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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Triangular tournaments in Australia
3 years ago, at the start of FebruaryI am so not entertained by the ODI Triangular tournament currently going on in Australia. The format is tired and stale, and the current game, between Australia and South Africa, is suffering because of the slow, low pitch, which makes for hard work for both bowlers and batsmen.
I would much rather just have three or five ODI games between Australia and the touring sides, rather then the traingular format. What do readers think? I’m especially interested in the views of English readers, where the triangular format has only recently be introduced.
Pakistan vs England, 2nd ODI
4 years ago, mid-DecemberI didn’t see where it was, but one British scribe said that with the variable conditions between batting first and batting second, it was a given that the side batting first would win 4 out of 5 of the games in this series.
Given Sod’s Law, the next four fixtures will see the side batting second win the next four games with ten overs to spare.
I hope Will is well and not too knackered from moving to have a chance to check out some cricket in the next few days.
Some dude called Flintoff won an award.
Pakistan vs England, 1st ODI
4 years ago, mid-DecemberOkay, no one gives England much of a shot here, but you never know. Put your tears and gloats here!
Should Michael Vaughan be in England’s one day team?
4 years ago, mid-DecemberMike Selvey is wondering if he really should be.
The fact is that Vaughan’s place in the side ought to be under scrutiny. Seventy-four one-day matches have brought him 15 half-centuries and not one hundred. Indeed he has scored only two limited-overs centuries in his professional life. For a player of his obvious calibre it suggests he has not come to terms with adapting his Test-match game to the demands of one-day cricket. He is following in a line of underachieving England one-day captains, with Mike Atherton, Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain registering only seven hundreds in more than 300 matches. Atherton’s average of 35 is the best, Vaughan’s 28 the worst. Had they not been captain only Stewart, who has four of the hundreds and was the wicketkeeper, ought to have kept his place. Moreover Vaughan, by the standards demanded of the one-day game at the pace it is played now, is a modest ground fielder and unreliable catcher. There is not even evidence that he is the same dynamic leader in this form of the game that he is in Tests.
Australia v World XI, 2nd ODI, October 7
4 years ago, at the start of OctoberSo, Australia won the first - let’s hope World XI can keep the series alive by winning today. And, also, I hope the crowd’s are fuller. I’ll be in work at the unearthly hour of 7am BST. Chat away - let’s hope the World XI can put up a better fight this time.
Australia v World XI, 1st ODI, October 5
4 years ago, at the start of OctoberThe first match of the ICC Super Series, at Melbourne. Ought to be entertaining, but I hope it’s taken seriously by the players. Any other attitude would make the competition even more pointless. Let’s hope there is some excellent, tough, exciting and entertaining cricket. I’ll be in work at 7am BST - chat away!
New Zealand are crucifying Zimbabwe
4 years ago, at the end of AugustHave you seen? Lou Vincent is on his way to 200. New Zealand 307/1 after 36 overs! Oh dear.
England v Australia, NatWest Challenge - Game 2, Lord’s
4 years ago, mid-JulyAustralia v England - Natwest Challenge. “Sessions won” (at 15, 40 and 50 over intervals)
[First innings - England]
Overs 1-15 (Will):
Australia won the toss on a beautiful, summer’s morning, and asked England to bat. Ponting chose to have Brad Hadden as their sub, which - on the face of it - could benefit them hugely. I’m still getting my head around these new rules; they seem to favour the side batting second though. Ponting’s opening bowlers started very well, restricting England to 20-0 in the first six overs - but, confusingly, he refused to attack with three slips. Lee looking very good this morning - and very quick.
