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Loading ...The “Thanks for coming” sounds just about accurate, except for Afridi’s inclusion. The poor sod had to sit out two games, no? So why are we punishing him again?
Thanks for coming
By Ian last year, at the end of April Leave a comment on this post
Gadzooks - yet another one sided match. And in a tourney of one sided matches, this was about the most imbalanced. “They’ll choke,” said the Aussies on the boat this morning after a choppy overnight crossing from Musquite, and choke they did. All the confidence the Boks showed in Barbados against the English had evaporated. What they could have given for the captain’s performance that Jayawardene provided yesterday!
And so on to Barbados for the final. All we want is a proper game of cricket. Can the plucky Sri Lankans test the Aussies? So far they have lost no more than six wickets and they’ve bowled out every opposition - it would be harsh if they are not recoronated world champions. But all the more delicious for all that! That said, it would be wonderful to see Adam Gilchrist score some runs in the final. So far he was scored two runs in the two innings I’ve seen.
Before we get stuck into a few sundowners on St Lucia, here’s a team we’ve put together entitled ‘Thanks for coming’. It’s a team that at the start of the tournament could have been the stars, but they have flattered to deceive. No doubt, we have missed out the odd loser or two.
1. Michael Vaughan 2. Chris Gayle 3. Sachin Tendulkar 4. Ross Taylor 5. Inzi 6. Michael Hussey 7. MS Dhoni 8. Shaun Pollock 9. Shahid Afridi 10. Saj Mahmood 11. Makhaya Ntini
Ian Valentine is a freelance journalist blogging the World Cup for The Corridor
Tags: 2007-world-cup, adam-gilchrist, australia, gadzooks, Musquite, south-africa |
18 Responses to “Thanks for coming”
April 26th, 2007 at 2.00 am
April 26th, 2007 at 2.32 am
I’m not sure that’s fair to Pollock, Dhoni and Hussey - can’t help it if you don’t get played or your team exits early. Whereas Vaughan had ample opportunity but didn’t get it together til the end. but howmuch did coming did comingin to the tournament from long-time injury affect him? Perhaps you could have a list of might-have-beens if they weren’t injured before and during the Cup. Like Taylor and Symonds, who has looked quiet the whole time.
April 26th, 2007 at 3.55 am
To be fair to Smith and his team, he said they didn’t choke, they were outplayed and gave credit to the Aussies for there superlative bowling. Ponting agreed that he didn’t think the Saffers choked and that they are a very fine team.
A lot has been said about the Aussies haven’t yet been tested against the Sri Lankan bowling, but the reverse is true, too. Murali, Vaas, and Malinga have not tested themselves against Hayden and co. And now Fernando is being dropped, apparently. So a new bowler for them without much match fitness. Whereas the Aussies are a well-oiled intergrated machine.
April 26th, 2007 at 4.12 am
Last time I saw Murali bowl to Australia he went for 50 off 10, the match before 99 off 10. Wonder if there are scars there… everyone else has been denying it but we’re seeing they are full of $%^&… 
April 26th, 2007 at 4.15 am
In fact, Murali goes for a mortal 30 per wicket against Australia (versus 23 to everyone else) and four and a half an over instead of under four.
April 26th, 2007 at 4.51 am
apparently Murali himself admitted to Symonds afew years ago that Australia read him batter than any other team. Of course, Murali has been developing his game since then but I wonder if Malinga isn’t the real threat?
April 26th, 2007 at 5.08 am
I agree Malinga is the threat.
April 26th, 2007 at 5.59 am
“Recoronated” — very creative wordsmithing there, Ian!
Oh, for a close match. Walkovers are such a big bore.
April 26th, 2007 at 7.39 am
I’m passing this on from a Seth Afrikken friend:
“The cricket team are the ‘Proteas’. The rugby team are the Boks.”
Ixx
April 26th, 2007 at 8.42 am
and let’s not forget Vaas, a bowler not to be underestimated.
April 26th, 2007 at 10.02 am
Errr, you mean there are people who really thought Saj Mahmood was going to be a star of the tournament ?
April 26th, 2007 at 11.47 am
Hussey is a bit of a surprise. He did say he was a bit traumatised by his leading Australia in the 3-0 Chappell Hadlee series loss, so maybe that’s knocked his confidence.
April 26th, 2007 at 1.23 pm
I was expecting Bravo and Sreesanth to be stars. Both deserve consideration for the Thanks for Coming XI. Good job I didn’t put money on ‘em…
April 26th, 2007 at 11.34 pm
Kathy, you’re dead right about “recoronated”. We must police the freelance journalists in our midst, or suffer further outrages.
April 27th, 2007 at 12.22 am
Then again, glamorous_organ, it could have been deliberately ironic and humorous use of the language. Who can tell? It’s certainly a new one on me!
April 27th, 2007 at 3.33 am
Oh Kathy - that was a shallow dig. New Zealand did nothing to Australia; once again on the big stage we have proved far too good for your boys - either of which you are choosing to follow on the day…
The fact that Hussey hasn’t batted, or has come in at the 45th over as we’re trying to score 400, is the ONLY reason why he hasn’t been able to construct an innings. The one time he was able to we were hunting a hundred runs only.
April 27th, 2007 at 3.46 am
No, Michael, Hussey hasn’t looked as stable and rock-like in his technique as he did last year. I don’t think NZ necessarliy had anything to do with, ( though the Huss is the sort that could be worried by that) it’s just that he’s having a bit of a form slump, perfectly natural after his outstanding debut, but he’s not getting the time in the middle to bat himself out of it. though Hayden managed to overcome his form slump in the nets - as Kathy said some while back, form can be a mysterious thing.
by the way, I’m an Aussie, not a Saffer.
April 27th, 2007 at 7.29 am
Hardly a shallow dig, Michael. It was the poster, Ian, who put Hussey on the “loser’s list”, not me. I was merely suggesting a possible reason for his loss of form, coming straight from the horse’s mouth:
http://content-nz.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/281076.html
And yes, I agree, Australia absolutely trashed NZ in the World Cup. However the Chappell-Hadlee series did happen too, and NZers can rightly feel proud of that result, just as you can feel proud of Australia’s big wins.
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