Much has been made of Australia's series loss to India, their first in a very long time, and the immediate speculation is of course whether Australia has lost it. No more McGrath, Warne, Langer, Martyn or Gilchrist, no more Australia? It's the question that's been asked more often than any other in cricket, but one that is perhaps a little hesitant.
The first thing to consider is that when any team loses five of its best players (although Martyn was hardly a star at the end), it's going to take some time to adjust. A half-team turnaround is difficult to manage, no matter how good the youngsters are.
Secondly, let's remember the fact that in Australia's period of dominance, they only won a series in India once. Even at home, they have traditionally struggled against the Indians, always finding it difficult to cope with their spin. Of course now, India have found themselves a pretty decent pace attack, with Ishant Sharma one of the most promising young fast bowlers in the world. All in all, it seems that Australia failing its mission impossible for so many years is not something to read too much into. The tour of India has always been Superman's kryptonite after all!
As Australia get ready to host South Africa, once again brimming with confidence at the prospect of knocking off the Australians, we stand to get our best indication of where the other challengers of the crown are at, and where the former invincibles are too. How the Aussies cope with Dale Steyn will be an interesting battle, Steyn the hottest fast bowler in test cricket at the moment, and Australia seemingly vulnerable to the swinging ball, it stands to be a contest to savour.
History has shown, however, that South African confidence can often be misplaced, for many a time have the Proteas travelled down under on a high, in form and ready to pounce, only to be sent packing home by an Aussie side too strong. Graeme Smith has made it a habit of making bold pre-series predictions, perhaps desiring to live up to his former opponents' (McGrath, Warne) arrogant reputations. Smith will be the key to his nation's success, as a captain he will need to stand up and continue his great form, and as an opener he will need to get a solid start to their innings.
With Ricky Ponting under a wrist injury cloud, only time will tell whether he has indeed lost it, and his ability to cope with Steyn will prove telling. His vulnerability against spin was always obvious in India. After all, how many great spin bowlers are there outside the subcontinent these days with Shane Warne gone? Daniel Vettori certainly comes to mind, so the Australians' victory over New Zealand (weak though they may be) will be a relief for many.
It's showtime though, as two of test cricket's best clash down under. Are Australia on the decline, or is it just another case of India-itis? Once again, only time will tell, but if South Africa can shake a monkey off their back and record a series victory down under, it may be more serious than we though.
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricket. Show all posts
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Monday, 6 October 2008
To spin or not to spin: The Australian selection dilemma
Australia's spin department is cursed one might think. Ever since the king of spin, Shane Warne retired, a horror run with injuries, retirements and losses of form has left Australia with the unsavoury decision of whether to throw in an uncapped spinner against the world's best players of spin, India, or turn to the power of a promising pack of pacemen, led by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, on the world's biggest turning pitches.
With both of Warne's initial replacements, Stuart MacGill (who walked out mid-series due to debilitating injuries) and One Day specialist Brad Hogg both retiring within a year of making their long awaited returns to test cricket, Australia's hopes now lie in the hands of the talented Tasmanian Jason Krejza, and Victorian batting all-rounder Cameron White, one of the country's most talented young batsmen, but certainly not so in the bowling department. Their First Class bowling averages are 50 (Krejza) and 38 (White) respectively, which shows how desperate Australia have become for a wild card to emerge from the pack.
Interesting is Beau Casson, the second choice spinner (who played after MacGill retired) in the West Indies, now seeming to be on the outer, merely because he's a left arm spinner, especially when Bryce McGain, clearly the best spinner in Australia, fell to injury and was forced out of the tour, White's inclusion ahead of Casson seemed an interesting bet.
While it can be said that White's batting will come in handy, it is still a mystery as to whether his bowling is good enough to trouble the Indians. White is as unorthodox as they come, his stock ball is a wrong un, he doesn't extract much turn, and he relies more on changes in pace, and often just being slogged at the wrong time, to take his wickets.
Krejza on the other hand is capable of getting good turn, and decent flight too, but he has never taken a 5 wicket haul, and would seem more of a future project than someone ready to be playing test cricket.
It seems that Australia has the choice of either sending in a raw, and perhaps unprepared spinner, or to play four pacemen instead. With Lee, Clark and Mitchell Johnson are all shoe-ins, so the question is whether Australia will use batting all-rounder Shane Watson as their fourth paceman, and then use either Krejza or White as the 5th bowler, or whether they will use one of the country's most exciting bowlers, Peter Siddle, already earmarked as part of the future after a breakthrough season for Victoria, or New South Wales' Doug Bollinger, a more experience option, though one that did not play in the Aussies' tour game.
It seems most likely, however, that the Aussies will stick with Krejza, despite being belted around the park in the tour game (he conceded over 6 an over across the match, and took no wickets) with logic dictating that a good spinner is required to win test matches in India, but it certainly seems that with the spinners' track records, Siddle or Bollinger would be a better option. To spin or not to spin? That is the question.
