2nd Test Australia v West Indies 8/12-12/12 1430hrs @ Adelaide Oval.

[BGman]

Riveting for five days?

This is the list of Australia's most recent tests at home. A lot of these were pretty much over by lunch on the second day.

View attachment 1571655

The WTC is a good idea, although it hasn't been embraced by the public, and for most teams, it's akin to being stuck mid-table in a soccer league - you know you can't win, and you know you won't be relegated so it's all a bit ho-hum. And of course the ICC decide to be pricks and not include everyone....

We find ourselves in a rather strong WTC position. Did the ICC try to hamstring us by making three of our four away matches in the sub continent where we traditionally dont travel so well. If so we called their bluff and won in Pakistan and tied in Sri Lanka. We will be stronger for India this time too.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

We have been powerful at home with regular victories putting us in a strong WTC position. The ICC tried to hamstring us by making all our three away matches this year in the sub continent. But we called their bluff and won in Pakistan and tied in Sri Lanka. We will be stronger for India this time too.
So suck eggs ICC.

Not convinced about India, Pakistan was basically 3 roads and a draw with SL aint great.

 

[11kgm]

Hazelwood could miss another summer

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Hazelwood could miss another summer

I'd be surprised if he's not ruled out, side strains for a bowler are a nightmare

 

[Voice of the G]

SA have batted and bowled well in the current game against the Aust.11.A interesting day 4 ahead today with result wise only a SA win or a draw I would think.The Australian batting in the 1st innings except for Doran and Kellaway was not good and will be interesting to see what happens today,need Handscomb to score big but favour a draw in this one.PS Whiteman out in the 3rd over.

 

[madjoe]

I agree in terms of the overall players out here. But I do not think we can be harsh enough on cricket admin there they cannot get their s**t together to send a squad of players capable of performing up to some type of standard for West Indian fans and many Australians that grew up thinking the West Indies were the power in cricket to challenge ourselves with as the best in the world. It's just bullshit leadership there to not create the pathways and development to form a team capable of being to the standard many of us expect. To actually send out a team here with Chase as their spinner is a joke. To have no back up of quality in fast bowling is a joke. To send a squad where if there an injury or two, they cannot even compete seriously is a joke. To have player group in all the islands not all aiming to be part of their Test team and some give up and only focus on T20 cricket is like a death in the Test cricket family. The ICC seems a joke too to not find some way to help them sort their s**t out. World cricket is poorer for allowing this s**t show to keep happening. The whole cricket world is a complete mess in terms of admin and schedules. I just cannot see where the leadership is coming from at international level for cricket and within their region.

agree with chase being the number 1 pick spinner when they played two spinners to england 6months ago that was a mistake, it's just a lack of funding in the whole sport that makes them struggle imo almost all the team are just test players so only have to worry about improving but players like hope, pooran, blackwood are just so up and down in form. big concern most of the team are on the older side too

 

[PhatBoy]

For those that have the time and interest they should watch this doco. It explains a lot

Wow.

I watched this with emotion pouring out of me. Rage, joy at times hearing Cowan and Dravid etc talk about cricket, Haigh talking about it, and sadness - I got a bit teary in parts - at what has taken place behind the scenes to the game I love.

It may not always come across in the way I communicate via a mixture of sarcasm, abrasiveness and straight out rudeness at times but I adore cricket. I have since I was 5 and I haven’t missed a summer since as a player (I’m 38) and I can’t remember the last test series I didn’t watch any of that I had some sort of televisual or radio access to. It is simply the most perfect sport on the planet as far as I’m concerned and all the hubris and euphemism about metaphors for life etc, I subscribe to.

Seeing how little regard the likes of India, Australia and England have for the countries they compete with is sickening.

Near the end Haigh says ‘t20 cricket NEEDS something to be shorter than.’
Likewise, the countries that seem so determined to dominate and wring every last cent from the game, NEED opposition to be better than.

It may sound silly but the great hope for Test cricket was South Africa.

