Cricket Summer of 2014/15

[Hugh Jarse]

Another cricketing fatality. Bizarre.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/cricket...-strikes-him-in-the-face-20141130-11wxva.html

Not as uncommon as first thought.
http://www.gocricket.com/news/Cricketers-who-died-of-injuries-on-the-field/articleshow/45300352.cms
The total is now 13.

1. Hilel Oscar (Israel, 58) - 2014
2. Phil Hughes (Australia, 25) - 2014
3. Darryn Randall (South Africa, 32) - 2013
4. Zulfiqar Bhatti (Pakistan, 22) - 2013
5. Richard Beaumont (England, 33) - 2012
6. Alcwyn Jenkins (England, 72) - 2009
7. Wasim Raja (Pakistan, 54) - 2006
8. Raman Lamba (India, 38) - 1998
9. Ian Folley (England, 30) - 1993
10. Wilf Slack (England, 34) - 1989
11. Abdul Aziz (Pakistan, 18) - 1959
12. Andy Ducat (England, 56) - 1942
13. George Summers (England, 25) - 1870

 

[light]

Revised schedule:

9th Dec: 1st Test - Adelaide Oval
17th Dec: 2nd Test - Gabba
26th Dec: 3rd Test - MCG
6th Jan: 4th Test - SCG

Anyone going to any of these?

Looking forward to what should be an inspired series followed by England in the ODI's.




I hope the Indians have come to play this summer.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Another cricketing fatality. Bizarre.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/cricket...-strikes-him-in-the-face-20141130-11wxva.html

Not as uncommon as first thought.
http://www.gocricket.com/news/Cricketers-who-died-of-injuries-on-the-field/articleshow/45300352.cms
The total is now 13.

1. Hilel Oscar (Israel, 58) - 2014
2. Phil Hughes (Australia, 25) - 2014
3. Darryn Randall (South Africa, 32) - 2013
4. Zulfiqar Bhatti (Pakistan, 22) - 2013
5. Richard Beaumont (England, 33) - 2012
6. Alcwyn Jenkins (England, 72) - 2009
7. Wasim Raja (Pakistan, 54) - 2006
8. Raman Lamba (India, 38) - 1998
9. Ian Folley (England, 30) - 1993
10. Wilf Slack (England, 34) - 1989
11. Abdul Aziz (Pakistan, 18) - 1959
12. Andy Ducat (England, 56) - 1942
13. George Summers (England, 25) - 1870

There'd be more than that.
You can trace the Information Age by the ever decreasing interval between them - 70 years between 1 and 2 and barely 70 hours between 12 and 13.
And the poor girl in WA who died from a hockey ball hitting her in the face - relevance to this thread being that a hockey ball is very much like a cricket ball.
Hopefully the recent 3 constitute the "coming in threes" superstition and there's no more.

 

[light]

Nice touch having a few of the Indian players attend the funeral today.

Cricket Australia should be proud of the way they have conducted themselves during this adversity. A very fitting farewell for a champion bloke.

Clarke has also shown his true colours, he will be remembered as a great captain.

 

[No4918]

Great start to the first test. No way did I expect Clarke to be back out there today, will be surprised if he takes the field or bats in the second dig if Aus are setup well after this innings.

 

[RugbyReg]

I will be amazed if we see him again this summer, at least prior to the CWC

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think he should pull out of the CWC. That circus isn't as important as test cricket and we've already got other candidates with the bat and for the captaincy.

On to the current game, there is still a heap of time left and I'd be looking to get back out there and push the score towards 500 relatively quickly. Smith and Clarke (as well as Johnson) are capable of scoring freely, so there's no need to go the slog. If they get no play for the rest of today I'd be wanting to get India in for a testing session before lunch and see if we can't prise one or two of them out.

 

[light]

On the contrary, I reckon Clarke should be given every chance to play in the world cup. His back doesn't look like surviving too many more tests and he has been a world class ODI player for nearly a decade now.

Our middle order is certainly weaker without a player who averages over 45 and has scored 7,000 runs.

I've said for years that Clarke will retire young, his body has always been a concern. There's a reason he hasn't bowled in years despite some quite remarkable test figures.


Without using google, how many of our current squad have won a world cup?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I guess it's just reflective of me not giving a shit about ODI cricket. I couldn't be any less interested in the fact that it's here this summer.

 

[RugbyReg]

I guess it's just reflective of me not giving a shit about ODI cricket. I couldn't be any less interested in the fact that it's here this summer.

I think it means a lot to the players however. At least the CWC.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think it means a lot to the players however. At least the CWC.

Fair enough. The ODI format feels dead to me and has done since T20 really took off.

