Cricket XIX - Australian Hundreds and Other Myths

[Jeor]

Interesting looking at the ICC Elite Panel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Panel_of_ICC_Umpires on wikipedia (which I'm assuming is up to date).

Very few Asian umpires. Four Englishmen (Illingworth, Gould, Kettleborough and Llong) and four Australians (Oxenford, Davis, Tucker and the pistol Reiffel!) out of the 12 altogether.

Which doesn't leave very many options in an Australia-England series when you then only have four umpires on the elite panel to choose from (Dar from Pakistan, Tony Hill from NZ, Dharmasena from Sri Lanka and Erasmus from South Africa).

In fact, the whole Elite Panel looks very short on experience, with half of them having only done single-figure Tests.

[ljkeane]

I think there was talk of trying to get Billy Bowden back in for the series in Australia to give them another option?

It's not ideal but if the best umpires are English and Australian then that's the way it is I suppose, it's odd how few Indian umpires there have been in the international game though.

[ljkeane]

It's not very evenly balanced anymore, England are digging themselves a hole again.

[Jeor]

I keep on thinking Cook or Trott is going to break out with a century but they keep on getting out. We couldn't possibly keep them quiet for a whole series...

Trott looked good in the first innings too, so that was a nice wicket. Still, England always bat deep - Prior at 7, Broad, Swann and Bresnan can all bat, so until we bowl them out, you never know.

If the weather turns for the worse, a run chase over 180 could start to look pretty dicey.

[arya_underfoot]

I think there was talk of trying to get Billy Bowden back in for the series in Australia to give them another option?

It's not ideal but if the best umpires are English and Australian then that's the way it is I suppose, it's odd how few Indian umpires there have been in the international game though.

Yes, India have not produced a good umpire since Venkataraghavan. Not sure exactly why. There's more than enough first class cricket in India to be able to support the development of umpires.

[Jeor]

The West Indies also aren't represented anymore, since Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove retired.

[ljkeane]

That's another really good hundred from Ian Bell to go some way towards saving England's bacon, he really is having what could be a career defining series.

England are on top now but I think Australia are still well in the match if they can take advantage of the new ball tomorrow morning. It's looking like it could be a cracking day's cricket tomorrow. I think Xray and Hereward have picked a good day to go to.

[Alex.]

Meant to rain like the world is ending tomorrow. Hopefully they'l' get to see some cricket but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

[williamjm]

Thanks to Bell and Pietersen I'd say England are now the favourites, if they can get another 100 runs from the last 5 wickets (not necessarily easy, but definitely possible) then I think Australia would really struggle to win, especially since Watson seems to have picked up an injury which should hamper his batting.

That's another really good hundred from Ian Bell to go some way towards saving England's bacon, he really is having what could be a career defining series.

I know there's still one match to go, but we might as well give Ian Bell the "Man of the Series" award now, he's earned it even if he has a couple of golden ducks in the final match.

Meant to rain like the world is ending tomorrow. Hopefully they'l' get to see some cricket but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

It would be a pity if there's a lot of time lost to rain. The current BBC forecast for Chester-le-Street suggests the morning session should be dry but the rain might start about 2. Tuesday's forecast looks better, so I think this game is unlikely to be a draw.

[Herb]

Bell is getting dangerously close to having an Ashes series named after you territory. Something I never thought I'd see.

[DemonKing]

^{Bell is getting dangerously close to having an Ashes series named after you territory. Something I never thought I'd see.}

^{The Sherminator's Ashes?}

^{Fair enough as if you take his runs out then England's batsmen haven't got too much to talk about save for an occassional decent performance here and there.}

^{I really feel for Tony Hill - he can't seem to get anything right at the moment. It's almost as if the players refer any decision he makes whether he gives it out or not because he's inevitably got it wrong. Who would want to be an international umpire these days?}

[arya_underfoot]

England have this test firmly in their grasp now. I can't see Australia chasing any more than 250, which England should be able to set comfortably.

How patient are the English selectors going to be with Bairstow? Both Compton and Taylor (who I believe are the two next in line?) have better first class records, and Compton's inclusion would allow Root to develop properly in the middle order rather than opening where he clearly struggles.

[Jeor]

Yeah, England well in front. I don't see Australia chasing any total down from here, even if they get all 5 remaining wickets for 40-50 runs it's just not going to happen.

Awesome series from Bell. It's particularly interesting (and good for Bell personally) that it has come at a time when all the other batsmen aren't performing. When you think of the England batsmen, you tend to think of Cook as a captain and opener, Pietersen as the main influence in the middle order and Trott as the big-performing, traditional Number 3. You don't naturally think of Bell amongst those guys and yet he's outperformed them all, which goes some way towards addressing the criticism that he tends to hide in the shadows.

I think I like watching Bell bat more than any other Englishman. Cook can be somewhat ungainly and stiff at times; Pietersen is a bit of a modern-day basher rather than a technician, and Trott is unorthodox with his constant playing across the line to the onside and closed face. Bell has probably the purest, most classical technique of any England batsman and personally I like watching those sorts of players.

[Herb]

Well Harris might have just won the match for Australia with those two balls.

[Pinkie Baelish]

I decided to drop Harris for Starc in my fantasy team because cricinfo was reporting that he would be rested. And now I'm bottom of the Westeros league for the 4th test.

Goddamit.

I like Bresnan's approach. England should just go for it now. They won't get many runs by just plodding around, what with Harris bowling the way he is with the new ball.

[Alex.]

Bresnan hitting the ball like he's trying to make it explode.

[Daeric]

He's the Yorkshire Gayle!

Well Harris might have just won the match for Australia with those two balls.

The problem with that is all of the English tail can bat, you can't expect a built innings but they can easily add 100.

[Alex.]

He is on one at the moment.

[Herb]

The problem with that is all of the English tail can bat, you can't expect a built innings but they can easily add 100.

They can, but I can't help but feel that our commentators/media tend to overrate them a bit. Broad especially. Doing a good job here though, Clarke looks livid.

[Jeor]

Bresnan finally gone, but the damage has been done. 285 is too much - I shudder to think what Anderson/Broad will do with their opening spells, given how much the new ball has worked for us.

Bugger, Smith drops a catch.