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Cricket XVII


Paxter

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There's also last summer's test series against SA, and the previous two tours to India (in addition to this year's). Australia haven't won a test in India since Gillie led them to the 2004/05 series win. ODI-wise they were whitewashed by the English last year.

Oh yeah! Good point. I missed the SA series because we were travelling in the USA at that time. Can't believe I forgot about the other series.

Also, astoundingly, SA getting hammered in the semifinals. What the hell is happening??

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Too bad about South Africa. On paper they had a great batting side - best ODI batsman in the world (Amla), plenty of other high-average, high-strike-rate guys (de Villiers, Faf du Plessis) and multiple big-hitting all-rounders low down the order. Steyn and Morkel's absence from the bowlers didn't help, of course, but it was the batting that really let them down last night and that was a surprise.

Apparently the weather looks dodgy today. I'm going for the underdogs of Sri Lanka...mainly because I don't think the Big Three have really won a big international tournament before, and this might be one of their last chances.

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Another sub-200 target in a semifinal. 182 sounds pretty low but Sri Lanka might be a chance if they can pick up a couple of early wickets. The conditions aren't going to be easy for batting.

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I would of fancied England in the final against SL, but India look to be cruising this despite that ugly Rohit dismissal. Bowling attack other than Malinga is not threatening enough to worry India's quality batting.

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"We have the best all-round bowling attack in world cricket" - Mickey Arthur

:lol:

Was he perhaps talking about his native South Africa?

Another sub-200 target in a semifinal. 182 sounds pretty low but Sri Lanka might be a chance if they can pick up a couple of early wickets. The conditions aren't going to be easy for batting.

Pretty poor performance from SL. Sure, there was some bad luck with Dilshan injuring himself. But the rest of the batting was listless and lacking any real intent. It was as if they decided that setting a total of around 200 would be enough. Even with Vaas and Muralitharan they would've struggled to defend 180. India's bowling was reasonable, but it was far from being unplayable. Also, terrible catching from the Lankan fielders, especially compared to Raina's efforts in the slips.

Anyway, hopefully India can carry this form into the finals and put England away.

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India are the favourites, but I wouldn't be surprised if England give them a run for their money.

If conditions suit the seamers, plus if England get to bat first, I can see a twist in the tale. India's death bowling isn't good, which falls into England's batting game plan. And I think England's bowling attack has the potential to dismantle the powerful Indian side, which hasn't really been tested in this tournament. I think maybe India 60-40.

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England's bowling will be the deciding factor, or more precisely, how the Indian top order copes with England's bowling. I expect that the Indian bowlers will struggle to contain England, unless conditions really favour spin. So it will come down to whether the Indian batsmen can maintain the dominance that they've exerted over all their opponents thus far.

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Yeah should be a good final. I'm predicting an India win, but England have recovered well from the NZ series loss and will be well-placed to cause an upset. I've actually enjoyed this tournament more than I expected, even with the unfavourable weather.

Three weeks to go 'till the Ashes!

And yeah...Mickey Arthur. The best all-round bowling attack that couldn't bowl South Africa or India out twice in recent test series.

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Great innings from Maddinson...I wonder whether he'd be an outside chance for a middle-order berth in the next Ashes if (when?) Australia get hammered this winter. He's certainly one of the most talented of the next generation of Aussie batsmen: elegant, still at the crease, plays the ball late and very strong through the offside.

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Great innings from Maddinson...I wonder whether he'd be an outside chance for a middle-order berth in the next Ashes if (when?) Australia get hammered this winter. He's certainly one of the most talented of the next generation of Aussie batsmen: elegant, still at the crease, plays the ball late and very strong through the offside.

I was wondering whether Maddinson, along with Sayers, should just stay with the current Ashes squad. It can't hurt to have a couple of able-bodied, young, talented replacements for what will undoubtedly be a tough tour.

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I'm wondering when Cricket Australia is going to bite the bullet on Hughes? He was hyped beyond belief when he first came onto the scene, years back, but has never lived up to 1/10 of the hype.

It even seems to give him chances, above and beyond that any average cricketer would get... yet he never, ever, displays any sort of consistency or, a lot of the time, even any great ability.

A mystery.

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I'm wondering when Cricket Australia is going to bite the bullet on Hughes? He was hyped beyond belief when he first came onto the scene, years back, but has never lived up to 1/10 of the hype.

It even seems to give him chances, above and beyond that any average cricketer would get... yet he never, ever, displays any sort of consistency or, a lot of the time, even any great ability.

A mystery.

I'm no great fan of Hughes, but he is the only young batsman to score heavily in the Shield in recent times. By contrast, the likes of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja have struggled to perform in domestic cricket. So I think the selectors are trying to reward success at the lower levels.

Unfortunately for Hughes, he hasn't really got the technique or the temperment to be a consistent test batsman. And to make things worse, he is no No. 3. So from that perspective, yep, a bit of a mystery.

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