Opinion Cricket thread

[KiwiRoo]

With Warner, Kohli and Anderson the Douche XI have the corner stones of almost being the best Test team in the world.

The new look Aussies are on fire. Here's another nice piece of work by the newbie Harris.

View attachment 596459

Like it. Bit cleverer than the "your mother swims after troopships" type comments

 

[gokangas]

Aussies closing in and reports of dissension in the Indian camp. Win/win!

 

[gokangas]

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Nice win boys. Lets hope its the start of a new run of success.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Aussies closing in and reports of dissension in the Indian camp. Win/win!

Game over. Listen with the sound up.

 

[giantroo]

Taken 10 months and finally a win.

 

[Firestarter]

So why the hell did we let the bloody Adelaide streak die if we could play like this?

 

[Nate7]

Game over. Listen with the sound up.

Haha Ponting, "I want to see the 90 second version! ".

Someone not following team direction or is this a case of a few Indian egos getting caught up in their own self importance ?

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Haha Ponting, "I want to see the 90 second version! ".

Someone not following team direction or is this a case of a few Indian egos getting caught up in their own self importance ?

Apparently they were talking in Hindi. I think Jadeja was pissed off he didn't get a game thia week and was telling Ishant that he knows Kholi is his captain, but he seriously can't stand the bloke. Ishant took exception to that.

 

[Nate7]

Apparently they were talking in Hindi. I think Jadeja was pissed off he didn't get a game thia week and was telling Ishant that he knows Kholi is his captain, but he seriously can't stand the bloke. Ishant took exception to that.

Poor timing by Jadeja with emotions already running high.
I might agree with him, but I'd have kept those as just thoughts for the time being.

There's actually a couple of Indians unlucky not to have been selected yet.

 

[giantroo]

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Haha. Never believe a thing that B.C.C.I and team management put out in the media.

 

[giantroo]

Haha. Never believe a thing that B.C.C.I and team management put out in the media.

Yeah I know, porkies being told.

 

[giantroo]

SHARMA TO TEAMMATE: ‘DON’T TALK BULLS***’

Can’t we all just get along?
“I will shove your anger up you're a*** … don’t talk bulls***.” The most vulgar abuse during the second Test came from the mouth of India veteran Ishant Sharma and was directed at teammate Ravindra Jadeja.

There has been plenty of chat about the slanging match between captains Paine and Kohli that overshadowed Australia’s series-levelling victory. But a far more heated on-field discussion unfolded during Australia’s second innings on day four, when Channel 7’s cameras captured Sharma arguing with substitute fielder Jadeja.

The pair went chest to chest before two teammates, including a patient Mohammed Shami who was waiting to bowl, eventually helped restore order. Audio of the interaction in Hindi, picked up by a stump microphone, was not broadcast but has since emerged and been translated.

“Don’t wave your hand at me. If you want something, come to me and say it,” Sharma barked.

Jadeja fires back, asking Sharma: “Why are you saying so much?”

“Don’t wave your hand at me. Don’t take out your anger on me,” Sharma replied. “I’ll take your anger and shove it up you're a***. I will shove your anger up you're a*** … don’t talk bulls***.”

Jadeja, nicknamed “Rockstar” by former Rajasthan teammate Shane Warne during the inaugural Indian Premier League season because of his immense confidence, is a fiery customer who had a verbal stoush with Matthew Wade during last year’s Test series in India.


“Who knows what they are talking about but it does seem pretty animated. There’s lots of finger pointing. They were separated on a couple of occasions,” Ricky Ponting said on Seven.

 

[B4Bear]

Brilliant test match. Played the way it should be.

Hard but fair.

If Warner and Smith never put on the baggy Green again it will be too soon.

 

[Arthur Cloke]

I've been watching Cricket 360 for years but since Smash Craddock has entered the scene, the show is off the charts.

 

[Grogg]

Ufortunately being subjected to some BBL tonight.

Dancers around the boundary.

Dancers.

What the actual *?

 

[giantroo]

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Ufortunately being subjected to some BBL tonight.

Dancers around the boundary.

Dancers.

What the actual ****?

Where have you been for the last 7 years?

I know it's only disposable cricket but if you haven't been to a game live, do it.

Being from the country, I take my kids down to 1 game a year. They love it. It's a great family atmosphere. My young daughter loves it. The lights, music, fireworks and the cricket.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Where have you been for the last 7 years?

I know it's only disposable cricket but if you haven't been to a game live, do it.

Being from the country, I take my kids down to 1 game a year. They love it. It's a great family atmosphere. My young daughter loves it. The lights, music, fireworks and the cricket.

Yep, it'll never replace One day or Test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport, but its hard to disagree that the atmosphere is incredible.

 

[Grogg]

I get it.

It's a kid's sport and is marketed as such.

Glitzy glamour and zero substance.

I've been to a few games and was bored shitless as I had zero emotional investment.

Hi 5 is great for the littlies, but something I'm not personally interested in either

 

[DarkPhoenix]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricke...c/news-story/28750ccff93d1d5ca73dfbfad497520a

Steve Smith’s seat warmer and the best of a bad bunch; this arguably described best how Tim Paine was viewed by the cricket community two weeks ago.
He was made Test captain when the Australian public felt like it didn’t know its national team anymore. It simply yearned for a time when the team’s stars were national treasures who won games of cricket for fun.

