Anyone for cricket?

[Rogue 585]

oh i can see the motives as well, i just find it a little sad. I dislike T20 in a big way.

Yeah - I'm not a massive fan.

Anyway, the squad to Bangladesh has been announced. The squad is one smaller than for the World Cup, and D Hussey is squeezed out*. while Tait has been replaced by Pattinson and Kreza by Doherty.

Shane Watson

Brad Haddin

Michael Clarke

Mike Hussey

Callum Ferguson

Ricky Ponting

Cameron White

Mitchell Johnson

Brett Lee

Xavier Doherty //for Kreza

James Pattinson //for Tait

Steve Smith

Tim Paine

John Hastings

I don't think it's surprising that there haven't been massive changes. I'm most interested to see what happens later in the year.

*Imminent birth of a child, so who knows whether he would have gone otherwise. Perhaps White has been saved.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Rogue
NB: Beaten by WYL!

[Sir Why You Little 37,046]

Yeah - I'm not a massive fan.

Anyway, the squad to Bangladesh has been announced. The squad is one smaller than for the World Cup. D Hussey is squeezed out, while Tait has been replaced by Pattinson and Kreza by Doherty.

Shane Watson

Brad Haddin

Michael Clarke

Mike Hussey

Callum Ferguson

Ricky Ponting

Cameron White

Mitchell Johnson

Brett Lee

Xavier Doherty //for Kreza

James Pattinson //for Tait

Steve Smith

Tim Paine

John Hastings

I don't think it's surprising that there haven't been massive changes. I'm most interested to see what happens later in the year.

D Hussey is unavailable due to the impending birth of a first child. Otherwise he was in.

[H_T 3,047]

India v Pakistan - India 4/185 after 36 overs, Tendulkar has been dropped 4 times ! Hmmm. Akmal the last to drop him. Tendulkar currently 84*

[Sir Why You Little 37,046]

India v Pakistan - India 4/185 after 36 overs, Tendulkar has been dropped 4 times ! Hmmm. Akmal the last to drop him. Tendulkar currently 84*

The first LBW was a joke. very suspect.

[Rogue 585]

White has been dropped from the side in the ODI series vs Bangladesh - Ferguson has replaced him.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Watson. Holy moly. 185 (not out) off 96. 15 fours, and a record 15 sixes. And we had 24 overs remaining. If Bangladesh had scored a few more he could easily have made 250. Wowee.

[Rogue 585]

Watson. Holy moly. 185 (not out) off 96. 15 fours, and a record 15 sixes. And we had 24 overs remaining. If Bangladesh had scored a few more he could easily have made 250. Wowee.

Haha, wow - that's ridiculous.

Asked about the sixes, Watson gave this nice response:

I was pretty tired and didn't want to run too much. Was pretty hot and humid so I tried to limit my running

[45HG 1,539]

100-150 in 14 balls.

100-185 in 27.

[Sir Why You Little 37,046]

100-150 in 14 balls.

100-185 in 27.

Sweet as.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Watson. Holy moly. 185 (not out) off 96. 15 fours, and a record 15 sixes. And we had 24 overs remaining. If Bangladesh had scored a few more he could easily have made 250. Wowee.

Great knock by Watson.

Another reason why Bangladesh is still an affiliate standard of one day cricket.

Lots of wonderful stats out of Watson's innings. But it does not mean much given the opposition.

About as memorable as Gillespire double ton against them when he was night watchman.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Another strong batting performance from Watson, but Hussey dominated. His third century in ODI cricket.

Lots of wonderful stats out of Watson's innings. But it does not mean much given the opposition.

About as memorable as Gillespire double ton against them when he was night watchman.

They are both still amazing innings. People can rubbish the opposition, and it's true, they're not as good as most other nations. But if they were that bad, or it was that easy, we'd see it happening more often. It doesn't happen for a reason. It's that special an innings.

