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Shameless self-promotion post
By Scott last year, at the start of April, 3 Comments »
I’ve started up a more generic Australian minded sports blog which will house cricket minded posts that have me coming off a longer run up then is usual for here. I’ll still be posting here; it’s just that the essays will go up at my new site. I’ve opened the batting with a long post about how the proposed Indian Cricket League might impact on Australian cricket.
3 Comments »Did I miss something? I certainly did!
By Scott 2 years ago, at the end of April, 2 Comments »
Sorry to the masses of readers reader who wanted an open thread about the South Africa vs New Zealand Test in Cape Town, which started last night. I’m not as overworked as Will is, although I am quite frankly appallingly underpaid. I’m considering holding out posting until Will doubles my salary to be honest. The writers united will never be defeated, we’ll just hold out for the draw.
 Anyway, Stephen Fleming got a century last night, which is a rare or special moment for him. I can’t think of a finer batsman in world cricket who is SO bad at converting good starts into centuries. So I really hope he goes on with it. His innings held together New Zealand’s innings on the opening day after South Africa won the toss and sent them in. New Zealand are 265 for 6, and if Fleming and the tail can nurdle out another 100 runs, they will be well set for this Test match.
 Neil Manthrope discusses the schedule. I want you, dear readers, to discuss New Zealand’s chances of getting to 400, and what a fair salary for me is. Should I hold out for groupies?
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2 Comments »Andrew “Roy” Symonds starts repaying what he owes.
By Scott 2 years ago, at the end of April, 2 Comments »
Andrew Symonds’ big night out on the day before an ODI against Bangladesh in 2005 will go down in infamy in Australian cricket lore, and probably will be celebrated in Bangladesh for a while to come as well. But he did redeem himself somewhat with a match-winning century in Dhaka to win the 2nd ODI for Australia yesterday.
It must be said, in all honesty, that at the moment he looks like he’s been on an even bigger bender then his 2005 effort. The dreadlocks look scruffy and the beard makes him look like a vagabond. At the moment, if any Australian cricketer is crying out for a makeover by the folks from ‘queer eye for the straight guy’, it is Symonds.
He may look like a drunken derelict, but his 5th ODI century for Australia was a most sober and abstemious effort. He came in with a bit of a crisis happening and Australia struggling after losing 3 for 10 after Adam Gilchrist got interrupted just as he was really warming up. That brought to mind his innings in Sydney against Sri Lanka, where Chaminda Vaas roughed up the Australian top order. Starting this time at 3 for 65, he combined with Michael Clarke to compose a brilliant but ungainly knock.
It’s one thing to score a glittering century on an easy paced but reliable SCG wicket; this wicket at Dhaka was simply diabolical. It was slower then a Madagascar sloth and deader then WG Grace. He came out wearing a helmet but there was no way Mashrafe Mortaza was going to get a bouncer to get beyond rib high at best. Pitch preparation is a black art at the best of times, but whoever was in charge of this one should hang his head in shame. Bangladesh may be poor, but if they can afford to put on a gloriously manicured outfield, there’s no excuse for a pitch like this.
So once the fast men finished their spells with the new ball, we had the rather dreary sight of spinners bowling and the batsmen working them over for singles. It is this sort of cricket that drove the ICC in frustration to introduce monstrosities like power-plays and supersubs. It is hardly the batsmen at fault in situations like this; in Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, Australia had two of its most positive minded batsmen at the crease. But Clarke only scored 2 boundaries in his 54.
Credit must go to the bowlers, especially the redoubtable Mohammed Rafique. The veteran spinner has clearly been the pick of Bangladesh’s bowlers right through this Australian tour. Of course, it does help his cause that as a slow left arm spinner, he is a member of the spin caste that has troubled Australians the most over recent years. Daniel Vettori is another that springs to mind.
So Symonds played Rafique with respect, picking him off, working him over for the singles, and waiting for the loose ball from the other end. These were not in short supply once Bashar had to face the chore of juggling to find ten overs from his ‘fifth’ bowler, but again the conditions conspired, and the lack of bounce clearly frustrated Symonds. However, instead of losing his head and his innings, he managed to keep his composure, and his wicket, and in the end his century came off 122 balls; slow by his standards but fast in the conditions.
Bashar perhaps missed a trick; he seemed content to allow Australia to pick off singles, and I wonder when a captain is going to be bold enough to try keeping his inner fielders close enough to the batsmen to make singles hard work. It could have paid dividends.
But it was never tried, so they tied Australia down for a while but they could not get them out though, and a late burst saw Australia through to 250. And once the Australian fast men knocked off the top order of Bangladesh’s batting, that was it as a game. Habibul Bashar played a good captain’s knock to ensure Bangladesh had some respectability with their reply of 183, but Symonds was the man who made the difference. And a good thing too, because against this opponent, Symonds owed his country a match-winning innings or three.
2 Comments »Not much time at the moment
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of February, No Comments; be the first!