But after Cape Town, the Australian cricket team would never be the same again. And it was watching Paine flip a coin that reminded devastated cricket fans of that sad reality.

These are the same fans that were once spoiled with Adam Gilchrist for their Test wicketkeeper, and fearless leaders like Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Allan Border.

Paine will never live up to any of those names. How could he?

Nonetheless, he is proving to be an exceptional wicketkeeper who has a sneaky good record with the bat, and a captain the public can be proud of.

Opposing skipper Virat Kohli scored his 25th Test century in the second Test in Perth, but it was Paine who won the battle of wits.

His cheeky style of banter - that included calling Kohli a “big head” and accusing him of “trying to be cool” - may have been rated PG at most, but it was the perfect tone to unnerve the India skipper. Fighting Kohli’s fire with fire is never wise. It makes him stronger. Ignoring him altogether shows fear and lets him feel like, well, the King. Paine found the perfect middle ground that clearly pushed Kohli’s buttons.

He enthusiastically celebrated catching Paine out in Australia’s second innings, which may have been misplaced given his side was nearly 250 runs behind and he was yet to bat for a second time himself. Later that day he was back in the sheds for 17 and his side was destined to lose - which they did comfortably in the end.

A mute Kohli barely holding a second of eye contact with Paine when shaking hands at the end of the match said it all. Paine stood up to the King and not only lived to tell the tale, but walked away with the chocolates.

Cricket legend Shane Warne summed it up best after Paine’s first Test win.

“Tim Paine take a bow - we now have a Test captain,” he said.

Former England Test captain Michael Vaughan added: “Tim Paine is a very, very good leader who deserves all the credit.”

Congrats to Aust & both teams for a terrific test series so far - well done. Loved it all. That’s the best test win for Aust in a long time. Tim Paine take a bow - we now have a test captain ! Lyon & Khawaja outstanding. Finch & Harris 0/100 on day 1 was the difference !!

— Shane Warne (ShaneWarne) December 18, 2018
Quality performance from Australia this week ... Tim Paine is a very very good leader who deserves all the credit ... India got it wrong at the start with the wrong team .. @imjadeja should have played .. Great Test Match to cover on @FoxCricket .. #AUSvIND #1-1

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 18, 2018
But Paine’s value is far more than just being a good leader. The amount of runs he brings to the side has, until this point, been largely understated.

Australia has only ever had one wicketkeeper who has averaged more with the bat in Test cricket: Gilchrist.

The left-hander made 5,570 Test runs at 47.60, including 17 centuries - a freakish record for a gloveman that batted at No.7 that may never be matched.

Paine bats in the same position and has made 886 at 36.91 after 17 Tests. Not bad for someone who in 2016 considered giving away the game to work for Kookaburra. He even struggled for state selection before last season.

Brad Haddin is the only other Australian wicketkeeper to have averaged more than 30 (32.98) in Test cricket.

Paine is yet to score a Test century, although his 61 not out in Dubai against Pakistan in October was arguably worth that.

He was also responsible for two gritty knocks in Perth which helped consolidate Australia’s lead and level the series. Paine frustrated India by withstanding the testing final overs of day three, which is when his feud with Kohli started. He then made it to lunch of day four unscathed to help wrestle the momentum back from India and take the match out of its hands.

Then there is the 34-year-old’s glovework, which is considered to be among the best seen by an Australian.

Former Test cricketer Simon O’Donnell went as far to say that Paine is better behind the stumps than both Gilchrist and Ian Healy.

“Some of the catches he’s taken off Nathan Lyon where the ball has changed heights right in front of him and he’s taken them with ease, he’s one of the better keepers we’ve probably had,” O’Donnell told SEN Breakfast.

“That may be contentious, but I think he’s got Ian Healy covered and I think he’s got Adam Gilchrist covered (as a wicketkeeper) ... He’s a superb wicketkeeper.”

And neither Healy or Gilchrist had to worry about being captain permanently.

There are still two Tests to go in the Border-Gavaskar series and there is time for things to take a turn. But as things stand, Paine is on top of all three disciplines.

He’s keeping a seat warm for no one.

 

[ferball]

When I was a kid in Hobart we didn't even have a Sheffield shield team. No one had ever been picked for Australia.

All these years later the fact that 2 of the last 4 Australian captains came from Tassie is unreal.

 

[KiwiRoo]

Brilliant test match. Played the way it should be.

Hard but fair.

If Warner and Smith never put on the baggy Green again it will be too soon.

I agree
Sure tempers flared a bit, but at least it was because they cared.
I don't mind clever banter and a bit of smoke out the nostrils occasionally . When its orchestrated & mindless, well not so much.

great track too. You wouldn't want to play every test match on it, but gee it created some drama !

 

[pupstar]

Brilliant test match. Played the way it should be.

Hard but fair.

If Warner and Smith never put on the baggy Green again it will be too soon.

I am sure both Smith and Warner have had some very dark times since the the ball tampering happened.Would have suffered and regretted a lot A bit of slack would not go astray in my opinion.

 

[B4Bear]

I am sure both Smith and Warner have had some very dark times since the the ball tampering happened.Would have suffered and regretted a lot A bit of slack would not go astray in my opinion.

I agree that we can forgive them. However, that does not make them worthy of representing Australia again.

Just my 2c worth. I am sure all will be forgiven, 'everyone' loves a redemption story.