Agreed frankie we could cut our test matches to 4 days and still have a result each test
Roy is the scapegoat to save other players averages IMO

I reckon that your lot are going to do a phoenix and rise from the ashes.(pun intended :haha:) 200 odd to get tomorrow. Then go on and win the Ashes.

Same as the World Cup final. Virtually gone but still found a way to win it. A huge summer for English cricket.


This is not a very good Australian Test team. Bowlers are doing their job but the batting (other than Smith and the Saffer) has been abysmal. When Mitch Marsh is the next in line to be selected, then you know that you are in trouble.

Nearly 0200 here and I can't sleep. Feeling all doom and gloomish.



:paranoid:



Hang on. Not all bad. QPR had a win. :yay: If they can win, then any team, anywhere, can win.



C'mon Aussie Come On


:ausflag:

And then I just read this.

Crikey!!! It just goes to prove that anything is possible (other than me backing a long priced winner :travolta:)








dancing

Hey Bazza keep in mind most of the big US stars did not play - Things may be a bit different at the forthcoming world cup - But then again a win is a win in any language.

I think both teams are quite evenly matched. Most of the batting is poor but the bowlers drag the teams along. Anyway the Series is still alive and there for the taking.

I’ve just read Denly is opening and Jason Roy is batting number 4

At least Roy managed to contribute something this time.

I'm shit sick of watching Steve Smith bat on and on and on........Think England will have to hire the services of a hitman to stop him from scoring runs. Doesnt help when he is dropped, and later caught off a no-ball bowled by a spinner. FFS.

I’ve changed my mind about his 12 month ban being sufficient

Should have been 18 month

LOL! Would probably have this series in the bag by now, if it had of been. Interesting last day. England 365 runs to win Australia require 8 wickets. Got to be the Aussies I think. Unless Sir Ben can pull off another miracle, and be on his way to sainthood.

No excuses we were shit apart from a few sessions
Luckily warner was shit too otherwise we’d have got a right kicking

Well Done, Mitch



Mitchell Marsh: Australia all-rounder to miss start of Test summer after punching wall & breaking hand



Showing great leadership qualities there. Bloody idiot



:lmao:

6 TO 8 weeks out - What a dickhead!

Rather disappointing that all our English friends have not congratulated the greatest-ever Test cricket nation returning to the #1 Test team position


Now I ain't one to skite :haha: but look at these figures




Number One in Test Cricket









Not only that but they have the best Test batsman and bowler in the world as well. Plus three in the top 10 in both categories












Even more amazingly and probably for the first time in the history of the game, they have the top 4 Test batting averages to boot. Look how far Kohli is behind and he is the next best of the current players













All joking aside, this bloke deserves a bloody medal.









Thrown in at the deep end when the shit hit the fan a couple of years ago in South Africa, he has turned everything around. Who would have thought that? There are better batsmen/wicketkeepers in Australia but with his quiet, unassuming style (gentlemanly?) he has brought them back from the brink. I hope he stays on for another season or two.



:respect:

Proper cricket team taking to the pitch against West Indies tomorrow

Managed to watch a fair bit of this Test. It was pretty good stuff and nearly got to be a cliffhanger, but not quite. Windies deserved their win and kudos to them for coming to England and getting International cricket kick started again. Got all the makings of a nice tight 3 Test series.

The Pakistan series has started well too and now there is a white ball series to look forward to in a few weeks time


https://www.skysports.com/share/12048912

Aussies are there next month for ODIs and T20s

Cummins being groomed to be the next captain. Don't think a quick has been a regular captain of a Australian side before


:dunno:

Watching Jofra Archer going for the head against Indian batsmen in the 19th over of tonight's IPL game. Bean balls and short stuff and actually hitting one bloke in the noggin. He will need to watch himself or will end up being banned from the game. This is 2020 after all.


He has already probably finished Steve Smiths's Test career after hitting him in the Ashes series in 2019. Pretty sure Smith hasn't hit a Test century since. Not that I really care :bigfinger


Archer brings back memories of other English players like Larwood in the Bodyline series and John Snow in the early 70s. They liked hitting Australian batsmen for the fun of it.


Most* Australian cricketers are gentlemen and play the game accordingly.



dancing dancing dancing





* Cunts like Smith, Warner and Bancroft are obviously not considered as gentlemen

Nobody bites or comments any more

:sad:

I’m sure Stuart broads batting career was over once he was found out he didn’t like the short stuff used to be a very handy batsmen

Yes once he got his nose broke his bottle went. Seems to have recovered a bit of form since but not back to what he once was. Pity Brian Close wasn't around to give him some advice. He didnt seem to mind getting hit, never flinched and then just gave the bowler a death stare.

