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Topic: God help me - the Test Cricket thread (Read 856926 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1725 –
What an incredible Test match!

Wonderful bowling from Starc and Boland, and a decent effort from Doggett, got us back in with a chance.

Khawaja’s crook back worked to our advantage and Travis Head was brilliant.  Not only did he set up victory with his remarkable century but he dragged Marnus along in his wake and the latter finally seems to have rediscovered the form of his early career.

Cricket Australia might forego projected revenue but I think we have some exciting and unpredictable Test matches to come.  I would take a day 2 win over a day 5 draw every time 🙂
"Negative waves are not helpful. Try saying something righteous and hopeful instead." Oddball

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1726 –
Intent was a touch different between batting day 1 vs. Day 2.
English bowling, which was as good as day one, was putrid day 2.  Pace was down and tactics abysmal.  Fast short and wide is dumb, and they just doubled down on it.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1727 –
By day 2 Archer was cooked, give him back to back tests and some long spells and he'll be bowling as fast as me. I loved what Boycott said about the prime of the English batting lineup dissolved in the time it took to make a pot of tea. Wonderful knock from Head and I'm glad I watch it.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1728 –
Quote from: bratblue – on
By day 2 Archer was cooked, give him back to back tests and some long spells and he'll be bowling as fast as me. I loved what Boycott said about the prime of the English batting lineup dissolved in the time it took to make a pot of tea. Wonderful knock from Head and I'm glad I watch it.
I noticed the same thing, by his 2nd spell on day two he was walking like a 90 year old.

How much is fitness, and how much is headspace. Personally, I think T20 has made a lot them soft as butter, they get too much money for doing too little, and playing a test is like a plumber ditching the mini digger to go back to the pick and shovel at half the pay rate.

You can thank the BB and BOCC, the country that loves cricket has pretty much f0rked the traditional game!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1729 –
Another outstanding performance from Mitch Starc that takes him past Wasim Akram with most wickets by a left arm quick.  Starc did it in fewer Tests but probably had the advantage of faster, bouncier pitches.

Another wicket in his first over too!

The Poms have built a decent total though, with Root finally getting a century here.  Our batsmen are going to have work a lot harder than they did in Perth. 

Khawaja out is a step in the right direction but replacing him with Inglis?
"Negative waves are not helpful. Try saying something righteous and hopeful instead." Oddball

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1730 –
Quote from: DJC – on
Khawaja out is a step in the right direction but replacing him with Inglis?
The squad is welded in, looking at Shield form right now you'd have to say Inglis is bit lucky, but perhaps Australia is buying into the Bazball ideology a bit more than fans would like.

To me the Poms look brittle, if an old fashioned test batsmen comes out and makes 300 against them they look to me like they'll disintegrate.

I wasn't that impressed with how we finished the day, nor was I impressed with Smith's captaincy, his field setting was downright lunacy. He set fields like a bloke who did not want to go out and bat last night. D-Grade muck, suburban cricket clubs would sack a captain for that rubbish.

I'm a bit disillusioned with the selection policy as well, if true then no wonder Lyon is miffed. The Gabba is a known wicket taking venue for quality spinners because the good spinners get wickets with bounce. All in all, it doesn't come across to me as a Test Cricket mentality, it's looking more like a dog and bone(dog and pony) show.
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1731 –
Agree - as soon as we thought England were going to declare, went stupidly defensive, which gave them so many free and easy runs and zero pressure.

The notion of not even 25 overs a session is abhorrent to everyone but the players out there.  Part of test cricket is that you need to manage bowlers in order to get through 90 overs in a day - taking into account DRS and time that the batting team wastes - they need to be accountable as well.  The penalties could be runs - 10 runs for every late over.

Selection is a mess.  It doesn't really seem as if they have batting plans - I'm certainly not convinced Head is an opener or that Ingliss is of the right quality! And they obviously don't know who they want to bowl - Starc, Neser, Boland, Doggett and Green - only slight variation.  Lyon would have been handy to get through some overs and offer something different.  Through the fixturing of domestic cricket, often there is little exposed red ball form leading into the test series - better this year, but there don't seem to be great standouts.  Having said that, the only change to the team really needed to be a bat in for Khawaja.

Imagine playing a game where when it is your turn to do the thing that you are paid very well to do, you say 'No thanks.  We'll wait until it's a bit easier and we'll slow the game down ridiculously in order to not do what I get paid to"  How many more free runs will they get today...

Congratulations to Starc.  His form has been pretty solid for a while now, and is getting rewards.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1732 –
Quote from: dodge – on
Congratulations to Starc.  His form has been pretty solid for a while now, and is getting rewards.
Agree, credit when it is due.

I admit I'm not a Starc fan, basically because to me he is a 1 good game in 3 player, but he has been consistently good the last few tests, more so than at any time in the past. It's almost like something has clicked as he nears the end of his career, Pink Floyd wrote Time for a reason.
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"
 

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1733 –
It certainly makes a difference when you go into a Test with two openers with a positive, get on with the job, attitude.

There was an interesting discussion about wangers on the wireless before play started.  Boof explained how relying on wangers at practice got batsmen looking in the wrong direction and not being able to judge a bowled ball's trajectory.  He wasn't saying that they should be used but that it's easy to overuse them.

I'm a fan of Nathan Lyon but his petulance about being left out of the Test is over the top.  He bowled two overs in Perth (admittedly there wasn't much opportunity for more) and the pace bowlers did the job.  You certainly couldn't leave out Starc, Boland or Doggett and Neser did OK.  Lyion should take a leaf out of Boland's book and take the rough with the smooth.

"Negative waves are not helpful. Try saying something righteous and hopeful instead." Oddball

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #1734 –
A bit of mutual admiration from probably the two best left arm quicks to have played Test cricket:

Starc declined to call himself the GOAT of left-arm pace, saying Wasim Akram was "still a far better bowler than I am."

While Akram tweeted, "Super Starc! Proud of you, mate. Your incredible hard work sets you apart, and it was only a matter of time before you crossed my tally of wickets . I am pleased to give this to you! Go well, and keep soaring to new heights in your stellar career."
"Negative waves are not helpful. Try saying something righteous and hopeful instead." Oddball