Over the last 24 hours since Australia "won" the Sydney test I have entertained many conversations about how unbelievable it was and so on. Eventually the conversation has lead to match fixing. I know with any implosion the subject rears it's ugly head but when the side concerned is Pakistan, and the game was lost by grassed sitters and poor field settings it becomes a little more ugly.
I love test cricket and this game was an awesome advertisement for the validity of it but something in the back of my mind sits uneasily and I throw it over to the gentlemen on this site to give me some councelling.
Am I being silly or is there a distinct possibility that the Pakistani's might have thrown this one?
I look forward to your replies.
NOw now Nospmas, your being silly...again!
ReplyDeleteNah mate I reckon they are just a young team who dont know how to seal the deal and were overwhelmed by a superior team and the occasion, pressure exists. Maybe if the markets were flooded with bets for the Aussies (wish I had backed them after day 2) then there would be a case but I reckon this one was just cricket.
Wouldn't that be a sad comment on the game and likely the start of the end of Test cricket.
ReplyDeleteHaving been there the first two days and listen the other two, I don't think this was a fixer. The field placings were not a rare or unusual thing. That stretegy has been a tactic in Test cricket for at least five years.
i agree with the the others Nosp... but the thought entered my mind several times too.
ReplyDeleteKamrans drops were enough to have an effigy made and burnt; and if the captain hadn't converted (well, he wouldn't have been catain, but for the sake of this discussion) he would surely have been on the recieving end of yonies until expiring!
i don't want to cast nastertiums, but we all know mental is the middle sylable of fundermentalist!
...still, (match fixing)while i don't think it did happen, i would hardly be speechless if it came out in the future.
Let me just clarify that I wasn't saying it did happen, just that it is being talked about. A Sri Lankan guy in our office who obviously has an agenda seems convinced they did.
ReplyDeleteWe know nothing of what money was wagered on this game offshore so Sledgey your comment still doesn't convince me.
I just question the field placings Lango because Siddle wasn't throwing the bat like a number 10 so why put everyone back?
As a keeper myself I can understand missing one nick from a spinner, even two, but three? The legside to Siddle was pathetic but those things happen too. All of them thrown in together gives the match fixing cred and I hate that.
I am a traditionalist and want to believe that match fixing in any form does not go on more than I want to believe in any god but some things that happened in this test are as supportive of match fixing as Darwin's theories are vexing to god botherers.
I hadn't even considered match fixing until someone mentioned the thought to me. I still don't even consider it. Pakistan have a much longer history of losing the unlosable or simply going missing while playing than they do of match fixing. The batting collapse was characteristic of a team of individuals and Kamran is just a shit keeper, period. I would imagine it's hard to deliberately drop the catches he did but in any case I really don't think he knew how to take them. Feigning a dive to stop a ball entering the net is a different story but I could be wrong on how to fake drop catches. I'd wager Hansie did a few times, the dirty filthy cheat.
ReplyDeleteYousuf was visibly deplored and disgusted by his teams performance; although he seemed to take all the responsibility due to his own dismissal. Umar Akmal did what he does best; get off to a flyer and then throw it all away. Nospmas, do you use the spotlight on countries like India and RSA to the same extent? They have been implicated in the evil world of match-fixing too. I'd also suggest that a couple of Aus players have some dirt on their hands from the past too; perhaps not in the sense of throwing games but while there is a continuum of such things there they still are.
Quite right Lefty, Aussie players do have dirt on them. It's the reason I detest Warne. Money from a bookie for pitch and weather conditions...please!!
ReplyDeleteThe batting collapse on its own was not sufficient to raise my concerns, it was more the fielding. The legside one would have been harder to drop than catch.