2011-12 Summer of Cricket

[Jiminee]

Think man of the match is done by that Vodafone app vote thingy so it is naturally going to skew heavily to Australian players.

[Hazelb]

Yeah, sure Warner played well but it should have gone to Bracewell.

Sorry..6 for on a deck dominated by the ball doesnt come close to a hundred in my opinion, which clearly was a stand out performance under the circumstances and approx double anyone else's score.....

I too have been impressed by Warner, maybe he can cut it..

Hughes - has to go now,hes been given heaps of chances..and he should check his medicine cabinet...that was the funniest thing i have heard in ages!
Ponting, I think he should give it away....been a great player, move over let some youth in - Marsh back, Lewis's look alike to be given a summer to show what hes got.
Hussey - unsure, he had such a great summer last year...
Haddin - times up...Wade or Paine...
Siddle - good work horse,
Pattinson - Unsure, hard to judge against a second rate opp. Shows promise though.
Lyon - may have found one with him.
Starc..not sure...

Great game of cricket...all wickets should be that shade of green!

[VTRacing]

Fair enough, Haze.

[Hazelb]

Just my thoughts VT...no doubt Bracewell bowled well..I wasn't surprise though that DW was MOTM

I reckon the Indians will whip our ARSEs....

[VTRacing]

Yeah, no dramas. It's a fair point.

[Bauer]

anyone watching the big bash? I only have free to air TV so I dont get it.

I did however listen to tonights game via ABC's broadcast online. I like listening to a good game while Im trawling through the internet and I certainly enjoyed tonights game.

I have a work mate in Sydney who signed up as a member to the Thunder and since I dont like my state capital, I will support the Sydney Thunder too.

On topic yet a side note, I absolutely love T20 cricket at state level. I love the IPL as well and love how the Champions league works. I think we can be on a winner with this city based stuff too. But I dont like T20 at international level. Never have and though I watch it, I never will like it. If I had my way, domestic 50 over cricket would be phased out leaving a shorter version of the game (T20 and 4 day Shield cricket) for the national series and the longer version (50 over and test) to the international teams.

[c.j]

Nicely played today by the Aussies. Some excellent bowling, I hope they finish strong.

[Dr. Pain]

If it wasn't for the two players who everyone said should be dropped (Hussey and Ponting) then we would have been screwed in the second innings. They are making runs.

Today's focus is more on the short versions and you can't practice for a test via 20/20 or one day. You need 4 day games. Also there should be a minimum of 12 tests per calendar year. Big Bash is a sideshow and it should not stop the Sheffield Shield from running. If they are short of players then blood some new guys in 4 day games.

[Hazelb]

If it wasn't for the two players who everyone said should be dropped (Hussey and Ponting) then we would have been screwed in the second innings. They are making runs.

Today's focus is more on the short versions and you can't practice for a test via 20/20 or one day. You need 4 day games. Also there should be a minimum of 12 tests per calendar year. Big Bash is a sideshow and it should not stop the Sheffield Shield from running. If they are short of players then blood some new guys in 4 day games.

Well said, both punter and mr cricket saved the Aussies arses yesterday...I've always said, if you have nothing better to replace them with then leave them there..

Wd Aussies

[norbs]

So if you perform once every couple of years, that is enough to stay in the side?

1 hundred and an average of 35 over the last 24 months. Piss poor effort Ponting.

Like they say, it is harder to be dropped than to be picked in the Australian team.

As an aside. I have just gotten into The Sopranos. Is Tony Soprano Ricky Ponting in 20 years?

[Dr. Pain]

Replace him and watch the replacement fail. It will happen. His last few innings have been good and he'll make a test hundred this summer.

[DexterPunk]

As an aside. I have just gotten into The Sopranos. Is Tony Soprano Ricky Ponting in 20 years?

Fucking loved the sopranos. Watched all of it through for a second time this year. Silvio and Paulie rule.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[Vilante]

If it wasn't for the two players who everyone said should be dropped (Hussey and Ponting) then we would have been screwed in the second innings. They are making runs.

Today's focus is more on the short versions and you can't practice for a test via 20/20 or one day. You need 4 day games. Also there should be a minimum of 12 tests per calendar year. Big Bash is a sideshow and it should not stop the Sheffield Shield from running. If they are short of players then blood some new guys in 4 day games.

That is assuming their replacements wouldn't have done the same or better.

I'm all for keeping Hussey but Ponting really needs to go. Whoever eventually replaces him (I assume after a good portion of the selectors are replaced) is losing valuable international experience waiting for him to be ousted.

[norbs]

There is a bit of Mcgrath about Pattison.

Edit : Oh, Skull just said the same thing.

[Hazelb]

There is a bit of Mcgrath about Pattison.

Edit : Oh, Skull just said the same thing.

There is..for sure, cept he's a little quicker.

Let's hope he can stay fit!

[Dr. Pain]

A couple of million Indians just off themselves with Tendulkar playing on.

[matticooper]

For a batting strip that has been said is a "batting paradise", there have been quite a few wickets falling so far in this game.

and Dr. Pain

[Jiminee]

There is a bit of Mcgrath about Pattison.

Edit : Oh, Skull just said the same thing.

Yep and a lot of McDermott I think, which is to be expected of course.

[Exar Kun]

I expected India to absolutely hammer our bowlers. Even counting their England tour I just thought Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar would be an unbeatable combo out here.

[Jiminee]

Same problems as Ponting, they just dont quite see the ball well enough any more to ride the bounce and any movement. Toss in livelier pitches and they have it stacked against them.

[norbs]

Same problems as Ponting, they just dont quite see the ball well enough any more to ride the bounce and any movement. Toss in livelier pitches and they have it stacked against them.

Bingo. Anything that bounces above waist height and they are shitting their dacks. This SCG pitch is a little bit livelier than the one in 2004 (I think it was ) when they scored 7/700 odd declared.

[Jiminee]

Without checking I also seem to recall the Australian attack being pretty weak in that season to - Brad Williams, Andy Bichel etc. Guys that are good third stringers, but struggle on dead pitches against great batsmen.

My theory on all this: In the 90s and early 00s Cricket Australia wanted flat pitches to extend matches as long as possible when a dominant Australian team would of cleaned up teams (and still did anyway) in less than 3 days otherwise - so to preserve their income and TV ratings they took all the life out of the decks.

Now.....we have a different direction. The push now is for lively cricket that is good to watch. It is better to have 30k in the ground for 4 days than 20k for 5 days for instance. Probably a good move with Test cricket in danger of dying out otherwise and they can probably take a chance on this now with more money coming in from domestic 20/20 cricket. We all know how much better it is to see a more even balance between bat and ball as we have seen in the past two years.
With that we now have batsmen who were brought up on dead pitches and in short form cricket now being forced to adapt their techniques and they are being found out. So it is no coincidence that England are now doing very well given the traditional tendency for the ball to move around and swing more over there, they have much better techniques to deal with it.
It is now up to the rest of the world to adapt, which given the lure of 20/20 cash is going to be a struggle.

[norbs]

All out for 191. Thats 50 more than I thought they would manage.

[Jiminee]

Same problems as Ponting, they just dont quite see the ball well enough any more to ride the bounce and any movement. Toss in livelier pitches and they have it stacked against them.

Yep, no Warne, no McGrath, not much of Brett Lee that season. No wonder they had fun!
And in the Australian A side that season - Nicholson, Wright, White, Rofe and Tait. Yikes. Maybe they should of really seen the future problems of no Warne and no McGrath around then!

[Vilante]

Bang, bang. Will be over in 2 days at this rate!!