1st Test; Australia v Pakistan @ The Gabba November 21-25

Barlos Crathwaite

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Seriously who the f##k wants to go and watch a test match live? It's boring as hell, hot and uncomfortable and food and drink is ridiculously expensive. If you're lucky you might witness a ton or a few wickets but those moments are like a fleeting bit of excitement in a day of absolute drudgery. Waste of time
 

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Johnson absoloutelt destroyed India and South Africa in a couple innings and has some absoloutely filthy days aswell. Starc doesn't have the same highs, he just cashes in on the tail.

Don't think Johnson absolutely destroyed us anytime, he has his worst career bowling average against India. He has had his moments against India but even in his red hot form, he wasn't as dangerous as he was against England and SA, although Hughes' passing probably had an effect too. Guys like Hilfenhaus and Siddle destroyed us more in Australia.
 

Barlos Crathwaite

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I think his genuine quality - seriously if he were 10km/h slower he’d still take wickets - probably shields the fact that he was also fast, and intimidating.
Youse are all wrong. Nathan bracken was the best that could've been. If CA managed his bung knee with some common sense he would've taken a thousand wickets for us
 
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Seriously who the f##k wants to go and watch a test match live? It's boring as hell, hot and uncomfortable and food and drink is ridiculously expensive. If you're lucky you might witness a ton or a few wickets but those moments are like a fleeting bit of excitement in a day of absolute drudgery. Waste of time
Understandable response when your loval venue is the WACA.
 
Seriously who the f##k wants to go and watch a test match live? It's boring as hell, hot and uncomfortable and food and drink is ridiculously expensive. If you're lucky you might witness a ton or a few wickets but those moments are like a fleeting bit of excitement in a day of absolute drudgery. Waste of time
Gee, I've had some amazing days at Tests at the WACA. Amla/De Villiers masterclass was a pleasure to witness, flat pitch or not. Harris running through the Poms to secure the urn. Lee knocking Tudor flat onto his back with a horrifying crunch. Warne being caught for 99.

Great memories.
 

Park cricketer

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you missed the point its not about cash as far as they are concerned not when playing us and others its about cudos and prestige....in the parlance of social behaviour its about social climbing in a nationalistic sense. They are an emerging massive populace they need to be achieving in all manner of avenues..they cant let go of that...and if they tried they may still make fortunes within their own borders but they then loose much much more. so yes you quite missed the line and length.

Honestly nobody feels a boost to the nationalistic ego anymore with regards to cricket at present. Might have been true in the 90s when India were underdogs in the truest sense and finding a place in the top 3 rankings in any format would feel like huge prestige. Now the BCCI has been ruling world cricket for sometime now and the team has been ranked either 1 or 2 in both formats for a long time now. If anything, Indians would want more test series against Pakistan just to correct the past records a bit.

You might be right if you talk about the Olympics though because India is still very much finding its feet in different sports and getting any medal is cheered. Cricket is small fry when you compare to global sports/competitions like the FIFA world cup and Olympics. It's far easier to dominate in cricket than in the other sports I mentioned.
 

Barlos Crathwaite

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Understandable response when your loval venue is the WACA.
If you're lucky the doctor might breeze in for five minutes after 3pm. All the respite you get there. The rest of the time you're roasting in 38 degree heat drinking watered down hot beer and eating hot salty chips that leave me as salty as a Vic on gf day last year after we smashed Collingwood.
 
I think his genuine quality - seriously if he were 10km/h slower he’d still take wickets - probably shields the fact that he was also fast, and intimidating.

Maybe it's just a sign of the times. Getting hit by fast bowlers seemed more commonplace back then, especially given the prevalence of bunnies down the order, you either soldiered on without much fuss or went off to nurse your broken bits. A quickie injuring a batsmen was maybe, simply, a more accepted risk of playing?
 

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I really thought Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson and Shaun Marsh would end their careers as ATGs the first time I saw them..But then again, I first saw Ferguson (CLT20) and Marsh (IPL) in T20 competitions and it's probably why you don't judge players in T20 cricket.
 

Barlos Crathwaite

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I really thought Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson and Shaun Marsh would end their careers as ATGs the first time I saw them..But then again, I first saw Ferguson (CLT20) and Marsh (IPL) in T20 competitions and it's probably why you don't judge players in T20 cricket.
Brackens first odi series in India he swung the ball more than I've ever seen a ball swing
 
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Maybe it's just a sign of the times. Getting hit by fast bowlers seemed more commonplace back then, especially given the prevalence of bunnies down the order, you either soldiered on without much fuss or went off to nurse your broken bits. A quickie injuring a batsmen was maybe, simply, a more accepted risk of playing?

Quite possibly.
Also worth remembering that two of Ambrose’s touring teammates on that series were Ian Bishop and Patrick Patterson, both frighteningly quick and in Patterson’s case, among the most intimidating bowlers of all time. So the relative conventionality of Ambrose might seem like a relief by comparison
 
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I was there for Ambroses' 7/25 in '93 at the WACA. Bishop's 6 fer 40 in the second innings never gets a mention strangely enough. I think we missed out on Patterson for that test - I can't recall if he was injured or whatever.

He got sent home from the tour at some point but I’m not sure if it was during or at the end of it.

There was a really good article written by an Indian journo a few years back who managed to track down Patterson after seemingly being untraceable for the better part of 15 years
 
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Cummins going at 5 wickets per Test @ 21 is absolutely outstanding, Starc with more wickets than Thomson/Miller/Hughes merely excellent.

When did volume become a marker of excellence? Play enough cricket or bowl enough balls and you will take wickets. Add some context.
Hughes carried attacks that often had little support beyond Craig McDermott.
Miller happened to be one of the best batsmen in the side. Thompson put the fear of god into everyone he bowled to.
 
When did volume become a marker of excellence? Play enough cricket or bowl enough balls and you will take wickets. Add some context.
Hughes carried attacks that often had little support beyond Craig McDermott.
Miller happened to be one of the best batsmen in the side. Thompson put the fear of god into everyone he bowled to.
People forget how good he could be because he was a bit of a clown. The 93 Ashes pretty much finished him when McDermott went home and AB flogged him, he took thirty odd wicket but that was pretty much him done.
 
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People forget how good he could be because he was a bit of a clown. The 93 Ashes pretty much finished him when McDermott went home and AB flogged him, he took thirty odd wicket but that was pretty much him done.

Yep.
He was absolutely lionhearted playing most of his career when Australia were really scratching around for quicks. Alderman was probably little better than serviceable outside england and Lawson was handy but not a lot more, Hughes really was a very very good bowler in his own right
 
Yep.
He was absolutely lionhearted playing most of his career when Australia were really scratching around for quicks. Alderman was probably little better than serviceable outside england and Lawson was handy but not a lot more, Hughes really was a very very good bowler in his own right
I met him a bar at the Sandton Sun in Jo'burg during the 94 tour. I was just an idiot long haired scruffy kid who went up and introduced himself but he was very happy to talk. I've always had a soft spot for him after that
 
As a kid growing up Bracken was the bowler I wanted to be. Left arm with swing and control

Johnsons' Ashes was the most perfect set of tests ever for a bowler. 37 out of 100 (that England side is the only side to lose 100 wickets in a test series iirc) wickets and I would have expected another 30 or so to have fallen from the other end when he was bowling. Shame the next summer India also brought over their roads.

* I wish we had Harris and Bracken with good knees :(
 
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