 –
Quote from: Professer E – on
Don't get the hype around Green.
Agreed, bit at this stage he's just a kid in cricket terms.

He needs to start piling on the runs because he's really just a utilitarian bowler at this stage, he's not that destructive and he does tend to let the pressure out.

In my experience young bowlers either have it when they are young or they don't, I've never come across a young bowler that develops an explosive / destructive streak as they develop. They tend to develop consistency and control, not the explosive part!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #747 –
Quote from: Professer E – on
Don't get the hype around Green.
Prof...3 mill plus at the IPL based on promise more than stats, his place in the Aus short format teams isnt really cemented and at test level his batting is iffy imho, bowls at a good pace and swings the ball away well for a 5th bowler which makes him a handy package but nothing outstanding as yet other than his gully/slip fielding which is very good.
Simon ODonnell was in the press recently questioning his place at No 6, good thing for Green is there isnt another of his type pressing for that allrounder role in Aus at the minute.
@LP..I think he tends to let the pressure of when he bowls because the opposition see him as light relief after facing the other primary bowlers and tend to play a few more shots when he is bowling.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #748 –
He took five today but gees his first two spells were rubbish.  I thought it was a very poor day of test cricket, very average batting, bowling and fielding (I'm looking at you Usman).
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #749 –
Quote from: Professer E – on
Don't get the hype around Green.

Green is the all rounder we’ve been crying out for for decades.

Greg Chappell identified him as the best batting prospect in years and he can consistently bowl at over 140kph with good control … and his fielding is damn good.

Cricket Australia showed remarkable foresight to sign him up before he could be lured to footy.
It's still the Gulf of Mexico, Don Old!