A great start for Kasprowicz - Strauss chopping the ball onto his stumps from Kasper’s first delivery of the game. England were just threatening to get away - 25 for 1
Vaughan left a straight one from McGrath (as Lehmann said on commentary, “You’ve got a bat, Michael: use it”), and Trescothick is out caught behind. 28 for 3 and Pietersen and Flintoff are now both in. Big debate now is when England decide on their sub (Vikram Solanki). 12 overs gone - decision will need to be made pretty soon…
Australia’s session without a doubt
Overs 15-40 (Avinash):
Kevin Pietersen’s cross-bat shot ends his brief innings, the second player to chop the ball onto his stumps. 45 for 4.
That brought Flintoff and Collingwood together in the 16th over with Jones to follow. Time, perhaps, for England to consider Super Sub Solanki? A fifth wicket anytime soon will almost certainly bring him into action and common wisdom suggests that Ashley Giles will be the bowler to make way for him.
Gillespie finally came on to bowl the 18th over of the innings and was promptly sent to the fence twice by Flintoff, two dismissive pulls of two woefully short deliveries. More importantly for Ponting, Lee, McGrath and Kasper have bowled 6 overs apiece inside the first 20, which leaves the attack largely in the hands of Symonds and Gillespie for the next hour. This could well be the defining passage of play in this innings, especially if Flintoff and Collingwood continue to take toll of a clearly out of sorts Dizzy.
Symonds has settled into a tidy line and length, but Gillespie is still having problems. Collingwood just survived a stumping down the legside off Symonds, but England are looking far more comfortable now against these two. The challenge for England is that this is a good pitch for batting, firm and a fair amount of bounce. It will ease out some more and get even better when Australia bat and England will therefore want to get close to 250. One suspects that Flintoff holds the key to their batting fortunes at this point. 74 for 4, 25 overs
Flintoff continues to bat well and Gillespie continues to offer just enough boundary balls to keep England ticking reasonably along. Ponting will start to think now about how he is going to get through 20 overs between Gillespie, Symonds and anyone else he chooses to bowl. Clarke and Hussey are the two obvious names, although Clarke’s first over which just ended was fairly innocuous. The fourth and fifth bowlers have bowled 13 of 20 at this point, but Ponting can’t afford to let England continue to build the innings at almost zero risk, so he has brought McGrath on to bowl the 33rd. One bad ball in McGrath’s 7th over however, duly directed to the ropes by Freddie.
What’s going to be interesting now is to see when England decide to shift gears. It will depend largely on how many runs England feel they need on the board, but if 230 is the target, as it must, they have to begin now. Flintoff will look to bat through the innings and will fancy his chances of going after McGrath and company with the older ball but Collingwood must be the man to change tempo now and allow Flintoff to continue to pick his spots to attack. 125 for 4, 35 overs. Collingwood dismissed in the 38th over, a fish outside off-stump. England 100 runs short with 10 to go…
Overs 40-50: (Will)
Jones now in, and facing Lee. Flintoff well set, but it’s a lot to ask of him to score at 10/over for the final 10 overs. 154 for 5.
England, in the 43rd over, are still unable to really get after the bowling. 168 for 5, and the Australians are only conceding a run a ball at the moment. Unless England can snick out four or five early wickets, this game should be Australia’s for the taking.
Kasprowicz was expensive in his final few overs, conceding 24 from his final three, however he’s certainly bowled the best spell in his tour so far. 2 for 40 from 10 overs, as Flintoff climbs into Symonds, smashing him over mid-wicket for four. Symonds then reverted to his spin for the final ball of the 45th over, Flintoff dispatching it into the Grandstand for another huge six. 87* from 111 balls 192 for 5 at the end of the 45th over, Brett Lee back on.
Lee breaks the back of England’s innings - Flintoff gone for 87, 193 for 6. Superb innings given the calamatous start by England’s top-order. England, still, are way too short and it’ll need a very special bowling performance to dig them out of it (or a very dodgy batting performance by Australia). Giles now in - Solanki not super-subbing after all.
