The Cricket Thread

[rdhopkins2]

Anyone else attending day 1 of the Boxing Day test?

 

[Spanish Sahara]

Anyone else attending day 1 of the Boxing Day test?

Yeah I'll be there

 

[grumbleguts]

Shahid Afridi has announced he'll be retiring from ODI's after the world cup.

I was afridi was gonna do something like that.

badoom ting.

I'll get my hat.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Yeah I'll be there

Nice, my WCE cousin from Perth is over for Christmas, so I thought I'd give him a sporting lesson. Ofcourse, the guided tour of Melbourne's sporting landmarks will be conducted by myself in a Hawthorn Guernsey. Or perhaps B2B polo.
Welcome to the MCG, home of the mighty Hawks buddy!

 

[arupist]

Shahid Afridi has announced he'll be retiring from ODI's after the world cup.

I was afridi was gonna to something like that.

badoom ting.

I'll get my hat.

Please. You need a holiday after that. Fresh air, clear the mind. Come back when you are feeling better.

 

[Thaihawk]

Shahid Afridi has announced he'll be retiring from ODI's after the world cup.

I was afridi was gonna to something like that.

badoom ting.

I'll get my hat.

Went over my head at first. That's what getting old can do. Then I read it again, and hell yeah! Very cleaver grumbleguts.

 

[grizzlym]

Can't wait for Cummins to make his way back into the team. Listening to Junior commentating last night, he'll be touring.

Me too. He's a class above. Potentially a once-in-a-generation bowler for mine.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Haven't seen Mitchell Johnson this impotent for quite some time. The Indians have treated him with contempt after tea.

 

[grumbleguts]

Haven't seen Mitchell Johnson this impotent for quite some time. The Indians have treated him with contempt after tea.

The pitch is an absolute road. The curator should be peeled and rolled in salt and vinegar chips.

Players are only going to get themselves out on this pitch until maybe session 2 day 5.

 

[grizzlym]

Harris hitting up 70 odd, no offence to his batting abilities, kind-a illustrate what a nice piece of grass this is to bat on.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

No discussions of late in here about the cricket. Pity, I've had it with the main board.

Conspircacy theory about the pitches this summer ..... ICC putting pressure on CA to prepare low flat wickets because they don't have any fast bowlers? Adelaide played about the same as usual, Brisbane had less bounce, and the decks in Melbourne and Sydney have been a real departure from their usual characteristcs, especially Sydney which for memory was a green top on day 1 in 2013-14.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I am wonderng what people are thinking about Warner's shot yesterday where it wasn't a reverse sweep, he actually changed from a left to a right hander. Ian Chappell questioned it, and so do I. The reverse sweep is one thing, but when a bowler is bowling to a left hander with a left hander's field, why should the batsman be allowed to revert to a right handed stance as the bowler is letting the ball go?

Skillful, yes, but why should it be allowed? Fielders aren't allowed to move, and the bowler isn't allowed to swap hands or sides of the wicket, why should the batsman? If the batsman is struck on the pads, what line is off stump and which is leg?

 

[grizzlym]

I am wonderng what people are thinking about Warner's shot yesterday where it wasn't a reverse sweep, he actually changed from a left to a right hander. Ian Chappell questioned it, and so do I. The reverse sweep is one thing, but when a bowler is bowling to a left hander with a left hander's field, why should the batsman be allowed to revert to a right handed stance as the bowler is letting the ball go?

Skillful, yes, but why should it be allowed? Fielders aren't allowed to move, and the bowler isn't allowed to swap hands or sides of the wicket, why should the batsman? If the batsman is struck on the pads, what line is off stump and which is leg?

You're allowed to move around in your crease, change the length of the ball as such, which affects the field, why not alter stance?

My personal view is that it's such a high-risk shot, you deserve to go out trying. For every magnificently struck four - and they are rare - there are many more aborted attempts resulting in the loss of wicket.

I told my son, who quite unexpectedly is blossoming into quite the batsman, if he ever tries the reverse sweep in a junior game he's walking home.

 

[Brishawk]

Watson is a moron. Imagine getting out at deep mid wicket! Should have been out in the lead up to stumps anyway playing yet another false shot in the lead up to or shortly after a break. Just lacks the concentration to bat at test level.

Smith on the other hand is a genius!

 

[Spanish Sahara]

Watson is a moron. Imagine getting out at deep mid wicket! Should have been out in the lead up to stumps anyway playing yet another false shot in the lead up to or shortly after a break. Just lacks the concentration to bat at test level.

Smith on the other hand is a genius!

If there was any time for him to finally make another test hundred it was today. But as usual he pisses it away.

 

[arupist]

Smith only needed another 9 runs to go past Punter for the record (706) of most runs in a 4-test series by an Australian batsman. Sill has the second innings I guess).

Along with Kallis, he is the only batsman to have scored a ton in each test of a series of 4 or more tests.

Joins Bradman, Harvey, Fingleton and Hayden to score a ton in four consecutive tests.

The boy has really blossomed this summer.

 

[grizzlym]

Watson is a moron. Imagine getting out at deep mid wicket! Should have been out in the lead up to stumps anyway playing yet another false shot in the lead up to or shortly after a break. Just lacks the concentration to bat at test level.

Smith on the other hand is a genius!

The live commentary on Cricinfo of Watson's wicket was awesome (something like this): 'he's missed out on a hundred on a flat pitch, against a flatter attack".

