1st Test: New Zealand v Australia at Wellington on Feb 12-16, 2016

[The Charlatan]

In any case, I'm not getting too excited about the state of play yet. Our batsmen are just as flimsy and certainly more cavalier in chasing the ball, sans maybe McCullum.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

I dont necessarily want Cricket Australia to try and produce English like greentops because thats not what cricket in Australia is necessarily about but I would love to see them back up bowlers like Hazlewood with a bit of green on the pitch. Not heaps but enough to get the ball to nibble about a bit.

Our batsmen would adjust.

It's not even a matter of flat or green as the only options. IMO the thing that made Australia so domninant was that nearly every wicket in the country offered something different for both batsmen and bowlers. They all had to adapt, learn, and master varying conditions etc

WACA had extreme pace and bounce, Adelaide was a top batting pitch that became harder to score as the game wore on, Melbourne was the pitch where you could get value as batsmen or bowler if you were willing to work, the Gabba was a combination of all of those, and Sydney was the turner.

Not only did it make it very difficult for visiting teams, but it prepared the Australian team for every condition they'd find overseas.

 

[hineyrulz]

In any case, I'm not getting too excited about the state of play yet. Our batsmen are just as flimsy and certainly more cavalier in chasing the ball, sans maybe McCullum.

Yep, the Kiwis probably already have enough lol.

 

[Pete Cash]

I am no pitch expert but didnt they change the clay that is used in Perth. Either way that pitch is dead in a few years anyway so who gives a f**k.

I dont see why drop ins cant be made better as an aside. The Adelaide pitch is fine, this pitch is a drop in right ? Its just the MCG pitch that sucks. Probably because its one of the older drop ins. I don't know why its so hopelessly dry underneath compared to Adelaide. Maybe the guys who prepare it are just bad.

 

[blaza88z]

How to be an NZ cricket fan:
1) Lose on flat pitches
2) Blame the pitch
3) Talk up how much better you are on a greener pitch
4) Do just as bad if not worse on the green pitch
5) Repeat step 2 whilst referring to how you did well on a green pitch once 3 years ago.

What I find so funny is that they give us a recollection of how they managed a draw in the UAE or did better in England than us, the thing is noone expected them to do anything of note.

It is different for Australia, we've always been a top 3-4 cricketing nation, even in our leaner periods we've always been right up there.. NZ? Not so much, small population, nothing to lose etc.. doing it when you're expected to do it in conditions that aren't ideal is much different, right now, NZ should be doing it as they're expected to do it but they're not, why?

Pressure.

 

[The Charlatan]

Poor Starc one of the most idiotic things Cricket Australia has done for a while. Who gives a f**k about the t20 world cup lol

That said I do agree that really flat wickets like what were served up for India at the SCG and the MCG a couple of years ago do no favour for the bowlers bodies.

The bowler shouldn't be removed from the contest though, as silly as the notion sounds I don't believe that taking 20 wickets for 900 odd runs in a Test match means the bowlers are competing fairly if the deck has no life. That Perth deck against the Kiwi's was f**king criminal and didn't deserve a result, as a win would have been a shit advertisement for Test cricket in Australia.

 

[Pete Cash]

Also two draws is hardly worth bragging about. I would have taken a draw in the ashes just to retain the thing but I would hardly be on the internet carrying on about a f**king draw lol

 

[Bazal]

It's not even a matter of flat or green as the only options. IMO the thing that made Australia so domninant was that nearly every wicket in the country offered something different for both batsmen and bowlers. They all had to adapt, learn, and master varying conditions etc

WACA had extreme pace and bounce, Adelaide was a top batting pitch that became harder to score as the game wore on, Melbourne was the pitch where you could get value as batsmen or bowler if you were willing to work, the Gabba was a combination of all of those, and Sydney was the turner.

Not only did it make it very difficult for visiting teams, but it prepared the Australian team for every condition they'd find overseas.

Exactly. A big part of that is drop in wickets and a big part is T20 cricket. The AFL insisting on drop ins so the poor dears don't get hurt on the square started the rot, and then Big Bash cricket meant everyone wanted pitches that would produce runs. Which is kind of shit because if you're using drop ins anyway surely you can grown a Big Bash wicket or three and some Shield/Test wickets

 

[ANTiLAG]

What I find so funny is that they give us a recollection of how they managed a draw in the UAE or did better in England than us, the thing is noone expected them to do anything of note.

It is different for Australia, we've always been a top 3-4 cricketing nation, even in our leaner periods we've always been right up there.. NZ? Not so much, small population, nothing to lose etc.. doing it when you're expected to do it in conditions that aren't ideal is much different, right now, NZ should be doing it as they're expected to do it but they're not, why?

Pressure.

Huh? Pretty sure NZ were favourites in England.

You're right about UAE, though.

 

[Pete Cash]

The bowler shouldn't be removed from the contest though, as silly as the notion sounds I don't believe that taking 20 wickets for 900 odd runs in a Test match means the bowlers are competing fairly if the deck has no life. That Perth deck against the Kiwi's was f**king criminal and didn't deserve a result, as a win would have been a shit advertisement for Test cricket in Australia.

Yes that was one of the worst pitches I have ever seen. I think we should have been fined for it.