They are the only team whose competitiveness in the professional era has consistently matched Australia’s despite a lot of failures against them. They have been perpetually strong across the two main formats and for a good decade were either the best test side or vying for the mantle. Had that translated into more presence in their home sporting landscape, and into even more prolonged dominance, it may have given the smaller countries financially, a foot in the door. You can’t ignore a nation that is consistently beating all the others.

Haroon Lorgat comes out of that film looking like a man who genuinely has cricket’s best interest at heart but was afraid to say it. Modi looks like a man who genuinely believed he was doing something good for cricket but recognises that it has done more harm than good.

The rest - Giles Clark especially - made me want to vomit.

With one swipe of pen on paper, these men could resurrect the facilities, professionalism, infrastructure, development and the financial stability of every cricketing nation. Easily.

And they refuse to do it and it breaks my heart as a fan of cricket and as a West Indian fan.

Brian Lara used to always say - and at the time I thought it was just blind optimism but I believe it now to be true. The Caribbean still produces some of the most physically gifted and talented players the world over. They currently have nothing to motivate them, to inspire them, or to work towards. And I don’t blame them one bit given the position they find themselves in as a consequence of what the powerful cricket nations have done to turn the sport into a business.

I’m f***ing steaming.

 

[PhatBoy]

How do you explain their pathetic effort then in this series. Other than that Australia was in another class to them.

Same way you would explain England playing to arguably an even worse standard last summer. It happens.

How do you explain Australia getting trounced 3-0 by a Sri Lankan team that had 2-3 established players on their second last visit there? How do you explain the Kiwis playing 2-3 good strong years of test cricket and then coming out here and getting utterly bollocked?

Oh that’s right the WI get judged to a different standard.

 

[danstar]

Hitler killed a heap of people but that was over 5 years, should get over that too

Over reaction of the year

 

[ROOTA#6]

How do you explain their pathetic effort then in this series. Other than that Australia was in another class to them.

To be fair they out performed any effort England put up last ashes with their effort in their first test.

The second test was diabolical but injuries didn’t help.

People need to stop needing to be so extreme with their views on these things.

 

[footyfan1978]

To be fair they out performed any effort England put up last ashes with their effort in their first test.

The second test was diabolical but injuries didn’t help.

People need to stop needing to be so extreme with their views on these things.

The f'wits trying to say West Indies should not come out here and just bag them are just nufty theatre sport watchers that have no real care for the sport itself.

 

[BGman]

SA have batted and bowled well in the current game against the Aust.11.A interesting day 4 ahead today with result wise only a SA win or a draw I would think.The Australian batting in the 1st innings except for Doran and Kellaway was not good and will be interesting to see what happens today,need Handscomb to score big but favour a draw in this one.PS Whiteman out in the 3rd over.

To be honest not bothered by the Saffa batting as not a one of their top 6 averages over @40, even Elgar and some are as low as @30. It is their bowling that is world class, even tho Nortje is not in best of form. Actually his record he is over rated. Duanne Olivier has a better record, so SA selectors have missed a trick not including him as one of their quota of white bowlers.

 

[Nicho50]

People are forgetting just how one sided majority of these series go in Australia for the last 30 years. Top of my head so dates will be wrong but hasn't it just been England in 10, India 18/20? And South Africa in 16? That have won series here?

We serve up highways as pitches and back ourselves in to make enough runs and have a quality bowling line up to defend it. It gives touring sides like the West Indies who essentially play a lot of home tests on slow low decks but do get some success on English conditions with slower wickets but seam/swing virtually no chance over here.

There is no doubt test cricket is in real trouble the appeal is just gone. There is far to much money to be made in 20/20 , 10/10 comps for these players of nations like the West Indies who don't get paid like the Australian guys do to represent the country. The world has changed video games and tech more readily available for kids these days compared to the 80's and 90's where a lot more time was spent from kids around the world outside playing sport. Streaming services etc everything these days is on demand and that is why the franchise cricket is becoming more popular.

