Anyone for cricket?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/667951.html

White no longer Victorian captain and Matthew Wade now has the job. Shipperd trying to give Wade some leadership experience to get him back into the Australian XI do we think?

Possibly. I think Whites sun has set somewhat in the Test arena. So after 10 years its probably time for a change.

Mind you Wade needs to improve his batting and keeping. If captaincy enhances that focus and not distract it then fine.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Full marks to Ahmed by honouring his beliefs by refusing to wear the Australian Test costume that displays the VB logo.

While I understand the need for sponsorship I can t stand the infiltration of alcohol and gambling into sports program's. Historically it was tobacco.

It's a pity the garish and ubiquitous VB logo appear on the Australian shirt and jumper. Particularly when we are playing so poorly.

Well done Ahmed.

[jazza 1,323]

McGill has said in every interview that armhed foarook needs bowling,he has told the aussie selectors to bowl him in every game they can find.hence 20x20 and odi,2nd x1

stuart is of the belief that this leggie could dominate if we can mould him correctly and he also hopes people are patient to his needs as a cricketer

pretty big wrap from the stuey mac

Edited September 4, 2013 by jazza

[Little Richard 6,264]

Full marks to Ahmed by honouring his beliefs by refusing to wear the Australian Test costume that displays the VB logo.While I understand the need for sponsorship I can t stand the infiltration of alcohol and gambling into sports program's. Historically it was tobacco.It's a pity the garish and ubiquitous VB logo appear on the Australian shirt and jumper. Particularly when we are playing so poorly.Well done Ahmed.

I like the VB logo, it's a very Australian symbol.

Good on Ahmed though, it's fair enough. Amla does a similar thing with Castle lager, RSA's major sponsor.

[Whispering_Jack 30,206]

Good thing that Michael Clarke decided to hang around for the ODI's.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Well done to Zimbabwe for winning only their 10th Test ever, and their first against a side other than Bangladesh since 2001.

There's a bit of talent in Zimbabwe. A pity there are so many external factors hampering their professionalism. More exposure to the better Test sides might see them develop into something more than a minnow.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Zimbabwe will always be shackled by political system and failed economy that has destroyed the greater community and in the process, completely routed the cricket talent they have. Its a pity that Zim players but for country will for the foreseeable future remain a sporting minnow.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Rhino Richards

[Whispering_Jack 30,206]

Watto!

Hope you're not on the juice like your namesake!

[Whispering_Jack 30,206]

And if you have Foxtel you can watch the Aussies finally beat the Poms in a cricket series again.

[Whispering_Jack 30,206]

Right on cue Fawad Ahmed takes the wicket and its 2-1 Australia.

Every worker in the country deserves a day off.

[Rogue 585]

I'm so excited about Australia's ODI series win!!!

[Nasher 33,616]

I'm so excited about Australia's ODI series win!!!

Wha, there was a ODI series on? I switched off literally the minute the last Test finished.

[DemonFrog 1,354]

Right on cue Fawad Ahmed takes the wicket and its 2-1 Australia.

Every worker in the country deserves a day off.

Did someone say cricket?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Little Richard 6,264]

Celebrating the ODI series win feels cheap... I'll wait until this summer to crack a celebratory froffy.

[jazza 1,323]

we could be celebrating watto making big hundreds and playing himself into first test at brizzy form

and then he steps straight down the wicket and goes LBW,i challenge that says watto

aussies at brizzy first test 1/19. whos batting at 3,and don't say hughes or kawahahja

[dee-luded 2,959]

we could be celebrating watto making big hundreds and playing himself into first test at brizzy form

and then he steps straight down the wicket and goes LBW,i challenge that says watto

aussies at brizzy first test 1/19. whos batting at 3,and don't say hughes or kawahahja

Latest hundred shows why Shane Watson is Australia's latest incarnation of Adam Gilchrist

HE'LL never be as universally loved, but based on performance alone Shane Watson is Australia's present-day incarnation of Adam Gilchrist.

