Cricket V

[Paxter]

Wow, Australia 5/19 in the second ODI! Carnage.

After what happened in the first ODI, it would be a great fightback from SA if they can win this game convincingly.

[Jeor]

Well Australia have clambered back to 7/110 but with only 3 wickets to go (the last one being Johnson) they'll be extremely lucky to bat out the remaining 16 overs or make anything in excess of 150-160. South Africa should be able to tie the series up at 1-1 - it'll be good to see some life in the series, 2-0 could have really killed it off before it even began.

EDITED: By the commentary it looks like Johnson was dropped from one of his first few balls while the score was 6/40 so it could have been much worse! Amazing.

[Paxter]

Is there [url="http://content.cricinfo.com/newzealand/content/current/story/398460.html"]a glimmer of hope?[/url]

[DJDonegal]

That would only be good for international cricket.

Love the timing as people had just been discussing this on thread!

[Jeor]

Well there's some hope of NZ saving the current match - bad light (and with them batting, they control whether play stops or continues). Mind you only 6 wickets left (the two batsmen plus McCullum and Vettori, but Martin at No. 11 makes up for their resistance) and play meant to start early, so it's a very slim chance. I did wonder why India felt they had to go all the way to 617 though. 550 was plenty enough and they might rue giving NZ that extra hour, especially with bad light creeping in. I suppose from a series-wide point of view a draw is enough for India but still, you could've thought they'd go more aggressively for the win. No one in history has chased more than around 450, let alone 550.

[Rimmer]

Poor old Chris Martin hasn't even got out this series. His mere presence makes the other batsman go kamikaze.

And yes, our top-order batsmen have been unbelievably bad for as long as I can remember. Even in the Mark Richardson days, the other slot was a revolving door, with Fleming having to cover it quite often to his own detriment.

Looking very cloudy here in Wellington, so it could well rain with play not due to start for an hour. If we lose half a day's play then I'm quite hopeful we can draw this, with our two most experienced batsmen still yet to come out.

[Rimmer]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1744452' date='Apr 4 2009, 03.48']ETA: actually while we're on the subject of Crowe's 299, I read somewhere that Jesse Ryder was disappointed with his dismissal on 201 the other day. Apparently, he was keen to go past Crowe's record. Doesn't that strike you as a) unrealistic, since I am sure Vettori would have declared before Ryder even passed 230 or so and b) pretty overindulgent and selfish, since there is a lot more to test cricket than breaking records and achieving personal milestones (just ask Matthew Hayden whether he thinks his 380 against Zim was his best innings)?[/quote]
Eh, I'll definitely take a selfish batsman in the team at the moment, if it means we can get some decent scores. A selfish bowler is another story, but a batsman is only really there to score runs and not get out, and if he's motivated by personal milestones to do that then I don't really see a problem.

Ryder was pretty unselfish in the test before that though - he got out going for a silly shot as soon as Chris Martin came in, rather than milking a certain not-out.

This talk of Bond coming back is great, but I'll try not to get too excited until we actually see him on the field in whites again.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Rimmer' post='1747272' date='Apr 7 2009, 05.39']Eh, I'll definitely take a selfish batsman in the team at the moment, if it means we can get some decent scores. A selfish bowler is another story, but a batsman is only really there to score runs and not get out, and if he's motivated by personal milestones to do that then I don't really see a problem.[/quote]

Yeah, I suppose it's not a big deal, and his hunger for runs is probably a good thing really.

ETA: speaking of hunger for runs, Ross Taylor certainly has an appetite in this series. Good to see that he is progressing as a batsman and isn't playing that pre-meditated slog-sweep as often.

[ithanos]

Are you doing your rain dance Rimmer? Wow, the heavens have opened up. I was kinda hoping for a chance to see the legend chalk up 2 runs and another not out to increase his average (having only come to the realization that Average = Runs / (Innings - NotOuts)).

Consensus is that India should rue the extra time spent batting yesterday, as Joer already pointed out but somehow I don't think they really mind as the series was in the bag and could only have been drawn at best. Anyway this series has been played in good spirits judging by the comaraderie between players.

[DJDonegal]

Put more simply it's just Average = Runs/Outs. So if you get 101*, 34, 76, 21, 110, although you have played 5 innings, you only have 4 outs, and having scored 342 runs, your average would be 85.5.

India didn't need the extra batting time. If they WERE going to try and go for it they should have hammered some balls. They kept scoring at the same rate.

[Paxter]

Strange game unfolding here in the third ODI (Aus vs SA). It's not often that you see teams 100/2 after 26 overs these days.