For me 90's cricket and early 2000's was peak, there were so many class players and battles within games Warne , Sachin, Lara, McGrath, Ambrose, Walsh, Murali, Donald, Akram, Kallis , Waqar, Gilly, Flintoff just to name a few but you would pay money to just guy and watch some of those on their own. No offence to the current day crop but Williamson, Babar, Smith, Marnus and Root are good players but I wouldn't fork out to just go and watch them. Virat is a different story he has that aura about him but the others whilst good players I would take the older gen like Hayden, Waugh twins, Cronje, Anwar, Inzi, Yousef, Fleming over that group to watch.

The quality of match up's just isn't there like it used to be. Ambrose- Waugh, Warne - Cullinan, McGrath - Lara etc there isn't to many match ups now where you go s**t I really can't wait to see Lyon bowl to Virat or pumped to see Cummins take on Babar....

I feel sorry for this current crop of Windies players and potentials. You get guys like Pooran that are great at white ball cricket and with a packed schedule of comps doesn't get to play red ball cricket, like the Maxwell situation with Aus. Could you really blame any player for playing as much franchise stuff as they can making $$$$ whilst they can.

When is the last time Australia toured Windies? Next one isn't until 2025 I think so it would be what at least 7-8 years between tours there? I am sure in home conditions they would put up a fight against the Aussie line up with conditions more suited to their style but if they don't get that experience playing those nations how do they get it?

They really do need to have a think about the selection policy though, I would argue your guys like Hope, Pooran, King that can bat and have success in white ball cricket against quality fast bowling have the talent to make a go of it in the test arena. Couldn't be any worse than Bonner, Brooks and Blackwood.

Considering the weird fixturing of them coming out again next year I hope they do something drastically different with a new coach on board.

Id be rolling with Braithwaite, Chanderpaul, King, Hope, Pooran, Mayers, Da Silva, Holder, Cornwell, Gabriel, Joseph, Roach, Seales, Hossein, Darren Bravo, Chase.

Hossein has a decent first class bowling record surely worth a shot over Chase as a spinning option in squad.

 

[corbies]

People are forgetting just how one sided majority of these series go in Australia for the last 30 years. Top of my head so dates will be wrong but hasn't it just been England in 10, India 18/20? And South Africa in 16? That have won series here?

South Africa 12/13. South Africa 08/09.

For me 90's cricket and early 2000's was peak, there were so many class players and battles within games Warne , Sachin, Lara, McGrath, Ambrose, Walsh, Murali, Donald, Akram, Kallis , Waqar, Gilly, Flintoff just to name a few but you would pay money to just guy and watch some of those on their own. No offence to the current day crop but Williamson, Babar, Smith, Marnus and Root are good players but I wouldn't fork out to just go and watch them. Virat is a different story he has that aura about him but the others whilst good players I would take the older gen like Hayden, Waugh twins, Cronje, Anwar, Inzi, Yousef, Fleming over that group to watch.

How old were you when these guys were playing? Most people think sport was at its best when they were between 15 and 25.

 

[PhatBoy]

To be honest not bothered by the Saffa batting as not a one of their top 6 averages over @40, even Elgar and some are as low as @30. It is their bowling that is world class, even tho Nortje is not in best of form. Actually his record he is over rated. Duanne Olivier has a better record, so SA selectors have missed a trick not including him as one of their quota of white bowlers.

If you remove Nortje’s debut series which was on some featherbeds in India he averages 23 across 13 tests and takes 4 wickets a game. Yes it was a horrible horrible series for him but it was a terrible initiation and he has been absolutely world class every time he’s bowled since

 

[PhatBoy]

People are forgetting just how one sided majority of these series go in Australia for the last 30 years. Top of my head so dates will be wrong but hasn't it just been England in 10, India 18/20? And South Africa in 16? That have won series here?

