3rd Test: Australia v West Indies at Sydney on Jan 3-7, 2016

[The Mad Hatter]

With 79 overs to play today, to make it fun, Holder and Smith should have...

WI declare at 7/248.
Australia declare at 0/0.
WI bat to get another 80-100 runs, using their openers/top order (or the bats they think can smash quick runs) to go the tonk for 20-25 overs then declare with a lead of 330-350.
Australia get 50 overs to go for 350.

Contrived? Yes.
Would make it fun.

Or abandon the test and play a 40/40 game.

Either way doesn't matter now. They're on and passing through the motions. So glad I got my Day 1 ticket for the 75 overs they played.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

weird seeing an SCG test played infront of a near empty stadium. Last time I saw a test crowd this low at the SCG was against Zimbabwe in 2003

I had to look it up. Completely forgot Zimbabwe played there in 2003/04 - I remember India there in the same summer as Steve Waugh's last test.

 

[undertaker]

With 79 overs to play today, to make it fun, Holder and Smith should have...

WI declare at 7/248.
Australia declare at 0/0.
WI bat to get another 80-100 runs, using their openers/top order (or the bats they think can smash quick runs) to go the tonk for 20-25 overs then declare with a lead of 330-350.
Australia get 50 overs to go for 350.

Contrived? Yes.
Would make it fun.

Or abandon the test and play a 40/40 game.

Either way doesn't matter now. They're on and passing through the motions. So glad I got my Day 1 ticket for the 75 overs they played.

Yeah. Not worth the amount of money that CA are charging for test matches these days.

Feel sorry for those who've forked out for Platinum or Gold tickets (even for day 1). CA are wayout of touch with the rank-and-file cricket fan, that it is not an Ashes series and still think they can charge $140+/ticket. Absolute joke. The sharp rise of the BBL's crowds and tv ratings this season is going to put more pressure on CA to promote tests and ODIs in the future. CA's cash cow, the BBL, is cannibalising test/ODI crowds. People only have a certain amount of money to fork out, and the flow-on effect CA is hoping for - that ppl that regularly attend BBL matches will regularly attend tests and ODIs - would've happened 10 years ago when the Australian economy was far stronger than it is now, but it ain't going to happen now when the economy is bad and people only have a certain amount of money to fork out for attending events. Therefore, although it may be cricket, the BBL is directly competing against Tests/ODIs for fans and revenue.

 

[undertaker]

I had to look it up. Completely forgot Zimbabwe played there in 2003/04 - I remember India there in the same summer as Steve Waugh's last test.

Yeah, it was the last time SCG hosted two tests in the summer. Australia played Zimbabwe in two tests in October (well before the international summer normally commences) before the test series vs India:

http://howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Series/SeriesStats.asp?SeriesCode=0496

That Zimbabwe series was the one where Matthew Hayden hit the then-world record 380 (in the first at Perth), before Brian Lara reclaimed the record a few months later. That was probably the highlight of that test series that attracted publicity.

Comparing crowds between the Zimbabwe and India (Steve Waugh's final test) SCG crowds:

vs Zimbabwe: 5455, 5707, 6058, 1312
vs India: 44901, 41367, 40501, 36164, 27056 (largest 5th day crowd at SCG).

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Oh man, with NRL season tickets going up and the cricket prices that are crazy (the Test and ODI are rorts to be fair), the BBL season ticket is great value.

For the Thunder, we get 4 games and 1 at SCG vs Sixers.
Free access to Easter Show.
A free ticket to Wet and Wild.
Access to ALL shield and Matador Cup games for free.
Our family got the family pass for $100and something. We get to go to all this other stuff too FOR FREE. And we get access to the players so the kids are stoked.

And like you say, there are only so many $ around AND there seems to be more one off / event things which people go to, so there's money soak there. I can understand why people skip cricket / NRL games and I absolutely love both.

This year is the first year I haven't bought a NRL season ticket for years. That's five full season tickets that we had to let go. That's down to scheduling mainly but also the prices went up again. So it's just a regular membership and a ticket bought online week to week (you can get them cheapish online anyway) depending on who wants to go OR as I did last year, go to some more neutral games Saturday afternoons.

I'd go to all 5 days of a test. My wife and I have a tradition of going to day 1. But there's no way I could afford to go to all 5 days of a test - any test - even in the concourse "cheap" seats.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Yeah, it was the last time SCG hosted two tests in the summer. Australia played Zimbabwe in two tests in October (well before the international summer normally commences) before the Indian test series:

http://howstat.com.au/cricket/Statistics/Series/SeriesStats.asp?SeriesCode=0496

That Zimbabwe series was the one where Matthew Hayden hit the then-world record 380 (in the first at Perth), before Brian Lara reclaimed the record a few months later. That was probably the highlight of that test series that attracted publicity.

Yeah, I remembered the Perth test. I just assumed they played Hobart as India played MCG, SCG, Gabba and Adelaide. Ha! There you go!

To be honest, would love to see 2 tests in January as well as the 5-6 played in Nov/Dec. Can't see why a Bangladesh series couldn't be squeezed on to the end of this month.

