Big Cricket Thread

[Ochre]

You must have been disappointed to find the stadium empty

 

[Farang83150]

So the 1st test starts at 0230 eastern time, does that mean not a single person in the east will tune in d/t it being SO late!!

 

[Tugga27]

Poll indicating 63% said the Scorchers would beat Australia.

BBL final: Data analysis shows Perth Scorchers should form bulk of Australia’s T20 team​

Perth Scorchers have long been the benchmark of T20 cricket in Australia — now data proves the BBL powerhouse would give the national side a run for its money.

Don't miss out on the headlines from Big Bash. Followed categories will be added to My News.


They say a champion team is always better than a team of champions, and research claims Twenty20 cricket could be just the vehicle to prove it.
So with T20 by far Australia’s weakest format and the team at a crossroads following this summer’s World Cup failure … has a perfect storm arrived where selectors should consider making the Perth Scorchers the nucleus of the national side?

This bold question might make the eastern states turn bright orange, but it’s based on compelling data, which explains that the All Blacks are a rugby juggernaut largely because of the innate ‘cohesion’ its players have formed coming through together via a limited number of provincial clubs.
Cricket is of course a completely different sport to rugby, in that the collective unity of the group is very much secondary to individual skill.
But leading consultancy company Gain Line is adamant ‘cohesion analytics’ has a crucial role to play in the T20 format where every single ball is paramount to the outcome of the match.

Specifically, cohesive T20 teams gain a major advantage in defending totals — a facet of the game that can be make or break in a format where teams generally prefer to chase to win.

WHO WOULD WIN? SCORCHERS V AUSTRALIA​

AUSSIE SCORCHERS
Cameron Bancroft
Josh Inglis
Mitchell Marsh (capt)
Cameron Green
Ashton Turner
Aaron Hardie
Ashton Agar
Andrew Tye
Jhye Richardson
Lance Morris
Jason Behrendorff

AUSTRALIA
Steve Smith
David Warner
Marcus Stoinis
Aaron Finch (capt)
Glenn Maxwell
Tim David
Matthew Wade
Mitchell Starc
Pat Cummins
Adam Zampa
Josh Hazlewood

It’s no coincidence that when Gain Line — co-founded by Simon Strachan and former Wallaby Ben Darwin — last advised Cricket Australia about its T20 program back in 2018, the Perth Scorchers, with the stability of its roster, were at the forefront of its research, as they are now.
“High cohesion teams have the ability to defend their total better than low cohesion teams,” Strachan told News Corp.
“When we did this work in the BBL a few years ago, Perth was a natural standout in the system.
“They naturally drove high understanding through the way they recruited. You don’t get a lot of people coming in and out of Perth and that basically drove their system. They might have a bad year but they quickly come back up, which is indicative of a lot of other high cohesion environments, including Chennai in the IPL.

“Overall the trend in T20 cricket is if you win the toss you field first so you can bat second and control the chase.
“But if you lose the toss and you’re fielding second, higher cohesion teams have the ability to work better in that scenario and defend to win.
“What we found with T20 cricket specifically is how a level of understanding between players, drives the ability to withstand stress and pressure. Every one of the 120 deliveries is critical in the outcome of the game, and most critical for the team fielding second.
“Once you have that level of understanding, it drives a level of trust – so when you’re under pressure you can make correct decisions and effectively trust your teammate and perhaps most importantly, trust the captain.

“Even this season, if you look at Perth at the top of the ladder and the Melbourne Stars at the bottom; whether by choice or not, Perth fielded second four times and won three of those games. The poor old Melbourne Stars had to field second nine times and only won two.”

Gain Line’s research documents that the Wallabies fall from grace as a rugby superpower coincided with new domestic franchise teams the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels being introduced, which diluted the historical concentration of NSW, Queensland and ACT players in the Australian team.
The splitting of cricketers among eight Big Bash teams combined with the fact that between World Cups, Australia very rarely gets to field a consistent T20 side due to the unrelenting nature of the schedule – makes cohesion a difficult power to harness for selectors.

So why not a radical new model, where the Perth Scorchers became the centrepoint of the Australian T20 team?
Theoretically, the logic is flawed because cricket is more about the execution of individual skill than teamwork.
“I can choose my core group of Scorchers, but what if that means Steve Smith doesn’t get a run,” Strachan concedes.

But where the perfect storm element comes into play is Western Australia, and by proxy the Perth Scorchers, are currently the epicentre of talent production in Australian cricket – and the majority of the line-up either has played international cricket or is firmly in the conversation to do so.

The core of the Scorchers side would not be out of place in Australian shirts and it would not cheapen the caps by picking them.
Also, it’s likely a number of Australian greats from the last World Cup may retire from T20 cricket or be moved on before next year’s tournament in the West Indies and the Caribbean.

Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade and the all-format fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are right on the edge, while Steve Smith, David Warner, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell aren’t getting any younger either.

Few would argue against Australia urgently needing to move towards picking more T20 specialists, and if there are lineball calls on certain positions – perhaps selectors might consider favouring Scorchers over the rest, given what the data says about cohesion.

“Definitely. Because they walk in the room, they already have that shared understanding,” Strachan said.
“They already have the language between each other.