We serve up highways as pitches and back ourselves in to make enough runs and have a quality bowling line up to defend it. It gives touring sides like the West Indies who essentially play a lot of home tests on slow low decks but do get some success on English conditions with slower wickets but seam/swing virtually no chance over here.

There is no doubt test cricket is in real trouble the appeal is just gone. There is far to much money to be made in 20/20 , 10/10 comps for these players of nations like the West Indies who don't get paid like the Australian guys do to represent the country. The world has changed video games and tech more readily available for kids these days compared to the 80's and 90's where a lot more time was spent from kids around the world outside playing sport. Streaming services etc everything these days is on demand and that is why the franchise cricket is becoming more popular.

For me 90's cricket and early 2000's was peak, there were so many class players and battles within games Warne , Sachin, Lara, McGrath, Ambrose, Walsh, Murali, Donald, Akram, Kallis , Waqar, Gilly, Flintoff just to name a few but you would pay money to just guy and watch some of those on their own. No offence to the current day crop but Williamson, Babar, Smith, Marnus and Root are good players but I wouldn't fork out to just go and watch them. Virat is a different story he has that aura about him but the others whilst good players I would take the older gen like Hayden, Waugh twins, Cronje, Anwar, Inzi, Yousef, Fleming over that group to watch.

The quality of match up's just isn't there like it used to be. Ambrose- Waugh, Warne - Cullinan, McGrath - Lara etc there isn't to many match ups now where you go s**t I really can't wait to see Lyon bowl to Virat or pumped to see Cummins take on Babar....

I feel sorry for this current crop of Windies players and potentials. You get guys like Pooran that are great at white ball cricket and with a packed schedule of comps doesn't get to play red ball cricket, like the Maxwell situation with Aus. Could you really blame any player for playing as much franchise stuff as they can making $$$$ whilst they can.

When is the last time Australia toured Windies? Next one isn't until 2025 I think so it would be what at least 7-8 years between tours there? I am sure in home conditions they would put up a fight against the Aussie line up with conditions more suited to their style but if they don't get that experience playing those nations how do they get it?

They really do need to have a think about the selection policy though, I would argue your guys like Hope, Pooran, King that can bat and have success in white ball cricket against quality fast bowling have the talent to make a go of it in the test arena. Couldn't be any worse than Bonner, Brooks and Blackwood.

Considering the weird fixturing of them coming out again next year I hope they do something drastically different with a new coach on board.

Id be rolling with Braithwaite, Chanderpaul, King, Hope, Pooran, Mayers, Da Silva, Holder, Cornwell, Gabriel, Joseph, Roach, Seales, Hossein, Darren Bravo, Chase.

Hossein has a decent first class bowling record surely worth a shot over Chase as a spinning option in squad.

They can’t drop Bonner for starters - he has a very pedestrian first class record but has done everything asked of him so far and played a key role in two excellent series wins. Blackwood looked all at sea in this series but has done just enough since his recall to get a home summer. Brooks doesn’t have a test future imo.

There is no doubt that some of the white ball players - Hetmeyer, Pooran, Hope, Evin Lewis, Brandon King etc offer some element of danger to their opposition, and the biggest loss of All is Bravo who came along at the same time as root and Williamson and had both of them matched for talent

 

[Sphynx]

Wow.

I watched this with emotion pouring out of me. Rage, joy at times hearing Cowan and Dravid etc talk about cricket, Haigh talking about it, and sadness - I got a bit teary in parts - at what has taken place behind the scenes to the game I love.

It may not always come across in the way I communicate via a mixture of sarcasm, abrasiveness and straight out rudeness at times but I adore cricket. I have since I was 5 and I haven’t missed a summer since as a player (I’m 38) and I can’t remember the last test series I didn’t watch any of that I had some sort of televisual or radio access to. It is simply the most perfect sport on the planet as far as I’m concerned and all the hubris and euphemism about metaphors for life etc, I subscribe to.

Seeing how little regard the likes of India, Australia and England have for the countries they compete with is sickening.