But then, since my rant about prices in the other post, who can afford to go to both tests?

Could Cairns and Darwin host a couple of tests in January?

I'd love to. But...

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Also - what are the black arm bands for?

 

[undertaker]

Oh man, with NRL season tickets going up and the cricket prices that are crazy (the Test and ODI are rorts to be fair), the BBL season ticket is great value.

For the Thunder, we get 4 games and 1 at SCG vs Sixers.
Free access to Easter Show.
A free ticket to Wet and Wild.
Access to ALL shield and Matador Cup games for free.
Our family got the family pass for $100and something. We get to go to all this other stuff too FOR FREE. And we get access to the players so the kids are stoked.

And like you say, there are only so many $ around AND there seems to be more one off / event things which people go to, so there's money soak there. I can understand why people skip cricket / NRL games and I absolutely love both.

I'd go to all 5 days of a test. My wife and I have a tradition of going to day 1. But there's no way I could afford to go to all 5 days of a test - any test - even in the concourse "cheap" seats.

As I said, 10 years ago when the economy was far stronger than it is now, people had that excess of money. Now, people are more inclined to attend one event over another. And unless it is a test series vs England or India, it's going to be hard to promote international test or ODI series against '2nd-tier nations'. Next year, the test series vs Pakistan is the one that will be going head-to-head with the BBL season.

Enjoy the good value you can get for BBL matches whilst you can, because I can see sharp increases in BBL ticket prices very soon that will have an impact on families (the main target demographic of BBL attendances). All 8 franchises have been pulling very strong crowds this season, and it will be a matter of time before the $ sign rules the roost. Perth will be able to get away with it as they have pretty much been selling out the WACA every match (demand > supply), but will be interesting to see the effect it will have on the other franchises.

 

[Mr Angry]

Also - what are the black arm bands for?

One of the Windies Players Father died.

 

[undertaker]

Yeah, I remembered the Perth test. I just assumed they played Hobart as India played MCG, SCG, Gabba and Adelaide. Ha! There you go!

To be honest, would love to see 2 tests in January as well as the 5-6 played in Nov/Dec. Can't see why a Bangladesh series couldn't be squeezed on to the end of this month.

But then, since my rant about prices in the other post, who can afford to go to both tests?

Could Cairns and Darwin host a couple of tests in January?

I'd love to. But...

Darwin and Cairns would NEVER host matches in summer due to the wet season up there. All matches up there would have to be in June-August. The cricketing authorities have been reluctant to host games during the cricket summer up in the tropics since the 1992 World Cup match in Mackay got washed out (those regional areas which got World Cup matches for that tournament bidded quite a fair bit of money to host matches, which they were very lucky at the time as today places such as New Plymouth/Berri/Ballarat etc. are definitely not up to ICC standard. New Plymouth was the venue where the first successful 300+ run chase in an ODI occurred, but you have a look at the ground and it's laughable: even the boundaries at many suburban park venues in Sydney are larger than theirs)

And after this series, until the Windies get better, they need to be shafted to the Top End series. This test series has been an absolute PR nightmare for Cricket Australia. All tests vs Zimbabwe/Bangladesh/West Indies should be played in Darwin and Cairns during June-August.

Also, I know this has been mentioned in the past on this forum, but in years where we don't tour or travel around that time of the year, I'd love to see an Australia vs Australia A series played in the Top End to keep our players fit and give them more first-class practise. I do miss the Australia A matches from the '90s and a shame the concept has since been shafted, as they provided those in the Australia A side very useful experience against top-tier sides (of which most of the Australia A players at the time went on to wear the Baggy Green)

 

[Twizzle]

Meanwhile the Windies are 7/287

 

[undertaker]

Meanwhile the Windies are 7/287

8/300 now

 

[tomdl]

f**king hell. Warne is still trying to make Carpet Burns's nickname.

 

[Twizzle]

9/300 now

 

[undertaker]

This year is the first year I haven't bought a NRL season ticket for years. That's five full season tickets that we had to let go. That's down to scheduling mainly but also the prices went up again. So it's just a regular membership and a ticket bought online week to week (you can get them cheapish online anyway) depending on who wants to go OR as I did last year, go to some more neutral games Saturday afternoons.

Haven't bought a season ticket pass for years too. The blatant greed and money grabbing from the administration hasn't bode well with many other Knights fans I know, let alone unfavourable scheduling.

 

[undertaker]

Only 59 overs left in the day....too bad both captains can't agree for a draw now (have to wait until 15 overs are left to call off the final hour)

 

[undertaker]

Will be interesting to see who gets Man of the Match for this test

Adam Voges is my pick for Man of the Series. Two centuries, 375 runs and no average so far:lol:

 

[Twizzle]

well this is entertaining if nothing

 

[Didgi]

How many overs left for the day? Try to score quickly and beat them on first innings... Although given most of the test squad aren't in for ODIs probably a bit useless.

Still, Khawaja, Burns and Voges might have something to say about their exclusions.

 

[_snafu_]

Minimum overs is 53.