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Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
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8,480
Bazal said:
Fox have had the 2003 WC game vs England on....so many people underrate Andy Bichel and unfairly malign Bevan, but watching the game again all these years later my god they were awesome.

Hahaha Bic slog-sweeping Jimmy Anderson over midwicket for six is still one of my favourite cricket memories
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Personally I thought they were both great for Australia. They played in the absolute golden era of Australian cricket and so can be overlooked by many, Bichel more so than Bevan - arguably the best one day batsman of the time.
 
Bazal

Bazal

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Bring back John Fifita said:
Personally I thought they were both great for Australia. They played in the absolute golden era of Australian cricket and so can be overlooked by many, Bichel more so than Bevan - arguably the best one day batsman of the time.
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There are, or at least were, sooo many idiots who hated Bevan. "He only bats for his average!" was a common criticism for a long time
 
JJ

JJ

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32,488
Bazal said:
There are, or at least were, sooo many idiots who hated Bevan. "He only bats for his average!" was a common criticism for a long time
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Did Warne ever discuss him in his judgement around who was selfish?

Thought Waugh’s comment the other day about only one person being involved in this apparently ongoing drama was classic
 
Bazal

Bazal

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The thing that gets me about the whole Steve Waugh rubbish (which is nonsense created by Warne's ego and Chappelli's senility) is the way they've jumped on his run out stats to prove it.

Like, nobody has ever called Steve Waugh a champion between the wickets. He was ORDINARY at times during his career, especially as a young lad and as an old broken down skipper towards the end. Mark was pretty shit at times too.

On top of that, he played across a time in the game where fielding was fast transitioning from the least important part of a game to probably the most. So running between the wickets wasn't the focus it is today. Some downright hilarious running happened at times involving Waugh and plenty of his teammates.

If you told the Aussie team in 1985 that an off-spinner and a fast bowler would be better at hitting the pegs than probably any of them in 20-30 years time, they'd have laughed at you. But Lyon and Cummins would hands down be the best fielders in that team, were they to be plonked back in time somehow.

Add to that he batted a lot with the tail and it's literally his job as often the last batsman to stay out there as long as he can... With already not being great runner between the pegs and the vast changes players of his era played through, is it any wonder he's been involved in so many over his two decade, 170 test and 300+ ODI career??

[/rant]
 
Twizzle

Twizzle

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153,083
Nice rant and I agree

I also agreed with Tugga's selection of Magilla over Warne at the time, as Warnie was shit at the time coming back from injury and Magilla would have been a pretty classy leggie in any other era.

I thought Magilla deserved to be picked.

Tubby said he would have gone with Warne because at his best he's a mach winner but he was far from his best and I just dont get that way of thinking
 
PARRA_FAN

PARRA_FAN

Coach
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17,677
Fox Cricket and Warne, might as well have an annual Shane Warne hates Steve Waugh story because they seem to bring this up every bloody year and its so boring.

Does anyone really care??

I mean last year when they were talking about how Australia won the World Cup 20 years before, they sort of dramatized the story a bit, Warne thought his career was in jeopardy as he rang Crash Craddock in a hotel asking if MacGill was a better bowler. Pllleeeeeasse!!! :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Warne averaged 100 in that Windies series, we had the win the last test to avoid a series defeat. S Waugh wanted to go with a leg spin off spin combination, hard to drop MacGill who was in good form. He made a tough call but it paid off we won the test, series drawn, Frank Worrell retained.

After that one test, Warne got back in the side, took plenty of wickets. Yet still holds a grudge against S Waugh, one of my favourite cricketers and a very good captain.

Chappell's excuse for not liking him is laughable.

Typically S Waugh is showing more class, not interested in something that happened a while ago.

A lot of former players are probably disappointed with Warne, particularly Langer who said its un-Australian to continue bashing a former great. Langer himself was dropped by Waugh but didn't carry on like a school kid. Instead he fought his way back and formed a great partnership with Hayden.
 
Bazal

Bazal

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Twizzle said:
Nice rant and I agree

I also agreed with Tugga's selection of Magilla over Warne at the time, as Warnie was shit at the time coming back from injury and Magilla would have been a pretty classy leggie in any other era.

I thought Magilla deserved to be picked.