In the 1990s and 2000s, players such as Gilchrist, Sri Lanka stars Sanath Jayasuria and Romesh Kaluwitharana, and India's Virender Sehwag changed the role of the top-order batsman in one-day cricket.

Rather than trying to sensibly lay a platform like openers do in Test matches, these master blasters were given a licence to thrill.

The instructions were to play shots, and lots of them. Jayasuria and Kaluwitharana famously aimed for 100 runs in the first 10 overs, which seems over ambitious even by today's Twenty20 standards.

But that didn’t stop them from going for it, and Gilchrist was no different as he went about setting up countless victories for Australia alongside the more restrained Mark Waugh.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/cricket/latest-hundred-shows-why-shane-watson-is-australias-latest-incarnation-of-adam-gilchrist/story-fnhq5ybi-1226720745184

--------------------------

IMO Watto could be a very good opener, as long as the 2nd & 3rd bats were extremely solid & reliable... this is why I always wanted Warner @ 3. he can score quickly or steady, & would imo be better suited, & a quicker shift of balance for Anderson's seamers, or for Swann, than Watto.

I think the key is to settle the No 2 & 3 spots with strong headed batsmen, to get the Max out of Watto. if he gets out early, then a strong 2 & 3 build the innings. Clark at 4.

Edited September 19, 2013 by dee-luded

[dee-luded 2,959]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cricket/hussey-reveals-tension-among-test-team-20131002-2uswg.html

Hussey reveals 'tension' among Test team

The consequences of Mike Hussey's shock retirement cannot be underestimated. Photo: Reuters

Retired Test batsman Mike Hussey has traced his waning enjoyment of the Australian dressing room to last year's tour of the West Indies, when he observed the first cracks in the team culture and raised his concerns with then coach Mickey Arthur.

In his new book, Underneath the Southern Cross, Hussey also describes his dismay at decisions made by Cricket Australia in the aftermath of the Argus review.

He felt making captain Michael Clarke a selector, a position Clarke has since relinquished, ''drove a wedge between the players and their leader, and it wasn't fair to either side''.

The consequences of Hussey's shock retirement last summer cannot be understated. Australia suffered heavy Test series losses without him in India and England and the extent of the cultural crisis was revealed with the ''homework'' fiasco, before Arthur's sacking on the cusp of the Ashes.

Hussey reveals ''warning signs about the team environment'' emerged after Australia's 2011-12 Test series win over India. The first was when Arthur, after Australia won the first one-dayer in Melbourne, told the players they would be ''rewarded'' with an unchanged team for the next match. ''What we needed from our coach was a degree of backing and help with our games, not a veiled threat that if we didn't keep playing outstanding games, our heads were on the block,'' Hussey wrote.

During the subsequent West Indies tour, he arranged a meeting with Arthur to discuss his concerns about an ''insular'' culture. ''My view was always that in cricket you have to be genuinely happy for your teammates' success,'' Hussey wrote. ''If it wasn't happening, was it a team culture, or just a few players?

I was a bit nervous about that, and organised a meeting with Mickey. ''I sat down with him and got all my concerns out in the open. 'We need to foster a culture that makes them want to think about other people and play for the team,' I said. 'Get them out of insular thinking, about No.1 only.'

''In our chat, I don't think anything I said went in. Mickey definitely listened but he was in tunnel-vision mode too. He had specific things he wanted to focus on, and anything from left-field didn't register. It was understandable how Mickey had his specific plans, and Michael too. But for me it was a big early warning sign that this team had problems ahead of it. ''We were fostering an environment where guys only cared about their own positions and didn't think about the team.''

Hussey said the dressing room ''became just as stressful and tense as out in the middle. It should be a sanctuary, where you can let go and have a joke with your teammates. Our dressing room wasn't relaxed or calm or conducive to good play. I didn't enjoy that tension.''