Jones hits two fours off Glenn McGrath in the 47th over - 11 runs from the over, but Brett Lee dismisses him in the first ball of the 48th. Lee really has bowled well today - his fourth wicket so far, and England might struggle to bat out the remaining 11 balls of the innings. 210 for 7
Giles magnificently caught by Ponting! What a catch. Driven hard to extra cover, Ponting sticks out a hand and takes it horizontally, two inches above the ground. Fantastic! Lee takes five wickets, and books himself a spot in the first Test here at Lord’s, in 10 days time. 216 for 6 and it’s over to Avinash for the first instalment of Australia’s innings. (What a catch that was! Good catches stir the spirit)
[Second innings - Australia]
So Australia need to get 224 to even the series up, a task that most agree should prove quite comfortable. It is by no means a foregone conclusion however, but what will help England considerably is early wickets. Early wickets of course is exactly what England’s new ball bowlers have completely failed to give their side throughout the series, but Gough and Jones must reverse that trend here. Harmison and Flintoff will like the bounce this pitch will provide them, but the match might be won or lost by how the remaining 30 overs go. It will be interesting also, to see how attacking Vaughan will get. Much like Ponting in the last game, England have to bowl Australia out to win and they will need to be aggressive with their defence, a curious phrase that I can only put down to early morning stupor. Australia to start as favourites then and the chase begins in just a couple of minutes.
Overs 1-15: (Avinash)
A slash over the slip cordon for four, a wicket off a no-ball, a flick for four, two successive plays and misses, and a near LBW to round off Gough’s opening over. 12 for 0 in the second over and this looks like it’s going to be fun.
After seeing his new ball bowlers slapped all over Lords, Vaughan decides to give the ball to his two best bowlers. Harmison bowled a warm-up first over but Flintoff was much more accurate and got Gilchrist just a couple of balls into his spell. The ball that got him was similar to the one he bowled on the same ground a week ago - short of length, just outside off, and a fair amount of bounce. In that game, Gilly tried to pull but scooped it up in the air, this time he tried to force on the off side but edged to the keeper.
So Ponting strides to the crease, and he hasn’t looked very comfortable against either Flintoff or Harmison all series. Australia however have shown that they intend to make these good batting conditions count. They are going to try and rush to the finish, rather than work themselves towards the target and in that lies England’s best chance, as long as they continue to attack. Ponting has begun in a hurry as well, meanwhile. However, like we said earlier it will be the 30 overs that Freddie and Harmison don’t bowl which could decide the game. 53 for 1, 7.4 overs
Overs 15-40:
Australia ended the first 10 at 63/1 and at this stage, look completely in command. Harmison has not had a good day with the ball, and even Flintoff has been a little below his best. Vaughan has therefore turned to Giles, but he has too many men out patrolling the boundary for my liking. England will need to create (and maintain) pressure via dotballs and wickets for long periods and that will only happen if most of the field is up.
Too easy at the moment and it is still advantage Australia at Lords, but England have shown already that they aren’t going to submit meekly whatever the situation. Further twists might yet be in store and Will will tell you all about them shortly. 68 for 1, 12.5 overs
Still nothing to report. 119 for 2 and it’s a predictable walk in the park for the Aussies. England’s batsmen, Flintoff apart, were ropey today. Ponting and Martyn are a joy to watch, and are just knocking the ball around as though it’s a Sunday afternoon (which it is!). 27 runs have been made down to fine leg, though - poor. Ponting one short of his fifty.
The game continues to go Australia’s way at 161 for 2, with only a further 63 runs required. Vaughan’s not had much to work with - the pitch is so flat, and the game is an almost a complete mirror-copy (albeit a reversal, as it’s Australia winning) of the game at Leeds. There was a fly-by to commemorate the ending of World War II - which was quite something to see. A capacity crowd cheering and whooping at the Lancasters, Spitfires and Hurricane fighters.
[Result]
Australia won by 7 wickets
England 196 - Australia 196 (Final)
4 years ago, at the start of July
England 196 - Australia 196 (Final)
Photo taken by markdemeny @ Flickr.com.
