Amazon's "The Test"

Ishmael_

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Loved it. And there's a real dearth of quality Australian sports docos, so it was great to get a richer insight into the national side.

Just some random observations:

* The slavish Kohli praise was clearly intentional to capture some of that Indian market and judging by the Twitter mentions it's seemed to work. However, the tour of India was a great snapshot of that country. The BCCI is a bully of the highest order (granted - we're no angels), but you cannot fault their fans. Some of the carry-on may seem a bit ridiculous from afar, but they just love the sport. The lines to meet the Australian cricket team were incredible.

* The World Cup was even more interesting in hindsight. That SA game was a killer as were the Khawaja and Marsh injuries. England probably still too good, but who knows what might have happened?

* I love the duumvirate of Langer/Ponting. There's a genuine love there between the two and they are beautifully contrasted.

There are of course criticisms to be had and although the ACB didn't have final cut, they clearly had some input. So if you were hoping to once again rake the national team over the coals - you probably won't be satisfied. However, if you were looking for some humanising and some positive signs of change, I'm sure you'll find it worth your time.
 
Aug 19, 2009
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Just finished a binge on the show. Agree that there is a lot of pros and cons to the editing of the series, but that said it was still a great look at how these guys are just a group of blokes trying to do a job, but under intense scrutiny and pressure.

The Ashes stuff was far and away the best part of the show, with the agony of watching that "not out" against Stokes being so so so hard to watch again - umpires feel pressure too, hey. Also, the vision of Archer v Smith at Lords - and then Siddle and Lyon shitting bricks at being in next.....

Would have been good to see a bit of the "how do we get this bloke out" planning and a bit less of the "rar rar rar, come on boys" stuff, but all up though I'd rate it a solid 8 out of 10 and highly recommended watching.......
 

swingdog

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Finished it last night. Good character-driven series which meant there was less in it for cricket aficionados and more for a broader audience. Proof was my wife and daughter getting totally hooked and wanting to autoplay at the end of each program.

Also, Smith's a freak. Forgotten how he had worked out how to play Archer by the 4th Test, ducking under everything and then smacking the attack to all corners.
 
Finished it last night. Good character-driven series which meant there was less in it for cricket aficionados and more for a broader audience. Proof was my wife and daughter getting totally hooked and wanting to autoplay at the end of each program.

Also, Smith's a freak. Forgotten how he had worked out how to play Archer by the 4th Test, ducking under everything and then smacking the attack to all corners.
Sounds a bit like the F1 Netflix series. Beyond going to few back in the day I'm not a real fan but the human interest side of things is great.
 

Pedantic

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I clearly watched it differently to you guys as I came away with way more respect for Khawaja than before I watched it. I think he made Langer a way better coach by being honest early on as you could see Langer adapt his coaching to individuals rather than the conform or leave idea he was pushing early on.
Agree with this. Very difficult in that sort of group environment to speak up and deliver hard truths to the guy who essentially has the final say over whether or not you keep your job. Especially when the team is losing and maybe you don't have a secure position.
 

Brad Goodman

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it was basically - "wow that Labuschagne is a bit of a knob! Smithy is the only one that puts up with him! lol". Two innings later he is the golden child.

That bit with Mitch Marsh playing the drums and had everyone in stitches. then the moment Langer walks in he is practicing his technique was hilarious.

I take Marnus to be a bit like Smith in having very little interest in anything except cricket, seemed the biggest cricket nerd ever.

Marsh definitely comes across as the 'glue guy'.
 
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Langer would be great in small doses but you'd tire of him quickly. If he was your boss you'd probably respect him greatly but also bitch about him a lot to your mates at the pub.

I agree. I also think that David Warner would be tiresome in small or long doses. Even when Nathan Lyon was talking about him he begrudgingly said that he liked him, he left out "but no one else does" ha ha.
 

corbies

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Still can't get over the fact they left in Cam Bancroft saying it was daunting walking out at Edgbaston in front of 50k fans. The ground only holds 25k.
 

revo333

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Agree with all of this. When Khawaja was going on about how nobody tells him what to do it made things crystal clear.

He didn't come across to well at the start.

A person like him wouldn't of lasted too long 20 years ago, but it just shows how society has changed.
 

revo333

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Would have been good to see a bit of the "how do we get this bloke out" planning and a bit less of the "rar rar rar, come on boys" stuff, but all up though I'd rate it a solid 8 out of 10 and highly recommended watching.......

Probably wise not to give away tactics about individuals who are opposition players.
 
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revo333

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They skipped over heaps of stuff that didn't show the Australian team in a favourable light:

- David Saker quitting half way through the MCG test
- Handscomb's and Finch's droppings from the Test team v India (they touched on Finch's through an off-handed comment from Langer)
- Starc's form during the India series.
- The bowlers v Paine arguments about bowling plans from day 1 of the SCG test.
- Renshaw's concussion and subsequent non-selection in the UAE
- World Cup squad selection and how Turner and Handscomb were left out despite their India series form
- Zampa getting dropped during the World Cup
- Then as you said, the biggest one was Warner's Ashes. Especially considering they showed the footage of him talking to Ponting pre-World Cup saying he doesn't need to hit as many balls as when he was younger so spends less time training. He talked about not feeling comfortable in the World Cup which was interesting insight but then when we got to the Ashes there was nothing apart from his 1st dismissal where he blew up in the change rooms about getting out to something he'd been training for "every day".

I stand by my watching it with a grain of salt comment from the start of this thread. Despite that, if you can remember they've made it to make the Aus team look good then it is an enjoyable watch.

Not enough time to show every single thing that happened.
 
Really enjoyed the series, it gave a great insight into what goes on in the rooms and behind the scenes. And it shows the players to be not to different to us mere mortals who played the game in our youth but didn't have the talent to reach (in my case) the top grade in the local competition (Canberra). It also helped bring back a bit of the pride I've had for the National Team that I have been watching since the early days of Greg Chappell Captaincy.
 
Apr 18, 2011
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Blewitt was a better and more consistent player than Khawaja
That's a bold assertion given Ussie has more test runs from less matches than Blewett, a better average and twice as many tons. Given Blewett scored 2 tons in his first two matches and only another 2 in his next 44 I would say that Blewett personifies an inconsistent underachiever.
 
That's a bold assertion given Ussie has more test runs from less matches than Blewett, a better average and twice as many tons. Given Blewett scored 2 tons in his first two matches and only another 2 in his next 44 I would say that Blewett personifies an inconsistent underachiever.
He was a couple of years above me at school so I never got to play against him bit I played with a lot of guys who did and they said at schoolboy level he was unstoppable.
 

t_94

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Hard to know who is a bigger knob out of Langer or Khawaja. Khawaja seems to think he is Australia's version of Russell Westbrook but going with Langer the way he just crapped on throughout the whole thing. Didn't deliver one piece of original cricket insight throughout the whole series yet had this irritating, relentless intensity whilst doing so.
 
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