I got home from work at 1:00 pm yesterday – read the Saturday paper and settled in to watch the 3rd day of the Australia/India test match from the Adelaide oval with a nice chilled bottle of aussie red.

Bloody hell what an amazing 90 minutes of test cricket unfolded in front of me – 9 wickets fell in 20 overs and India were all out for 36 runs – the forth lowest test match total on record with no player getting into double figures, India’s lowest ever total and the lowest ever total in Adelaide.

Well done to Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins taking all nine wickets between them.

Nearly as good as beating the Poms dancing


Here's a score you won't see too often in Test cricket







And sadly, one of the last old-style scoreboards at a Test ground in Australia


:sad:



Hopefully, CV-19 won't interfere with the remaining Tests and we win a couple more. Gotta keep those pesky Kiwis at bay to keep our #1 Test ranking



:please:




Oh, and Google found this for me. Now it's not like me to gloat or anything but guess who is the greatest Test cricket team since the rankings system began?









What can I say?




:accordian:

Well, obviously, as an English gentleman I am going to pick holes in this. Australia first dig all out for 191, 2 batsmen (sorry should be batters these days so as not to upset the split arses) scored 120 of them. FFs thats a truly shit effort.

When chasing next to fuck all Australia lose 2 wickets and one of them a run out!! Over the two innings thats 284 runs for the loss of 12 wickets. Thats piss poor. Fuck me next Ashes series Jimmy Anderson will have to bowl left arm round just to make a game of it.

Bowling stats ignored for obvious reasons.

Embarrassingly bad batting again on Boxing Day in Melbourne by the Australians. Smith hasn't fired a shot (should be taken out the back and hung, drawn & quartered but that's a separate issue :hanging:) When he fails, so does nearly everyone else. How Burns keeps getting picked is beyond me. Wade is not a true Test batsman. Just a journeyman that failed before yet somehow is back in the team. Warner being injured has not helped but he is coming to the end of his Test career anyway. The South African lad keeps on performing. Thank fuck. Numbers 7-11 are cast in stone for the time being but they are not the problem


Plenty of blokes were scoring lots of runs in Sheffield Shield but we don't play that again until February while the cash-cow Big Bash is on. Every day and twice on Sat and Sundays. Admittedly, it is good to watch but nobody gives a fuck who wins. There is no loyalty with these private enterprise branded "teams". It's all about money and TV ratings.


The biggest problem for the Australian Test cricket team is probably the Australian public who support their team. It is the #1 sporting team in the country by a country mile. It is said that the Test cricket captain is 2nd only to the Prime Minister which is probably true. I have no idea who the current deputy prime minister of Australia is but I can always tell you who the current Test team is. People of my generation had it drummed into them. When a Test or Sheffield Shield game was being played, the cricket was being broadcast on the radio whether at home or in the car. I distinctly remember staying up late at night listening to Bobby Simpson scoring 311 at Manchester in 1964. It was the same throughout my working life. If cricket was on the radio, then that was what was heard in the workshops, on the job, in the office and smoko rooms or in the work car especially in the 70s,80s and 90's. It is in our blood.


Australia has won more Tests than any other country. It has the highest winning percentage of Test wins of any country. They are expected to win every time they take the field, especially when playing in Australia. Losing and failure are not tolerated. Draws are seen as a lost opportunity and nothing honourable about them.


The pressure on players to perform is immense. When Pat Cummins gave Cameron Green his Baggy Green cap last week, he simply said "When you wear this cap, you represent 25 million Australians"



Worth a watch








Makes you wonder how they are the #1 Ranked Test Team at the moment. Changes are required if they want to stay there.


JMHO






:toot:

Are there restrictions on crowd capacity at MCG ? Sounds like plenty Indians in there as always

Well written Baz - Agree 100%
Reg I think they had a 30k cap and yes there were a lot of Indians as they have a huge Indian population in Melbourne.

In Melbourne, attendance is limited to 30% of a venue's capacity at the moment. So around 30,000 at the MCG


Source

Crowds Return to the MCG





Hard to keep up with all the cricket going on at the moment. Tests in Kiwiland, Australia and in Centurion, South Africa. Plus Big Bash games on every day. And I have all the races on from NZ, Australia and the UK on as well. I live a hectic life :haha:



That Test in NZ is being played at Mount Maunganui with only a 10,000 capacity. More like a suburban oval. Looks great. Plenty of people there over the weekend. A decent crowd in at the Gabba last night as well.



On a sadder note, I read that English Test cricketer John Edrich passed away a few days ago. He lived till he was 83 so not a bad innings. He was on three Ashes tours to Australia in the 60s and 70s. He had to face Lillee and Thommo in Australia in 74/75. That would not have been easy especially as he was in his late 30s. The great DK broke two of his ribs.