Saw this at Flickr - just a few hours after the game, and already someone’s got photos from it.
What a final. What a start.
4 years ago, at the start of JulyIt was the final of the Natwest Series, the end of a batch of One Day matches - but for most Englishmen and Australians, it was the start of the summer; and what a start it was!
That old cliché “no one could have predicted the outcome” is perfectly suited to what was one of the most thrilling one-day matches in recent times. The game see-sawed between both sides so dramatically, so often, that each country’s supporters kept convincing themselves their side were on top. It was a great day for cricket; on a day where Live 8 and God knows what else was going on in London and around the world, no better advertisement for the game could have been made. The number one and two teams in the world battling for supremacy at a picturesque (if cloudy) Lord’s was a sight to see - both sides desperate for a win to take forward any psychological point-scoring into The Ashes.
Almost 100 overs later, minus 7 balls of Australia’s innings, neither side won. A tie. A draw. Such is the game’s perculiar nature, fans and opponents can be proud of a tie. Avinash (many thanks) and I were doing updates in this post, and before long there was near-constant chatter going on between several Aussies…and one lone Englishman! After England had bowled Australia out for 196, many - me included, to a certain extent - thought the game was theirs for the taking. The weather wasn’t crash-hot - muggy, cloudy and very Glenn McGrathy - and Lee and Him ripped through the English. They were helped by batting of the calibre of a 1990s England side - a collapse so dramatic that I was instantly whisked back to the dark, heinous days when English batting collapses were the norm. 33-5 they were - 33-5…”might not even need the kettle if they keep falling at this rate” said Harry…
“Goodnight, England” I reckoned at that point, as did nearly everyone apart from the redoubtable Paul Collingwood. He and Geraint Jones staged a recovery more akin to the 2005 English vintage - although this one was particularly special. The clouds had lingered all day, and although McGrath and Lee were being held back until the end, runs weren’t easily made. Their 116 gave England a sniff of victory - but wickets kept falling and run-rates kept increasing until the final ball, where England needed 3 for victory. They’d been helped in these latter overs by Australia’s initial destroyers, Lee & McGrath. Lee had stupidly assumed a bouncer might be a good ploy against a tail-ender - Giles spooned him, somehow, over Gilchrist’s head for four. If you combined McGrath’s brain with Lee’s pace, you’d probably have an unplayable bowler.
Then, in the final over, McGrath no-balled. McGrath no-balled. McGrath no-balled. It’s worth repeating (McGrath no-balled). When does he ever no-ball?! It was a tasty morsel for us English - everyone loves to see a champion opponent dethroned & humbled, even if it is only for one ball. Giles, facing the final ball of the match with 3 needed, squirted it to 3rd man who was deep - and suddenly he and Harmison were scampering through for a second and the scores were level! Ponting stood there, motionless and speechless. On the radio, some were even suggesting he didn’t realise it could have been a tie (why was 3rd man so deep?). Crazy stuff.
Jonathan Agnew thinks Vaughan should/could be replaced (agreed)
An Aussie blogger is confused (and is making me confused). At least she’s excited about The Ashes
An English blogger remains calm
Jenny Thompson rounds things up at Cricinfo and thinks we’re in for a scorcher (oh yes we are)
Australia and England TIE in ODI Final
4 years ago, at the start of JulyExtraordinary game - what a comeback by both Australia, then England. One of the best One Day matches I’ve seen for a year or more. And then a TIE at the end! Simply incredible.
Write it up later when I’ve absorbed the shock
Australia v England - Final, Natwest series
4 years ago, at the start of JulySession updates provided by Avinash. Updated at overs 15, 40 and 50.
