Cricket: Summer 2018-19

[waiopehu oldboy]

250 suddenly looks a pretty decent first dig. Does Adelaide still flatten out as the days wear on? Can already see UK having to bat for a long time in the fourth innings & only one Marsh bro to help him out .

 

[Up the Guts]

250 suddenly looks a pretty decent first dig. Does Adelaide still flatten out as the days wear on? Can already see UK having to bat for a long time in the fourth innings & only one Marsh bro to help him out .

The Adelaide Oval can crumble but I don’t think this is a bad pitch just poor batting from both sides. So many players have gotten out needlessly playing balls outside off and are making it look like a minefield when it’s reasonably docile after the first 15 overs.

 

[Brumby Runner]

A couple of points are apparent after the first three days.

Finch is not a capable fielder at leg slip - three missed catches already. I have to wonder why he was persisted with in that spot for so long.

Not having a short cover and/or mid wicket on this pitch was a mistake in the field.

Mitch Starc needs a lot of game time leading into test matches. When underdone, he sprays the ball all over the place.

Severe doubts about the test quality of Finch and Sean Marsh (again). Would like to see Renshaw in for Finch (and a hell of a lot better fielder as well), and surely there is one of the young batsmen coming through who could perform more consistently than Marsh. Unfortunately, Marsh seems to be the new Shane Watson - technical issues and inconsistent, and overall not much chop but will score the occasional good total to keep him there.

 

[Up the Guts]

^^^
Agree with most of your observations BR. Would add that the top 5 made 90 runs combined and most of them got themselves out rather than any real sublime Indian bowling. We seem to be very poor at making partnerships unless there is one batsman completely set at the other end, probably a hang over of being too reliant on Smith and Warner.

 

[Up the Guts]

India all out for 307. 322 required for Australia with 148 overs left. The wicket still looks good so a victory for Aus is not unthinkable (WA chased 315 in a Shield match at Adelaide Oval a few weeks ago) but given our current batting form a victory is unlikely.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^ Finch gone (surprised he didn't review unless of course he felt it brush his glove in which case I doffs my hat to him) with 295 more to get. Either UK or SM will need to get half of them, I feel.

 

[Up the Guts]

^^^
4 down now. The partnership between Marsh and Head is going to be our last chance I feel.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

We need a miracle now and one of these two needs a hundred to get us close. Our lack of backbone and frankly, skill, in our batting line up shits me to tears.

 

[Up the Guts]

We need a miracle now and one of these two needs a hundred to get us close. Our lack of backbone and frankly, skill, in our batting line up shits me to tears.

I just can’t believe how many times we’ve thrown our wickets away through poor strokes. Head’s hardly the most technically proficient batsman but he’s been our most successful thus far because he’s a fighter and doesn’t throw his hands at anything outside off.

 

[Derpus]

Lyon for PM

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

That was a winnable test and we chucked it away. I don't blame the bowlers, they're trying their guts out and just aren't being supported by the batsmen. How we've reached a stage where an entire generation of players lack the temperament and technique to play at this level boggles the mind. Actually it doesn't, because we're seeing the same in rugby. We have a cohort of sports administators in this country who are utterly mediocre and continue to fail upwards. Our "high performance" is decidedly second rate.

 

[Derpus]

That was a winnable test and we chucked it away. I don't blame the bowlers, they're trying their guts out and just aren't being supported by the batsmen. How we've reached a stage where an entire generation of players lack the temperament and technique to play at this level boggles the mind. Actually it doesn't, because we're seeing the same in rugby. We have a cohort of sports administators in this country who are utterly mediocre and continue to fail upwards. Our "high performance" is decidedly second rate.

I dunno, i tend to think if you take the two best batsman out of a team they won't be very good.

How would India fair without Kohli and Pujara?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Sure, but I think it goes deeper than that. During the great years, we had half a dozen very, very good players who couldn't get a game for Australia because the talent pool was so deep. They all would have played 50 tests by now in the current era. They all had excellent technique too.

 

[The torpedo]

Finch, Handscomb, Khawaja and Marsh most likely to be dropped.

Can see Mitch coming in for Handscomb/his brother

Burns possibly in for Finch?

Harris + Khawaja probably stay in

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think UK stays, he's at least up to the right standard. I have big question marks over Finch, Handscomb and Marsh. Problem is, who are the players making a mountain of runs in the Shield right now?

 

[Up the Guts]

I don’t envisage many changes before Friday. There’s no one really knocking down the door in Shield, Maddinson may have got a gig before he fractured his wrist. I think they’re more in the mindset that there have been so many changes in the side they need to maintain a bit of consistency.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I think they'll go with the same XI as the first test to be honest. As bad as the batting is, I don't think that constant chopping and changing is the answer either.

 

[Brumby Runner]

The batting line up is certainly frail. Finch should have had a pair as overstepping by a couple of cm isn't going to affect the way the batsman plays, or fails to play the ball. OTH he most likely would have survived if he'd reviewed the dismissal decision later on. The only very faint mark on the bat shown by Hot Spot was clearly due to brushing the pad, a good 10cm away from the trajectory of the ball. But he doesn't look to have the technique to succeed at test level.

After this test, I think Peter Hanscombe really must go. His technique is absolutely terrible and he will never succeed against top line bowlers.

Sean Marsh did enough (in the selectors eyes) I believe to stay there for the series regardless of future scores.

But that's only part of the problem. The Indian pace bowlers had it all over the Aussie pace trio. Apart from the first few overs of each innings, they bowled with much more control over direction and length than the Aussies. It was their consistency and persistency that led to most of the poor shots by the Aussie batsmen. Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins were too short for most of the match and quite wayward in direction. Not one of them seemed to have a plan to dismiss the Indian batsmen or were unable to put it into effect if they did have one. Only Lyon was the equal of or better than his direct opposite.

The pace bowlers will need to sharpen up for Perth if the new wicket is as lively as the old WACA. The way they are bowling atm takes LBW out of the equation as a form of dismissal. Every ball sails safely over the top of the stumps. Their length was a major failing in Adelaide.

 

[Up the Guts]

Likely Australia will have an unchanged lineup. Vihari in for the injured Rohit Sharma and either Jadeja or Bhuveneshwar Kumar in for the injured Ashwin for India.

Edit: Yadav in for Ashwin. Australia won the toss and chose to bat, pitch is quite green but there’s been no huge movement off the pitch in the first 4 overs.

 

[Up the Guts]

0-66 at lunch. The pitch is green but there's not a hell of a lot of movement off the seam, maybe once every few overs one deviates. The Indian bowling attack looked much better in the second hour and Finch has struggled quite a bit. Harris has looked good with some nice shots down the ground. The over rate could be a problem for India, particularly with 4 quicks in the heat, only 26 overs completed in the first session.