With both of Warne's initial replacements, Stuart MacGill (who walked out mid-series due to debilitating injuries) and One Day specialist Brad Hogg both retiring within a year of making their long awaited returns to test cricket, Australia's hopes now lie in the hands of the talented Tasmanian Jason Krejza, and Victorian batting all-rounder Cameron White, one of the country's most talented young batsmen, but certainly not so in the bowling department. Their First Class bowling averages are 50 (Krejza) and 38 (White) respectively, which shows how desperate Australia have become for a wild card to emerge from the pack.
Interesting is Beau Casson, the second choice spinner (who played after MacGill retired) in the West Indies, now seeming to be on the outer, merely because he's a left arm spinner, especially when Bryce McGain, clearly the best spinner in Australia, fell to injury and was forced out of the tour, White's inclusion ahead of Casson seemed an interesting bet.
While it can be said that White's batting will come in handy, it is still a mystery as to whether his bowling is good enough to trouble the Indians. White is as unorthodox as they come, his stock ball is a wrong un, he doesn't extract much turn, and he relies more on changes in pace, and often just being slogged at the wrong time, to take his wickets.
Krejza on the other hand is capable of getting good turn, and decent flight too, but he has never taken a 5 wicket haul, and would seem more of a future project than someone ready to be playing test cricket.
It seems that Australia has the choice of either sending in a raw, and perhaps unprepared spinner, or to play four pacemen instead. With Lee, Clark and Mitchell Johnson are all shoe-ins, so the question is whether Australia will use batting all-rounder Shane Watson as their fourth paceman, and then use either Krejza or White as the 5th bowler, or whether they will use one of the country's most exciting bowlers, Peter Siddle, already earmarked as part of the future after a breakthrough season for Victoria, or New South Wales' Doug Bollinger, a more experience option, though one that did not play in the Aussies' tour game.
It seems most likely, however, that the Aussies will stick with Krejza, despite being belted around the park in the tour game (he conceded over 6 an over across the match, and took no wickets) with logic dictating that a good spinner is required to win test matches in India, but it certainly seems that with the spinners' track records, Siddle or Bollinger would be a better option. To spin or not to spin? That is the question.
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Meanwhile in the West...
For a blog that is barely being read, it seems a bit strange for me to write three posts in a single week, but these wayward kicks (hence the blog name) keep presenting themselves!
Yesterday the West Indies cricket board announced that it would avoid being so overbearing as to block its three best players from staying in India rather than returning home to help the national side fend off Australia. Congratulations Donald Peters (CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board), you have won my bozo of the week. In fact, you have won yourself a nomination for a more significant all time bozo award. In a week that Jeff Fenech announced he was going to come out of retirement, Anthony Mundine scheduled yet another fight against Sam Soliman, and Wayne Carey put himself on the front cover of a tabloid magazine to admit a drug problem and to apologise to the public, in an attempt to slow down his incredible knack of losing all the respect he had about about a month or two ago, Dr. Peters (which has me thinking about entering one of those free instant diploma scams since it clearly does help) wins the cake.
Now that we've got that incredibly irrelevant rant/newsreel out of the way, let's just recap. The Indian Premier League is a franchised competition where independent business buy teams and players for millions of USD, all to play in a month-long Twenty20 carnival. Now of course, you may be thinking to yourself, 'but that's not cricket, I thought that cricket was the only world sport to actually care about its international game rather than just cash!" Stop right there, because the IPL (Indian Premier League) organisers had it all worked out! The IPL will NOT take over international cricket, because all the cricket boards would have to sign a no objection form to clear players to participate, especially during international games! So Dr. Peters, congratulations on making this agreement obsolete, and for being a complete idiot while you're at it. Let's review why he cleared them to play:
Let's sum it up for you Dr. Peters since you've failed to get the message: Tournament rules dictate that no players can play without permission from their board. You don't want your players to play, but you're clearing them anyway because they'll go anyway. Dr. Peters, did you get your business degree at the same place that Wayne Carey got his latest stash?
As for the long term implications, I'm glad to read that Dr. Peters has expressed a desire to rectify this problem, and is aware of it. He must have been partying with Collingwood staff recently, because the Pies know all about complaining about problems that they created themselves. Had the Windies blocked Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan from playing in the middle of the Aussie tour, and the three players decided to go anyway, the IPL would have been forced to either boycott its own rules, or to turn away the players. In the case that they had chosen the former, it would have caused a split of the boards, which would have looked something like India v Every other test nation, because we all know how much international sides of all sports love it when their players threaten to boycott international games for domestic commitments, in which case the ICC would have been forced to take action against the league or players, and the entire problem would have been avoided permanently, because no matter how far the ICC is willing to bend over backwards for India, it's unlikely that they would have opposed a motion where 9 members vote for it and 1 votes against.