Near the end Haigh says ‘t20 cricket NEEDS something to be shorter than.’
Likewise, the countries that seem so determined to dominate and wring every last cent from the game, NEED opposition to be better than.

It may sound silly but the great hope for Test cricket was South Africa.

They are the only team whose competitiveness in the professional era has consistently matched Australia’s despite a lot of failures against them. They have been perpetually strong across the two main formats and for a good decade were either the best test side or vying for the mantle. Had that translated into more presence in their home sporting landscape, and into even more prolonged dominance, it may have given the smaller countries financially, a foot in the door. You can’t ignore a nation that is consistently beating all the others.

Haroon Lorgat comes out of that film looking like a man who genuinely has cricket’s best interest at heart but was afraid to say it. Modi looks like a man who genuinely believed he was doing something good for cricket but recognises that it has done more harm than good.

The rest - Giles Clark especially - made me want to vomit.

With one swipe of pen on paper, these men could resurrect the facilities, professionalism, infrastructure, development and the financial stability of every cricketing nation. Easily.

And they refuse to do it and it breaks my heart as a fan of cricket and as a West Indian fan.

Brian Lara used to always say - and at the time I thought it was just blind optimism but I believe it now to be true. The Caribbean still produces some of the most physically gifted and talented players the world over. They currently have nothing to motivate them, to inspire them, or to work towards. And I don’t blame them one bit given the position they find themselves in as a consequence of what the powerful cricket nations have done to turn the sport into a business.

I’m f***ing steaming.

Giles Clark responsibility for the majority of his career's has been to the ECB and the fans of English cricket.

Not to the West Indies, not Pakistan, not Sri Lanka, not New Zealand, not Zimbabwe etc.

Just as I'd expect the likes of Lachlan Henderson and Nick Hockley to place the interests of Australian cricket, it's development and prosperity at grass roots level as their top priority.

Because you can be sure as hell, if Australia lost a home Ashes series, the media and every man and their dog will be out for their blood. They will be talking points on radio, TV, podcasts etc. They will have journo's camped outside their house. They would be asking questions as to why is Australia subsidizing the development of West Indian cricket?

There's a minimum expectation for performance of the Australian cricket team which takes priority over all else with the Australian public.

You can blame the likes of Australia, India, England etc as much as you like for the demise of the West Indies. But the majority of the blame lies with the WICB, not with these countries for trying to do the best thing for the sports in their home countries.

It's not their responsibility to convert young athletes to cricket in those nations..

Countries like Australia have enough of a battle on their hands regarding this and keeping the game relevant and growing, let alone worrying about all the other test nations.

They have to take their share of the blame.

It's not all funding related. Afghanistan is absolutely proof of that.

Brian Lara used to always say - and at the time I thought it was just blind optimism but I believe it now to be true. The Caribbean still produces some of the most physically gifted and talented players the world over. They currently have nothing to motivate them, to inspire them, or to work towards. And I don’t blame them one bit given the position they find themselves in as a consequence of what the powerful cricket nations have done to turn the sport into a business.

I’m f***ing steaming.

They have nothing to motivate or inspire them? Nothing to work towards?

Brian Lara has a net worth of $60m USD and Chris Gayle has a net worth of $25m USD.

There's literally dozens of cricket leagues around the world where they can make generational money for their families.

Usain Bolt the greatest athlete on the planet for a decade has a net worth of $90m USD. Yohan Blake has a net worth of $5m USD.

I don't see a major difference between the potential motivation of the Caribbean nations sprinting talent vs their cricketers. It seems one just has a far better pathway at grassroots level at the moment vs the other.

 

[Rabish Binney]

They can’t drop Bonner for starters - he has a very pedestrian first class record but has done everything asked of him so far and played a key role in two excellent series wins. Blackwood looked all at sea in this series but has done just enough since his recall to get a home summer. Brooks doesn’t have a test future imo.

