Aus vs NZ

[cyclopath]

Getting a bit precious. Two years ago Clarke was a hero for saying to get ready for a broken arm. How is Smith's comments any worse? It's been a trademark of the team since Lehmann took over and now you want them to be more like Cheika and Moore, seriously?? The same Cheika that smashed a glass door and abused an official in South Africa when things weren't going his way. What a saint

Season hasn't started. Let's give them all a chance before having a go based on some meaningless statements. On the evidence of Smith's games in charge verse India it seems pretty unlikely bad behaviour is going to be an issue. Warner is probably the only player there who has a history. The other 10 players are probably all a lot quieter than the typical Aus team of the past. I look at Burns, Khwaja, Voges, Lyon and Nevill and definitely don't see players looking to push behavioural boundaries. The fast men will be the same as always.

It's not "precious", it's a valid opinion. I didn't think Clarke's statement made him a saint, and I mentioned Stephen Moore and the team, not Cheika.
I don't like the over-the-top sledging mentality (which has pervaded Aus cricket for ages), and that's just my opinion. You're entitled to yours, of course.

 

[No4918]

It's not "precious", it's a valid opinion. I didn't think Clarke's statement made him a saint, and I mentioned Stephen Moore and the team, not Cheika.
I don't like the over-the-top sledging mentality (which has pervaded Aus cricket for ages), and that's just my opinion. You're entitled to yours, of course.

Despite only mentioning Moore your statement seemed more like a why can't they be more like Wallabies. My issue with your comment is that a ball hasn't been bowled and Smith saying they will play hard cricket and won't cross the line is pretty innocuous. My examples of Cheika was meant to highlight other peoples comments, mainly regards Warner, that many people have made mistakes in the past and gone onto perform admirably off and on the field.

I made no comments about being happy with the sledging and agree they have crossed the line in the past. This is a very young team and it would be great if they were given a chance before you made judgement about expected bad behaviour on the field.

 

[Pfitzy]

Getting a bit precious. Two years ago Clarke was a hero for saying to get ready for a broken arm.

Welp, because Anderson is a raving cock and deserved everything he got.

The Kiwis have built a reputation for openness and fair play. We have a well-deserved reputation for sledging and being pricks when the pressure is on.

Its a cultural difference in the way we play the game from an early age here, because the level of competition is so much higher.

The happy place is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Pfitzy]

For example, read this:

http://www.news.com.au/sport/breaki...brendon-mccullum/story-fnect155-1227592327979

NEW Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said the death of Phillip Hughes last November changed the way his side plays cricket.

The Black Caps were playing Pakistan in a Test in Sharjah when news of Hughes’ passing came and play was suspended for 24 hours as a result.

“It felt like he was one of us,” McCullum said in an interview to the Cricket Monthly,recalling the incident.

“It was this horrible feeling of knowing it could have been any one of us. We didn’t want to continue. I was looking around the sheds and thought there was no way we could get these guys in the right space to play cricket.”

With cancellation of the Test not an option, New Zealand cricket turned to mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka to support the team.

In the aftermath of famously being skittled for 45 against South Africa in 2013, New Zealand had adopted a team-first policy, something Enoka had the Black Caps abandon for the rest of the Sharjah Test so players could become self-absorbed for the remainder of the game.

New Zealand went on to claim a series-levelling victory, and showed little emotion on the field, with McCullum – who scored a stunning 202 – barely celebrating when he passed either the 100 or 200-run mark.

The Black Caps did not bowl another bouncer that game or field anyone close to the batsman and wicket celebrations remained muted.

“What you saw was a team playing without feeling,” McCullum said of the series-levelling victory.

And it was that distraction-free mentality the skipper wanted his team to adopt in the long run, “What we learnt was that when you play without any of the pressures and expectations we normally put on ourselves, your skills can be properly expressed.”

The week that followed Hughes’ death proved pivotal for the Black Caps according to McCullum, with senior players coming to the conclusion that New Zealand was yet to form its own cricketing identity.

“Most of it emanated from us being semi-embarrassed about the way we had played in the past,” the captain said. “It has to be authentic and it may not last - you can’t force it down people’s throats - but this is the way I want this team to play and I know the senior guys have similar feelings on it.”

So far the Black Caps’ new approach has brought success, with the side going on to win its ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE, before claiming series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home, followed by a run all the way to the World Cup final.

New Zealand heads into its series against Australia off the back of a thrilling tour of England, on which it drew the Test series but lost the ODIs 3-2.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Let's not get all holier than thou and pretend that we're the only ones who go hard on the paddock and sledge. Every. Single. Test. Team. Does. It.

I've got a lot of time for McCullum as a player and as a bloke, but he should have stayed out of that stoush in England. None of his business.

I get a little tired of people saying that the Aussie team doesn't play within the spirit of the game. Yes they sail close to the limit at times but I can tell you for a fact that if the mics picked up everything said out there you'd be looking at some of our opponents in the same way. Maybe that's the answer? Anyway, from my boy's U/13's all the way up to the Aussie test team the culture of cricket is the same: there is plenty of yak out there and it's uber competitive. It's what's made us far and away the most successful cricket nation in history. A bit like how rugby is played across the ditch from a young age, very very hard indeed.

