Cricket

[Klyntonius]

After all the booing so far ,thought it was a very generous round of applause for Smiths ton .

Yeah, the pommie fans are now just resigned to having to acknowledge greatness. This guy is incredible.

 

[Johnny Karate]

Warner, Harris, Head and Wade deserve their own ‘you’re cut’ thread.

 

[jhong]

Warner, Harris, Head and Wade deserve their own ‘you’re cut’ thread.

Just goes to show that making a heap of runs on Aussie pitches is no guide to how they will go in England . All left Handed batters too .

 

[Johnny Karate]

Just goes to show that making a heap of runs on Aussie pitches is no guide to how they will go in England . All left Handed batters too .

In all fairness save for Warner, the others look consistently shit on our pitches too. Left handed batsman deserve heaps of shit for not scoring runs - right hander bowls over the wicket it’ll usually pitch outside leg and miss off so leave the good uns and smack the wide, overpitched or short trash through point to cover. Right arm around the wicket will usually slide down leg so smash anything on the pads through square and leave at your leisure.

 

[Fork n Hell]

hahaha

 

[jhong]

In all fairness save for Warner, the others look consistently s**t on our pitches too. Left handed batsman deserve heaps of s**t for not scoring runs - right hander bowls over the wicket it’ll usually pitch outside leg and miss off so leave the good uns and smack the wide, overpitched or short trash through point to cover. Right arm around the wicket will usually slide down leg so smash anything on the pads through square and leave at your leisure.

I honestly couldn't bat at all , but it seems to me all our left handers are still facing like its a right arm over the wicket bowling at them, even when its coming from around the wicket. Hahaha and as i am typing this Smith gets out and its a no ball from a spinner no less .

 

[Fork n Hell]

spinner no balls getting Smith out, classic stuff.

 

[jhong]

Its great for us , but the poms bowling today has been all over the shop.

 

[Crimson Azure]

So Smith got himself out.

At least someone can.

At 8/464 I don’t think I can stay up much longer..

 

[Crimson Azure]

Starc with a great knock, 50.

Tail end have helped to ensure Smith’s innings ensures only one team can win the test.

Can’t stay awake any longer!

 

[Crimson Azure]

497.

Goodnight sweet cricket. I hope to wake to 4/44.

 

[Cannon82]

Warner, Harris, Head and Wade deserve their own ‘you’re cut’ thread.

Waking up and looking at the scoreboard, you are more right than you thought. IMO Head and Wade more than the others. Yes Warner is in shit form, or he's facing so few balls every innings he genuinely has no form at all, but the guys at 5 and 6 who come in when the hard work has been done and continually fail to make the most of it deserve a bit more scrutiny. If the only two blokes in the top 6 to show a bit of application score runs and then three of the tail ends score more than you, fair indication it was good batting conditions for your middle order plodders.

 

[Cannon82]

I honestly couldn't bat at all , but it seems to me all our left handers are still facing like its a right arm over the wicket bowling at them, even when its coming from around the wicket. Hahaha and as i am typing this Smith gets out and its a no ball from a spinner no less .

Ha, that came back to bite them (even more). If a spinner has overstepped, he should be crucified on the spot, IMO. No reason for a spinner to push the envelope so close. Fair to say I don't know why some quicks choose to as well, given the risk/reward factor for that extra 25 mm, but with tiny margins in this game I guess its the difference between an edge and a really good delivery, although that goes both ways.

 

[jhong]

Ha, that came back to bite them (even more). If a spinner has overstepped, he should be crucified on the spot, IMO. No reason for a spinner to push the envelope so close. Fair to say I don't know why some quicks choose to as well, given the risk/reward factor for that extra 25 mm, but with tiny margins in this game I guess its the difference between an edge and a really good delivery, although that goes both ways.

I went to sleep at the tea break ,so missed the last session . Fair to say the poms fell apart on day 2 , dropped 4 catches , the no ball to Smith , Archer not happy when Root made him bowl around the wicket and it showed , Stokes left the field before tea and it appears he didn't bowl after tea . Their obsession with trying to bounce Smith out , who continues to play shots no one else could possibly play , Bumble spending a good minute (Paine changed the grip on his bat ) describing putting a rubber on in hilarious detail while commentating with Isa who went very silent . For a team that had just pulled off a miraculous victory and put themselves back in the hunt for the Ashes , to watch them fall apart yesterday is just mind boggling.
IMO the only thing that will stop us winning this game is the weather .

 

[Cannon82]

I went to sleep at the tea break ,so missed the last session . Fair to say the poms fell apart on day 2 , dropped 4 catches , the no ball to Smith , Archer not happy when Root made him bowl around the wicket and it showed , Stokes left the field before tea and it appears he didn't bowl after tea . Their obsession with trying to bounce Smith out , who continues to play shots no one else could possibly play , Bumble spending a good minute (Paine changed the grip on his bat ) describing putting a rubber on in hilarious detail while commentating with Isa who went very silent . For a team that had just pulled off a miraculous victory and put themselves back in the hunt for the Ashes , to watch them fall apart yesterday is just mind boggling.
IMO the only thing that will stop us winning this game is the weather .

Poms will need to make a similar score in the second dig. If not, they're cooked. That pitch looks dry so Lyon will enjoy bowling at the Poms in the last dig and I can't see them holding out for more than a day if we take a first innings lead and make a few quick runs before declaring. After the putrid effort last Test, I don't know if we can safely say a game is in the bag until the last pole has fallen, though.