Elsewhere, Hussey expresses frustration that CA ''went in the other direction from pretty much everything I had suggested'' during his interview for the Argus review.

Among his concerns was the aggressive promotion of youth in domestic cricket.

Mike Hussey farewells the fans after his final Test at the SCG in January. Photo: Reuters

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/hussey-reveals-tension-among-test-team-20131002-2uswg.html#ixzz2ge52MVJj

[jazza 1,323]

I was gonna write about lack of leadership and tension in the team ,but was soon to realise there was none

maybe ,huss,haydos,flem,katich,and a multitude of others don't know what they are talking about.sorry scrub that ,they definitely don't know what theyre talking about

[dee-luded 2,959]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/shane-watson-sits-down-and-discusses-his-struggles-and-darren-lehmanns-impact/story-fndpt0dy-1226743136692

Shane Watson sits down and discusses his struggles and Darren Lehmann's impact

Shane Watson says Darren Lehman made an immediate impact on the team. Source: AFP

A candid Shane Watson opens up to Jessica Halloran about life under new coach Darren Lehmann, a fractured Australian cricket team, tension with skipper Michael Clarke, and self-doubt.

As for Watson and Clarke’s much scrutinised relationship, he laughs off speculation their shared smiles in the slips and on the balcony during the last Ashes series was "stage managed".

Clarke and Watson have swiftly moved on from Mickey Arthur’s revelation that the Australian captain once referred to him and his faction in the side as “a cancer” on the team.

The 32 year old explains why they have great working relationship but firstly how that final Ashes innings squashed a mountain of self-doubt ...

JH: What did that 176 innings in the final Ashes test in England mean to you, what does it tell you about where your Test cricket is at?

SW:

I hadn’t scored any big runs in Test cricket throughout my whole career, and I hadn’t scored a 100 in quite a few years, so deep down I was doubting whether I had the game to be able to perform and bat especially for really long periods of time. Through the Ashes I was going through some technical issues, I was fortunate to have a lot of good people helping me out, and like anything when you work hard on something it’s really nice to see the rewards. To bring it together and bat for a long period of time, it was something I really had been dreaming of in Test cricket, it’s really nice looking back now, knowing I can do it.

That I have got it in me, hopefully there is a little bit more to come in the next Ashes series.

JH: What’s it like to deal with that nagging self-doubt in the middle of a series?

SW:

Life’s never meant to be easy and I was very lucky to have my wife Lee and son Will there during that time so they really took my mind off it at times. But it was engulfing the majority of my day … it felt like even when I was sleeping. I was just thinking about; “How am I going to get better? How am I going to find a way to achieve things that I feel that I have got in me but I haven’t been able to show?… it’” It’s mentally draining. In the end I learnt my lesson the hard way, especially in Test cricket, because I kept on making mistakes. But to see Will at the end of the day and see how he was developing, to me that was amazing. I couldn’t imagine how I would have got through it if I didn’t have Will and Lee there to take my mind off things. I love cricket but there are more important things life, like having a healthy family and little boy and being the best father I can be.

JH: Speaking to Lee you had no qualms in getting up in the middle night to help her settle Will?

SW:

During the Test match Will was in our room and it didn’t worry me at all if I was getting woken up. The majority of the time I was still getting a good sleep. Lee is an amazing mum and she was doing a brilliant job as well. I am there to help out and it’s more important than a cricket game.

JH: Heading into the next Ashes series, where do you feel you are at?

SW:

I feel like I am only getting better. I have made a lot of mistakes in Test cricket with my batting; I feel like I have really got through that period of time and now is really the time to capitalise on all the experience that I have had. I hope I can contribute more with the ball in this Ashes series if my body continues to stay together. With my batting, I feel like we are much more settled in the batting order, the balance we had in the last Test match we had some stability in the batting order. To know no matter how things are going, there is always a way to work through it and come out the other end.

Shane Watson has maintained his one-day form throughout his Test struggles. Source: AFP

JH: Can you talk about the LBW problem you had and how you started to conquer it?

