God help me - the Cricket thread

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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1380 – November 23, 2024, 10:54:17 am

Today we have Starc defensive, and so he should;

Quote

But Starc, who finished with 2-14 from 11 overs but was somehow outperformed by Josh Hazlewood (4-29 from 13 overs) and Bumrah (4-17 from 10 overs), challenged suggestions that batting conditions across Australia were becoming harder.

“How many ways can you skin a cat? Bowlers are allowed to bowl good balls,” he said.

“When there’s a lot of runs, it’s like, ‘Oh, the bowlers bowled badly. When there’s wickets, the wickets are tough.’ (But) you are allowed to bowl good balls and maybe credit should go to both teams and bowlers.

On the batting conditions, they might be a tad tough at the moment, but batting at the top level has become very ordinary as the focus on IPL grows. Nobody is in for the long haul anymore, and techniques are crumbling without dead flat pitches to bully bowlers on. What we saw yesterday was frequent in the 60s, 70s and 80s but rare in the era of drop in pitches.

btw., It wasn't just our bowlers that had an ordinary day, I though Cummins captaincy was again off the mark, he is quite variable having good days and bad days that are miles apart, yesterday he was ordinary in control of the field and bowler focus. Perhaps as team we got sucked in by the falling wickets, we obviously thought we were better than we were and now we had reality restored!

You never judge until both sides have a bat!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1381 – November 23, 2024, 11:37:03 am

I'm inclined to go with Mitch Starc's assessment of the bowling and the pitch:

“There was a fair bit of good bowling today. Obviously there was enough in the wicket and probably felt it was a hardball pitch. If you can get through the testing period, it does get slightly easier. The outfield is probably the slowest we have seen for a long time.”

Greg Baum, in today's Age, has a similar view, but he does raise the IPL impact on batting in the context of Reddy reverse sweeping Lyon.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/blink-and-you-ll-miss-it-after-17-wickets-already-the-perth-test-will-only-speed-up-from-here-20241122-p5ksud.html

Glenn McGrath was talking yesterday about how Bumrah's release point means that the ball gets to the batsman a lot quicker than the measured ball speed would suggest and Starc made the same point in his presser:

“He has obviously got a fair bit of upper extension in that elbow and does things a lot of actions won’t let you do. There is no surprise that he has been a fantastic bowler across formats. There is something in that release point that’s significant. It’s something a lot of people can’t do. I am certainly not going to try it. I will probably snap.”

I think that a critical factor in this test will be the time spent in the field. India's bowlers had one session in the field and will come out refreshed this morning and looking to knock over our tail inside the session. If India can bat more resolutely in their second innings, they will have a reasonable target to defend with a bowling attack that has barely worked up a sweat. However, the pitch is supposed to be a lot quicker today.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1382 – November 23, 2024, 12:27:04 pm

Watching yesterday it struck me that Bumrah's bowling is like a fast version of a spinner, the way his wrist rotates and rolls instead of snapping. He'd be awful to face as his release point isn't like other pace bowlers, it's a little bit out of sync. His lack of a "gather" rushes the batsman as well. Plus he tends to bowl fuller. Very difficult customer to face, in a lot of ways like Steyn with the economic run up etc.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1383 – November 23, 2024, 01:02:21 pm

Quote from: Professer E – on November 23, 2024, 12:27:04 pm

Watching yesterday it struck me that Bumrah's bowling is like a fast version of a spinner, the way his wrist rotates and rolls instead of snapping. He'd be awful to face as his release point isn't like other pace bowlers, it's a little bit out of sync. His lack of a "gather" rushes the batsman as well. Plus he tends to bowl fuller. Very difficult customer to face, in a lot of ways like Steyn with the economic run up etc.

We’ve seen plenty of fast bowlers with “different” actions and Max “Tanglefoot” Walker, “Froggy” Thompson and Jeff Thompson spring to mind. Their actions must have added an extra degree of difficulty for the batters.

Bumrah is a level above that and I don’t think we’ve seen a bowler with an action anything like his. On top of that, he bowls aggressively, accurately and sticks to a plan. As you say Prof, a very difficult customer to face.

