Cricket IV

[Paxter]

Yeah, thanks for posting that link Rimmer, it was a good read.

I must say that I'm a little surprised that NZ have dropped Redmond for the WI series. I though that he showed a bit of promise in the Adelaide test match and they should have perservered with him rather than try another new player. Having said that, Tim McIntosh seems to be in good form, so it shouldn't make a big difference. Also interesting that Martin has been dropped for Gillespie. Martin is due some wickets (he has been bowling well of late but not getting any luck) and he may have cashed in against a regularly brittle WI batting line-up. Southee's omission is also a little surprising.
But Oram and Franklin coming back are very good inclusions. The NZ batting line-up is incredibly long with those two in the team. If Mills was playing instead of O'Brien, it would be even stronger!

[IheartTesla]

Apparently the English (and Wales) team is returning to India for the 2 Test matches at Chennai and Mohali. Well, good on them. I would have been fine if the decision went either way. But now that they are arriving here (edit: here? I'm in the bloody US. But you know what I mean), I hope the Indian crowds turn up in numbers and support the English team with good cheer.

Who would have thought Petersen had it in him to hold his team together.

[IheartTesla]

Also, have any Australian boarders seen the Shane Warne musical? Apparently Warnie went to see it and thought it was "quite good" :lol:

[Stubby]

[quote name='cyrano' post='1614188' date='Dec 10 2008, 10.51']Also, have any Australian boarders seen the Shane Warne musical? Apparently Warnie went to see it and thought it was "quite good" :lol:[/quote]

I haven't seen and probably won't see it. [url="http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24779157-5005368,00.html"]Here, however, is a link to the review written by the man himself.[/url] Pretty good review overall - his personal 'blessing' to the show, anecdotes, humour, product placement etc....

[Jeor]

Haven't seen the Warnie musical but the reports are that it's actually quite good. You've got to love how we've got musicals about some personalities...Keating! the musical was quite hilarious (Paul Keating being a former Australian prime minister known for his parliamentary insults).

English team continuing on in full is something that I never thought would happen. I was certain the ECB would cancel or demand a neutral venue, or that people like Harmison would pull out on their own. But it's a good thing for cricket, and hopefully the matches live up to the billing. India needs cricket now and cricket needs India.

Dale Steyn is being rested due to a precautionary hamstring complaint. Hope he's ready to go for the Test series. It would be disappointing if he wasn't ready to go full tilt at Perth. I'm really looking forward to this series. I used to hate Graeme Smith and wanted Australia to crush the Boks within three days for every Test match, but Smith has mellowed somewhat in these last couple of years, while my beloved Australian cricket team hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire with their on and off-field conduct and has lost some of my support, so I'm actually hoping that we get a good scare and have a real fight on our hands. Certainly on paper it'll be one of the strongest bowling attacks Australia has faced in recent times.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Jeor' post='1614549' date='Dec 10 2008, 21.45']Certainly on paper it'll be one of the strongest bowling attacks Australia has faced in recent times.[/quote]

Probably the best pace attack they've faced since Ashes 2005. However, in England, the Aussies were undone by swing - both orthodox (Hoggard) and Irish (Jones). The Indians also caused problems by getting the ball to go reverse. In contrast, guys like Morkel and Ntini are not great swing bowlers. Kallis is decent, but lacks penetration these days. So Steyn will have to be the man. This means that a lot depends on him, and if he fails as badly as Shaun Tait did in his WACA test, the Proteas could be under the pump early.

I'm going to the tour match tomorrow (WA vs SA), but unfortunately Smith and Steyn are out. I'll be keeping a close eye on Kallis' form though - he really needs to lift his game.

[Stubby]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1614604' date='Dec 10 2008, 23.14']I'm going to the tour match tomorrow (WA vs SA), but unforunately Smith and Steyn are out. I'll be keeping a close eye on Kallis' form - he really needs to lift his game.[/quote]

While you are there, watch the length they bowl will you? This tour match will probably give us a fair idea how the yarpies will bowl on this tour. If they get too carried away trying to bowl short - they will lose. You'd think Ntini at least would know that the extra bounce here means he will get wickets if he pitches it up. If he bowls his usual short of a length stuff he'll get carted.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Ser Stubby' post='1614613' date='Dec 10 2008, 23.19']While you are there, watch the length they bowl will you? This tour match will probably give us a fair idea how the yarpies will bowl on this tour. If they get too carried away trying to bowl short - they will lose. You'd think Ntini at least would know that the extra bounce here means he will get wickets if he pitches it up. If he bowls his usual short of a length stuff he'll get carted.[/quote]

I agree. Fast bowlers like Ntini and Morkel have to adjust their "natural length" in order to be successful at the WACA. Kallis and Steyn should be fine though. Those two generally don't get carried away with short balls.