After impressing first up, Archer is really dropping in stature for me. Looks a potentially great cricketer, but heck me there are few things worse on the cricket field than a moody, temperamental fast bowler. I'd hate to throw someone the new rock and just hope they're feeling up to sending down a threatening spell.

Interesting from Bumble. I'm not sure I want to know any more. Probably a relief for viewers that it was Isa in the box with him and not Warney because that could've taken a real turn for the worse.

 

[jhong]

Poms will need to make a similar score in the second dig. If not, they're cooked. That pitch looks dry so Lyon will enjoy bowling at the Poms in the last dig and I can't see them holding out for more than a day if we take a first innings lead and make a few quick runs before declaring. After the putrid effort last Test, I don't know if we can safely say a game is in the bag until the last pole has fallen, though.

After impressing first up, Archer is really dropping in stature for me. Looks a potentially great cricketer, but **** me there are few things worse on the cricket field than a moody, temperamental fast bowler. I'd hate to throw someone the new rock and just hope they're feeling up to sending down a threatening spell.

Interesting from Bumble. I'm not sure I want to know any more. Probably a relief for viewers that it was Isa in the box with him and not Warney because that could've taken a real turn for the worse.

I am not saying the game is in the bag , far from it . We will need to bowl well and take our chances of course , and our pace brigade are just as capable of getting carried away with the short stuff , its just whatever lift they ( the poms) got from the last test appears to have vanished .
As for Bumble ,the first 10 seconds was funny , the rest just was cringe worthy , as was the giggling coming from the back of the commentary box.
I am sure the English commentators were holding back from ripping into Roots Captaincy , he really is under the pump .

 

[Klyntonius]

So, that Steve Smith guy goes alright, eh?

 

[Cannon82]

So, that Steve Smith guy goes alright, eh?

Pretty mind-blowing when you consider he does so much wrong, technically. Watching him back foot cover drive half volleys to the fence isn't normally something you see "great" players do.

Mitch Marsh is better.

 

[Johnny Karate]

Pretty mind-blowing when you consider he does so much wrong, technically. Watching him back foot cover drive half volleys to the fence isn't normally something you see "great" players do.

Mitch Marsh is better.

His technique is bizarre and relies on great hand-eye coordination which generally slows down in the 30s. That said, technique is only a fraction of what it takes to be a test batsman - mental toughness and application can overcome technical deficiencies. Steve Waugh and AB had about 6 shots between them, Maxwell can and often does play about 27 different shots to one delivery - I’d still back the stubborn old bastards to score more runs in test cricket today.

 

[Cannon82]

His technique is bizarre and relies on great hand-eye coordination which generally slows down in the 30s. That said, technique is only a fraction of what it takes to be a test batsman - mental toughness and application can overcome technical deficiencies. Steve Waugh and AB had about 6 shots between them, Maxwell can and often does play about 27 different shots to one delivery - I’d still back the stubborn old bastards to score more runs in test cricket today.

I agree there were unconventional players before Smith, but he is the twitchiest, weirdest spaz I've seen. AB and Waugh might not have had the range of shots, but they cut short wide ones, hooked/pulled short ones, drove half volleys, etc. Smith does a lot of things 99.999% of batsmen just shouldn't do and manages to thrive. As you said, when he starts to go downhill, I expect the end will be quick unless he completely reinvents his technique.

 

[Klyntonius]

Pretty mind-blowing when you consider he does so much wrong, technically. Watching him back foot cover drive half volleys to the fence isn't normally something you see "great" players do.

Mitch Marsh is better.

Ponting is my all time favourite and I used to scoff when people would compare Smith with him for best Australian batsman since Bradman. It's getting hard to argue in Punters favour now, though I'd rather watch an innings of Ricky in full flight.

 

[Klyntonius]

spinner no balls getting Smith out, classic stuff.

 

[jhong]

Reckon the first session might be rained out , but ever since i told siri to shut up and leave me alone my weather app has not been entirely accurate .

 

[Klyntonius]

Poms will need to make a similar score in the second dig. If not, they're cooked. That pitch looks dry so Lyon will enjoy bowling at the Poms in the last dig and I can't see them holding out for more than a day if we take a first innings lead and make a few quick runs before declaring. After the putrid effort last Test, I don't know if we can safely say a game is in the bag until the last pole has fallen, though.

After impressing first up, Archer is really dropping in stature for me. Looks a potentially great cricketer, but **** me there are few things worse on the cricket field than a moody, temperamental fast bowler. I'd hate to throw someone the new rock and just hope they're feeling up to sending down a threatening spell.

Interesting from Bumble. I'm not sure I want to know any more. Probably a relief for viewers that it was Isa in the box with him and not Warney because that could've taken a real turn for the worse.

There's a lot to like about Archer but the test was always going to be to see what he could do on a flat deck. As impressive as he was on debut, he had a lot of help from an up and down pitch. Just being fast and short was never going to work against Smith on a true pitch. He's effortlessly fast, has good control but has some maturing to do. He appeared to get a bit big for his boots after getting pumped up by the media for a couple of weeks, as evidenced by his half assed early effort until he faced Smith and sooking it up when Root asked him to do something different. Test cricket isn't always easy and fun, sometimes it's a grind and it's the strong of mind that prosper.

 

[Cannon82]

Ponting is my all time favourite and I used to scoff when people would compare Smith with him for best Australian batsman since Bradman. It's getting hard to argue in Punters favour now, though I'd rather watch an innings of Ricky in full flight.

Yeah, while Smith is piling runs on for fun, I don't particularly enjoy watching him bat. Ponting, Mark Waugh, Mike Hussey, Hayden, etc are better viewing for mine. I do prefer the technical players, though (clearly).