First session- day 1

Well even though NZ have sold them selves short, i'm liking this effort from our bowling line-up.

Starc/Warner combo works- though Ryder shows that training to flail means training to fail in 5 days.

Lyon is impressing me a lot today (and well done Clarke for mixing it up), good flight and turn. Seeing Vettori v Lyon is cricketing gold, but i have a man crush on big Dan so what can i say!

Let the games begin

What a big few weeks for Australian cricket!

The 2nd RSA Test showed that we have some ticker and that the 1st Test was an aberration with the result heavily influenced by conditions; not to say that some critical analysis isn't called for when we get routed, but it is fair to assume that 3 innings played in a sauna will be negated by 1 innings played in primo conditions!

As i've said in other posts i was delighted that Cummins had a run, more so that he took his opportunity and capitalised on it. Noted from other posts too is the sad reality that those who played with ? marks over their head have made selectors jobs harder and will ultimately damage the big picture with their just adequate performances. Except maybe Jono- he can not be in the squad to make 80 odd runs with the bat, particularly if his conversion rate is the occasional wicket for a trade off of more runs than he scores.

Neil Harvey has said what everyone knows to be true and called him the most over rated fast bowler around: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8379519

and called for Ponting to call it it stumps. Is he too old to become a selector?

And what of the appointment of Mickey Arthur? What do you esteemed cricket connoisseurs think of that? We (Australia) have been the last bastion of home grown coaches for so long, what of this change? Does anyone care? Does it make any difference in an age of professional sportspeople? Has Arthur had enough success to merit his appointment?
So many questions!

As we enter the Austral summer with so many changes implemented since the last- a few still needed- Let the games begin!

When it's time to panic

Start panicking. Australia's test team is littered with seemingly self-entitled egos unwilling to look themselves in the mirror.

Upon reading Haddin's comments about his shot selection and claiming he'll 'continue to play my natural game' I was struck by the lack of contrition. I doubt what 'got him there' in the first place was swiping wildly at 5 for not many. If you can't assess that batting time is demanded then you should not be there.

To those who claim 'this is no time to panic, don't make major changes' I ask 'how can it get any worse?'

47 all out does not demonstrate a new low but it does reflect the unbalanced nature of the team. You have one opener that cannot justify his place in the team and the other batting out of position. The number 4 refuses to retire until his wheelchair prevents his taking guard. The strike bowler actually bowls first change and bowls rubbish at a ratio of 50 to 1 to his good balls. The keeper's skills behind the stumps are deteriorating so who cares how he bats?

Just like the retirements of Chappell, Lillee and Marsh together left gaping wholes in the 3 facets of the game (plus captaincy), we can expect letting Ponting, Hughes, Haddin and Johnson to require some adjustment. Of course, not all 4 of these players have been 'greats' of the game and in that way are more easily replaced.

Watson filled the opener's gap in England in 2009 but his remaining there has been an avoidance of a problem rather than a solution to one. He has two hundreds to his name and several 50s; openers go on from these positions. He bats like a middle-order player and is currently required to find a wicket because Johnson doesn't know where they are. Admittedly dropping Johnson and getting a consistent bowler may ease Watson's load but it's difficult to see him not being required with the ball.

As much as I'd like Hughes to make the opening spot his own the work he's done on his technique is not enough to secure a place. Perhaps this work will translate into big shield scores and weight of runs will get him back in. This is what should have been the case to begin with. With 3 out of the top 6 shield scorers this season being openers it's not like there's few choices as replacements.

Ponting has been an incredible batsman but his stubbornness is only hurting his legacy, not enhancing it. It's difficult to understand what exactly he's trying to prove by hanging around ungainly. While Dravid peels off runs on different surfaces Ponting looks ill-equipped on every surface. Now his exit will be a sad one but this was always likely with Aus in a far from dominant position. Not every player can have the send off Waugh had.

Johnson is the most infuriating bowler I've seen for a long time. One quote from a punter sums it up 'if Johnson could bowl he'd be an allrounder'. Too true for too long. Match-winners at worst win you matches once in a while. Between the Ashes in 2009 and now he's done it once in Perth. With so many young quicks (and old - think Bollinger) available how can CA seriously keep giving this guy a game? If he goes back to shield cricket and takes bags on Adelaide Oval then fine, pick him. But the fact is others already are so in the mean time pick them!

Of course Marsh's (recurrent) injury is terrible timing but my ideal 11 would be as follows:

Liam Davis/Rob Quiney/Chris Rogers
Marsh
Khawaja
Clarke
Hussey
Watson
Wade/Paine
Harris
Lyon
Pattinson
George

An esteemed writer commented that Voges is as unlucky as anybody not to have featured in the test set up. I scoffed at this at the time. Voges is 2nd on the runs list in this season's sheffield shield. Perhaps Khawaja is occupying his spot?

Peter & Me

With apologies for not reproducing the article here but perhaps the intense personal nature of it make it inappropriate on a site which is not my own. The link provides you with my reflections on Peter Roebuck's death and in providing it, I'm giving you a choice of whether you wish to read it.

Peter & Me - thecricketragics

DTW@SCG

Wednesday, 6 April 2011DTW Sydney Tour 2012
Alright guys, with the demise of the Australian World Cup bid and the lull in any real cricket for quite a while I thought it pertinent that we begin to discuss the possibility of a DTW Sydney Tour.
I have already secured accommodation in Sydney with another cricket nut so we are sorted there. What we should aim for is to better the outstanding Adelaide weekend, which I know will be a tall order but I think we can get there.
What we need now is dedication to the task. We need able bodies to make the trek, drink the drink and walk the walk to the SCG. This is no trip for nancies. Sydney is no drinkwater town halfway to the Indian Ocean and will chew you up and spit you out in a second.
Who among you will volunteer. It will be tough. Beer and steak don't drink and eat themselves.
WE WANT YOU!



