Jeor Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Haha, Sarfraz has heard you. Still not a good first innings score but at 7/234 it's not a complete disaster. They could conceivably still get close to 300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 What a captain that Sarfraz is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Have to do a double-post just to say that this has been a fucking magnificent series so far. What a shame that it is only two matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 4 hours ago, Paxter said: Have to do a double-post just to say that this has been a fucking magnificent series so far. What a shame that it is only two matches. Yes, it's been a good series to watch. Another terrible batting innings by Australia. They're really missing Warner and Smith who were far and away the best two batsmen in the side. To concede a 140 run lead is pretty bad considering they would normally have been happy with bowling Pakistan out for 280. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Yes that was abject. They’re still in the match, but probably need to restrict the lead to around 250 unless they can reprise their Dubai fourth innings performance. Certainly the draw is not in play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Labuschagne's runout was criminal, too. Must be pretty embarrassing to have video footage of you carefully watching the ball go onto the stumps while your bat is over the line but in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 On 10/17/2018 at 11:27 AM, Jeor said: Labuschagne's runout was criminal, too. Must be pretty embarrassing to have video footage of you carefully watching the ball go onto the stumps while your bat is over the line but in the air. I think Azhar Ali has now ensured that when people think of embarrassing run-outs in this match it won't be Labuschagne they think of. Despite that I think it's hard to see how Pakistan could be in a more dominant position in the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 That Azhar Ali runout is the stupidest thing I have seen. WTF? Hard to see Australia saving this one. But they would believe they can considering last test. Hopefully Safraz won't be totally fucking clueless and set an aggressive field with lots of catchers considering the lead they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Australia went down very quickly after all that. Some really soft dismissals including Paine leaving a straight ball to be clean bowled - this Test has had more than its fair share of brain fade moments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 Hard to know what to make of that series. It’s tempting to say that Australia is completely awful and that the 1-0 scoreline flatters them. On the other hand, you could argue they were well in the series and could have gone on to win it if they’d capitalised on Lyon’s Day One heroics in Abu Dhabi. I’m pleased for Pakistan that they got the job done. Abbas is simply an amazing find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philokles Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Whose bright idea was it to arrange a tour of Sri Lanka in the wet season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 England were probably going to win it easily anyway. once Root had been given that reprieve... Re Australia/Pakistan, I think I have to go there Pax and say that Australia really were quite awful. They had no business saving that draw in the First Test and were never in sight of winning the match or being at least even. And apart from one session in the Second Test, they were outplayed throughout that Test as well. The Marsh brothers didn't score a run and the batting overall was woeful, Siddle, Starc and Holland were toothless, and the debutants were patchy. It's hard to imagine a worse series; Lyon's bowling and Khawaja's century were the only real highlights. All that being said, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt given there were a lot of debutants and it was an away series in subcontinental-style conditions (never Australia's forte). I expect in home conditions against India, Australia will pull together a bit more...but it's going to be a very tough series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 It’s a bit weird to see England winning so comfortably in Sri Lanka. The matches being abbreviated does play to England’s strengths but you think of Sri Lanka as being tough conditions for English players and I always think of Sri Lanka as a strong ODI side, they’re pretty poor now unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 On 10/20/2018 at 10:19 PM, ljkeane said: It’s a bit weird to see England winning so comfortably in Sri Lanka. The matches being abbreviated does play to England’s strengths but you think of Sri Lanka as being tough conditions for English players and I always think of Sri Lanka as a strong ODI side, they’re pretty poor now unfortunately. Well England did manage to lose the final match quite handsomely, but the series was done and dusted by then. Or perhaps 'done and mudded' given all the rain. Meanwhile Australia seem to have brought their test form straight into the T20s with a humiliating defeat against top-ranked Pakistan. So far it's been a tough start for JL as coach - at least they managed to win against the UAE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 29, 2018 Author Share Posted October 29, 2018 For those of us who have long disliked the way that CA run Australian cricket, today's release of an independent review into CA's culture is a moment of vindication. I particularly liked the list of 'shadow values' that were compiled to demonstrate how toxic CA's culture has become: Quote COMMAND AND CONTROL The best decisions are top down Give the 'right' person all the power to make the big calls Experts know best Leave it to management ONLY RESULTS MATTER Sport is a business - so get over it Always be winning and ignore the costs Only do it if it helps us to win Good blokes get the win HIGH PERFORMANCE IS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR The men's team get paid enough to suffer That's all we expect of our 'boys' Numbers matter most AUSTRALIA NEEDS US TO WIN The psychological well-being of the nation depends on us POPULARITY MATTERS The best = most popular Be a good bloke INDIVIDUAL FIRST Act in your self-interest Individual performance matters most Don't share if you don't have to Collaboration is for losers Focus on your own patch COMBATIVENESS AND AGGRESSION IS GOOD Bow to the Alpha male Aggression wins the day Compete for everything Power gets things done Don't get caught UNLEASH THE BEAST Be a tactical, technical or strong-arm leader Be sly and tough Only those 'tough enough' can handle the truth De-humanise your opponent KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN Don't stick your head up Don't challenge or let yourself be challenged WE'RE GREAT ON DIVERSITY Diversity is women's cricket Diversity is good for the bottom line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular John Umber Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 4 hours ago, Paxter said: Only those 'tough enough' can handle the truth De-humanise your opponent Given what's been happening with David Warner lately, this is just a bit ironic. Those 'values' are utterly shocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 There are now very loud calls in the wake of the cultural review to reduce the bans on Warner, Smith and Bancroft. Talk about missing the point. I'm incensed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 Now Peever is gone. Finally some accountability from Cricket Australia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I think its mainly the player's association making noise. So short sighted. They should STFU and let the players serve their ban. That way atleast they would've served their time and can come back without too much baggage (there will always be some baggage unavoidably). If they somehow get the ban reduced, there will always be doubt that they didn't do their time. Edit: what bugs me about Peever's situation is he actually got his contract renewed. Like, WTF was CA smoking? Fucking clueless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Renewing Peever's tenure before the review was released was an epic bungle of the highest order, but at least he had the sense (or others had the sense to push him) to resign relatively promptly once the mistake had been recognised. Rather than put a celebrity cricketer in the role, I think the chairman should be a business/governance/management professional who only has a fan's connection to cricket. It's pretty clear that there's a lot of insider trouble regarding the culture of Australian cricket and the organisation probably needs a thorough shakeup that only an external person who has a thorough knowledge of management etc can give. He's a bit too old, but someone like John Howard would have had the gravitas to pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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