That same argument applies to those (I assume WYL is in this bracket) who de-value Murali's achievements simply because he played more games against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe than Warne and others did. Plenty of other Sri Lankan and Indian bowlers have had plenty of games against Bangladesh, yet they don't consistently take 5 wicket innings.

[H_T 3,047]

Aussies made 8-361 and Bangladesh are making a fist of the chase at 1/111 after 18 overs.

[Rogue 585]

Hopefully the ICC rethinks the World Cup format, bringing some associates into the fold.

[Rogue 585]

Cricket boards always sound like they're being managed terribly: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/windies-froze-me-out-says-emotional-gayle-20110421-1dq2v.html

[bush demon 2,041]

I was wondering what Punter's average in Test cricket has been over the past couple of years compared with Simon Katich. The clueless aussie selectors seem to be stabbing pins into a sheet.

[Sir Why You Little 37,046]

I was wondering what Punter's average in Test cricket has been over the past couple of years compared with Simon Katich. The clueless aussie selectors seem to be stabbing pins into a sheet.

Don't get me started on Hilditch & co!!!! The Spineless "Yes" man James Sutherland..... B)

[Tony Tea 2,809]

Katich's average since the start of the Australia v Pakistan series in England last year is 32.

Ponting's average in the same period is 29.

[Trisul 664]

ICC to decide on rule changes

• removing the 10-over limits on bowlers
  
• abolition of runners for batsmen
  

Not cricket.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Sri Lankan tour squad has been announced:

Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Beer

Good squad IMO. Smith dropped is the single most pleasing thing about it. He is so incredibly over-rated, but it seems the NSP has woken up and realised he is neither a number 6, nor a spin bowler, nor good enough at either to be an all-rounder batting at 7. He simply isn't a long-form player at the moment.

No Bollinger and Hilfenhaus are also positives, as is the inclusion of Marsh.

I'd go with this as the team for the first test:

Watson

Hughes

Ponting

Clarke

Hussey

Khawaja

Haddin

Johnson

Harris

Siddle

Beer

Might as well keep Beer there and try to give one guy an extended run at it for once. Lyon is probably a more promising bowler but I feel we need some consistency. There will of course be a potential need for a second spinner in Sri Lanka. We can get spin out of Clarke, but then again we can get another seamer in Watson, which would give us the option to drop a paceman for Lyon. That would probably be Harris.

Khawaja moves to 6 to allow Ponting back at 3, where he may well flourish without the captaincy. Edges out Marsh, but he is the incumbent and both have the Shield form. If Khawaja stinks in Sri Lanka Marsh might take that spot in South Africa.

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Not a big fan of the squad myself, I was hoping to see more radical changes personally, I was being very optimistic and looking to see.

E. Cowan

M. Hussey

U. Khawaja

S. Watson (vc)

G. Bailey ©

C. Ferguson

B. Haddin

S. O'Keefe

M. Starc

N. Lyon

J. Pattinson

S. Marsh (back up opener/batsmen)

T. Paine (back up keeper)

P. Siddle (back up fast bowler)

S. Smith (back up spinner/all rounder)

Cowan & Hussey opening would of been great, 2 technically correct batsmen who can take the shine off the ball and wont loom to hit out in the openning overs.

Watson can move down to 4, allowing him more of a rest and the chance to bowl more at first change.

Bailey in as captain (great state captain) and good middle order batsmen along with Ferguson who should be great at 6.

Two spinners needed in Sri Lanka and O'Keefe & Lyon are the best we've got. And they can actually spin the ball unlike Beer!

Starc & Pattinson will be good opening bowlers, Starc the left arm quick with genuine pace & Pattinson who can actually swing the ball, our first proper swing bowler since Fleming!

The other 4 players I selected would of covered all areas needed to be covered in case of last minute injury.

And how Ponting & Clarke can continue to get games is beyond me??? They've been terrible for some time and aren't being held accountable, instead they've actually received pay rises!

Edit: Replce Hughes with Marsh

Edit: Swapped Haddin & Paine around, looking back Haddin doesn't deserve to be demoted yet.

