The Official Cricket Thread

[Deleted member 688153]

Welcome to the Official Cricket Thread!

Here we discuss any and all happenings in world cricket, at any level you so choose.​

 

[Deleted member 688153]

With the Ashes over now, being won back for Australia 4-0, my focus has moved to the Big Bash League, with the team I follow (Brisbane Heat) doing pretty well so far.
Another match for them tonight.

 

[MarcusInKensington]

Now the Ashes have finished, I’m feeling pretty disillusioned about English cricket. Totally outclassed by a fairly average Australian side.

 

[jaggy]

Growing up in Scotland I hated cricket, mostly because the beeb would leave the tennis at Wimbly to go to Oval or somewhere equally uninteresting.

 

[Feña14]

Now the Ashes have finished, I’m feeling pretty disillusioned about English cricket. Totally outclassed by a fairly average Australian side.

Me too. We’ve lost 5-0 before, didn’t win the Ashes for 20+ years. I grew up in the ‘90’s where England were a shambles and couldn’t beat Zimbabwe! But this is the most disillusioned I’ve been.

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Is it just me or is cricket sliding down the league tables of interesting and fun sports to watch. As a schoolboy in the 80s I remember watching live the West Indies take down the Oxford University Team. They were something like 300 for two and Gus Logie was bowled and was furious and was in no mood to sign schoolboy autographs. I will always remember watching Joel Ghana practise bowl in the nets.

Then the Aussies arguably surpassed the great West Indies team and came to dominate the sport in the late 80s and most of the 90s. I was fortunate to see the Aussie South Africa one day semifinals at Edgbaston in 1999. I count myself lucky as it was arguably the greatest one day match of all time and the only one I ever went to.

Though am I alone in thinking cricket has become a yawn fest in the new millennium?

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Welcome to the Official Cricket Thread!

Here we discuss any and all happenings in world cricket, at any level you so choose.​

What a great photo, how often is it these days you see a field of 5 slips and a gulley?

 

[Feña14]

Is it just me or is cricket sliding down the league tables of interesting and fun sports to watch. As a schoolboy in the 80s I remember watching live the West Indies take down the Oxford University Team. They were something like 300 for two and Gus Logie was bowled and was furious and was in no mood to sign schoolboy autographs. I will always remember watching Joel Ghana practise bowl in the nets.

Then the Aussies arguably surpassed the great West Indies team and came to dominate the sport in the late 80s and most of the 90s. I was fortunate to see the Aussie South Africa one day semifinals at Edgbaston in 1999. I count myself lucky as it was arguably the greatest one day match of all time and the only one I ever went to.

Though am I alone in thinking cricket has become a yawn fest in the new millennium?

My Dad was at the World Cup semi final too! He has no clue about cricket though, he was a guest for one of his clients. I think he knows he witnessed something special, but not quite sure what

I wouldn't say cricket has gone downhill since the turn of the century, I think it probably has since 2010 though. With the decline of the great Australian side, nobody has really filled that void. Every side seems to dominate at home, whilst getting hammered away. There's a lot of mediocrity, without the competitive nature that usually provides.

 

[Feña14]

Double post

 

[Feña14]

Aussie commentators “300 for Australia, that’s going to be a tough chase for England!”

Have they not been paying attention the last few years? England score 400+ Semi regularly, have broken the highest score world record, by far the highest run rate, highest chase in t20’s etc..

350 and you’d still back England on a decent pitch. I think they’ve totally underestimated the ODI side, whilst the Test team was overrated.

 

[max]

 

[max]

 

[Deleted member 688153]

AUS looking good in Durban.

Do we have this?

 

[Feña14]

AUS looking good in Durban.

Do we have this?

Hard to tell! I’ve loved the pitches South Africa have produced of late. The series v India recently was gripping, even as a neutral. I think they had to stop play at one point as conditions were too wild. That’s one way to save test cricket!

 

[oztennisfan]

Haven't been able to see much but looks like our bowlers are still going strong, we have a very good record in south Africa...As they do out here...

