Australia v West Indies Third Test

[Bucking Beads]

And you think they'll be boosted by drawing this Test? Losing would have been completely irrelevant.

It's not like we were guaranteed a win, anyway. Warrican was bowling pretty well today I thought.

They won't be boosted by any result. I am sure to them double declaring and letting Australia chase down 300 odd would have been a nice thought for the flight home. Now they can fly home thinking about how glad they were that it rained.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

They won't be boosted by any result. I am sure to them double declaring and letting Australia chase down 300 odd would have been a nice thought for the flight home. Now they can fly home thinking about how glad they were that it rained.

They can fly home reflecting on how shit they were. I just think it would have been nice for Holder to man up, hand the ball to Taylor and say you haven't bent your back once all tour, do it now or you're never playing for this side again.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Steve Smith would probably want to kick a dead dog as well. Pretty poor to ask a team so poor to make a game of it just so Australia have a chance of a win. Pretty arrogant and disappointing IMO.

 

[mikey127]

Yep, exactly how I see it. Getting caught nicking down legside is always a shit way to go out, plus the one you mentioned. He got a pretty good nut from Siddle first up in Melbourne and was about the only bloke this summer to go out to a genuine reflex catch at bat-pad. Was badly let down by a few of his senior players though, namely Samuels, Roach and Taylor.

Exactly. I also think if he had a decent bowler from the other end he would have picked up more wickets.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Steve Smith would probably want to kick a dead dog as well. Pretty poor to ask a team so poor to make a game of it just so Australia have a chance of a win. Pretty arrogant and disappointing IMO.

Not sure I'd describe as "arrogant" a captain trying to ascertain the opposition captain's intentions. I'd be disappointed if he didn't approach Holder to see if they could make a game of it. Holder doesn't have to comply, and he didn't.

 

[Big Bryza]

Why not play the final hour when thousands of people have gone out of their way to come to the ground to watch Cricket?

Pathetic

A big ( ° ͜ʖ͡°)╭∩╮to Cricket fans from Australian Cricket, cant be stuffed playing the last hour

What's the point of playing out 1 more hour? Can't be serious.

 

[Kappa]

What's the point of playing out 1 more hour? Can't be serious.

If that's your attitude whats the point of even playing the 5th day?

Thousands of people travelled from their homes to see cricket, why not finish the match properly for them?

 

[frankrizzo]

Marsh should be treated as a bit more of a horses for courses selection. If the pitches are flatter then he should play as we have less need for batting. On pitches with more life in them we should go with 6 specialist bats.

Yeah thats how i see it as well, boof in particular seems to have an obsession with having to have 5 bowlers in all matches in all conditions but it simply doesn't work that well away from our dead tracks, overseas teams are juicing up their pitches for us because of our weak batting so in those conditions we surely need 6 batsmen far more than we do a 5th bowler?

 

[Oaktree]

Yeah, exactly. Just sub M. Marsh with S. Marsh to bolster batting depth when required.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

[Big Bryza]

If that's your attitude whats the point of even playing the 5th day?

Thousands of people travelled from their homes to see cricket, why not finish the match properly for them?

There was no point of playing today unless there was a double declaration and a run chase. The fans knew what they were in for rocking up today as well, I highly doubt there were 'thousands' of ppl there anyway.

Finishing the match? That wasn't a test match, no matter which way you spin it.

 

[Kappa]

There was no point of playing today unless there was a double declaration and a run chase. The fans knew what they were in for rocking up today as well, I highly doubt there were 'thousands' of ppl there anyway.

Finishing the match? That wasn't a test match, no matter which way you spin it.

Simple question:

Do you think the decision to finish early was good OR bad for the fans?

 

[genericusername]

There was no point of playing today unless there was a double declaration and a run chase. The fans knew what they were in for rocking up today as well, I highly doubt there were 'thousands' of ppl there anyway.

Finishing the match? That wasn't a test match, no matter which way you spin it.

6,700 including myself actually

 

[Mateyman]

Why on earth wouldn't he decline that?

Yeah 370 is very easy to chase

 

[Mateyman]

Since when did 370 in 70 overs become an easy chase???

 

[ManWithNoName]

Since when did 370 in 70 overs become an easy chase???

Did you not see Hobart?

 

[kreglze]

Windies had no reason to accept, Windies weren't going to win, it was either going to see Australia absolutely destroy the Windies and win, or Australia lose early wickets and bat for the draw anyway? Windies were never taking 10 wickets in 70 overs.

Smith wanting to just pad the ICC ranking points, which is fair enough too, he needs to do everything possible to get the best result for Australia. How different would this series have been if the Windies had a whole roster of players to pick from?

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

Anyone with criticism of the Windies not 'making a game of it' today are talking out their arses. 370 in 70 overs is also taking the piss.

Sinking the boot into a struggling team is campaignerish bully behaviour. **** I hate the media.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/third-...h/news-story/f6d0e6b0ceec6492b6bc1985a3328303

Thank goodness I'm not alone on this one. I read this article above and nearly exploded. The arrogance and self-entitlement of many Australian journalists and fans is embarrassing at times.

 

[The Sultan]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/third-...h/news-story/f6d0e6b0ceec6492b6bc1985a3328303

Thank goodness I'm not alone on this one. I read this article above and nearly exploded. The arrogance and self-entitlement of many Australian journalists and fans is embarrassing at times.

agree very floggish attitude by the media, and by Smith for bringing it up in the presser, the windies owe the aust team jack shizen, wasn't in there interest to make to make a game of it theyd lost the series anyway, they were going to bowl at aust most of the day regardless.

Just wondering if this constitutes trying to manipulate the result of a game???

 

[Gough]

Welcome to the T20 generation. AB woulda batted until stumps.

 

[DT_fanatic]

It would have been more of a farce to see the test go down the route Smith was proposing. Bowling "lob ups" with three slips and two gullies? That's not what I'd wanna watch as test cricket. And to top it off there's a good chance Australia would have probably won anyway. WI definitely wouldn't have.

Tests have been washed out by rain before it will do just fine with one more added to the tally. Claims of it dying or being usurped by club T20 cricket are exaggerated this summer mostly because of the crap quality of opponents (talking about the Windies mostly) we've had. Perhaps the pitches haven't helped either. But as I said in another thread we are unlikely to have this boring a summer of international cricket for a long time to come.

I also found it interesting that Smith and Lehmann relied on their own interpretation of the rules in relation to pursuing their offer. I would have thought it would be more prudent to run it by the match referee.

 

[Marklar_33]

If that's your attitude whats the point of even playing the 5th day?

Thousands of people travelled from their homes to see cricket, why not finish the match properly for them?

Had they paid an entry fee, maybe they could feel slighted, but it was free entry for a reason

 

[DaRick]

I can perfectly understand why Holder wouldn't want to make a game of it.

The last thing that WI needed was to risk another loss, given their morale was rock bottom already. 2-0 looks better than 3-0 does.

 

[Wayne Arnold]

Smith wasn't too concerned about making a contest against India in 2014 at the MCG. Only when it's clearly favourable to Australia.

 

[The Sultan]

Aussies would of been at extra juicy odds for the win yesterday morning - just saying...

 

[hawkman]

What's to stop Holder accepting the offer then after Australia declare enforce the follow on? If i was given that offer, that is what i would do