NZ have lost an early one against the Windies. Meanwhile McIntosh has been batting at a snail's pace - 10 off 52 balls. Flynn has been positive though, so good early signs for him.

Edit: And great recovery from NZ as they reach 80/1 and Flynn pushes his test ave over 40. Great start for the new NZ coach - his first move was to push Flynn up the order, and this move has paid ealry dividends. The middle/lower order of Taylor, Ryder, McCullum, Oram, Vettori and Franklin looks pretty decent now. If Flynn can really establish himself at No. 3, this could be a great NZ batting line-up.

BTW did anyone catch the news that the referall system will be trialled in the Aus vs SA series? This is something that I've been waiting for for a long time. Hopefully it works well during the series.

[Stubby]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1615429' date='Dec 11 2008, 08.57']BTW did anyone catch the news that the referall system will be trialled in the Aus vs SA series? This is something that I've been waiting for for a long time. Hopefully it works well during the series.[/quote]

Linky?

[Jeor]

I'm not really sure swing is all that crucial to success in Australia. As you point out, the English and Indians were able to cause problems for Australia but by and large those were in away conditions. Bowlers who rely on swing don't find much joy in the concrete pitch and sunny conditions of Australian pitches. Australia hasn't really had a genuine swing bowler since Terry Alderman - although I suppose Gillespie did tend to count as one - and obviously that hasn't hindered them in home series. So I think South Africa does still have quite a good chance despite not having the ingredients that other teams have had to upset Australia in the past.

That being said, opposition bowlers year after year always get suckered into bowling the wrong length on these pitches. South Africa might be ok though; after all, South African tracks are the pitches that most resemble Australian wickets, as far as international venues go.

[Rimmer]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1615429' date='Dec 10 2008, 19.57']BTW did anyone catch the news that the referall system will be trialled in the Aus vs SA series? This is something that I've been waiting for for a long time. Hopefully it works well during the series.[/quote]
The NZ/Windies series is using it too. Poor old Flynn was the first victim, out to a referred LBW on 95. Agreed that it's a great move putting him at 3 though; he's looking solid, and Ryder suits the middle order a lot better.

Also, we just started a day of test cricket at [b]midday[/b] and went off 17 overs early for bad light. I've long given up trying to understand cricket administrators.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Ser Stubby' post='1615526' date='Dec 11 2008, 10.09']Linky?[/quote]

No, sorry guys, I stuffed up. The referral system was planned for this series 6 months ago, but the idea was scrapped for some reason. Instead, it will be trialled in only 1 of the test matches between Aus and SA next year: [url="http://www.theroar.com.au/2008/12/10/challenge-system-great-idea-but-will-teams-exploit-it/"]http://www.theroar.com.au/2008/12/10/chall...ams-exploit-it/[/url]

Decent day for NZ. They'll look to push beyond 350 tomorrow with that kind of platform. England also did really well for a time, but the batting collapse in the second half of the day evened things up. Always good to see Strauss amongst the runs. England always look much more dangerous when he is firing.

As for the WA vs SA tour match, well it basically degenerated into net practice for both teams with Kallis and Amla batting steadily for almost the entire 50 overs and finishing at a modest 2-185. WA then batted pretty slowly until right at the end, when they knocked off the winning runs with ease. To be honest, SA didn't look as if they were trying to win the match at any stage. It was more about trying to get players into some form. Kallis' 50 odd not out of 110+ balls was not his greatest innings, but he looked well in control throughout his knock. Amla was absolutely terrific with 100 odd not out off 115 or so balls. Bowling wise, only Ntini and Kallis bowled of the test attack (Morkel limped off after 1 ball - not sure if he was badly hurt). Neither of them bowled that well, although Ntini got a fair amount of lift off the wicket. Still, he really should have been pitching up more than he did. Overall: decent signs for SA's batting, but the bowling was lacklustre. The two-day match starting tomorrow might give us a better indication of how SA will go.

