Unpopular Cricket Opinions

Aug 28, 2011
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I've seen a version of this thread on a few of the boards around Bigfooty recently and thought it might get a good run here.

I'll start off:

I think Brad Haddin was unfairly maligned during his time as Australian wicket keeper. This is partly due to him following a legends in Healy and Gilchrist, and partly due to the fans needing a whipping boy as our performances declined. He is routinely bad mouthed on this board for his Ashes performance in 2010-11 as a batsman, however he was one of our better contributors hitting one century and three fifties at 45. No doubt the regular Haddin bashes didn't know that.

Compare that to Ponting and Clarke. Damien Martyn was dropped after 2005 for those types of figures.

I wouldn't drop Wade now, but I think Haddin acquitted himself well in the Baggy Green and deserves more respect than he gets.

Anyway, what are your unpopular cricket opinions?
 
Aug 28, 2011
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I'll also add:

1. We should have returned fire in the bodyline series.

2. Sledging, excepting racism and other major no-nos, is completely ok with me. I was more than happy for our guys to stick it up the opposition when we were number one and I'm prepared for us to cop it now. On this front the game is becoming far too sanitised. To paraphrase Ian Chappell (and I'm loathe to agree with him normally), those who say cricket is a gentleman's game don't really know about the history of the game.

3. It was wrong to drop Phil Hughes in the 2009 Ashes. It was a panicked and reactionary decision, and probably the worst example of our quick-fix selection mentality over the last few seasons. That decision badly crippled a flawed but otherwise talented batsman. I wasn't on BF at the time so I can't quote a supportive post about Hughes, but I did post favourably about him on Facebook. :cool:
 
Aug 28, 2011
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Murali, and all of the ensuring political bullshit, is the biggest disgrace and blight ever on the game.

In what respect? Do you think he should have copped the "chucker" tag on the chin or do you think he was treated unfairly?

Edit: Bigger blight than match/spot-fixing?
 
Aug 28, 2011
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Shane Warne is given too much leeway by the cricketing public. He has been very petty over the years with his criticism of guys he didn't really like e.g. Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, John Buchanan while at the same time shamelessly pumping up his mates.

He may be a legend, but he shouldn't get a free pass to talk s**t.
 

ioppolo

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Oct 3, 2010
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Pat Cummins will never reach his full potential, he'll be our equivilent of Shane Bond.

Not really an unpopular opinion in Australia, but is there a more overrated/over hyped cricket then Shahid Afridi?
 
Jun 3, 2011
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Pat Cummins will never reach his full potential, he'll be our equivilent of Shane Bond.

Not really an unpopular opinion in Australia, but is there a more overrated/over hyped cricket then Shahid Afridi?

Shahid Afridi - "If he gets going..."

But he never, ever does.
 

getthefooty

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I'll also add:
2. Sledging, excepting racism and other major no-nos, is completely ok with me. I was more than happy for our guys to stick it up the opposition when we were number one and I'm prepared for us to cop it now. On this front the game is becoming far too sanitised. To paraphrase Ian Chappell (and I'm loathe to agree with him normally), those who say cricket is a gentleman's game don't really know about the history of the game.

Agreed, I can't stand it when people get up in arms about it. I'd go as far as to say that it's a unique aspect to the game that requires some mental tact amidst the physicality of the rest of the game. A lot of sledging is pretty poor, i.e. 'this bloke hasn't hit one off the square yet!' etc, that most batsman would just brush off. If you can't ignore the basic hostilities then you don't have the temperament to be a good batsman. But I feel there are certain well directed, well timed sledges that can actually impact how a batsman plays and negatively affect his confidence.
 
May 5, 2006
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Usman Khawaja's selection in the Australian test team was influenced by political factors other than playing for NSW.

The format of 20 over cricket is good for the sport. The alleged innovations (endless new competitions, pointless gimmicks, giant bats, tiny fields etc.) are not.
 
May 8, 2007
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Not really an unpopular opinion in Australia, but is there a more overrated/over hyped cricket then Shahid Afridi?

Over-rated, yes. Over-hyped, no. Absolute freak of a player. Great fielder, excellent bowler, astonishing batsman. No brain.

Re Phil Hughes - agree that he is going to be a long-term star. The ability to consistently make lots of runs (in any form of the game) is something that I rate as much as technique.
 

dan warna

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Darren Lehmann should have played more Tests instead of Mark Waugh

darren lehmann was a freak of a talent.
Should have played 100 plus tests.
What we saw
of boof was a fading player at the end of his career and he was still better than waugh at waughs best.
boof tearing opposition teams apart was a sight.

(this saying from a victorian who despises SA MORE than NSW :p :))
 

Parquet Court

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Jun 10, 2010
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ODIs should be scrapped. Less international t20s. world cups every 4 years. Test championship

Domestic cricket to take on a club style fixture during the respective test playing nations summer. With domestic 1st class and t20 matches being played while test matches are on.

Returning domestic cricket to Friday to Monday fixtures or thurs to Sunday

Oh wait. These are all common sense ideas.
 
Nov 12, 2002
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1. Bob Simpson was not nearly as responsible for Australia's resurgence as he and others claim.
2. Steve Waugh was not a great player. Great discipline and determination yes, but not on ability. Great players are able to play the hook shot.
3. Wicketkeepers shouldn't have to be top flight batsmen just because there have been some like that in the last few years. I would always - always - select the best keeper. If you're relying on your number 7 to score runs the top 6 aren't doing their job.
4. No test cricketer walks from the game voluntarily. They're all in it for the money.
5. 20/20 is even more rubbish than limited overs cricket. And that's saying something.
6. Ropes should be removed at all grounds in Australia or at least moved back. The variety of grounds in Australia was one of the great things about cricket here. It's slowly being removed.
7. Bouncers should be unlimited. The guy at the far end of the pitch has a bat in his hand.
8. This isn't unpopular, there is far, far too much cricket being played now.
 
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