There is no doubt that some of the white ball players - Hetmeyer, Pooran, Hope, Evin Lewis, Brandon King etc offer some element of danger to their opposition, and the biggest loss of All is Bravo who came along at the same time as root and Williamson and had both of them matched for talent

I seem to recall Shai Hope getting a hundred in each innings of a test against the Poms in England a few years back? Looked like a real prospect then.

What has happened to him?

 

[PhatBoy]

Giles Clark responsibility for the majority of his career's has been to the ECB and the fans of English cricket.

Not to the West Indies, not Pakistan, not Sri Lanka, not New Zealand, not Zimbabwe etc.

Just as I'd expect the likes of Lachlan Henderson and Nick Hockley to place the interests of Australian cricket, it's development and prosperity at grass roots level as their top priority.

Because you can be sure as hell, if Australia lost a home Ashes series, the media and every man and their dog will be out for their blood. They will be talking points on radio, TV, podcasts etc. They will have journo's camped outside their house. They would be asking questions as to why is Australia subsidizing the development of West Indian cricket?

There's a minimum expectation for performance of the Australian cricket team which takes priority over all else with the Australian public.

You can blame the likes of Australia, India, England etc as much as you like for the demise of the West Indies. But the majority of the blame lies with the WICB, not with these countries for trying to do the best thing for the sports in their home countries.

It's not their responsibility to convert young athletes to cricket in those nations..

Countries like Australia have enough of a battle on their hands regarding this and keeping the game relevant and growing, let alone worrying about all the other test nations.

They have to take their share of the blame.

It's not all funding related. Afghanistan is absolutely proof of that.

Anyone in a position like his, is a custodian of the game and his blatant disregard for anything that didn’t serve his interest was an utter disgrace.

They aren’t serving anything except self interest doing what they are doing.

What are they going to do when there is no one to play against? Have a circle jerk that no one cares about?

You’re drawing a false equivalency. For starters Afghanistan has a huge population to draw from and while it is a ragged often turbulent country, it is still one country. The only valid comparison in the world is New Zealand and as a far more economically sound nation than any of the WI nations, they have an advantage as well.

It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact of life. You can’t create professionalism beyond the means at your disposal. Most of the islands these guys come from have less than 500k residents, most of THOSE islands are less than 100k. Jamaica and TT are the only Caribbean nations with over a million people. Guyana is one of the poorest nations on the planet. In what world do you think they can just ‘catch up’ to the rest of the cricketing nations? On population alone the other poor teams economically like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and Afghanistan can do enough to get by.

Is it someone else’s responsibility to take care of someone? No it’s not. But with that attitude in general society we would have no such concept as charity for starters.

That an Australian (I assume that’s what you are) who presumably follows at least one of the major football codes believes that cricket should run just on a ‘help yourself and don’t expect assistance from others’ attitude to allow for competitive test cricket is astounding.

The worst part is, this abortion of a funds distribution plan that basically offers a place like the WI a token tiny slice of the revenue pizza, is propped up largely by the very plastic franchise competitions that rely on players from those poor nations to compete in.

 

[PhatBoy]

I seem to recall Shai Hope getting a hundred in each innings of a test against the Poms in England a few years back? Looked like a real prospect then.

What has happened to him?

Has an incredible one day record but doesn’t seem to transfer his mentality to tests. It’s not like he’s a slogger either he’s a gifted stroke player who just does not seem to be able to find his rhythm in white clothing.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Has an incredible one day record but doesn’t seem to transfer his mentality to tests. It’s not like he’s a slogger either he’s a gifted stroke player who just does not seem to be able to find his rhythm in white clothing.

I remember thinking that he seemed to have a good technique at the time.

 

[PhatBoy]

I remember thinking that he seemed to have a good technique at the time.

He does, it’s very textbook

 

[Sphynx]

Anyone in a position like his, is a custodian of the game and his blatant disregard for anything that didn’t serve his interest was an utter disgrace.

They aren’t serving anything except self interest doing what they are doing.