Edit: Morkel's injury doesn't seem serious - looks like he'll be alright for the test.

Edit: Typical NZ weather. Play on Day 2 has been washed out.

[Paxter]

What an over! England are now right back in this game, and may even get a lead if they can strike again in the last session. Excellent batting from Prior earlier in the day has given England a chance in this match.

As for the Saffers, well they notched up 8-320 against a WA second XI before declaring. Smith, Prince and Boucher failed, but Amla and Mackenzie both made fifties, while De Villiers notched a century. Surprisingly, Kallis didn't play. Good batting practice for the others though.

Edit: Wow. Pietersen's done it again! This is a major test for Yuvraj and Dhoni now. If they fall cheaply, England should go on to win the match.

[williamjm]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1617048' date='Dec 12 2008, 09.04']If they fall cheaply, England should go on to win the match.[/quote]

An England victory is always a risky prediction to make no matter how good the position is that they seem to be in ;)

That said, they are in a strong position here and India must be really hoping that the English bowlers have trouble cleaning up the tail because at this rate it looks like even if England have a mediocre second innings then India will have an extremely challenging chase on a wicket that does seem to be offering a reasonable amount to the bowlers.

The most surprising bit of the match report was the description of Jimmy Anderson apparently playing a perfectly executed reverse sweep for four :wideeyed:

[Jeor]

So far so good for England, although they didn't get India out quite as cheaply as they might have hoped. Harbhajan continues to improve his batting, and is becoming a fairly dangerous lower-order hitter. Before he was a swing and hope sort of batsman, at least now he seems to be a bit less self-destructive while retaining his strokemaking ability - sort of in the style of a Shane Warne-esque No. 8 now, a spinner who can biff a few quick runs and averages in the high teens.

[Sir Thursday]

Well, England end up with a 75 run lead...quite a useful one, considering the highest successful run chase on the ground is only 155. I think if England make 200-250 here they should be home and dry (although the Indian batting line up is still a very strong one...)



Sir Thursday

[sckma]

Man... if Harbajhan can get the second top most score at a strike rate of almost 70... I'm just saying that this does not look favourably on yuvraj, who needs to play well to cement his spot.

and dravid as well, but he has been on the way down for a while.

[Paxter]

Thanks to Strauss and Collingwood, England have pretty much guaranteed a victory here. Even if India can restrict the lead to around 300 (which is pretty unlikely) they should still win. More likely that England wlil have a 400 run lead and win comfortably. It would take an even better fightback than the one India delivered in the first test against Australia to save this one.

NZ vs Windies test is nicely poised, although losing play to rain on Day 2 was a shame. Great start for Moles as NZ coach as both the Flynn and Ryder re-shuffling has paid off big time (although neither could get to their maiden hundreds). Taylor really needs to stop playing that stupid slog sweep though. Frankly, it's getting ridiculous.

[williamjm]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1618116' date='Dec 13 2008, 14.11']Thanks to Strauss and Collingwood, England have pretty much guaranteed a victory here. Even if India can restrict the lead to around 300 (which is pretty unlikely) they should still win. More likely that England wlil have a 400 run lead and win comfortably. It would take an even better fightback than the one India delivered in the first test against Australia to save this one.[/quote]

Yes, I can't really see India winning this one although it's still theoretically possible. Although an England victory is most likely I think a draw is still a possibility - India do have a very skilled and fairly deep batting line-up so they may not be easy to bowl out in time.

[Paxter]

Oh dear, the wheels have well and truly fell off for NZ as Jerome Taylor has just cracked a run-a-ball test century!! Potentially match saving knock from Taylor, as this match will now head towards a draw. Typically stodgy knock from Chanderpaul as well - 66 runs off 182 balls so far.

Edit: I just found out that Taylor didn't even have a first-class fifty before this innings, let alone a hundred!

Edit: Great game this India vs England match. Sehwag has made a blistering start in the second dig, but his average in the fourth innings of a test match is terrible, so who knows how long he will last.