[First innings - Australia]
Overs 1-15: (Avinash)
It has been a marvellous 15 overs, worthy of a Lord’s final between the two best teams in the world. Glichrist got Australia off to a ripping start and yet again, a buffet of Simon Jones was much too tempting for the Australian openers to pass up on. Fifty came up in short order and Jones was lashed for 29 off his opening three overs, including 16 in four balls from Gilly. Panic Stations, England? An English side might have crumbled in the face of such typically aggressive batting some years earlier but this lot is a bit more resilient. Flintoff has been their most accurate bowler all series so Vaughan turned to him to peg things back a little. And peg them back he did, with beautifully controlled & short of a length fast bowling. Gough prised out Hayden, his first wicket with the new ball all series, and Flintoff bowled one of the best overs anyone has ever bowled to Gilchrist, beating him time and again outside the off stump and forcing him into an injudicious pull that simply went straight up in the air. That was a well-earned wicket, if anything was. Ponting then went on to tickle Harmison’s first delivery down the legside to Geraint Jones and suddenly, Australia were three down in 12 overs. Parity had been restored. Symonds is proving why he doesn’t get to play Test cricket more often, struggling to put bat to ball against Harmison and Flintoff, and Martyn is searching for an aggressive partner he can feed the strike to.
15 overs. 76 runs. 3 wickets. The perfect start, as the first session has been a well fought draw!
Australia will want these two to bat another 15 overs while England will want to get Symonds out while the ball is still a bit new. They know well what can happen otherwise. Once again, Andrew Symonds seems to have the key to the game.
Overs 15-40: (Will)
As befits the middling overs, things have quietened down significantly. England continued to apply pressure via Harmison - who bowled quite beautifully. He dismissed Martyn with a classic delivery, angling in but cutting away - Jones took an easy catch, but one which he might well have dropped a year ago. His ‘keeping standards have certainly improved since working with Jack Russell.
Jones was brought back into the attack; after Gilchrist’s initial onslought, smashing him for 16 in an over, he showed admirable control to keep things quiet, and was too good for Clarke trapping him leg-before. That wicket was the last ball in the 24th, and the 3rd consecutive maiden. The 25th was the 4th maiden in a row, before Symonds and Hussey started to knock it around - but, in the 35th over, Symonds was still demonstrating un-character-like restraint. Even Giles is going at under 4 per over - both he and Collingwood justifying Vaughan’s decision to keep Harmison and Flintoff back for a couple of overs each at the end of the innings.
And Vaughan’s decision is further vindicated. Symonds crashed Collingwood, on the bounce, straight to extra cover, only to repeat the shot next ball into Strauss’ hands. Now is definately the time to bring Harmison back, although I think Collingwood and Giles have done an excellent, containing job (especially considering the awesome form Symonds has been in). Giles though is still bowling in the 39th - come on Vaughan, don’t miss a trick here. Harmison, Flintoff, Gough - 2 of those must be bowling now. Australia will be loving this.
And into the 40th over, it’s Paul Collingwood to continue! Don’t understand this whatsoever…over to you, Avinash.
Overs 40-50: (Avinash)
Australia went into the turn at 153/6. Hogg had just come in, Hussey was still biding his time, Flintoff, Gough and Harmison had 10 overs between them and England could not have hoped for a more perfect situation. Naturally therefore, Vaughan bowled Collingwood in the 41st over and Giles in the 42nd. Harmison was finally given the ball (about 10 overs delayed, by my reckoning) and, immediately, run making got more difficult & dangerous. Staying true to form, Vaughan persisted with Giles from the other end before finally turning, almost reluctantly you’d think were it not such a ludicrous thought, to Flintoff.
6 balls later, Lee had gone, Gillespie had followed his mate first ball and Andrew Flintoff was on a hattrick. As demonstrably QED as you could ever get. A couple of lucky edges, a few scrambles and some fine batting from Hussey coaxed Australia to 196. The obvious question now: is 196 enough? I think they are about 25 short, but with this pitch and the generally overcast conditions, the bowlers will always have a chance. Whether Vaughan will rue not turning to his strike bowlers earlier in the innings only time will tell. Regardless, it is great to have a one day pitch that is doing just enough to make it an even contest between bat and ball.