“So many games are decided by so few runs … (that cohesion) is sometimes the difference.
“If you can’t choose by skill, choose by understanding.”

 

[Cuzz09]

bloody test starts at 230 til 1030ish pretty much my exact work hrs

At least it's across a weekend

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

That's how they like to play now. Slow and steady through the first half and then start accelerating in the back 1/3 if you have wickets in hand. The power surge promotes this, most teams take it around over 13/14

I think they also had to play that way because of their long tail and the inexperience in the lower order. Not having a proper all rounder meant they had to play 4 or 5 bowlers every match (and one of the better batting bowlers, Jhye, was hurt), and the spot that would have gone to Laurie Evans went to a local accountant instead. They felt they had to be around at the end because, let’s be honest, nobody really felt good with an accountant and a teenager at the crease needing 2 runs a ball for the last 5 overs. It turned out great but losing Turner really felt like a death blow at the time. Turner and (to a lesser extent) Inglis did a good job at keeping the asking rate at around 10-11 during their partnership and not letting it really blow out to something unmanageable.

The Eskinazi run out really had me fuming because, besides it being incredibly lazy, the Scorchers just didn’t have the batting depth to be throwing away wickets by playing stupid cricket.

 

[THE A5]

Also at optus it’s easier to score at the back end of innings

 

[Farang83150]

bloody test starts at 230 til 1030ish pretty much my exact work hrs

At least it's across a weekend

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Yeah, the chairman SCG and the premier of Sydney aren't happy about it!

 

[KBLT]

 

[Truckosaurus]

Speaking of the West's BBL coverage, wtf is a jinx poster?

 

[Agent93]

Speaking of the West's BBL coverage, wtf is a jinx poster?

I think they're suggesting the 'bunch of nobodies' poster was close to being a jinx on the Scorchers. Ch7 coverage brought it up once or twice.

 

[THE A5]

**** the West. Remember they “dirty Pies” headline they ran heading into the 2020 EF.

 

[Truckosaurus]

I think they're suggesting the 'bunch of nobodies' poster was close to being a jinx on the Scorchers. Ch7 coverage brought it up once or twice.

Nah the West advertised "free jinx poster inside" ahead of the two finals. The first one was Steve Smith's face with devil horns on a background of flames with the text "You got scorched". I didn't bother to look at the other one.

 

[FKASC]

Nah the West advertised "free jinx poster inside" ahead of the two finals. The first one was Steve Smith's face with devil horns on a background of flames with the text "You got scorched". I didn't bother to look at the other one.

Cringe doesn’t cut it

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

Speaking of the West's BBL coverage, wtf is a jinx poster?

The West is such a terrible tryhard newspaper. They like to make themselves the story, which the last time I check was not really what journalism was supposed to be about. Although I think most people have figured out at this point that the West is about 10% journalism and about 90% gossip and conjecture.

 

[Truckosaurus]

The West is such a terrible tryhard newspaper. They like to make themselves the story, which the last time I check was not really what journalism was supposed to be about. Although I think most people have figured out at this point that the West is about 10% journalism and about 90% gossip and conjecture.

5% journalism, 45% gossip, 50% ads - and that's being generous to the amount of content.

 

[FKASC]

I used to work in the classifieds department at the West for a few months back in 2007. Got very good at touch typing as a result. That’s how I can quickly type out such immaculate posts on here.

 

[Forward Press]

5% journalism, 45% gossip, 50% ads - and that's being generous to the amount of content.

This is 10% shit
20% gossip
15% concentrated power of dribble
5% journalism
50% an ad
And a 100% reason to remember it's bad

 

[southcoast]

* the West. Remember they “dirty Pies” headline they ran heading into the 2020 EF.

Gilly raised that one on Fox/Kayo coverage.

TheWest editors/journos need to pull their heads in at times like this.


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[THE A5]

Gilly raised that one on Fox/Kayo coverage.

TheWest editors/journos need to pull their heads in at times like this.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

I think they try to play the “us v the east coast” but totally go about it the wrong way. After we lost that pies game it made us look even worse and probably copped more of the heat than the papers it self

 

[Truckosaurus]

This is 10% s**t
20% gossip
15% concentrated power of dribble
5% journalism
50% an ad
And a 100% reason to remember it's bad

Remember The Game Liftout

 

[Forward Press]

Remember The Game Liftout

Was contemplating that but it had to sort of rhyme with 'ad'.

 

[Nuke Fremantle]

* the West. Remember they “dirty Pies” headline they ran heading into the 2020 EF.

Admittedly it's pretty puerile stuff but if anyone suggests we lost a footy game due to an inflammatory headline then give your head a wobble.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Admittedly it's pretty puerile stuff but if anyone suggests we lost a footy game due to an inflammatory headline then give your head a wobble.

Dig up all the posts after the Herald Sun went full Eagles Drug Cheats before the 2015 Grand Final and heads will be wobbling so hard they'll fall off

 

[Campaigner for good]

Hobson to win the GF for us

Disturbingly prescient...

 

[ashley12]

The West wants to be the NT News and taken seriously at the same time. It just doesn't work.

Would almost be better buying out Prosh and making it a monthly meme release.