The Cricket Thread 2013

[PaulWinch again]

This concerns me from Flower -

- Are England looking to be the world's number one Test side again?

It was a burning ambition for us, because we had not been number one before. That has dissipated slightly, we were focussing on this series, then we focus on the next Test series. The number one ranking is no longer the clear motivation it was, we used it quite well as a motivating tool, but we are not quite as hungry for it as we were before.


I would think getting to World Number 1 is the ultimate ambition and then remaining at World Number 1. That's how you judge great teams and surely that's what the team wants to be.

[DrGonzo]

Jimmy's major problem is not bowling enough.  He is clearly having issues with his game, these will not be worked out by resting him.  The guy has hardly bowled all summer.

[paul_e]

I  think the following from Tom Fordyce on the BBC review of the match sums this series up better than anything else I've seen:

England have played well only in bursts. But those bursts have been electrifying, and they have been enough to open an unbridgeable chasm between the sides.

I've said on here a few times despite all the comments about Australia having a better bowling unit (I hope that is firmly put to bed now a 3rd different bowler has skittled them) we're clearly the better side.  Yes we have some issues, the top 3 aren't gelling and our batting at 6 and 7 has been ropey but we're a far better side than australia and better than we've been given credit for by a lot of people.  I hope Clarke and Lehmann feel as stupid as they should for the 'we only fear Anderson' shit they came out with earlier on as well.

[Chris Jameson]

Just seen Lees for the first time batting against Unicorns (whoever they are), looks quite a player, he and Ballance batted superbly.

[tomd2103]

Just to divert the conversation away from England, where do the Aussies go from here?  They desperately need to strengthen their batting line up, as there are too many "bits and pieces" players in there at the moment.   

[Chris Jameson]

It wasn't so long ago they could field two teams that could comfortably beat England, the likes of Lehmann, Bevan etc weren't in their Test side but were scoring runs for fun over here.

[adrenachrome]

Torygraph

Darren Lehmann warns Australians their careers are on the line
By Nick Hoult
 Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin and Steve Smith are all on notice to improve in the final Test at the Oval or face the prospect of Darren Lehmann, the still relatively new coach, looking for fresh faces when the return Ashes series starts in November.

Watson battled his weakness of playing across his front pad in the first innings at Durham to reach 68 against England but slipped back into old habits on Monday when he was lbw for the 25th time in his career. Khawaja is averaging 25 from nine Tests and has been dismissed 10 times between 21 and 65, a statistic which suggests a lack of concentration once he has settled at the crease.

Smith is on stronger ground as Lehmann is a big fan and insisted on his inclusion in the Ashes squad when he succeeded Mickey Arthur as coach. Dropping Haddin would leave the Australia team requiring a new vice-captain, a job in the future possibly for Chris Rogers.

When asked if players were playing for their careers at the Oval Lehmann replied: “Yep. There is nothing wrong with that. I’m happy for you to write whatever you write there. To play for Australia, you have to perform to a level that’s acceptable to everyone in our team, and also the Australian public and the media, and at the moment we’re not doing that. I think they’ve fought really hard and they’ve shown glimpses of challenging a really good side obviously, but we haven’t done that consistently enough.

“So we’ll back them as we have and we will continue to back them, but at the end of the day performances count. From our point of view the blokes have got to learn. If they don’t learn we will find blokes that will.”

Lehmann confirmed Rogers and David Warner could be Australia’s settled opening partnership for the foreseeable future.

The only problem Lehmann has on the bowling front is whether to rest Ryan Harris for the fifth Test. Harris has never played four Tests in a row. Lehmann’s side have also proved they can take 20 wickets regardless of the identity of the bowling attack.

“We would love him to play,” he said about Harris. “He is exceptional. We will be extra careful with him. We have to make sure he is right come the next Test series.”

[TheTimVilla]

I tried explaining the Ashes to a French colleague today. Ignoring all the "so you can play five days and not have a winner" and "so you'll play 50 days of cricket between the same two teams? Yep, plus ODIs and T20" guff, I explained how we were losing after the first innings, then losing again when they replied, then pulled it back by restricting their first innings lead, to winning by batting well in the second innings, to losing when they got a 100 odd with the loss of no wickets, to finally winning! Oh, and winning the Ashes that we had already retained!