From CricInfo





:rip:

Top post Baz. In England it's unlikely you would ever get that level of interest in football let alone cricket. Most cricket here goes largely unnoticed and receives next to no coverage on free view TV. Sky have a complete monopoly on cricket coverage so the free channels mainly ignore it. If you want to watch cricket on TV then you must subscribe to Sky which just about eliminates the casual observer who would probably tune in for a Test Match, if there was going to be a tense finish, but is unaware of such events as its only covered on Sky.

As T20 is not franchised in England the ECB are starting a new competition known as The 100 most of which will, apparently, be on free view. Its purpose is to appeal to a wider audience and was supposed to start in 2020 but Covid stopped that. It will have nothing to do with County Cricket so its purely a franchise competition. That means the Counties will still be involved in 3 competitions the County Championship, 50 over and T20. However the 50 over competition is being watered down and classed as a "Development" competition, supposedly to give younger players more experience, to counteract The 100 becoming the fourth competition of the season. This means that although there will still be International 50 over cricket this will only be played in England by players most of whom will never play International cricket. Looks like the ECB have classed winning the World Cup as a watershed moment and England will never be able to seriously compete for it again. Well the ECB fuck most things up so why stop now.

I remember John Edrich batting for England and Surrey. Sconed by Peter Pollock and cracked ribs by DKL. No helmets or chest guards in those days.

Bye-bye Joe. Watch out Trav. You might be next



:out:

I always was told that cheats never prosper.


Obviously, that does not apply any more








:angry:

Suppose a good few years ago any bloke clearly caught cheating would have been disgraced, hounded out and condemned into the sporting wilderness. Every time his name was mentioned it would be cursed. Nowadays when caught out a couple of tearful appearances on TV, along with the wife and kids, and all is well. Fuck knows why the wife (or life partner to be PC) and kids are dragged into it but there you go.

I got that bit right regarding Burns & Head. Didn't need to be Einstein to work that out.


Now it's bye-bye time for Wade. He's had too many chances for mine.


:angryold:

This came up on Foxtel the other day


It bought a tear to my eye. We could do with a few like him in the current Australian Test team








Oh, and if I reckon Australia has not been going too flash at the moment, I just have to remember the mid-80's


From Wikipedia


"The 1986–87 Australian season brought another Ashes series and another series loss. After England won the First Test, consecutive centuries by Border at Perth and Adelaide enabled Australia to secure consecutive draws.[25] However, Australia was defeated by an innings in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne and the team had won only two of their last 22 Tests, and none of their last 14."




:crying:

Bazza, kangarooos..dame edna.......your guys take a hell of a wupping...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/cricket/55008611

I'm on a roll :bazzap:


Wade's gone from the Test squad to hopefully tour South Africa. Sent packing to be vice-captain of the Australian T20 squad which he excels at.


Bloody selectors brought back Head :uturn: They also picked the Portuguese bloke, Moises Henriques. FFS he is nearly 34 years old and averages 23.42 in Tests. Last played a Test in 2016. Good at Sheffield Shield level but near useless in Tests. He and Steve Smith own racehorses together so that is probably why he is in the squad.


There is a guy sitting at home in Australia playing grade cricket. He does not play Big Bash. He averages 144 in Test cricket in the last two years yet does not make the Test squad







The poor bastard is going to end up like Brad Hodge.






The selectors are fucking blind. They keep regurgitating failed players. No wonder Australia is sliding down the Test rankings




:bigfinger:bigfinger:bigfinger

Well I've Googled that Baz and I am coming up with Kurtis Patterson. Is that correct? Discounted the likes of Keith Miller who also came up.

Funnily enough the first "proper" bat I had was a Keith Miller Autograph, given to me by a cousin. Was a lot better than the "Hand Hammered" (whatever that means) Paki bats that us young lads usually got from Woolies.

That's him, mate. Because of the poxy T20 Big Bash, he and many others are not playing first-class cricket. It should be played off-season and not clash with the more traditional versions of cricket.

That will never happen which will lead to the demise of Test cricket :sad:


I am probably old-fashioned and completely out-of-touch with the realities of modern cricket but JMHO

Totally agree Baz. Test Cricket should take priority over everything else. However Cricket Boards world wide just follow the cash. Whatever earns the most takes priority. Totally ignoring the fact that Test Cricket requires far higher levels of skill, concentration and fitness. FFS a bowler can only bowl a max of 4 overs in a T20 game. Could have to bowl 50 plus in a Test. A massive workload and if your not up to it you will be found out.

Talk about doctoring wickets in favour of the home team.

Betcha can't name a Test where a quick bowler never bowled a single ball in either of the last two innings of a completed Test match.

When the likes of Anderson, Broad, Archer and Bumrah, some of the greatest names in the history of the game, are mere passengers, questions need to be asked.


Not a good look for brand new, biggest cricket ground in the world