Anyway, back to the test. We've probably got enough now, but I'd still bat a bit tomorrow, just to keep the Indians in the field for a bit longer. Plenty of time will be made up, assuming we've got no more rain delays.

 

[light]

Early declaration tomorrow morning then rip in with our quicks.

Once Smith is dismissed or reaches the double ton I think Clarke will pull the pin. 500 is plenty.

Kohli aside (and sometimes Pujara), I don't think any of the Indian batsmen pose a serious threat in this format.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Just quietly, how good a cricketer has Steve Smith developed into over the last 12 months. I've said for a long time that he was selected too young, that he was struggling to work out what kind of player he wanted to be, but also that he had the potential to be a very fine batsman. I saw glimpses of a young Steve Waugh in him last year and now we're starting to see the full flowering of his ability and he's still young. I'm stoked for him and Australian cricket.

 

[Braveheart81]

I guess it's just reflective of me not giving a shit about ODI cricket. I couldn't be any less interested in the fact that it's here this summer.

I'm right with you.

I've travelled around the country in recent years to watch test cricket but couldn't care less about ODIs. I haven't even purchased tickets to any of the CWC games in Sydney.

I'll watch them on TV but that will be about it.

That said, here's my best XI for the cup.

Finch
Warner
Watson
Clarke/Bailey
Smith
Maxwell
Haddin
Faulkner
Johnson
Cummins
Starc

I think Maxwell's bowling is close to Doherty's now so I'd play him as the spinner and just pick three specialist quicks and rely on getting overs out of Faulkner, Watson and Steve Smith at a pinch.

I figure that Clarke and Bailey play a similar sort of role. If Clarke plays, Bailey probably misses our best XI.

The pace bowlers could easily change around a bit but they'd be my top 3 currently.

 

[Braveheart81]

 

[No4918]

Who was Kohli giving a spray after his ton? Well made century it was too. Seeing him so riled though has me thinking things will return to normal sooner than later and these two sides can go back to disliking each other. All this good natured stuff between the teams is just unnatural.

 

[Lindommer]

TBH, had a chat yesterday with our resident Scottish cricket expert, Braveheart, how good Steve Smith's been this year. It's starting to look a bit like Steve Waugh's wonderful run in 1989 when the Poms couldn't get him out. Long may it continue, SS.

Smith's purple patch aside, the recent problems with the Aussie cricket side remain: Rogers must score or be dropped, F U Watson remains f u, Clarke's physical frailty continues to dog him and the selectors can't bring themselves to bring on a couple of young gun fast bowlers, picking both Siddle AND Harris really is fraught with danger. The revised, jammed-up test schedule will, surely, necessitate some rotation.

 

[Braveheart81]

Ed Cowan has just scored back to back tons (and has four this year).

He could be a chance to get another go if Rogers fails in the second innings and second test.

I tend to think Siddle needs a break. He's a few kilometres an hour short of where he needs to be to be a real threat. I'd like to see Hazlewood get a crack.

Mitch Marsh has been batting pretty well but he needs to start taking wickets if he wants to be the all rounder. He's been very economical but is yet to take a test wicket after bowling more than 50 overs. He doesn't look like much of a threat at test level if the batsmen aren't trying to force the issue.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think we've developed a bit of an obsession with finding an all rounder in Australia. In the 130-odd years we've been playing test cricket we've only had a handful of players who could be called genuine all rounders and we've still done alright.

To my mind you pick an all rounder if they are worthy of their spot as a bowler and batsman. It's OK to pick a guy who can do both, so long as he's properly test class in at least one of those disciplines, but bits and pieces players are what got England in trouble for all those years until Flintoff started to show something. We've been guilty of it since the 2005 Ashes I reckon.

So let's focus on picking six batsmen, a wicket keeper and four bowlers and try to win test matches that way, unless a genuine all rounder comes along.

Where Mitch is concerned, I think he has potential, but like Smith his focus should be on being a test quality batsman. You can't have a six at test level who averages 29 in first class cricket IMHO.

 

[Dumbledore]

Ed Cowan has just scored back to back tons (and has four this year).

He could be a chance to get another go if Rogers fails in the second innings and second test.

I tend to think Siddle needs a break. He's a few kilometres an hour short of where he needs to be to be a real threat. I'd like to see Hazlewood get a crack.

Mitch Marsh has been batting pretty well but he needs to start taking wickets if he wants to be the all rounder. He's been very economical but is yet to take a test wicket after bowling more than 50 overs. He doesn't look like much of a threat at test level if the batsmen aren't trying to force the issue.

Hazlewood looks like an absolutely nothing player to me. Don't get the appeal of him at all. He doesn't take enough wickets to act as a strike bowler but then he's not economical enough to lock things down from one end.