[Chris Smith]

I tried explaining the Ashes to a French colleague today. Ignoring all the "so you can play five days and not have a winner" and "so you'll play 50 days of cricket between the same two teams? Yep, plus ODIs and T20" guff, I explained how we were losing after the first innings, then losing again when they replied, then pulled it back by restricting their first innings lead, to winning by batting well in the second innings, to losing when they got a 100 odd with the loss of no wickets, to finally winning! Oh, and winning the Ashes that we had already retained!

I think it takes 10-20 years to properly 'get' cricket. To understand, for example, why batting for 6 hours, scoring hardly any runs to salvage a draw is something that can cause mass celebration.

[peter w]

I thought Anderson looked like he was carrying a niggle. If so I'd definitely rest him for Tremlett. Plus, if he isn't injured its an easy one for the selectors to saythat he was carrying a niggle here, rather than playing poorly. I'm not sure I'd change too much at this point. 3 up with batting practice to come up with the pressure off. May as well leave Bairstow there andgive him one more game. Same with Root at the top although i think his position inthe order is moreat risk than his place. For the same reasons as bairstow I wouldn't drop Prior, either.

[OzVilla]

Just to divert the conversation away from England, where do the Aussies go from here?  They desperately need to strengthen their batting line up, as there are too many "bits and pieces" players in there at the moment.   

As an avid watcher of Australian Cricket I can tell you that the main problem Australia have is that there top 7 are the best that they have right now.  Chris mentioned Lehmann and Bevan playing that couldn't make the side a while back, add to that Law, Elliott, Hodge and others.  There is no one knocking on the door, scoring a shit load of Sheffield Shield runs or looking like they have what it takes right now.  If this group of players doesn't work then i'm not sure where they go.  The Marsh brothers are good players but have off the field issues, Queensland have Jacob Burns who looks a decent player but I can't think of much else.

The bowling is fine, like England they could field two attacks in test cricket and be consistent with plenty of potential coming through - they just don't have any batsmen.

[Dante Lavelli]

Just to divert the conversation away from England, where do the Aussies go from here?  They desperately need to strengthen their batting line up, as there are too many "bits and pieces" players in there at the moment.   

As an avid watcher of Australian Cricket I can tell you that the main problem Australia have is that there top 7 are the best that they have right now.  Chris mentioned Lehmann and Bevan playing that couldn't make the side a while back, add to that Law, Elliott, Hodge and others.  There is no one knocking on the door, scoring a shit load of Sheffield Shield runs or looking like they have what it takes right now.  If this group of players doesn't work then i'm not sure where they go.  The Marsh brothers are good players but have off the field issues, Queensland have Jacob Burns who looks a decent player but I can't think of much else.

The bowling is fine, like England they could field two attacks in test cricket and be consistent with plenty of potential coming through - they just don't have any batsmen.

This statement will not stand up to much scrutiny (because they're not my words), but my mate who works in cricket goes out to Australia each winter and what has struck him is that less and less people are playing cricket in an informal basis.  Their pyramid system makes a very easy/strategic route to the top whereas our disjointed village system ensures there are always masses of people playing cricket. 

The crucial bit is encouraging as many people to play cricket as possible, and to have access to cricket, even if it is a bad level.

[tomd2103]

Just to divert the conversation away from England, where do the Aussies go from here?  They desperately need to strengthen their batting line up, as there are too many "bits and pieces" players in there at the moment.   

As an avid watcher of Australian Cricket I can tell you that the main problem Australia have is that there top 7 are the best that they have right now.  Chris mentioned Lehmann and Bevan playing that couldn't make the side a while back, add to that Law, Elliott, Hodge and others.  There is no one knocking on the door, scoring a shit load of Sheffield Shield runs or looking like they have what it takes right now.  If this group of players doesn't work then i'm not sure where they go.  The Marsh brothers are good players but have off the field issues, Queensland have Jacob Burns who looks a decent player but I can't think of much else.

