Cricket - AUS v PAK

[Pfitzy]

Well, after looking fairly shaky going into Day 4 in the First Test, the Pakistan team have now well and truly cleaned our clock, thanks in no small part to Captain Dickhead choosing to bat in swinging conditions against a swinging attack, with a batting lineup that has an historical problem with swing bowling. Has he even looked at the weather forecast? Chances of this wicket turning aren't great compared to previous years, and after the anomaly that was Hauritz's haul we're in fairly interesting shit.

 

[Gagger]

FFS, when is Ponting going to get the bullet as captain? Is two lost ashes not enough?

 

[Sandpit Fan]

FFS, when is Ponting going to get the bullet as captain? Is two lost ashes not enough?

Apparently not, when you have the negatives.... can't think of any other reason! Although the thought of Clarke taking over as captain is enough to drive a man to drink, not that I need any excuses.

 

[mark_s]

We are in it upto our necks now, all out for 127 and the pakies none for 30 odd.

I was at the SCG yesterday and during the 4 hour delay due to rain there was pently of discussion about what to do if we won the toss. The unaminous decision was to bowl first, but equally unaminous was the view that Ponting would elect to bat first - after all he has only ever elected to bowl first twice.

The pitch is green but not bad enough to justify a score of 127 and too many players got out to poor shots. I would have guessed that 250-300 would have been a par score on this pitch. Credit to the pakies though, they bowled a consistent line and length and moved the ball every now and then. Their field placing was also very astute and encouraged loose shots.

The pakies are in a strong position and only need 1 or 2 good partnerships to bat Aus out of the match. Its a realy pity that Hilfenhaus is out as these conditions would have been perfect for him.

 

[barbarian]

I think Ponting should take more blame for playing a shit shot first ball than for electing to bat first. How many dismissals were truly related to the pitch? Watson, Clarke, Hauritz maybe. The Pakis just bowled bloody well, and we threw our wickets away. Today our bowlers have been spraying it everywhere, with at least one bad ball an over to relieve any pressure built up.

I think the toss was largely irrelevent, and more scrutiny needs to be placed on guys like North and Haddin than on Ponting.

 

[Part of the union]

Can I suggest that M Clarks not use the word Pakis when doing an interview in England when the two teams meet again. I know in Australia such a word is not racist but in England you can get into trouble for using such a term.

 

[Pfitzy]

Yeah but that's idiots for you POTU - we don't take offence to "Aussies" after all. Maybe we should? :nta:

baabaa - I'm not going to suggest our bowlers would have been as devastating in those conditions, but sometimes you make a decision to take away your enemy's advantage, rather than promote your own.

At least the pitch is taking a bit of turn so Hauritz may actually be of some use. You know the Pak players are out of form when this muppet gets a Michelle in the last test.

 

[Scotty]

Our batting has once again collapsed. It was not due to terrible batting conditions it was due to terrible technique and shot selections.

Watson - not enough technique to play a swinging ball
Hughes - didn't move his feet at all to what was an average ball only
Ponting - isn't he sick of getting out to a half pull shot?
Hussey - terrible shot selection to play a pull to a ball that wasn't even waist high
Clarke - went way to hard at a good length ball and missed it by a mile
North - ball at least did a bit
Haddin - no ticker, terrible shot

Nick,

We had a few discussions during the ashes were you laid the majority of the blame at the feet of our inexperienced bowlers, and I laid the blame more at the feet of our more experienced batsmen. I still contend we lost the ashes in three critical sessions - one due to the bowlers not being able to finish off the tailenders in Cardiff, and two major batting collapses.

Do you still contend that our bowling is a bigger problem than our very inconsistent batting?

 

[naza]

Our batting has once again collapsed. It was not due to terrible batting conditions it was due to terrible technique and shot selections.

Watson - not enough technique to play a swinging ball
Hughes - didn't move his feet at all to what was an average ball only
Ponting - isn't he sick of getting out to a half pull shot?
Hussey - terrible shot selection to play a pull to a ball that wasn't even waist high
Clarke - went way to hard at a good length ball and missed it by a mile
North - ball at least did a bit
Haddin - no ticker, terrible shot

Its deja vu all over again.

Its surprising how much we miss Katich. He's a genuine grafter who performs the Boon/AB/S.Waugh role. We clearly need another in the middle order to inject some steel because we're getting rolled far too easily.