 

[Crocodile]

Australia v SA. SA bowled out for 161 giving Australia a first innings lead of around 180 odd. Lyon and Starc doing a lot of damage. 4 test series, should be a good one.

 

[MatsPhilander]

Ali & Woakes proving all those calling for them to be dropped wrong yet again.

 

[Krish872007]

Managed to nick out a close one against NZ.

South Africa - can't really call them titans in their own backyard after seeing this thrashing.

 

[oztennisfan]

Pissed off right now.. Bancroft should get a 2 year ban, anyone else involved should get 12 months off, enough to miss the aussie summer... this bs shouldn't be tolerated.

 

[Feña14]

Pissed off right now.. Bancroft should get a 2 year ban, anyone else involved should get 12 months off, enough to miss the aussie summer... this bs shouldn't be tolerated.

They were caught red handed and admitted to it straight away, which should be taken into consideration I think.

Even so, for the senior players to all be involved, the planning before, seemingly pressuring Bancroft.. it should be treated as seriously as match fixing imo. When Pakistan famously did it in England a few years back (bowling no balls at certain times), there was a similar outpouring of shock. So I’d agree, bans less than what the Pakistani players got sounds about right.

 

[oztennisfan]

They were caught red handed and admitted to it straight away, which should be taken into consideration I think.

Even so, for the senior players to all be involved, the planning before, seemingly pressuring Bancroft.. it should be treated as seriously as match fixing imo. When Pakistan famously did it in England a few years back (bowling no balls at certain times), there was a similar outpouring of shock. So I’d agree, bans less than what the Pakistani players got sounds about right.

No excuses, they should all go... not to jail like the Pakistan cricketers...
Hate cheats in sport so i have no time for them or what they have done.

 

[Feña14]

No excuses, they should all go... not to jail like the Pakistan cricketers...
Hate cheats in sport so i have no time for them or what they have done.

There are subtle differences between blatant ball tampering and spot fixing, absolutely. Prison doesn’t fit the crime in this instance. I’m shocked by how Smith hasn’t really grasped the magnitude of it all, saying they’ll learn and move on. It sounds like he dropped a couple in the slips, not conducted a plan to cheat the game.

Luckily the people high up in Cricket Australia seem to be aware of how big a deal it is. Time will tell if they have the balls to handle it appropriately when the initial shock dies down.

 

[oztennisfan]

There are subtle differences between blatant ball tampering and spot fixing, absolutely. Prison doesn’t fit the crime in this instance. I’m shocked by how Smith hasn’t really grasped the magnitude of it all, saying they’ll learn and move on. It sounds like he dropped a couple in the slips, not conducted a plan to cheat the game.

Luckily the people high up in Cricket Australia seem to be aware of how big a deal it is. Time will tell if they have the balls to handle it appropriately when the initial shock dies down.

Yep, smith should be sacked as captain, banned for 12 months, its the only way to get through to these people. A match ban or a fine means nothing to them.

 

[oztennisfan]

1 match ban and a 100% match payment fine for smith, 75% match payment fine and 3 demerit points... whatever that means for Bancroft... as expected, **** weak..

 

[MatsPhilander]

Had to laugh at the Aussie PM-Aussie cricketers are role-models, nope they act like bogans. Guess the endless sledging, bullying, snarling, crowds throwing things & making comments at touring players etc is fine, as is the ball tampering every team does when they don't get caught-but as soon as it gets caught on film it is the end of the world. Now we have former players coming out saying how the integrity of the Aussie team is in tatters-Clarke who made comments about breaking bones in Broad's body & was in a fight with Katich backstage, Gilchrist who played in a team with the likes of McGrath, Warne, Lee, Ponting, Hayden etc with all their antics.

 

[MatsPhilander]

They were caught red handed and admitted to it straight away, which should be taken into consideration I think.

Even so, for the senior players to all be involved, the planning before, seemingly pressuring Bancroft.. it should be treated as seriously as match fixing imo. When Pakistan famously did it in England a few years back (bowling no balls at certain times), there was a similar outpouring of shock. So I’d agree, bans less than what the Pakistani players got sounds about right.

