Is Cricket 'DEAD' Thread

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Henry Jr said:
Best pitch I have seen in Australia for 10 years.

Fantastic viewing :thumbsu:
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Good swing bowling its not just the pitch it's overcast as well. Henry, Aussies wrap it up tomorrow you say?
 
go hawks!!! said:
Good swing bowling its not just the pitch it's overcast as well. Henry, Aussies wrap it up tomorrow you say?
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Its more seam than swing GH!!!

Its a bit like motor racing. Introduce a variable such as rain or in this case the pitch, makes it a new ball game.
 
It's doing a bit but our batsmen have been horrible. Their whole mindset seems wrong. Plus the deficiencies of our batting line up once again are evident.
 
Did anyone else catch Brett Lee's comments on Ricky Ponting on that abysmal 'retired cricketer's media gravy train' lunch break tv program?

It went along the lines of 'Ricky Ponting will decide when Ricky Ponting retires'. At least Tubby put forward a completely reasonable case for him to stick around, rather than Lee's 'he's earned the right'.
 
grizzlym said:
Did anyone else catch Brett Lee's comments on Ricky Ponting on that abysmal 'retired cricketer's media gravy train' lunch break tv program?

It went along the lines of 'Ricky Ponting will decide when Ricky Ponting retires'. At least Tubby put forward a completely reasonable case for him to stick around, rather than Lee's 'he's earned the right'.
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I don't agree with 'he's earned the right'. Can you imagine Sam mitchell 'on his way down' and not performing but not getting dropped cause he earned the right? supporters would go nuts.

Merv Hughes shared the 'he's earned the right' principle as well. Thank god he is no longer a selector. I completely disagree.
 
Cricket is based on figures. Ponting, Hughes and Co. are averaging sub 30's for the past 12 months.

You get to have a going away party when your still in decent nick, not when your batting becomes an embarrassment going out the same way all the time...
 
Gee, Siddle and co are showing our 'better' batsmen this pitch for what it is. Sure, there's some stuff happening, but it 'aint the minefield that the top order led us to believe. Just crap batting.

The worst example of that 'right to go' philosophy was Ian Healy hanging on for the Gabbe Farewell.
 
Pattinson's cover drive for 4 was the best shot of the match so far. Excellent technique.

As opposed to the terrible shot that Haddin played to get out.

As it's only his batting that keeps ol' Brad in the team (surely, it can't be his keeping), that was incredibly irresponsible shot to play.

As an aside, agree wholeheartedly about Gideon Haigh being Australia's best cricket writer. Has been for many years. His book about Jack Iverson is as good a biography as any going around.
 
I really like the way he writes. Can put words together. Roebuck was like that too - thinkers who can communicate.
 

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grizzlym said:
Langers made the observation me, and I think he's right, that Starc's whole action looks a little mechanical and manufactured. Sure he swings it, but it's all a little unnatural. And he seems to struggle with his line and length a bit.

I think Clarke's captaincy is also very good. His field placings, the way he rotates his bowlers, indeed he seems to have a feeling for how the game is unfolding.
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It looks very measured and coached to the 'n'th degree. It gets his release into a good position, which is fantastic. It just seems like it doesn't quite feel natural to him yet. It's been talked about in the commentary, but he does seem to be putting the ball down the pitch rather than really running through the crease and hitting the deck hard. Could be all sorts of factors, stage fright, pushing up the hill. just doesn't have his rhythm. It might come with time.

Nothing wrong with manufacturing an action btw. The great DK did exactly that.
 
Henry Jr said:
Interested on peoples thoughts on the possibility of going back to uncovered pitches.

I have no issue if both teams don't score more than 200 per innings. Plus, it would give us younger generation an insight into how great the Don really was.

Now that we have helmets, rib protectors, better pads and gloves, I think it would be back the evenness of bat vs ball.

After all, Test matches are meant to be exactly that.... a Test of ones abilities.
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Batting on a sticky is no contest. Believe me, I've done it plenty of times. It's pure survival and you need more than an ounce of luck just to survive. In all honesty, it's just s**t cricket.

We all hark back to the days of uncovered wickets and wonder how they faced the likes of Larwood, but the fact is, if you got caught on wrong end of the weather, you lost.
 
Only 3,500 at Bellerive today.
May place the 21 mil of funding for redevlopment in a nasty spot.


Bid to upgrade Bellerive Oval

CRICKET Tasmania has submitted a federal funding application to increase the capacity of Tasmania's Test venue, Blundstone Arena.

It would lift the capacity of Tasmania's home of cricket, and from next season home of two North Melbourne AFL games a year, from about 16,500 to close to 20,000.

CT chief executive David Johnston, speaking before tomorrow's Australia-New Zealand Test match, said an answer from the Federal Government's regional development fund would be known as early as next month.

He said CT hoped to beat the record Blundstone Arena total four-day Test crowd of 29,186 from the 2005-06 match against the West Indies.

The numbers will be bumped up tomorrow and Monday with big groups of schoolchildren invited free to see Tasmanian star Ricky Ponting in what might be his last Test on home soil.

Good luck Tasmania.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/12/08/282721_sport-news.html
 
Henry Jr said:
Interested on peoples thoughts on the possibility of going back to uncovered pitches.