 

[barbarian]

Only Watson, Katich and Hussey have batted well this summer. Ponting, Clarke, North and Haddin have done fuck all, and each would be in trouble if there was anyone banging down the door in the domestic comp. This lack of anyone else means they will all probably keep their place for Hobart, with Cameron White the only chance of a call up I think.

 

[Pfitzy]

Do you still contend that our bowling is a bigger problem than our very inconsistent batting?

Not in this series.

Ponting should get the farken boot. He's too set in his ways, can't read pitch conditions, and is generally responsible for the dickhead attitude amongst this team.

 

[Moses]

Is Twatson now our best batsman? Scary

 

[Pfitzy]

It would seem so. He's starting to develop that combination of patience and power than characterised Matt Hayden's second stint as an opener. Good on him - I'd rather take 97 than a duck any day, despite being so close to a ton. He has proven me wrong in the batting stakes at least, but he's still a shit bowler.

Hughes however still bats like he's the most talented kid on the field and needs to reign himself in a bit if he wants to be a Test opener. Bags of talent but gets frustrated or overconfident.

 

[Scotty]

Only Watson, Katich and Hussey have batted well this summer. Ponting, Clarke, North and Haddin have done fuck all, and each would be in trouble if there was anyone banging down the door in the domestic comp. This lack of anyone else means they will all probably keep their place for Hobart, with Cameron White the only chance of a call up I think.

Disagree with the bolded one. He has been just as poor but has had much more luck. He gets dropped an average of once per innings, and never, ever looks to be 'in'. He must also use up more than his fair share of batting challenges. He may well be the nicest bloke on the team, but he has been in a slump so long that I don't think there is any chance he will get out of it.

However, like NTA I was also wrong about Watson's batting, so I hope I am wrong about Hussey as well.

 

[barbarian]

Only Watson, Katich and Hussey have batted well this summer. Ponting, Clarke, North and Haddin have done fuck all, and each would be in trouble if there was anyone banging down the door in the domestic comp. This lack of anyone else means they will all probably keep their place for Hobart, with Cameron White the only chance of a call up I think.

Disagree with the bolded one. He has been just as poor but has had much more luck. He gets dropped an average of once per innings, and never, ever looks to be 'in'. He must also use up more than his fair share of batting challenges. He may well be the nicest bloke on the team, but he has been in a slump so long that I don't think there is any chance he will get out of it.

However, like NTA I was also wrong about Watson's batting, so I hope I am wrong about Hussey as well.

Think his innings today shows his class. Yeah he's been lucky, but he has been good enough to make that luck count when it matters. This dig will secure his spot for a while now.

 

[Scotty]

No doubting his class and no doubting his fight, I'm just doubting his age/form mix. I also think he is the type of guy that is so intense when out there it is difficult for him to get out of a slump.

 

[mark_s]

Well the game is set for a good finish, although the pakies should still win it - they only really need one good partnership.

Much to my chagrin, Hussey has earned a reprieve with his innings. He is a bloody lucky player but so be it. The pressure will turn to North given his regular bad run and almost non existant bowling now. The real issue remains the aging of the Aus batters, especially our middle order where only Clarke is under 30.

Despite all my predictions, Watson has cemented an opening position now so we can go for an extra specialist batman at 6. Time for those next in line to step up please, but who are they?

 

[Ash]

Hussey has looked poor most of the summer. He's made a few starts, but really was scratching around. And geez, when he scratches around he scores very very slowly and looks very awful. He's starting to come out of the slump in the last few innings though. Judging by his age, he will stay in the team whilst his form holds, but once his form is gone again, he will be too. I'm predicting this innings will be a turning point in his form for a bit, but geez, he got dropped 3, maybe 4 times. Pure luck, but sometimes that's how the game is.

6/107, with Johnson being the destoyer. Umar Akmal the key man now, he has a start and the Pakis need him to stick around. If they lose...demoralising. Pakistan dominated the test and should've won it, but Siddle holding his bat with Hussey is what may be the difference - I suspect that stand was demoralising for the Pakis.

 

[Ash]

And oh yeah, Johnson looking to be the bowling saviour for Australia, with Horrorwitz.

But Johnson's spell is about to end...could get real interesting.

 

[Moses]

so.. 129 was heaps!