Australia v India, 3rd Test at the MCG Dec 26-30

[Balls In]

Cricket at the MCG is at its absolute worst and rivals the Sydney to Hobart snore fest as the least enjoyable spectator sport in Australia.

 

[GROTTO]

Bancroft interview in a gif.

 

[mxett]

Not under a bus but several.

his efforts were very poor. He needs to own up to his part, not just claim he was new so he didnt know any better

 

[HLM*]

his efforts were very poor. He needs to own up to his part, not just claim he was new so he didnt know any better

He did ffs.

 

[GROTTO]

If India bats out tomorrow this pitch will crack in two its going to be a hot few days in Melbourne making it very hard for us to bat and also bat last.

 

[Lynnsanity]

Could be worse, could be claiming Mitch Marsh is a test cricketer just because he comes from your state!!!

Hang on..... Isn’t that what you and your fellow Victorians have been doing with Peter Handscomb?!?

We get your a flog, but don’t be a hypocrite

 

[HLM*]

Hang on..... Isn’t that what you and your fellow Victorians have been doing with Peter Handscomb?!?

We get your a flog, but don’t be a hypocrite

With a test average of just under 40, Handscomb has more claim to be a test cricketer than what Mitch does. And this is from a Queenslander.

 

[wolmeister]

I think people have their stories mixed up. It was Gilchrist who replaced Zoehrer as keeper for WA in 1994-95 and many locals weren't very happy about it, so Gilly copped a bit of flack from the WA crowd. It was also Gilly who replaced Healy as Test keeper and he copped flack from the Brisbane crowd in the 1st Test against Pakistan in 1999-2000.

Yep, that’s right. It didn’t take Gilchrist long to win over WA patrons though.

 

[eddiesmith]

Can someone check if this curator actually even holds a horticulturist ticket?

Yeah but it’s from somewhere in WA so probably didn’t even have to turn up to get it...

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Selfish prick who batted for his own statistics and couldn't care less about the side. Off the top of my head one anecdote I recall is that he figured out how to pick Australian mystery spinner Gleesons variation ball out of the hand but declined to let his teammates know how. Another infamous one is that England were in the position to win a Test with some aggressive batting, but Boycott stuck with his slow defensive style, so Ian Botham deliberately ran him out for the good of the side. Also screwed a lot of people in his domestic side over.

Sentiment of the period was that Boycott and Lawry were going to kill Test cricket.

In the Adelaide Test of 1970-71 (Lillee's debut Test and Lawry's last), Boycott was run out on day 1 for 58. He didn't like the call, threw his bat down and refused to leave. Edrich was at the other end and he was as dour and hard to dismiss as Boycott. They'd added 107 when Boycott was run out. The crowd were roaring their approval and were annoyed when Boycott wouldn't accept the decision. To the crowd's delight, Greg Chappell pick up the bat, handed it to Boycott, and then pointed out where the change rooms were. The crowd went bananas

 

[Demons09]

Hang on..... Isn’t that what you and your fellow Victorians have been doing with Peter Handscomb?!?

We get your a flog, but don’t be a hypocrite

Well Kram often calls him a flog I now see why just put Vic in front of it.

 

[FlowersByIrene]

Kolkota.

Calcutta

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

Calcutta

If you're ignorant, sure.

 

[mxett]

He did ffs.

"Dave [Warner] suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in in the game and I didn't know any better," Bancroft told Fox Sports.

 

[Gough]

Yep, that’s right. It didn’t take Gilchrist long to win over WA patrons though.

I was looking at my program from the 95/96 Shield Final not that long ago. How that WA side didn't roll us inside four days is still beyond me

 

[nobbyiscool]

Smith says he's taken responsibility... he hasn't. IMO you don't get to move straight back into a really privileged place in Australian culture and claim a redemption story if you refuse to discuss what actually happened.

I get the reason for not wanting to bury people (although he was happy to do it to Sutherland strangely enough!) but don't then say that you're taking responsibility and expect people to let you move on that easily.

Also, I can't have people saying that Bancroft shouldn't have supposedly thrown Warner under the bus for the exact reason that I've written about. If cricket as a sport and something inherent to the Australian culture is going to recover, we need the 3 main players to own their shit and talk about it honestly.

 

[HLM*]

"Dave [Warner] suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in in the game and I didn't know any better," Bancroft told Fox Sports.

Yes. He is explaining his thought process at the time. He also goes on to say it should have stopped at him and he did the wrong thing.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

With a test average of just under 40, Handscomb has more claim to be a test cricketer than what Mitch does. And this is from a Queenslander.

Neither should be near the side. Handscomb’s technique is horrific

 

[imperial_oz]

Defense & self interest were his 'virtues'.

I swear sometimes even the Poms cheered when he got out.

Read some of Rod Marsh's stuff.

Apparently he used to have 'drinks' with Borecott after each day's play. When he was quizzed why he did it, since Borecott wasn't popular with anybody on either side, Marsh said that Borecott used to criticise his team mates and point out all their flaws and weaknesses....which Marsh would pass on to his bowlers

 

[frankrizzo]

Smith says he's taken responsibility... he hasn't. IMO you don't get to move straight back into a really privileged place in Australian culture and claim a redemption story if you refuse to discuss what actually happened.

I get the reason for not wanting to bury people (although he was happy to do it to Sutherland strangely enough!) but don't then say that you're taking responsibility and expect people to let you move on that easily.

Also, I can't have people saying that Bancroft shouldn't have supposedly thrown Warner under the bus for the exact reason that I've written about. If cricket as a sport and something inherent to the Australian culture is going to recover, we need the 3 main players to own their shit and talk about it honestly.

I thought Smith ignored it as he didn't want to know, if he ignored it what details do you think he has on the planning?

If Smith was involved in the planning why didn't Bancroft say Smith and Warner told me to do this?

 

[Richard Pryor]

I thought Smith ignored it as he didn't want to know, if he ignored it what details do you think he has on the planning?

If Smith was involved in the planning why didn't Bancroft say Smith and Warner told me to do this?

Playing devil's advocate, Smith is far more likely to get back to a place of influence in Australian cricket than Warner, as such keeping his jimmies unrustled could prove advantageous from Bancs.

 

[Cleavy]

It's a disgrace that you know the result of the match by the end of the first session of the first day. Anything other than a bore draw is a miracle, given the weather for the rest of the test is expected to be stinking hot with clear skies.

Saturday/Sunday is supposed to be cloudy with cooler temperatures.

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/melbourne.shtml

 

[mxett]

Yes. He is explaining his thought process at the time. He also goes on to say it should have stopped at him and he did the wrong thing.

He's excuse making, trying to claim his thought process at the time suggested he didnt know clear cheating was wrong. How ridiculous

 

[imperial_oz]

Neither should be near the side. Handscomb’s technique is horrific

Agree with this. Neither player can make the claim they are picked on merit. Handscomb has been woeful this series and he was woeful before. Marsh hasn't set the world on fire either. I'm guessing his bowling potential was the difference for this test but if we went purely on past performances, you couldn't see either getting picked at this level.

This has to be Marsh's last chance I'm thinking and Handscomb would be close to that point as well.

 

[frankrizzo]

Playing devil's advocate, Smith is far more likely to get back to a place of influence in Australian cricket than Warner, as such keeping his jimmies unrustled could prove advantageous from Bancs.

So if Smith is the mastermind who planned it and let Warner do the dirty work why would Warner sit there and eat shit to protect Smith?

If Smith did plan it all did he lie to ca or is this a grand conspiracy where former and current ca board members and bancroft and Warner are lying to protect Smith?