IPL starting soon! Looking at the teams, I actually quite like the look of the Royal Challengers this time around, which is interesting because they were by far the worst in the first IPL:

1. J Ryder
2. V Kohli
3. K Pietersen ©
4. J Kallis
5. R Taylor
6. C White
7. M Boucher (wk)
8. A Kumble
9. P Kumar
10. N Bracken
11. D Steyn

They also have Dravid, Uthappa, van der Merwe and Jaffer in the squad, although I don't think they deserve to be in the starting XI if everyone is fit. Dravid and Jaffer in particular are pretty damn useless in T20s.

[Paxter]

Interesting selections for the Aus v Pak series, it seems that Ponting, M Hussey and Johnson will all be rested, and none of them are taking part in the IPL.

With three big guns out of the team, I would expect Pakistan to cause Aus a few problems.

Meanwhile, Watson, Symonds and Lee have all been included in the squad. I'm pretty damn annoyed that Symonds has been recalled.

[Paxter]

Johan Botha's in trouble over his action again. No surprise really - it's far from an orthodox off-spinner's action.

Anyway, Aus have been woeful in the last few ODIs. The selectors have finally stopped playing Cam White, but now they need to get rid of D Hussey. A batting average in the 20s just doesn't cut it in the middle order. Mind you, replacing D Hussey is really the least of the Aus problems. What they really need is to get their big guns (Clarke, M Hussey, Ponting) playing good ODI cricket again.

ETA: I am really [url="http://content.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/content/current/story/399750.html"]pissed off about this. [/url]

ETA: But I had a good little chuckle at this from Graeme Smith:

[quote]Smith grinned on Thursday when asked if Warne would be employing a "four-captains'' policy as controversially proposed by John Buchanan for his IPL side Kolkata.

"I think Warnie just wouldn't implement it because it's John Buchanan's idea," Smith replied.[/quote]

...so true.

[IheartTesla]

Hey, look at the latest addition to the cricket family.

President Obama, however, will be remembered as the first president to attempt a left handed cover drive.

On second thoughts, Obama may also end up as the first president to be banned from cricket by Lalit Modi for taking lessons from an ICL player!

lawl. By the way, his grip looks pretty decent and so does his stance. Still, a little bit of the baseball has crept in - I would prefer a slightly more closed grip. But it doesnt seem like he's going for a baseball-style swot since the bat does seem to have a lower trajectory (I presume most baseball hits take place with the bat roughly parallel to the horizontal)

Bush has a totally wrong right hander's grip.

[Stubby]

(Obama and cricket)

His backswing is pointing to fine leg - so he's clearly better at the crossbat stuff. Typical leftie. ;)

[Paxter]

so does his stance.

Nah. Come on Lara, what are you teaching him? The feet should be approximately shoulder-width apart. Only the Oram's and Flintoff's of the world can get away with such a wide stance ;)

BTW, Pakistan played well against the under-strength Aussies last night. Ajmal and Afridi put on one of the best ODI spin exhibitions I have ever seen. Truly great to watch - Afridi with flight, dip, spinning it both ways, changes of pace and Ajmal with unnerving accuracy and one of the best doosras in world cricket. I hope the Pakistanis can keep this up, but I'm sure Aus will come back strong in the later games.

[Paxter]

Hah, some gold from the IPL:

Best-researched post-match player interview:

Ravi Shastri to Herschelle Gibbs after the latter led the Deccan Chargers to a comfortable win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. "Well Herschelle, well played - go and enjoy a drink," says Shastri. All very harmless of course. Though, considering Gibbs came out of an alcohol-related rehabilitation course in January, perhaps it wasn't the smartest advice he has been given of late. Gibbs laughed and said "Well, a drink of water, yeah"

[IheartTesla]

The commentators have been horrible at this IPL ("that's another DLF maximum!")

I am also underwhelmed this season. Many matches curtailed or rained out, and lukewarm crowds. The timing is ok though for me here in the US - I can catch up on scores during the morning or sneak a peek at work.

[Paxter]

The commentators have been horrible at this IPL ("that's another DLF maximum!")

Fair comment, although I don't think they were much better last year.

I am also underwhelmed this season. Many matches curtailed or rained out, and lukewarm crowds. The timing is ok though for me here in the US - I can catch up on scores during the morning or sneak a peek at work.

Well, the lower crowds and more washouts were to be expected given the move from an Indian spring to a South African autumn/fall. The games themselves have been decent though - the more even contest between bat and ball has made for improved viewing IMO. My main complaint would be the lack of the Aussie and Pakistani stars (especially Hussey, Marsh, Watson, Symonds, Hopes, Y Khan, Afridi and Tanvir)

[sckma]

haha, that gibbs call was gold. onya shastri.