Well i was inclined to review this post from Nos in April after a txt msg from him. Well, are we away? i have ticket of leave from the Leader of the opposition, so i'd like to get the tix organised... the SCG isn't very big! I'm happy to put my hands up to buy the tix so i just need confirmation. Let's get this sorted now.

Lessons Learnt From A Good Man

We buried a mate yesterday.

I got to thinking how some of us have lost sight of the real purpose of the game and allowed ourselves to be sucked along by the maelstrom of result oriented, keep the punters happy forms of the game and how that has provided the opportunity for the bastards of the world to corrupt the great game.

This is the piece I wrote on thecricketragics about that Lessons Learnt From A Good Man

Grab that new ball Tills before Lillee gets up there.

The mini-series awaits

I've lamented enough that the upcoming test series between South Africa and Australia is only two fixtures. What I will say, though, is that in a few months time noone will bother to recall the ODIs or 20/20s; this illustrates the real importance and lasting impact of limited overs cricket outside World Cups and Champions trophies. In this way the scheduling (and maintaining of) was only ever about money.

Like Ashes series, battles against South Africa have been weighted as incredibly important ever since South Africa's readmission to sport. In more recent times series against India have risen in importance too (perhaps due in part to acrimony between the teams) but there is something else to the cricket between these two sides. The last two test series produced phenomenal cricket and an overall scoreline of 3 apiece accurately reflected the closeness of the two teams. This time around Australia is more of an unknown quantity. The bowling spots are not certain (well, one of them) and there is an air of confidence back after comprehensively beating Sri Lanka away. Looking at how Sri Lanka are going against Pakistan, however, should be a reminder that they are far from world beaters at the moment.

If De Villiers plays South Africa have their best batting lineup and even without him it is very strong. Steyn and Morkel are the best opening bowling team at present and Lotsobe is no shrinking violet. Watch out for Tahir, too, who should feature. This team on paper should beat Aus comprehensively. Duminy, who arrived in test cricket when SA toured last, is battling to make the first 11 and while he has been inconsistent of late he is obviously talented. His absence shows SA is now picking a side rather than filling it out which, in my view, they were doing with guys like McKenzie.

Aus will play Hughes, Watson, Marsh, Ponting, Clarke and Hussey. I'd love Ponting to 'do a Lehmann' and allow Khawaja to prove his worth but selfishness is part of his character. He better make runs on this tour. Haddin is on borrowed time and if Paine were 100% fit he'd be lucky to keep his place. Runs from him might hide his declining keeping but not for long.

The bowling is a little more complicated. Harris is the best bowler in the country at the moment. He's also a little Bruce Reid like in that injury dogs him but he's that good that you pick him whenever you can. Lyon will be severely tested; maybe not to the extent McGain was (or, more appropriately speaking 'thrown to the wolves') but he deserves it now and it should be his spot to lose. Beer couldn't get numbers 10 and 11 out on a 4th day Adelaide Oval wicket last week so he's not exactly knocking the door down.

Johnson, the perenial problem, will get picked. So there's Harris, Johnson and Lyon. Siddle, Cummins and Copeland vie for the third spot. I'll leave it there people.....

Australia's Best 25 Cricketers

Its easy to go bonkers on such a task but in a new book, Australia: Story of a Cricket Country, editor Christian Ryan has provided what he calls a once in a life time poll to determine Australia's top five cricketers. In compiling the top five, he has ended up with a list of the 25 best, now being serialised in the Sydney Morning Herald.

There are many who dismiss such lists as being impossible to formulate with any degree of accuracy because choosing the criteria for selection becomes more important than the eventual list itself. There is the old chestnut of comparing players across generations and that inevitably, the longer the selection period, the more likely the players at the earlier stages of the period are not considered as favourably because those choosing are unlikely to have seen the players perform. Those who pooh-pooh the exercise are generally those too timid to engage in the task. In the end, there are no wrong answers, although my list will be better than yours but only because in completing the task, I have been filled with a warm flood of memories of hot Saturdays at the SCG and towelling hats and my heroes acting heroically. Debating our selections is part of that same thrill. We get off the fence and onto the playing arena with every quoted stat, every retold anecdote. What a gift these men have left with us. 

All that taken into account, Ryan has at least chosen a selection panel which has some credibility, inviting returns from 121 former Test players as the sole voting sample. The result is as interesting as it is likely to be controversial - all such lists are.

It will undoubtedly rake up discussion and argument among workmates, travelling companions in the rush hour, overs beers at BBQ's and certainly between overs on suburban and country grounds for the next few Saturdays. The greatest of all discussion grounds of the game, that between grandfather, father and sons is likely to be where this list will most hotly be debated and if the youngest of the generations watches quietly from the bowlers end, they'll learn more than they can offer to the discussion and be the richer for it. Cricket has always only been as strong as the next generation taking it forward but that strength depends on carrying with them the best of the past to be cherished and remembered.

This list will help that process.

The SMH has rather cheekily held back the final five, although revealed almost by accident or teaser that Keith Miller will be the first of the final five. If we pencil in Bradman, Warne and Lillee as safe bets, that leaves only one spot. Who? So far, no Grimmett, no Armstrong, no Morris, no Hill, no Taylor, all of whom are Hall of Fame members and only one keeper in the first 20 named. I'll give my final guess to Adam Gilchrist.

As a custodian myself, such events brighten my day: there can never be too much cricket talk.

For more details and a look at players 6 to 25, go to Australia's Best Cricketers or the SMH video presentation Australia's Top 25 Cricketers


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