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The live commentary on Cricinfo of Watson's wicket was awesome (something like this): 'he's missed out on a hundred on a flat pitch, against a flatter attack".

I think what frustrates people about Watson is we know he has the ability but always seems to pull up short. I didn't see his dismissal, but I saw his innings yesterday, and you can see he's almost second guessing himself. I guess it can't be easy with the media all questioning your place in the team, but in many ways he brings it upon himself. He gets that ball that he should be gettin his foot across to and spanking it through the covers, but he goes on the back foot and dabs at it outside the off stump. I don't know we pay these coaches a king's ransom when they can't iron out a deficiency so easy to correct

As for the Indian bowlers .... hell. Mohammed Shami is a crap bowler, and he was the best of their quicks yesterday!!!! Joe Burns is out there making runs, but what are they worth in the overall scheme of things? I reckon I could make 50 out there right now.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

You're allowed to move around in your crease, change the length of the ball as such, which affects the field, why not alter stance?

My personal view is that it's such a high-risk shot, you deserve to go out trying. For every magnificently struck four - and they are rare - there are many more aborted attempts resulting in the loss of wicket.

I told my son, who quite unexpectedly is blossoming into quite the batsman, if he ever tries the reverse sweep in a junior game he's walking home.

Yes, you can alter stance, just as you can alter field placements. However, you are not allowed to alter a field placement as the bowler is letting the ball go. When you alter stance, you're supposed to inform the umpire and bowler of the change, but Warner just jumped around as the bowler was about to let go of the ball. This can seriously alter the line of the bowler who may send one down leg thinking it's outside off.

My question about it is .... where's the off stump? What's leg side? Nobody can answer that question, I just hope umpires can because one day they will need to make an LBW decision.

The reverse weep is different to what Warner did yesterday. As a left hander, your front leg is your left one. In a reverse sweep, the front leg is still the right one, you just change the angle of the bat with your wrists. In this case, Warner's front leg became his left one. He played a legitimate square drive for a right hander. As I said, very skilfull, but what is the ball hit him on his pads? Where's the off stump? Where's outside leg? As I said, nobody seems to be able to answer that question.

Also, what about the fielder in close? It would be a nightmare.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Smith only needed another 9 runs to go past Punter for the record (706) of most runs in a 4-test series by an Australian batsman. Sill has the second innings I guess).

Along with Kallis, he is the only batsman to have scored a ton in each test of a series of 4 or more tests.

Joins Bradman, Harvey, Fingleton and Hayden to score a ton in four consecutive tests.

The boy has really blossomed this summer.

I'd give him the sobriquet "speedy", after his three initials ... SPD.

He's my second greatest triumph in cricket. When others were saying he wasn't a Test cricketer, I was saying he could one day captain Australia. EVeryone laughed.

BTW, the other great triumph was predicting a certain blonde haired leggie would be the greatest leggie Australia ever produced, when Shastri belted him all over the park on his debut

Sometime you get it right

 

[arupist]

When was the last time the first six batsmen scored 50+?

And the odds of continuing the sequence:
1/200, 3/400, 5/600????? Bit of a chance at the moment at 4/529.

 

[Brishawk]

I get that we are trying to up the scoring rate but I do not understand why burns tried to go over the man at mid on. It isn't one day cricket. If the ball isn't there to hit to the gap then don't play the big shot. Harris comes in and hits to the gaps not the fielders. Watson got out trying to hit over a fielder. It is just shit batting.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I get that we are trying to up the scoring rate but I do not understand why burns tried to go over the man at mid on. It isn't one day cricket. If the ball isn't there to hit to the gap then don't play the big shot. Harris comes in and hits to the gaps not the fielders. Watson got out trying to hit over a fielder. It is just shit batting.

I agree. I didn't see the dismissal, but it gripes me that batsmen seem to use any excuse to break the shackles of discipline and bat like an imbecile. As stated earlier, I'm a big fan of Smith, but that shot he played when he was 192 in Melbourne was just ridiculous. He bats beautifully for 192, hitting everything in the middle, so he elects to play a freakin' ramp shot

I was at work all day, caught the final few overs when I got home, Starc looked dangerous. In the final over, 3 balls to go, Rahul had just copped the perfect bouncer from Starc, so Smith calls for a helmet for a fielder and holds up the game. Tubby says it's not fair on the batsman, and if you don't have a helmet on the ground at the start of an over, bad luck.

I agree, but they DID have a helmet on the ground, it was behind Haddin. Why then, did Smith have to request a helmet from the change rooms? So much happens these days that just doesn't make sense.

 

[grumbleguts]

There is nothing wrong with altering the stance.
a) he didn't swap hands so still left handed.
b) if you can do it, you should be able to. Tip for bowlers, change the speed of your deliveries occasionally so as not to be premeditated.
c) of course you can change feet. Geeze what do you think Hayden was doing when he walked down the pitch at fast bowlers. Every alternate step is swapping stance.

the issue is what happens to the LBW law. If the ball pitches outside square leg, the batsman can't be given out LBW.
well, by swapping feet, you have a different leg side. Which is which?

So in my mind, let them play the shot, but they forfeit the right to the "pitching outside leg stump" rule. LBW effectively becomes similar to the not playing a shot rules.

That's all that needs to happen.

 

[grumbleguts]

On another note, steve smith mayt become a hawks convert. He is going out with my cousins daughter Danielle, and the whole family are utterly devoted hawks.