The bowling is fine, like England they could field two attacks in test cricket and be consistent with plenty of potential coming through - they just don't have any batsmen.

I heard Darren Gough talking on the radio earlier and he was saying there are a number of talented youngsters coming through and even named an XI that he thought could win the Ashes back in the next series.  I think losing Mike Hussey was a blow as he would have been a steadying influence and surely there is room in the set up for someone like Katich?

[OzVilla]

Just to divert the conversation away from England, where do the Aussies go from here?  They desperately need to strengthen their batting line up, as there are too many "bits and pieces" players in there at the moment.   

As an avid watcher of Australian Cricket I can tell you that the main problem Australia have is that there top 7 are the best that they have right now.  Chris mentioned Lehmann and Bevan playing that couldn't make the side a while back, add to that Law, Elliott, Hodge and others.  There is no one knocking on the door, scoring a shit load of Sheffield Shield runs or looking like they have what it takes right now.  If this group of players doesn't work then i'm not sure where they go.  The Marsh brothers are good players but have off the field issues, Queensland have Jacob Burns who looks a decent player but I can't think of much else.

The bowling is fine, like England they could field two attacks in test cricket and be consistent with plenty of potential coming through - they just don't have any batsmen.

I heard Darren Gough talking on the radio earlier and he was saying there are a number of talented youngsters coming through and even named an XI that he thought could win the Ashes back in the next series.  I think losing Mike Hussey was a blow as he would have been a steadying influence and surely there is room in the set up for someone like Katich?

Gough is living in a dream world then because there is really no one and Clarke keeps re-iterating as much himself.  The top run scorer on the Australia A tour to South Africa just finished was Glenn Maxwell, a slogging all-rounder who really cannot be considered as Test Match Top 7 standard.

This really is their best bet and they'll stick with it due to lack of alternatives.  Here are the top 5 batsman in the Sheffield Shield last season:

The final was between Tasmania and Queensland (who got there mainly through a terrific bowling attack with Lehmann as Coach).

Ricky Ponting  Tasmania Innings: 16 Runs: 911 Highest score: 200* Ave: 75.91
Mark Cosgrove  Tasmania Innings:20 Runs:784 Highest Score: 104 Ave: 39.20 
Chris Rogers  Victoria Innings:17 Runs: 742 Highest score: 131 Ave: 49.46 
Alex Doolan  Tasmania Innings: 18 Runs: 715 Highest Score: 149 Ave: 42.05 
Phillip Hughes  South Australia Innings: 12 Runs: 673 Highest Score: 158 Ave: 56.08 

2 are on the tour already, Ponting has retired and Cosgrove will never be picked because he is old, fat and proven to be not up to it.  Katich has also been discarded due to age and the fact that he openly criticised Cricket Australia when he was dropped initially.

Think about how many good Australian overseas batsmen there are in the County Championship that are still up and coming and doing the business, especially compared to previous eras.

Hussey, (Mike and Dave),  Langer, Hayden, Law, Di Venuto, Bevan, Hodge, Lehmann Elliott, Blewitt, Watson, Cosgrove all played County Championship and scored heavily before they got their Test call ups. 

[LeeS]

I tried explaining the Ashes to a French colleague today. Ignoring all the "so you can play five days and not have a winner" and "so you'll play 50 days of cricket between the same two teams? Yep, plus ODIs and T20" guff, I explained how we were losing after the first innings, then losing again when they replied, then pulled it back by restricting their first innings lead, to winning by batting well in the second innings, to losing when they got a 100 odd with the loss of no wickets, to finally winning! Oh, and winning the Ashes that we had already retained!

I think it takes 10-20 years to properly 'get' cricket. To understand, for example, why batting for 6 hours, scoring hardly any runs to salvage a draw is something that can cause mass celebration.

Yep, I had difficulty explaining it to my wife this week. She couldnt understand why I was celebrating winning the Ashes on Monday, when last week I'd celebrated us retaining them. But the question she couldnt get her head around was why we are bothering with the Oval match when it seems we've already one the whole thing. Twice.

Girls, eh?!