What are they going to do when there is no one to play against? Have a circle jerk that no one cares about?

You’re drawing a false equivalency. For starters Afghanistan has a huge population to draw from and while it is a ragged often turbulent country, it is still one country. The only valid comparison in the world is New Zealand and as a far more economically sound nation than any of the WI nations, they have an advantage as well.

It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact of life. You can’t create professionalism beyond the means at your disposal. Most of the islands these guys come from have less than 500k residents, most of THOSE islands are less than 100k. Jamaica and TT are the only Caribbean nations with over a million people. Guyana is one of the poorest nations on the planet. In what world do you think they can just ‘catch up’ to the rest of the cricketing nations? On population alone the other poor teams economically like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and Afghanistan can do enough to get by.

Is it someone else’s responsibility to take care of someone? No it’s not. But with that attitude in general society we would have no such concept as charity for starters.

That an Australian (I assume that’s what you are) who presumably follows at least one of the major football codes believes that cricket should run just on a ‘help yourself and don’t expect assistance from others’ attitude to allow for competitive test cricket is astounding.

The worst part is, this abortion of a funds distribution plan that basically offers a place like the WI a token tiny slice of the revenue pizza, is propped up largely by the very plastic franchise competitions that rely on players from those poor nations to compete in.

Your issues seem to be social ones with the Carribean nations, not at all within the scope of responsibility of the ICC.

For all of your excuses, it hasn't prevented them for the previous 70 years from being a powerhouse.

They are also powerhouses on the world stage in track and field, despite all of the same social issues.

The West Indies are offered a tiny slice of the pie, because that's exactly what they offer up in the revenue stakes. Unless you want a disproportionate amount of crickets revenue to go to the lesser developed countries at the expense of the ones who actually generate the majority of it?

You know what a bigger disaster is than the the demise of West Indian cricket? A completely s**t Indian side, a completely s**t Australian side and a completely s**t England side.

These 3 sides prop up the entire sport, the sport would literally fall over without them. As much as you don't want to admit it.

 

[BGman]

takes 4 wickets a game.

Not all that earth shattering. World class bowlers take more or build pressure so others take them.. like Hazlewood. Is Nortje a specialist seamer or a tearaway? Not seen a lot of him. Have tho seen a deal of Olivier and have been impressed.

 

[PhatBoy]

Your issues seem to be social ones with the Carribean nations, not at all within the scope of responsibility of the ICC.

For all of your excuses, it hasn't prevented them for the previous 70 years from being a powerhouse.

They are also powerhouses on the world stage in track and field, despite all of the same social issues.

The West Indies are offered a tiny slice of the pie, because that's exactly what they offer up in the revenue stakes. Unless you want a disproportionate amount of crickets revenue to go to the lesser developed countries at the expense of the ones who actually generate the majority of it?

You know what a bigger disaster is than the the demise of West Indian cricket? A completely s**t Indian side, a completely s**t Australian side and a completely s**t England side.

These 3 sides prop up the entire sport, the sport would literally fall over without them. As much as you don't want to admit it.

in the previous 70 years they played in an era before professionalism and THEN the money they got when professionalism DID arrive was from…..
An Australian businessman.

As soon as that early foray into cricket as a business started to lose its power, they are back in a position of relying on a combination of the natural ability of their players and the very small incremental increases in professionalism.


And no, those things wouldn’t be a disaster.

England HAS been completely s**t. People still turn up in droves to watch them. India could be ranked 10th across all formats and it wouldn’t run the well dry. Australia has more fair weather fans so may take a hit.

Has AFL survived with Carlton, Essendon and Richmond being f***house for most of the last 20 years? Think it’s done ok.


Yes I do want a disproportionate amount of revenue to go to the poorer nations. Because even a disproportionate amount is still a tiny drop in the ocean compared to what the powerful nations are operating on.


The billionaire who pays his cleaner 100k a year is giving his employee a disproportionate wage - it still shouldn’t be enough to concern him though, should it.