It is going to be a tremendous spectacle - Ponting does not have the runs to defend for long periods so he will attack constantly. Lee, McGrath and Gillespie will be hard to score consistently off in these conditions but yet again, one senses that the first 10 overs or so of the England response might go a long way towards deciding the fate of this final. After
three gripping sessions of play, it is England 2 and Australia 0. My money is on England the rest of the way, but the two men who can ruin it for the hosts are the men who will share the new ball in just about 40 minutes - Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.
[Second innings - England]
Overs 1-10:
England have batted twice in this series against Australia and both times, their openers have looked shaky against the new ball, all those hundreds against Bangladesh notwithstanding. Lee and McGrath would have liked their chances therefore, of picking up an early wicket or two. As things turned out, they picked up 4 between themselves in 40 balls and England’s
fraility at the top suddenly threatened to lose them the game.
It was good bowling without a doubt but you would have expected no less from Australia. I grow ever more skeptical though, of Trescothick’s place at the top of the order against Brett Lee, Glen McGrath and a new ball. He can be a punishing batsman on his day, but when the ball is doing a bit England might be better served opening with Vaughan. Not that that would have prevented Strauss from getting comprehensively bowled by Lee.
Back to matters at hand however, and England have Flintoff along with Collingwood at the crease. Flintoff has looked assured at the crease, and is playing well, two sweetly timed fours of Lee proving that danger still lurks for Australia.
Ah, I speak too soon! Flintoff perishes as well, and McGrath has himself another wicket!
Number 7 walks out into the middle in the 10th over and England are now threatening to implode in much the same way that Australia did some weeks ago. That collapse was greeted by much disbelief and so will this one. So there we have it. Lee and McGrath were always the dangermen, and in 40 minutes of work they have hauled Australia into a position of utter dominance. No question whatsoever of who has won this session.
Interesting as the match is, I have a cricket game of my own to play so further commentary and reaction from the venerable Will.
Overs 15-40:
Overs 40-50:
[Result]
No handshakes for Vaughan and Ponting
4 years ago, at the start of JulyProbably nothing to read into, but it’s noteworthy nonetheless. At the toss, Vaughan won the toss and put Australia in - but Ponting had to wait to hear Vaughan tell Sky presenter Paul Allott his decision. No handshake, no “good lucks,” no “we’ll have a bowl mate.” In the 80s (someone remind me of the details if I’m wrong) when Australia needed rebuilding, Border shunned his former England mates - no beers after the game and so on. I’m not saying this is the case this time round - but Vaughan is a very tough character, tougher than he appears, and I just wonder whether he [Vaughan] simply forgot, or if it was deliberate.
Ponting certainly looked a bit surprised. Good toss to win - overcast and cloudy, ominously so. Hope it doesn’t rain.
The first (true) game of the summer
4 years ago, at the start of JulyBangladesh provided some early-summer entertainment, and 2 or 3 of their players showed enough potential for the doomsayers to be kept at bay for a few more years. Tomorrow, however, is what England and Australia will regard as the first game of the summer - the one that really matters.
Jonathan Agnew makes some interesting points:
It is quite outrageous that only English flags should have been waved by the guards of honour through which the players - including the Australians - are supposed to pass at the start of each innings.
Imagine how England would feel in Melbourne, for example, if they were required to emerge from the dressing rooms beneath a dozen fluttering Australian flags.
Their players would behave in exactly the same way as these Australians, I am sure, and avoid them.
I was under the impression the flags weren’t English (S.t. George) - I thought they were just Natwest-advertised flags, to commemorate their involvement within the game. If what he says is true, it’s understandable they should be a bit miffed. Derek Pringle, writing in The Telegraph yesterday, remarks on this apparent “dirty tricks campaign.”