Edited July 27, 2011 by Tall Defence

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Not a big fan of the squad myself, I was hoping to see more radical changes personally, I was being very optimistic and looking to see.

E. Cowan

M. Hussey

U. Khawaja

S. Watson (vc)

G. Bailey ©

C. Ferguson

T. Paine

S. O'Keefe

M. Starc

N. Lyon

J. Pattinson

B. Haddin (back up keeper)

S. Marsh (back up opener/batsmen)

P. Siddle (back up fast bowler)

S. Smith (back up spinner/all rounder)

Cowan & Hussey opening would of been great, 2 technically correct batsmen who can take the shine off the ball and wont loom to hit out in the openning overs.

Watson can move down to 4, allowing him more of a rest and the chance to bowl more at first change.

Bailey in as captain (great state captain) and good middle order batsmen along with Ferguson who should be great at 6.

We all know Paine will be our next keeper/batsmen so lets get him in now, he's going to be a gun!

Two spinners needed in Sri Lanka and O'Keefe & Lyon are the best we've got. And they can actually spin the ball unlike Beer!

Starc & Pattinson will be good opening bowlers, Starc the left arm quick with genuine pace & Pattinson who can actually swing the ball, our first proper swing bowler since Fleming!

The other 4 players I selected would of covered all areas needed to be covered in case of last minute injury.

And how Ponting & Clarke can continue to get games is beyond me??? They've been terrible for some time and aren't being held accountable, instead they've actually received pay rises!

Edit: Replce Hughes with Marsh

Absolutely no way they were going to make this many changes. Just three players from the Ashes side? Far too radical.

Bailey isn't good enough. Nor is O'Keefe. Cowan is OK but Marsh is better. Siddle is better than Pattinson and Johnson is still our best option when he isn't shot mentally.

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Absolutely no way they were going to make this many changes. Just three players from the Ashes side? Far too radical.

Bailey isn't good enough. Nor is O'Keefe. Cowan is OK but Marsh is better. Siddle is better than Pattinson and Johnson is still our best option when he isn't shot mentally.

I agree that there was no way that many changes were going to be made. It's just what I was hoping to see, CA basically saying enough is enough and we're not going to accept mediocrity anymore.

Bailey while not the best batsman in the world I have no doubt could do a better job then what Ponting & Clarke have produced recently, and unlike Clarke, Bailey has actually shown he can leade a side.

O'Keefe I agree with you, however I don't think we have any spinners who are good enough at the moment, although I'd back O'Keefe in over Beer every day of the week.

Disagree about Marsh being better then Cowan sorry. Over the course of their careers Cowan's first class recrd is pretty much equal of Marsh's, however IMO Cowan is a more technically correct batsman which is what you want at the top of the order when facing the new ball.

Siddle right now might be better then Pattinson, but in the long run Pattinson will be a lot better then Siddle and will benefit more from being played now. Siddle is a great battler and gives it his all but will never be a great bowler.

As for Johnson until he can learn how to play with some form of consistency and get his head right I don't want to see him in the team. He can go a spend a year playing Shield & County cricket to learn how to do that as far as I'm concerned, don't want to see players coasting by on what they can produce once every 10 tests. (Yes I'm talking about you Michael Clarke!)

[45HG 1,539]

Sachin Two Hundred and Tendulkar closing in on his 100th international century...

Oh now I've done it.

[Northern Summer 292]

England will be no.1 in tests for the next 10 years imo

[Sir Why You Little 37,046]

England will be no.1 in tests for the next 10 years imo

No...Cricket Australia will get cleaned out very soon, a la the selectors, who have done bugger all for 5 years.

The Gold Contract rubbish will be addressed... an Australian Cricket Commission will commence.

And Australia will fight it out with England tooth and nail....but well done to the Poms of late...i love seeing india get thrashed, considering their population.

The sub continent being in charge of cricket is fraught with total danger.

The biggest concern i have with cricket is 20/20....it is a rubbish game, i wish it wasn't, but it is crap.