I Dont' Like Cricket, Oh No, I Love it, Yeah

[Twizzle]

pitches like this are on of the reasons our bowlers have so many back and leg injuries

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

It's being criticised because pitches like this are the reason we got belted in England last go....it's a flat, slow, lifeless strip that gives the bowlers very little and barely challenges the batsmen, that we were dismissed for such a relatively low score is an indictment on the quality and the mental application of our batting lineup.

So if Cook had gone cheaply it'd be a good pitch? You guys were calling it disgraceful from the start. So how come Smith chose to bat if it was so obvious that the only time the bowlers had a chance was early on? And not favouring the Aussies doesn't mean it's disgraceful.

 

[Bazal]

So if Cook had gone cheaply it'd be a good pitch? You guys were calling it disgraceful from the start. So how come Smith chose to bat if it was so obvious that the only time the bowlers had a chance was early on? And not favouring the Aussies doesn't mean it's disgraceful.

Because it is disgraceful. Why did Smith choose to bat? Why did 150 years of captains choose to bat first? Unless it's a searing green top that is an utterly irrelevant question. It only offered the most for the bowlers early because that is when it was at its' quickest. There was still nothing off the deck for the seamers, it simply bounced more and then went through a period where that hardness wore off and the bounce went slightly variable for a session or so.

What has it offered for the bowlers? What have the batsmen had to battle through to make their runs?

If you reckon it's disgraceful because it somehow didn't favour the Aussies (despite being an absolute dead duck they failed to make use of) then tbh you have utterly missed the point mate.

 

[hybrideel]

That's a great idea!

And no matter who scores the most runs, the team who hits the biggest six over the five days automatically wins

I think you are on to something. Why don't they have T20 but with more overs and give each team 2 innings

 

[Bazal]

I think you are on to something. Why don't they have T20 but with more overs and give each team 2 innings

What about a five day Test, but every day you each have two innings of twenty overs?

 

[hybrideel]

And call it TUntilYouGetOutx2

 

[strider]

pitches like this are on of the reasons our bowlers have so many back and leg injuries

hell yeah ... no bowlers ever had injuries pre-dropin pitches

Infact its pitches like these that have led to global warming and the emergence of world terrorism ... f**k these pitch's eyes

 

[Bazal]

hell yeah ... no bowlers ever had injuries pre-dropin pitches

Infact its pitches like these that have led to global warming and the emergence of world terrorism ... f**k these pitch's eyes

I think you'll find he means roads in general. Bowlers are having to work way harder to extract anything from rubbish surfaces. The pitch at the WACA a few years ago vs NZ was a genuine criminal act...that said I think it's a bit of a cop out that gets wheeled out far too often. Match fit bowlers won't worry about having to bowl ten extra overs. The biggest factor IMO in our bowling injuries is that they value gym fitness over match fitness.

Bowlers are too big and spending too much time doing weights, not enough time bowling because the merkins get rested all the time. They've started giving state teams instructions not to bowl Aussie quicks for more than a certain number of overs in shield cricket ffs.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

Because it is disgraceful. Why did Smith choose to bat? Why did 150 years of captains choose to bat first? Unless it's a searing green top that is an utterly irrelevant question. It only offered the most for the bowlers early because that is when it was at its' quickest. There was still nothing off the deck for the seamers, it simply bounced more and then went through a period where that hardness wore off and the bounce went slightly variable for a session or so.

What has it offered for the bowlers? What have the batsmen had to battle through to make their runs?

If you reckon it's disgraceful because it somehow didn't favour the Aussies (despite being an absolute dead duck they failed to make use of) then tbh you have utterly missed the point mate.

Well the other England bats found ways to get out. The Aussies too. And there was that period of variable bounce. And we haven't had 150 years of drop in pitches, so that's not relevant. And there's two whole f**ken days to go so we could well have a result. I'm sticking by my theory that a drop in pitch ran over your dog!!

 

[Bazal]

Well the other England bats found ways to get out. The Aussies too. And there was that period of variable bounce. And we haven't had 150 years of drop in pitches, so that's not relevant. And there's two whole f**ken days to go so we could well have a result. I'm sticking by my theory that a drop in pitch ran over your dog!!

You're touching on another issue apart from the pitches...there simply aren't a lot of quality bats anywhere in the world. Every side has a bunch of plodders surrounding two or three good bats.

Look at the tests since drop ins became the in thing at Adelaide, the WACA, and the MCG (and pre-day night tests) mate. It's part of the issue, they just lack character because they're not grown and created within the surface as a permanent fixture.

The issue is larger than drop ins though. Since an India tour about a decade ago, CA have been preparing flatter wickets to ensure Tests go the full five days or close to it. It's not even a secret.