I have no issue if both teams don't score more than 200 per innings. Plus, it would give us younger generation an insight into how great the Don really was.

Now that we have helmets, rib protectors, better pads and gloves, I think it would be back the evenness of bat vs ball.

After all, Test matches are meant to be exactly that.... a Test of ones abilities.
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They don't need uncovered wickets, they just need to put some live grass on the pitch. Curators spent a lot of time creating wickets in this country dry enough on day 1 to guarantee spin. Easy enough in Sydney, not so in Brisbane or Adelaide.

I lived in Hobart for a while and watched a fair bit of cricket at Bellerive. 95% of the time the pitch was a road; utterly hopeless for result cricket especially with the attack the Tigers used to roll out.

The sort of thing were seeing seems to be an annual phenomenon these days, but it usually gets one of the early Shield games. Plenty of rain and not enough heat to dry the wicket out again.
 
He looks mechanical though. Stiff almost.

Gee, as the wicket flattens outs our bowling attacking is looking far more pedestrian than the last couple of innings. We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves here - we are playing one of the worst sides in world cricket, on our home grounds which have been bowlers friendly wickets. Some very average cricketers and circumstances are making us look better than we are. It's a mirage.

Hughes is clearly now cooked. His position is untenable. But increasingly so are a few other players. The way Ponting is getting out LBW not only speaks of a technical problem, but also a psychological one as well.

There is no stability about the batting, except Clarke. He's clearly our best bat. The openers are woeful, there is no partenrship there. Indeed, it would have to be the worst time that I can remember in Australia for batting.
 
Langford4FBOTC said:
Batting on a sticky is no contest. Believe me, I've done it plenty of times. It's pure survival and you need more than an ounce of luck just to survive. In all honesty, it's just s**t cricket.

We all hark back to the days of uncovered wickets and wonder how they faced the likes of Larwood, but the fact is, if you got caught on wrong end of the weather, you lost.
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Agreed.

Same with this nostagia for the days before protective gear. The batsmen weren't more skilful for it; they might have been more courageous (in some cases) or more stupid, and the fearless were rewarded. But I think helmets and the like have enhanced the game. The last thing I want to see is people injured, or a barrage of short-pitch bowling to hurt a player.
 
grizzlym said:
Agreed.

Same with this nostagia for the days before protective gear. The batsmen weren't more skilful for it; they might have been more courageous (in some cases) or more stupid, and the fearless were rewarded. But I think helmets and the like have enhanced the game. The last thing I want to see is people injured, or a barrage of short-pitch bowling to hurt a player.
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The nostalgia is not for a lack of protective gear. The lack of gear changed the risk calculation for the batsmen. It's the difference between a missed hook shot breaking your helmet and concussing you and the missed shot killing you or removing your eye.

The nostalgia is for the courage and calculation it took to face Wes Hall in a cloth cap. I'm glad players are protected too.
 
Yeah, I know. But the inference (in some cases) is that batsmen are in someway less skilful because of it. I also think that the public liked the prospect of players getting hit. Sort of satisfied a gladiatorial urge.

I watched Rick McCosker get smashed in the head - I was quite young at the time - and then watched him traipse out to bat in bandages later in the test. And that was horrible. It was courage to go back out there and face them. Like amazing. But it was horrible. I mean the guys been horribly hurt, but he's going out there again. It just shouldn't happen; it wouldn't happen today.

Contrast it with Dean Jones. As much as I despise the man and the legend he's never failed to talk up his Indian innings, that to me speaks more of a skill of batting and a positive aspect of test match cricket than dodging bullets.

I've heard people apply a similar logic about cyclists in the Tour de France too. They were better riders because they were flying down hills wearing no helmets on poorly engineered bikes with crap brakes.

Ah, not for me either.
 
Looks like I've been outvoted. Flat tracks it is.

Does that mean your a Tasmanian then Mess? Perhaps you and Nesbit are long lost cousins :eek: or related brothers! :D

Back to this test, I've found it brilliant to watch. A real battle, with every ball, every run, something riding on it.
 
Henry Jr said:
Looks like I've been outvoted. Flat tracks it is.

Does that mean your a Tasmanian then Mess? Perhaps you and Nesbit are long lost cousins :eek: or related brothers! :D

Back to this test, I've found it brilliant to watch. A real battle, with every ball, every run, something riding on it.
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No, Melbourne born and bred.

My girlfriend (now wife) and I lived down there 99-01 while we set up the Nuclear Medicine Unit for the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Loved living there; great place to raise a family.
 
Henry Jr said:
Looks like I've been outvoted. Flat tracks it is.

Does that mean your a Tasmanian then Mess? Perhaps you and Nesbit are long lost cousins :eek: or related brothers! :D

Back to this test, I've found it brilliant to watch. A real battle, with every ball, every run, something riding on it.
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Not keen on roads at all.... makes for ordinary cricket too.

The thing is that a wet wicket is just as bad. They're slow with trampoline bounce. When they dry out, the divots left by the ball make they ridiculously unpredictable. The worst ones being when a lot of rain gets onto a prepared wicket, leaving them soft on top and rock hard underneath.... the ball sticks in the top part and flies off a length. you literally play forward to a good length ball and it whizzes past your nose. Driving along the ground is virtually impossible.

Just give us wickets with pace and bounce that haven't had the life rolled out of them.
 
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