SW:

I had to go through a few changes. I had to, I had no choice, it couldn’t really get any worse. I could get to the start of an innings, I would get to 20 and they would find a way to bowl that ball and get me out. I couldn’t keep doing that over and over again. I have been very lucky to have a lot of people around me, who would send me an email, call me up, and all the information I was getting had a common thread. From the fourth Test I was able to make the changes. More than anything it was something as simple as just getting my weight right, so my bat was out in front of my pad a bit more, so if the ball seamed, which were the balls were predominantly getting me out, I was able to get my bat on it a bit more. It was as simple as getting my head over my front leg. Sometimes I was getting a bit stuck and they’d bowl that ball and get me out. I am well on my way now to resolving it.

JH: What are your thoughts on the DRS? Do you like it?

SW:

No. (Watson laughs) I have realised I am a shocking umpire ... I have really learnt the umpires are the experts and that I have no idea. I am happy to admit I am useless at it. Umpiring is not for me when I finish. I’d like to go into coaching.

JH: Throughout Ricky Ponting’s new book At The Close Of Play, his attitude toward discipline is starkly at odds with the recent less forgiving approach – in an interview last week he said; “The environment was all about looking after each other, protecting each other, not hanging them out to dry which I think has been happening.” Has it changed under Darren Lehmann?

SW:

It has changed under Darren. There is no doubt about that. There were times in the previous two years that weren’t ideal. The way things were going was definitely in the wrong direction. The day that Darren came in things changed significantly and only for the better. It is now at the stage where everyone is really enjoying themselves again. When Darren first came in, the first meeting we had, he said: “This should be the time of your life.” That it was a privilege to be able to play for your country, and when I first started playing and training for Australia that’s how it was, but we had gone away from it.

JH: What exactly did he bring back to create a happier team environment?

SW:

Experience about what it is to play for Australia – it is that simple. He knew what environment you needed to get the best out of the Australian team. He knows the Australian way of playing cricket and living that day to day. That’s what he brought in. I was lucky enough to play with Darren when he first came into the team and that’s the way he played. He was a genius of a player himself. Off the field everyone really enjoyed themselves and it meant guys were a lot closer. Everyone was enjoying each other’s success. It is a really exciting time, for not just me who has been through what it was originally, then been through that other period, now it is back to a really exciting time.

[dee-luded 2,959]

Lets hope it returns,,,,, & Lets hope it becomes harmonious again.

* to me its time for Alan Border to come back & do a "Bobby Simpson", & become the TEST Team overseer. not play but be the Test Team manager. a bit like a soccer manager.

we just don't have the tools for a proper captain atmo.

... and the coach is wrong not understanding Australian ways. You can't make a Cattle Dog a Hyena.

well, Boof will do it.

------------------------

Read more: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/other-sports/darren-lehman-is-the-most-powerful-coach-australia-has-had-since-bob-simpson/story-e6frf56c-1226743429458#ixzz2iJckcsi8

Darren Lehman is the most powerful coach Australia has had since Bob Simpson

imo - the horse whisperer

Darren Lehmann has a mandate for change as Australia coach. Source: AP

DARREN Lehmann is the most powerful cricket coach Australia has had in two decades.

Often the true powerbrokers in sporting teams are not the headline makers, but the ones who use their clout silently, selectively and subtly behind the scenes, amid the occasional public tub-thump. There have been traces of all of these in Lehmann's one-series reign as Australian coach since dramatically taking over from the sacked Mickey Arthur just before the first Ashes Test in England. Lehmann will have more say in what happens around him than any Australian coach since iron-willed Bob Simpson remoulded Australia's cricket culture between 1986-1996.

Simpson was the first man to hold the position of national coach after a period when Australia went 14 Tests without a win. The comparison is significant because, like Lehmann, Simpson's power was rooted in the fact that the SS Australia had water flooding through every porthole when he took the job.