Used to be the Gabba would swing, seam and bounce, the WACA was lightning fast and hit you in the neck from a half volley, Adelaide was good for batting but the spinners always had a say, the MCG seamed and spun and the SCG swung and spun. These days all the surfaces are much the same, flat and hard, sometimes bouncy, but very little movement. They are geared towards batsmen, that's why this pitch is disgraceful...it's basically a five day ODI wicket.And if you look around it's not just me saying it.

 

[Noise]

I’m not sure of the stats but I reckon we get more results these days than draws compared to in the past. If wickets were too batsmen friendly we would have more draws than ever before.

 

[hybrideel]

I am no expert but I think the more aggressive batting leads to more wickets which leads to results. Look at batters strike rates today compared to 20 or more years ago

 

[strider]

I’m not sure of the stats but I reckon we get more results these days than draws compared to in the past. If wickets were too batsmen friendly we would have more draws than ever before.

FMD, when i was a kid test matches were the most f**king boring shit imaginable ... be lucky to get 2 or 3 results in a 5 match series

 

[strider]

I am no expert but I think the more aggressive batting leads to more wickets which leads to results. Look at batters strike rates today compared to 20 or more years ago

So we are getting runs, wickets and results ... and trying to get the games to go the 5 days intended

Im not sure where the problem lies

 

[Bazal]

I’m not sure of the stats but I reckon we get more results these days than draws compared to in the past. If wickets were too batsmen friendly we would have more draws than ever before.

I'm not too sure either, but I also think you have to take into account the players when looking at results.

We might well get more results now, but at the same time this is potentially the weakest Aussie batting lineup for more than fifty years. Certainly the weakest since AB took over as captain. At the same time we have had an excellent pace attack for many years so we are adept at bowling visiting sides out. There's no Hayden/Langer/Ponting/Gilly/Waughs combination battling Sehwag/Tendulkar/Dravid/Laxman/Ganguly for a hard fought draw (for example).

To me, the proof is in the way we play overseas. During our dominant run in the 90s/00s we won pretty much everywhere except India (where we have always struggled and who have been producing brilliant cricketers at a rate of knots). We weren't overly worried by conditions in England or Sri Lanka and we certainly wouldn't have been spun out by Bangladesh (although they have improved as well). We're looking at a generation of cricketers raised on roads and you can see it clear as day in the way they fall apart when they get a surface that seams or spins, or when the ball is swinging...see Hobart vs South Africa.

 

[strider]

I think we need to just face facts .... cricket is dick shit

 

[Bazal]

So we are getting runs, wickets and results ... and trying to get the games to go the 5 days intended

Im not sure where the problem lies

It lies in getting beaten by Bangladesh because the merkins have never seen a wicket that turns more than about a centimetre....or getting rolled by England for 60 because they can't cope with a green deck....it's all well and good to prepare roads if all you want is for us to be home town heroes who get pasted every time we go overseas, like India.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

You're touching on another issue apart from the pitches...there simply aren't a lot of quality bats anywhere in the world. Every side has a bunch of plodders surrounding two or three good bats.

Look at the tests since drop ins became the in thing at Adelaide, the WACA, and the MCG (and pre-day night tests) mate. It's part of the issue, they just lack character because they're not grown and created within the surface as a permanent fixture.

The issue is larger than drop ins though. Since an India tour about a decade ago, CA have been preparing flatter wickets to ensure Tests go the full five days or close to it. It's not even a secret.

Used to be the Gabba would swing, seam and bounce, the WACA was lightning fast and hit you in the neck from a half volley, Adelaide was good for batting but the spinners always had a say, the MCG seamed and spun and the SCG swung and spun. These days all the surfaces are much the same, flat and hard, sometimes bouncy, but very little movement. They are geared towards batsmen, that's why this pitch is disgraceful...it's basically a five day ODI wicket.And if you look around it's not just me saying it.

Test matches are allotted five days so imo they should go as close to that as possible. If you think they're favouring the batsmen in order to do that then so what? But I can see that Noise and strider have already made my point below so I'll bow out and watch the rest of the test with interest.

 

[Gary Gutful]

I think we need to just face facts .... cricket is dick shit

100% UNADULTERATED DICK SHIT!

 

[Avenger]

Alastair Cook showed plenty of class today. The way he presents himself is a credit to his family. Compare him to Warner who probably would be in prison or a Bra Boy if it wasn't for cricket.

Most Aussies show hardly any class. The constant sledging which came from the Glen McGrath days and has not subsided is one reason why I'm not into cricket as much as I used to be. Cool arrogance from past cricketers like Viv Richards will never be repeated. Now that was a class act.