Not really, because every team attempts to interfere with the ball-sucking sweets & rubbing it on the ball, throwing the ball in on the bounce, using fingernails etc. All that is different in this case is they got caught on film & now the mock outrage has ensued. There is a huge difference between trying to alter the ball to take wickets to try to win a match or get back into it at least as compared to taking money to concede runs, concede extras, bat slowly, lose your wicket etc.

 

[MatsPhilander]

1 match ban and a 100% match payment fine for smith, 75% match payment fine and 3 demerit points... whatever that means for Bancroft... as expected, **** weak..

Should be a 100% match fee fine for all involved-obviously Warner & probably others were involved & it seems the ringleader was the coach. Faf du Plessis did not get a ban for either of his two ball tampering incidents, so either no ban or one match is just.

 

[MatsPhilander]

There are subtle differences between blatant ball tampering and spot fixing, absolutely. Prison doesn’t fit the crime in this instance. I’m shocked by how Smith hasn’t really grasped the magnitude of it all, saying they’ll learn and move on. It sounds like he dropped a couple in the slips, not conducted a plan to cheat the game.

Luckily the people high up in Cricket Australia seem to be aware of how big a deal it is. Time will tell if they have the balls to handle it appropriately when the initial shock dies down.

Seeing as every team does it he likely sees it as just being part of the game, only difference between this & every other test is they got caught. The game is full of cheating-players appealing for catches when the ball wasn't edged or didn't carry, players not walking when they have edged it etc.

 

[MatsPhilander]

No excuses, they should all go... not to jail like the Pakistan cricketers...
Hate cheats in sport so i have no time for them or what they have done.

All of sport is cheating-doping is endemic in all sports, taking time-outs when there is no injury in Tennis, people cutting themselves so they can come off injured & allow a goal kicking specialist to replace them in Rugby, Cricket is full of cheating behaviour like not walking, claiming catches that didn't carry or weren't nicked. They have in reality done nothing different than what happens in probably every test match, just occasionally a team gets caught out.

 

[Feña14]

Not really, because every team attempts to interfere with the ball-sucking sweets & rubbing it on the ball, throwing the ball in on the bounce, using fingernails etc. All that is different in this case is they got caught on film & now the mock outrage has ensued. There is a huge difference between trying to alter the ball to take wickets to try to win a match or get back into it at least as compared to taking money to concede runs, concede extras, bat slowly, lose your wicket etc.

The ICC punishment is fairly standard and expected. I'm more curious to see how Cricket Australia handle it in the coming weeks. They're the ones with the power to strip the captaincy, make coaching changes, dictate who can be selected etc..

 

[MatsPhilander]

The ICC punishment is fairly standard and expected. I'm more curious to see how Cricket Australia handle it in the coming weeks. They're the ones with the power to strip the captaincy, make coaching changes, dictate who can be selected etc..

I have no doubt it all stems from the coach-he is a foul mouthed, racist bully-boy. He turned Michael Clarke from a nice person into a tetchy, obnoxious sledger immediately on taking over in 2013-even though it did the team no good. About time they appointed a decent Aussie great like Gilchrist or Bevan who would instill the right attitude in the team. Warner should never have been made v-c with his conduct.

 

[Dilexson]

Man this is bad news, i haven't been following much cricket lately and had to find out about this on my fb wall after someone shared.
Admitting publicly that the whole team was behind in the mess was admirable. But that makes the issue all the more serious. The only thing i could say is that this warrants actions much severe than just a match ban.

 

[MatsPhilander]

Man this is bad news, i haven't been following much cricket lately and had to find out about this on my fb wall after someone shared.
Admitting publicly that the whole team was behind in the mess was admirable. But that makes the issue all the more serious. The only thing i could say is that this warrants actions much severe than just a match ban.

It isn't the whole team-just senior players, which would likely be Smith, Warner, Lyon, Starc & the patsy who did it at their behest. Blaming the players misses the point, even blaming Lehmann does as well. The problem has long been the ACB & their attitude which filters down to all levels below. James Sutherland is out there whining, but he really needs to take a look in the mirror.