Hereward Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I don't mean to look like I am indulging in gleeful trolling, but this came up on my Facebook feed and I thought it was a fascinating read: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/what-turned-steve-smith-into-a-cheat-20180618-p4zm57.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Pierre Le Harceleur said: Sorry, should have indicated I meant Test captain. Well they have to find a permanent place in the side for him first. Surely a specialist batsman at number seven can’t last... On Moeen: I am quite persuaded that he has to play in next year’s Ashes. And he should be playing against India later this summer. Overseas tours are another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Paxter said: Well they have to find a permanent place in the side for him first. Surely a specialist batsman at number seven can’t last... On Moeen: I am quite persuaded that he has to play in next year’s Ashes. And he should be playing against India later this summer. Overseas tours are another matter. The sensible thing to do is to give him the gloves and make Bairstow play as a specialist bat, however reluctant he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 Sri Lanka managed to just squeak past the West Indies total in Bridgetown to level the series. Not the best series skill-wise, but it was highly competitive throughout, though marred by Chandimal's (and the SL team management's) conduct in the second match. Somehow Sri Lanka is actually putting in some creditable test performances away from home: victories against Pakistan and Bangladesh, a narrow 1-0 loss in India and now a draw in the West Indies. Certainly better than the likes of England and Australia have been able to muster recently. They now have the best test ranking of the subcontinental teams apart from India. So now we have some T20Is to watch. TBH, I actually prefer the IPL over these meaningless contests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 From now on, whenever I am having an epically crap day, I will assert that I’m having a total Kane Richardson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Pakistan and India have consolidated their spots at the top of the T20I rankings with series wins against Australia and England, respectively. You do get the sense that the Asian teams are set to dominate this format for quite some time, particularly on the bowling front with so many spin options and fast bowlers who have mastered the different variations. Thankfully there are only three ODIs to suffer through now before the India test series kicks off in early August. South Africa have a couple of tests coming up in Sri Lanka which could be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 Some interesting selections for the Galle test. Sri Lanka have gone horses for courses, dropping most of the seamers that served so well in the West Indies and opting for three spinners and one fast bowler. South Africa have gone for three fast men and two spinners. Will be intriguing to see how that plays out. More intriguing yet: both teams have picked a left arm wrist spinner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 India showing Australia how it's done in the ODI against England. England get off to a good start with Bairstow and Roy biffing the ball here and there. They don't look in great touch but still humming along at over 6 an over with a 50 partnership up in no time. India then bring on a couple of good spinners to change it up and straight away 4 English wickets fall. Australia just didn't have a good plan B for the bowling side and kept on coughing up record totals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Er, this isn’t a good score at Trent Bridge with the short boundaries. I don’t think it’s going to take India too long to chase England down. ETA: Kuldeep 6 for 25. Bloody hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 13, 2018 Author Share Posted July 13, 2018 Good point @Jeor RE: Australia's attack. In years gone by they'd have had a Warne or Hogg to offer variety and wicket-taking opportunities. Now that Zampa has fallen out of favour, they only have the 'wheels' of Lyon or Agar in the middle overs. South Africa perhaps slightly behind the eight-ball in Galle. Sri Lanka has a lot of good spin options and they have already shown their potential with Herath nabbing Markram just before stumps on Day 1. Congrats to Karunaratne on a big comeback hundred. The Sri Lankan lineup always looks flimsy to me these days without Mahela and Kumar, but they still find ways to be competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 Some fairly humbling results away from home for both South Africa and Bangladesh. I thought both of those series could be quite competitive but the hosts have been absolutely clinical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Much better performance from England yesterday. The Indian run "chase" was truly bizarre though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 2 hours ago, Hereward said: Much better performance from England yesterday. The Indian run "chase" was truly bizarre though. It looked for a while as if they might fall below par with the middle order stumbling a bit but Root held the innings together well and Willey produced a crucial cameo at the end. The Indians did seem to lose interest when they batted, particularly Dhoni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Hmm so Buvie has had to fly back to India and will presumably take no part in the upcoming five-test clash with England. Bumrah is also out for the first test - so that's half of India's pace quartet gone for Lord's. The good news for the visitors is that Shami is fit, but he might be a little underdone and is not exactly firing on all cylinders. Would it be fair to say that India has a materially worse attack than the one Pakistan toured with? Ishant Sharma averages over 40 in England with the ball and the two Ravis have had little success in these conditions. Umesh and Kuldeep have never played a test in England. ETA: Stokes' trial starts trial for affray begins a day after the first test. Wonder how focused he will be in this India match... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 9 hours ago, Paxter said: Umesh and Kuldeep have never played a test in England. I think they'll probably both be fine. They've been playing in England for the one days and conditions aren't currently particularly 'English', there should be plenty in it for the spinners. How England adapt to Kuldeep is going to be key for me, he dismantled England's one day batting lineup, currently a significantly stronger unit than their test counterparts, in the first ODI. On the positive side once England got used to him and there was a bit less mystery to his spin they adapted fairly well and Joe Root was notably a significant part of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 England choosing not to play a game at Trent Bridge against the Aussies in next year’s Ashes is exactly the kind of stupidity I’ve come to expect from the powers that be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 That is quite dumb. You’ll never see Australia pick Bellerive over the ‘Gabba as an Ashes venue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka has quickly turned to custard. It’s remeniscent of Australia’s disastrous tour there under Steve Smith - low totals and dominated by spin. Sri Lankan pitches seem to offer a lot more to the bowlers in test matches these days. Not long ago it was commonplace to see a lot of mammoth totals and tedious draws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Haven't been following the match but just looked at the scorecard. 9 wickets for Maharaj! Good on him. At least ARS De Silva was the 5th wicket to fall, so it's not as if Rabada snatched away a chance for all 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 South Africa on the ropes in Colombo. The demise of Hashim Amla as a world-class batsman is becoming more apparent. I wouldn't yet argue for him to be replaced, but his test average of 24 across 18 innings in 2018 must be a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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