I'm good with the aggression so long as it doesn't cross the line to physical confrontation and outright abuse. But that's what the umpires and match referee are there for and if the ICC wants to take a hard line then maybe captains should be suspended for gamesmanship? They won't though, because the first time they do it to the wrong country then tours will get called off and we'll have an international incident on our hands.

 

[Pfitzy]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying everyone else is an angel. The Indians especially can take their whining, racist shit and line up to take it in turns fucking off, led by Kohli who at least isn't a complete hypocrite about it and acknowledges his style is confrontational.

But I think we need to keep in mind that we don't necessarily need it to win all the time.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Oh definitely not, good cricket wins more often than anything else. Our focus should always be on that first and foremost.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

So I've just read some unintelligible garbage attributed to Warner in the lead up to the series, regarding some criticism that he copped from McCullum. Christ that guy is an idiot and the Aussie management would do well to yank the microphone away from him at every opportunity. I don't think I've encountered a dumber bloke to play for Australia. It's fucking embarrassing.

EDIT: I've just learned a new word and it was used to describe Mr Warner: wankflannel. Brilliant!

 

[cyclopath]

So I've just read some unintelligible garbage attributed to Warner in the lead up to the series, regarding some criticism that he copped from McCullum. Christ that guy is an idiot and the Aussie management would do well to yank the microphone away from him at every opportunity. I don't think I've encountered a dumber bloke to play for Australia. It's fucking embarrassing.

EDIT: I've just learned a new word and it was used to describe Mr Warner: wankflannel. Brilliant!

If you need a few colourful new words, Pfitzy usually has some corkers. And I reckon a few would describe Warner perfectly for you.

 

[Pfitzy]

Cyclo's new favourite from the Pfitzy Vocabulary Of The Awesome (patent pending) is:

<drum roll>

C**tstack

Its like a regular ****, only the sheer ****liness of the target demands vertical emphasis to truly express the appropriate scale.

 

[Highlander35]

Wankstain has been a favourite of mine for a little while. Might need a new one soon.

 

[No4918]

The Warner comments were very strange is probably the best that can be said. Almost came on and deleted my posts asking guys to give him a chance before being terribly critical of him. That chance is quickly expiring but I will stand by it for now.

On the other hand I really enjoyed Smith's article for fox. Reminded me why I am looking forward to this summer so much. The only recent series that comes close is the Ashes a couple of years ago. So many young guys in the side yet to prove themselves and many unknowns about the test side for the first time in many years. There isn't the air of inevitably about the result that normally settles on visiting sides. I'm looking forward to seeing the new guys succeed.

 

[Pfitzy]

Just for once, I'd like us to fucking crush someone at cricket without saying boo.

Then the pricks don't have a thing to whine about, and just have to carry on like the vocal minority of Wallaby fans who blame the ref.

 

[Quick Hands]

Co-incidentally, I'm just reading Rafael Nadal's biography at the monent. Take it away Uncle Toni:

"I forbade him ever to throw his raquet on the ground during a match; why I always insisted on the need to put on a good face when he was playing - calm and serious, not angry of irritated; why it was always important to be sporting and gracious to your opponent in victory or defeat. I would have hated my nephew to have turned out any other way, to have performed tantrums on court, to have been churlish to his opponents with the whole world watching on TV or, for that matter to be impolite with umpires or fans."

I can recommend the book - in fact it should be mandatory for all budding sports stars.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Heard Marto & his sidekick giving away tickets to the cricket on MMM this morning cos according to them it's the sport you blokes NEVER lose to NZ at.

Sidekick's probably too young to remember this but Marto's roughly my age so has no excuse other than being (if I may borrow Pfitzy's neologism) a c***stack.

Groundsman has promised a fast & bouncy deck so perfect conditions for Boult & Southee to wreak some havoc

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Remember that game well, WOB. One of the all time great bowling performances that one. Hadlee easily in my top five bowlers of all time.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^ shoulda dropped the catch off Vaughan Brown & got himself a 10-for, would've only taken him another over to do it. Best part of that game IMO was your lot dawdling through their overs waiting for it to get dark but Crowe & Coney staying out there just to heap some more misery on top of what Hadlee had already done.

Was planning to get along to the 'Gabba this weekend but we've had a death in the family so may have to forgo it.

 

[cyclopath]

Hadlee and Lillee were two bowlers I could watch all day. Line, length, superb ability to cut the ball and to bowl some unplayable deliveries. It was some era in cricket.

 

[RugbyReg]

That 85/86 series was my coming of age as a cricket fan. I was 12 and it was the first time I went from just going to the cricket with dad, to wanting to go. I went to that Gabba test with some mates and were blown away. Hadlee was amazing. 9 for 52 in the first innings and then got the catch (off Steven Bock) for the other one. MArtin Crowe 188. Then AB and Mo Matthews scored 100s in the 2nd innings.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Hadlee and Lillee were two bowlers I could watch all day. Line, length, superb ability to cut the ball and to bowl some unplayable deliveries. It was some era in cricket.

Sure was. Add Malcolm Marshall to that list and you've got one of the great triumvirates in cricket history. The late 70's and 80's IMHO is the greatest era of fast bowling there has been.

I should also add that DK still has the best bowling action I've seen.