That said, our batting coach should be all over it.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1384 – November 23, 2024, 02:44:31 pm

The WA pitch preparers have a lot to answer for, outsmarted themselves by creating a weapon that has been used against us. You won't ever see the Indians doing that on the sub continent. Idiots.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1385 – November 23, 2024, 04:22:51 pm

Quote from: Professer E – on November 23, 2024, 12:27:04 pm

Plus he tends to bowl fuller.

It's a pitch that is seaming and we wasted a lot of deliveries pitched too short, the further back you pitch the ball the more time players have to adjust to seaming. The one thing you must do on a seaming pitch is get the length correct.

It was rubbish tactics, we looked like rank amateurs.

Between the too short rubbish, and deliveries straying onto leg stump, we must be wasting 20% or 30% of the balls being bowled.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1386 – November 23, 2024, 05:16:57 pm

Quote from: Gointocarlton – on November 23, 2024, 02:44:31 pm

The WA pitch preparers have a lot to answer for, outsmarted themselves by creating a weapon that has been used against us. You won't ever see the Indians doing that on the sub continent. Idiots.

New Zealand knocked them over on their home decks with a combo of pace and spin. We should be pulverizing them as they are on the slide but so are we it seems...

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1387 – November 23, 2024, 05:58:01 pm

If Mitch Marsh is currently the best all rounder in Oz, we're f****d. Time to p*ss this pie chucker off, he's wasting everyone's time. Can't be relied upon. The fact that we have to bowl Marnus is a glaring indictment.
Time to give somebody else a go ... Neser, Wakim etc
And if Cummins wasn't captain I'd drop him...look disinterested and bowled utter rubbish.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1388 – November 23, 2024, 07:53:52 pm

Match is gone, weren't mentally or physically prepared and played like they don't give a toss

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1389 – November 23, 2024, 09:28:24 pm

Quote from: Professer E – on November 23, 2024, 05:58:01 pm

If Mitch Marsh is currently the best all rounder in Oz, we're f****d. Time to p*ss this pie chucker off, he's wasting everyone's time. Can't be relied upon. The fact that we have to bowl Marnus is a glaring indictment.
Time to give somebody else a go ... Neser, Wakim etc
And if Cummins wasn't captain I'd drop him...look disinterested and bowled utter rubbish.

As with a few of the Indian players we have players at the backend of their careers more interested in making a dollar through IPL and other activities outside test cricket and we are seeing a drop off in interest and intensity. Think we had the idea that we could just rock up after India's poor NZ series and with Kholi and crew out of form and minus their captain Sharma and usual nemesis in Shami that we would knock them over without too much effort especially after their poor first innings.
M. Marsh has been ok in recent series but looks injured again and if he cant bowl for any normal length of time then you cant pick him much like the bloke he replaced in Green who also cant be relied upon fitness wise.
We should have been blooding another opener last ashes series and not doing it now, letting Warner go on and on was a mistake and we needed a settled batting lineup. Fecking around with Smith as an opener was another mistake and now he is older he doesnt have the eye to straddle the crease and hit everything to leg and is getting caught LBW more regularly and he needs runs this series to hold his place imo.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1390 – November 24, 2024, 09:09:27 pm

Our team is simply past it. Too many guys playing on reputations that recent form does not reflect. The disaster in Perth has been years coming, but it has been coming for some time.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1391 – November 24, 2024, 10:35:13 pm

I suspect they will give them another go, but after that, Harris may come in, move McSweeney down, Marnus needs to find some form in the shield. Smith needs a big rest of the series. Sydney may be it for him.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1392 – November 24, 2024, 11:36:50 pm

I suspect that the Indians won’t be complaining about the pitch.

They have found a player in Jaiswal!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1393 – November 25, 2024, 07:56:26 am

The bloke who CA pitched the future on retired after one test. Then the numpties doubled down by giving Warner a couple of seasons too many and ignored the future. Blokes have been overlooked to stick with the same group, who unfortunately are almost all on the downslope of their careers.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1394 – November 25, 2024, 08:47:13 am

I wouldn't be going back to the tried an failed either ie Harris, Bancroft.....we need to find young players and start off another era not just plug holes for a season or two.
NZ and India have both given opportunities to younger players and even England have gone younger and moved on older players.