The Gabba game was very characteristic of how games have gone in Australia over the last decade or so. Australia racks up a massive score, bowls the opposition out for high 200s or low 300s and then goes on to win.

Now, bowling a side out in that range is bog standard middle of the road for test matches over that time period. That is right on the average.

What isnt on the average is the home side racking up 500.

Now is that because Australian pitches are flat or do opposition bowlers have to cop some of the blame for it.

 

[The Charlatan]

It's not even a matter of flat or green as the only options. IMO the thing that made Australia so domninant was that nearly every wicket in the country offered something different for both batsmen and bowlers. They all had to adapt, learn, and master varying conditions etc

WACA had extreme pace and bounce, Adelaide was a top batting pitch that became harder to score as the game wore on, Melbourne was the pitch where you could get value as batsmen or bowler if you were willing to work, the Gabba was a combination of all of those, and Sydney was the turner.

Not only did it make it very difficult for visiting teams, but it prepared the Australian team for every condition they'd find overseas.

Yeah but every pitch is becoming a generic highway.

One side should have been guaranteed 20 wickets, if not both, in that Perth Test. We had 28 wickets fall for 1670 runs. Absolute horseshit.

 

[blaza88z]

I highly doubt NZ would be favourites to beat England in England, unless they fielding a severely injury hampered team.

 

[Pete Cash]

Exactly. A big part of that is drop in wickets and a big part is T20 cricket. The AFL insisting on drop ins so the poor dears don't get hurt on the square started the rot, and then Big Bash cricket meant everyone wanted pitches that would produce runs. Which is kind of shit because if you're using drop ins anyway surely you can grown a Big Bash wicket or three and some Shield/Test wickets

See thats my thoughts. Again I am absolutely no expert here so I could just be talking shit but isnt it kind of suspicious that Adelaide produced a really good pitch because they needed one to protect the pink ball ?

Yet the MCG produced a greenish but dry piece of shit ?

Both are drop ins, but one was certainly waaaay better than the other.

Couldnt a future Perth ground have a drop in being prepared of the stuff they used to make the WACA out of and just before the game they bake the f**k out of it using heat lamps or something to make it rock hard ?

 

[ANTiLAG]

I highly doubt NZ would be favourites to beat England in England, unless they fielding a severely injury hampered team.

Nah NZ was ranked 2 or 3 heading there. England like 6 or lower. The world cup had a bearing. NZ won in Windies, England drew.

NZ were favourites with Boult, Southee to go with KW and BJ. And the first 3 days at Lords it was all on form...

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Yes that was one of the worst pitches I have ever seen. I think we should have been fined for it.

The Gabba game was very characteristic of how games have gone in Australia over the last decade or so. Australia racks up a massive score, bowls the opposition out for high 200s or low 300s and then goes on to win.

Now, bowling a side out in that range is bog standard middle of the road for test matches over that time period. That is right on the average.

What isnt on the average is the home side racking up 500.

Now is that because Australian pitches are flat or do opposition bowlers have to cop some of the blame for it.

A combination of the two most likely, but also the Gabba is always the first test and these days all visiting sides generally come into series criminally underdone because of the compact schedule (another t20 side effect). Bowlers often get carried away with the bounce and forget to just bowl decent line and length.

I don't see any need for a break from tradition, but it would be interesting to compare things if the Gabba was the 2nd or 3rd test in a series. Maybe they'd be a difference, maybe not, and in any case 1 is hardly a good sample size.

 

[Pete Cash]

I am sure there is a bit of Australia/South africa syndrome with England and NZ anyway.

 

[The Charlatan]

Yes that was one of the worst pitches I have ever seen. I think we should have been fined for it.

The Gabba game was very characteristic of how games have gone in Australia over the last decade or so. Australia racks up a massive score, bowls the opposition out for high 200s or low 300s and then goes on to win.

Now, bowling a side out in that range is bog standard middle of the road for test matches over that time period. That is right on the average.

What isnt on the average is the home side racking up 500.

Now is that because Australian pitches are flat or do opposition bowlers have to cop some of the blame for it.

It's probably a little from column A and a little from column B.

There are some decent opposition attacks out there and they are just completely nullified by the pitches served up here. You can argue the same that our bowlers simply don't have the same penetration in England when they trot out a half decent side, but that is more about our bowlers not being able to utilise the conditions like the English rather than the deck itself.

I know I keep going back to Perth, but that should have been carnage with the cadre of bowlers involved in that Test.

 

[Pete Cash]

That said our fielding didnt help either at Perth. Starc bowled that ludicrously good spell and had catches dropped and all that business.

 

[hineyrulz]

The only reason the Adelaide deck had a bit of green in it was to preserve the ball, otherwise it would have been another drop in highway.

Had to laugh at all the whinging about the green in the wicket, it was by far the best cricket wicket of the summer.

 

[Pete Cash]

The only reason the Adelaide deck had a bit of green in it was to preserve the ball, otherwise it would have been another drop in highway.

Had to laugh at all the whinging about the green in the wicket, it was by far the best cricket wicket of the summer.

It was also not too bad against India the year before.

However, the point for mine is that drop ins can be produced to have a bit about them. I believe the pitch we are currently playing on is a drop in. There is no excuse for drop in pitches to suck.