Tubby said he would have gone with Warne because at his best he's a mach winner but he was far from his best and I just dont get that way of thinking
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As a (definitely nowhere near that level) captain I can see both ways of reasoning. And no doubt Waugh had the same thoughts. Do you pick the best and hope he finds form, or do you trust the bloke in form?

I would usually lean towards the latter. Tubby, as a better tactician than most, might feel he can cover for that downfall better. Different captains, but I thought he handled the question well at least.
 
The Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter

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The older I get the more I come to admire Steve Waugh. It hasn’t always been 100% the case but listening to Warne go on about it for the last decade, and watching Steve Waugh go about his business with dignity has changed my mind.
Steve seemed to disappear once he retired. Hardly surprising as he spent two decades in the cricket limelight. It was hardly surprising seeing Australia grind out an Ashes draw to retain the Ashes last winter with Steve returning to the inner sanctum.
I haven’t always been a fan of JL either but both seem to be instilling some grit back in to Aussie cricket which I love. As for Warne, I don’t see him coaching next generation of leg spinners.
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
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8,480
The Mad Hatter said:
As for Warne, I don’t see him coaching next generation of leg spinners.
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I have seen many spinners, mainly from overseas, praising Warne for giving them his time and tips. But that aside, no I don't think he's ever had a stint in coaching - I could be mistaken though. And definitely not been involved in the Australian team since his retirement - by the ACB's lack of invitation or his choice I'm not sure. But either way - it says a lot.

All that said - I do respect how Warne has been candid about some of his flaws of the past. And I do think in pure commentary, he is one of the best callers in cricket. I can put up with the self-promotion and the like, which comes for free with the Warne package (unless you're paying for foxtel). I can also put up with his opinionated ways. But for me, he loses all my faith when he accused Waugh of selfishness, and continues to do so. You don't have to like everyone you play with, but this "feud" says 1000% more about Shane Warne than it does about Steve Waugh.

I read this article by Geoff Lemon the other day. Puts things on this far better in perspective than anything I could write, or others. Def worth a read if you have some time spare..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-17/the-shane-warne-steve-waugh-beef-refuses-to-die/12256302
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
Bazal said:
There are, or at least were, sooo many idiots who hated Bevan. "He only bats for his average!" was a common criticism for a long time
Click to expand...

The one I mainly heard he couldn't play the short ball. Which was why he didn't play much test cricket.

The batting for an average line is indeed an idiots line.. Like in the same era with great Rugby League Wingers. "He might be great in attack but he cant tackle"...
 
Bazal

Bazal

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Bring back John Fifita said:
The one I mainly heard he couldn't play the short ball. Which was why he didn't play much test cricket.

The batting for an average line is indeed an idiots line.. Like in the same era with great Rugby League Wingers. "He might be great in attack but he cant tackle"...
Click to expand...

It's also horseshit that he couldn't play the short ball.

Maybe in his debut few tests he struggled, sure... Then he went on to be arguably the best ODI lower middle order bat ever, and the highest ever Shield run scorer at a time when quicks like Kasprowicz and Bichel and Tait and loads of others were playing plenty of Shield...
 
hineyrulz

hineyrulz

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Bazal said:
It's also horseshit that he couldn't play the short ball.

Maybe in his debut few tests he struggled, sure... Then he went on to be arguably the best ODI lower middle order bat ever, and the highest ever Shield run scorer at a time when quicks like Kasprowicz and Bichel and Tait and loads of others were playing plenty of Shield...
Click to expand...
Being shunted to 7 to carry that fat turd Taylor didn’t help him either. He mainly always batted at 3 for NSW.
 
Bring back John Fifita

Bring back John Fifita

First Grade
Messages
8,480
Bazal said:
It's also horseshit that he couldn't play the short ball.

Maybe in his debut few tests he struggled, sure... Then he went on to be arguably the best ODI lower middle order bat ever, and the highest ever Shield run scorer at a time when quicks like Kasprowicz and Bichel and Tait and loads of others were playing plenty of Shield...
Click to expand...

Indeed. Those struggles at tests were mainly from the Windies if I remember right? And Pakistan has Akram / Younis He's not exactly alone in that regard. He did however play in an era where we were finally growing some serious batting fruit on the vine. Depth was becoming huge. In any other era they probably would have given him more time to settle in and work on his game.
 
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