Like Lehmann, Australia needed Simpson more than Simpson needed Australia. There was no one else in the country at the time suited to the job anywhere near as much as these two.

Australia captain Michael Clarke speaks with coach Darren Lehmann. Source: AP

Few things solidify a man's power base than being the only serious alternative. The other four coaches used between these two eras (Geoff Marsh, John Buchanan, Tim Nielsen and Mickey Arthur) came into the job when Australia's stocks were either soaring or at least better than they are now.

When handed the job it was almost as if they should have been privileged to accept it. There was an unspoken assumption that they could feel free to do some deft interior decorating but don't worry about a major renovation because we are - well, Australia - and we go pretty well.

But the game's changed.

With Australia having lost three Ashes series in a row Lehmann has a powerful mandate for change after accepting the job with a few hours' notice in England. It is not a bad thing Lehmann has substantial influence because of an obvious yet underrated fact, he knows what makes a cricketer.

Like a lot of sports, cricket is finding its way in the hazy, confusing world of sports science and the jury is very much out on the merits of the guidance modern fast bowlers get from sports scientists who might be experts on body movement, but who may also think a new cherry is something you buy at a fruit shop.

The fact that Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, James Pattinson and the rarely sighted Pat Cummins are all broken down with lower back injuries must raise questions as to whether they could be managed better.

It is Lehmann's job to cut through some of the newfangled theories and apply old-fashioned commonsense. You don't put coaches like Simpson and Lehmann into a system and say, “Now would you please not rock the boat.''

You either go with them and their philosophies or don't hire them. Lehmann won't get everything he wants, but he should not be disappointed too often.

Already his fingerprints have been seen on several key decisions. On the very day Lehmann was appointed, Michael Clarke stood down as an Australian selector.

It was rumoured but never confirmed that Lehmann wanted this to happen. Certainly he later fully endorsed the move. A couple of days into the job, he announced Shane Watson would open the batting in the Ashes and he effectively put the kibosh on the controversial rotation policy by saying of the best fast men where fit they would play. Just last week Craig McDermott returned as Australia's fast bowling coach, a Lehmann-endorsed move no one could have predicted when McDermott left the same position for personal reasons not long ago. Like Lehmann, McDermott can talk to his players with a qualified firmness about the demands of the job because he has done it himself at the highest level.

The power of the Australian coach has ebbed and flowed during the past 37 generally bountiful years.

It was never stronger than when Simpson was in charge, but it waned under the likes of Nielsen to the point that the Argus review recommended the coach be made a selector to increase the respect they got from the players.

Lehmann's challenge will be to cut to the chase in a team which is not short of varied opinions. Australia's entourage in England was so big that there were almost as many support staff members as players. Australia are desperately short of future leadership options and one theory is that teams are so well looked after that players simply follow their daily matrix and never learn to think outside the square.

Recently I went to an Andre Rieu concert where at one point he had around 30 people on stage with him, about the same number as the Australian ensemble in England. As always, Rieu and his band members played in perfect symphony, that is now Australia's challenge.

Robert Craddock

Read more: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/other-sports/darren-lehman-is-the-most-powerful-coach-australia-has-had-since-bob-simpson/story-e6frf56c-1226743429458#ixzz2iJckcsi8

Edited October 21, 2013 by dee-luded

[Biffen 12,943]

That was a pretty good article right up until the last paragraph where the author actually admitted to attending an Andre Rieu concert.

Firstly because ,Boof Lehman has nothing whatsoever in common with said performer but also because Andre Rieu has done for classical music what Mozart achieved for panel beating.

Otherwise, not a bad read dee-luded.

[dee-luded 2,959]

That was a pretty good article right up until the last paragraph where the author actually admitted to attending an Andre Rieu concert.

Firstly because ,Boof Lehman has nothing whatsoever in common with said performer but also because Andre Rieu has done for classical music what Mozart achieved for panel beating.