Like his team-mates, Hayden made a point of going around the side of the children rather than through the tunnel of flags formed by them. Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, explained the move by saying that his team did not like having “things waved in our faces” as they ran on to the field. To that end, they have also asked for Sky’s mobile cameraman not to be so intrusive when they enter the field of play, a request that has just a whiff of paranoia about it.
No other side has complained in recent years (to my knowledge). And, unless I’m mistaken, isn’t the number of cameramen (mobile or otherwise) standard for International matches around the world? If Vaughan had complained about a similar situation happening in Australia, he’d have been stoned by now.
This “dirty tricks” campaign is a load of bollocks. There was even a suggestion on the radio that English tabloids are “seeking revenge” against their antipodean cousins who have “tormented” England in the past. What!? The more Australia find it irritating, and the more toys they throw out of their pram, the better their opponents will feel about things.
Back to tomorrow’s game (now there’s a bit of Irish for you - “back to tomorrow now then”).
Of course the result is paramount, but also of great interest must be the manner in which England stand up to Australia in an all or nothing situation because that will give us our first real suggestion of how they might fare in the Ashes.
It’s incredibly exciting but I don’t think we should necessarily take too much from of the game. There are, after all, 3 more bloody ODI matches after this - arguably, whoever wins those might then be able to take the momentum forward. The phoney war is well and truly over.
My key players
England: Pietersen (at 4), Vaughan (should open - but won’t), Harmison (obviously)
Australia: Ponting (needs a score), Gilchrist (needs a hundred), Gillespie (needs a wicket), McGrath (obviously)
I still don’t trust either team to defend a total, so my prediction is: whichever team bowls first will win.
Australia not impressing
4 years ago, at the end of JuneIt’s been a terrific, exciting start to the summer - who could’ve predicted there would have been so much drama & controversy in these 10 ODI matches? Most people rightly thought Australia would trample over Bangladesh and, although England fans were hopeful of doing well in the shorter game, most would have expected them to quickly assert their authority. This hasn’t happened yet. The giant of world cricket is definately awake now, but appears almost sedated.
Against England, in that stormy encounter, I didn’t think they were red hot - at a time when Australians, such as Darren Lehmann, fully expected them to have hit their straps. Had the rain not intervened, England looked ready for another win - and don’t forget, Australia lost 5 for 37 in 6 overs, at a time when a score of 280 looked possible.
Today, more questions than answers remain. Following the admittedly absurd, yet unsettling allegations of Matthew Hayden swearing at some kids, they’ve been below par against Bangladesh. Gillespie again struggled, and Kasprowicz really looked very poor. “Lack of match practice” is an excuse which will soon lack credibility - this is their tenth match so far in their tour: played 10, won 4 lost 4. These are world class bowlers in the rare situation of looking bemused about their own form. If they’re bemused, so are we.
Darren Lehmann, who has slotted in brilliant at Sky, has patriotically defended his country and is at pains to point out (every game) that they are improving - are they?
Their batting today, thus far, looks ropey at best. 102-3 and their captain and run-machine Ricky Ponting is, in my eyes, definately having technical problems. His head is still falling away to the off side, and he survived countless appeals for leg-before. Having watched Ponting a fair amount, he’s often had trouble early-doors - but this is his 10th match, and he hasn’t yet fired. It must be a concern to him. Harmison trapped him leg-before in a recent game - and I predict he’ll pick him up again in the Tests a few times.
Gower, on sky, seems to think Australia’s sub-par performance is due to their opponents - the lack of spice in the game, the small crowd and so on. But this is Australia - the World Champions, the all-conquering machine of world cricket. “The only inspiration I/we need is representing our country” was a common tagline of Waugh and Taylor in the past. They don’t have bad days - and they certainly don’t have this many this often.
No doubt Australia will walk home with this game at some point, and no doubt Ponting will continue to dodge the media’s questions about his and his teams form. Saturday is but 2 days away, and is being thought of as “the first game of the summer” for The Ashes - will the monster be awoken?
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