Not got much time at the moment to blog. Scott’s holding the fort until I have time later in the week. Rawk on
No Comments »C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre
By Scott 2 years ago, mid-January, 11 Comments »
That was a French General reacting to the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. It is also my reaction to the First Test, where India, as I write, are 0 for 403, and they’ve just gone off for bad light. Sehwag is 247, and Dravid is 128. This is in response to Pakistan’s 679 for 7 declared, a total that could have been far larger had Pakistan put their minds to it.
So by my creaky mathematics, we’ve had 1,083 runs and 7 wickets.
Great. But to me, this is almost as much nonsense as that Twenty-20 rubbish. Sorry to be an incurable snob, but to me, cricket is a contest between bat and ball, not a batathon. If there is any justice in this world the curator should be impaled with a pristine cricket stump, and I am sure Shoaib, Danish Kaneria, and indeed Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan would endorse my sentiments.
11 Comments »On the road again
By Scott 3 years ago, at the end of December, 2 Comments »
My turn for a hiatus- I will be away for a couple of weeks, however there will still be intermittent postings from me while I am away. However, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or just good luck if you live in a place which doesn’t do Christmas Holidays. And if I don’t see you before hand, Happy New Year and see you all in 2006.
2 Comments »Roebuck: time to go, Gilchrist II
By Scott 3 years ago, at the start of December, 2 Comments »
Will asked for my thoughts on Peter Roebuck’s article on Adam Gilchrist, where Roebuck suggested that Gilchrist might wish to retire from the ODI game.
It is true that too much of a workload can be put on even the mightiest cricketer. Injury to Ricky Ponting required Adam Gilchrist to captain Australia for the first three Tests of Australia’s tour to India in 2004, and although he lead the side superbly, there is no doubt that it did have a negative effect on his batting and his wicketkeeping.
However, once Gilchrist returned to Australia, and reduced to his normal duties of keeper, vice-captain, and star batsman, he played like a man liberated, and had perhaps his best season since he started. He starred as a batsman in 2004/05. The highlight for me was his century against Pakistan in Sydney, an innings so exhilirating to watch that it overshadowed a Ricky Ponting double-century. But not only was his bat blazing, but his glovework also was of the highest standard.
For reasons that remain unknown, Gilchrist disappointed in England. Congratulations are due to England and Andrew Flintoff for working out a plan to reduce the threat that Gilchrist posed, but I was disappointed in that it seemed to me that Adam Gilchrist was not getting the support he needed to counter England’s tactics. And yes, his glovework was not quite so sharp.
Given his moderate performances since then, it is perhaps legitimate for Roebuck to pose the question that he did. Adam Gilchrist works under a heavy workload that can not be any easier for him to bear. It is known that he is a devoted family man, as well, and the constant absences and the life of a long-distance cricketer is not healthy for any young family.
I do not think, however, that Gilchrist will retire just yet. Although Australia have a busy summer ahead, with a tour to South Africa and then Bangladesh in April, there is nevertheless a nice gap in the winter where Adam Gilchrist can recover in the bosum of his family in Perth, recharge the batteries, and then have one final fling- first, a campaign to recover the Ashes, and then to the West Indies to retain the World Cup.
I would not be surprised if he retired from all forms of the game after that, but I would equally be very surprised if he retired from one day cricket before then.
2 Comments »Common Sense
By Scott 3 years ago, at the end of November, 7 Comments »
So England stumbled to 248 for 6 when bad light brought a halt to proceedings. It seems to me that this is the custom in Pakistan. Given slow over rates, there is always the demand for the ‘extra’ half hour to get the regulation 90 overs in, so the chances of this happening in Lahore at this time of year are possibly nil.
In fact, Pakistan managed to bowl 77 overs today.
This situation is farcical. Between slow over-rates and bad light, 78 overs were lost during the Second Test, which almost certainly cost Pakistan the game. The solution of course is to schedule Test matches in Pakistan to go for six days of five hours, rather then the traditional five days of six hours.
That way, cricket would be conforming with the natural geography of Pakistan, rather then trying to force the natural geography of Pakistan to conform with cricket. It is just common sense.
7 Comments »Australia clean up
By Scott 3 years ago, at the end of November, 3 Comments »
Australia made short work of the West Indies target, winning the Third Test with few alarms. Matt Hayden went on to 87 not out, narrowly falling short of getting five centuries in five Tests. Meanwhile Michael Hussey picked up 30 more runs, and he finishes his first Test series with a batting average of 120.
For all their troubles, the West Indies did look like they have made some improvement in their team on this tour, and they are less weak then they appear. Dwayne Bravo is the obvious ‘find’ of the tour, but the economy and line of Collymore is another positive.
From the Australian fan’s view point, it is good to see ‘normal service’ resume, but the real pleasing thing is the emergence of Hussey and Hodge in the middle order. We now have six Tests against South Africa to look forward to, and that is a good chance for the middle order to settle in, before the real challenge against England next summer.
3 Comments »Welcome to Scott
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of November, 3 Comments »
I’m delighted to announce Scott, from Ubersportingpundit, will be posting his thoughts on this great game here at the CoU. Scott’s been blogging a lot longer than most, and I’m sure everyone here will enjoy hearing his insightful views - with an Australian twang, too, which ought to balance things a little here!
Go for it Scott - knock ‘em flying!
3 Comments »