Otherwise, not a bad read dee-luded.

hahaha, I thought the same, thats why i put a bit of separation of it from the main body. but his point remains, team work & harmony.

Australian cricket has gone way off the rails over the last few years, & the cricket became boring, at least to me in that time frame. something I just didn't relate to, & IMO that also related to RP captain but also must have been behind scenes stuff as well.

I never took to punter when captain but loved him as a player. wrong captain choice I think. then Clark???? god help me.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

Nothing new, but interesting to hear CA admit a mistake: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/simon-katich-should-not-have-been-dropped-ca-20131024-2w3uf.html

[jazza 1,323]

I was gonna write about lack of leadership and tension in the team ,but was soon to realise there was none

maybe ,huss,haydos,flem,katich,and a multitude of others don't know what they are talking about.sorry scrub that ,they definitely don't know what theyre talking about

im so embarrassed,

I thought our lack of leadership and infighting within the team had something to do with performance,

wrong again. all the other posters were right

PAGE 86 TODAYS SUN

ricky oh ricky dropping katich after averaging 50+ ,your wrong also rick.it was the right thing to do and it has been proven that backing clarkes captaincy was a supreme idea to take our cricket through the last 4 years.

MASTERSTROKE. back Clarke and drop katich,its worked a treat

[dee-luded 2,959]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/ricky-ponting-goes-on-the-front-foot-at-ca-claiming-miserliness-caught-up-with-australia/story-e6frf3g3-1226745534932

Ricky Ponting goes on the front foot at CA, claiming miserliness caught up with Australia

Ricky Ponting one-on-one Cricket News October 24, 2013 7:43

RICKY Ponting has intensified the pressure on Cricket Australia, claiming he was angry when attempts to try and keep the team No. 1 were often ignored.

"It made me angry at the time,” Ponting said after the launch of his candid autobiography “At the Close of Play” by former Prime Minister John Howard in Sydney yesterday. “I think some of the stuff we’re seeing now might have been half avoidable and I’m pretty sure Buck (former coach John Buchanan) would be saying the same thing about where we find Australian cricket now. “Maybe if some ears had been opened at an earlier time … it wouldn’t have got to the point where we even needed an Argus review. “We might have had things in place better than what we had right now.”

The former captain’s revelations came as sacked coached Mickey Arthur claimed chief executive James Sutherland, high performance manager Pat Howard and captain Michael Clarke would be under pressure if Australia lost a fourth successive Ashes series.

"There are some serious players in Cricket Australia under a lot of pressure around this Test series," Arthur told Fairfax Radio. "If they lose this Test series there is going to be a lot of questions asked. “I think James Sutherland, I think Pat Howard, I think Michael Clarke . . . I think some serious heads could roll if Australia don't win this Test series."

Ponting simply said that everyone is defined by results.

....... In his book Ponting admits to being stunned when told by Sutherland: "no one ever spends money when they are going well.”

This was after Ponting and Buchanan had spent years making quarterly reports to the board. “Whenever we had things that we thought would improve the team we took them straight to the board,” Ponting said yesterday. “History suggests they listed to some of those things, they made some changes around the team, but once again I think there could have been more done back then.

“If you look at the cold hard facts of it, we employed a bowling coach in 2006 after the 2005 Ashes loss and we didn’t have a batting coach until 2010, when we lost the 2009 Ashes. “I don’t know why. I can’t work that out. Why on earth would you have a specialist bowling coach but not batting coach when you’ve only got four bowlers and seven batters.

“Everyone is trying hard. Everyone wants success for the Australian team but it’s not going to be a quick fix, it’s not going to be an overnight thing, which is why the real foresight had to be there a long time ago. “When we were on top of the world we had to be looking at how we were going to get further and further and further away, not just expect that we would stay number one.”

Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/ricky-ponting-goes-on-the-front-foot-at-ca-claiming-miserliness-caught-up-with-australia/story-e6frf3g3-1226745534932#ixzz2igi7A2Uc

Edited October 25, 2013 by dee-luded