Instead, Dr. Peters has opened a Pandora's Box and has sat on his hands while it threatens the very fabrics of international cricket. Oh well, at least when we look back in 20 years' time at the death of test and 50 over cricket, and of international cricket, as an even shorter 10 over match makes Twenty20 look boring and as the Indian Premier League is as even as the English Premier League in soccer where the poorest sides always lose and the 'big 4' win everything, we can at least comfort ourselves with the fact that our cricketers are now making more money than they ever possibly needed. Maybe they'll even donate it to charity. One only wishes that it wasn't up to the players to do that, and instead up to the multi-billionaires living in the middle of overpopulated countries with high poverty and disease, instead of going to a bunch of guys who hit leather balls with willow bats for a living.
Bring on the new world order!
Yesterday the West Indies cricket board announced that it would avoid being so overbearing as to block its three best players from staying in India rather than returning home to help the national side fend off Australia. Congratulations Donald Peters (CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board), you have won my bozo of the week. In fact, you have won yourself a nomination for a more significant all time bozo award. In a week that Jeff Fenech announced he was going to come out of retirement, Anthony Mundine scheduled yet another fight against Sam Soliman, and Wayne Carey put himself on the front cover of a tabloid magazine to admit a drug problem and to apologise to the public, in an attempt to slow down his incredible knack of losing all the respect he had about about a month or two ago, Dr. Peters (which has me thinking about entering one of those free instant diploma scams since it clearly does help) wins the cake.
Now that we've got that incredibly irrelevant rant/newsreel out of the way, let's just recap. The Indian Premier League is a franchised competition where independent business buy teams and players for millions of USD, all to play in a month-long Twenty20 carnival. Now of course, you may be thinking to yourself, 'but that's not cricket, I thought that cricket was the only world sport to actually care about its international game rather than just cash!" Stop right there, because the IPL (Indian Premier League) organisers had it all worked out! The IPL will NOT take over international cricket, because all the cricket boards would have to sign a no objection form to clear players to participate, especially during international games! So Dr. Peters, congratulations on making this agreement obsolete, and for being a complete idiot while you're at it. Let's review why he cleared them to play:
One option available to the WICB is to refuse to allow the players to go - they need No Objection Certificates from the board before being allowed to play abroad - but that is a route he does not want to go down. "I have the NOCs for the players, and I have to release the players, but I am not going to not release the players because they would go anyway," he told The Gleaner. "Given the amount of money involved, it certainly destabilises the infrastructure of cricket. It's not fair to the players, and it's not fair to the national teams. But this is capitalism at its best, free market enterprise at its best, and we now instead of crying have to find a way to make it work, so that we win, and they win. But right now we are losing."
Let's sum it up for you Dr. Peters since you've failed to get the message: Tournament rules dictate that no players can play without permission from their board. You don't want your players to play, but you're clearing them anyway because they'll go anyway. Dr. Peters, did you get your business degree at the same place that Wayne Carey got his latest stash?
As for the long term implications, I'm glad to read that Dr. Peters has expressed a desire to rectify this problem, and is aware of it. He must have been partying with Collingwood staff recently, because the Pies know all about complaining about problems that they created themselves. Had the Windies blocked Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan from playing in the middle of the Aussie tour, and the three players decided to go anyway, the IPL would have been forced to either boycott its own rules, or to turn away the players. In the case that they had chosen the former, it would have caused a split of the boards, which would have looked something like India v Every other test nation, because we all know how much international sides of all sports love it when their players threaten to boycott international games for domestic commitments, in which case the ICC would have been forced to take action against the league or players, and the entire problem would have been avoided permanently, because no matter how far the ICC is willing to bend over backwards for India, it's unlikely that they would have opposed a motion where 9 members vote for it and 1 votes against.
Instead, Dr. Peters has opened a Pandora's Box and has sat on his hands while it threatens the very fabrics of international cricket. Oh well, at least when we look back in 20 years' time at the death of test and 50 over cricket, and of international cricket, as an even shorter 10 over match makes Twenty20 look boring and as the Indian Premier League is as even as the English Premier League in soccer where the poorest sides always lose and the 'big 4' win everything, we can at least comfort ourselves with the fact that our cricketers are now making more money than they ever possibly needed. Maybe they'll even donate it to charity. One only wishes that it wasn't up to the players to do that, and instead up to the multi-billionaires living in the middle of overpopulated countries with high poverty and disease, instead of going to a bunch of guys who hit leather balls with willow bats for a living.
Bring on the new world order!
Friday, 14 March 2008
Pakistani pullout was sensible
It seems that every man and his dog has an opinion on whether Australia should have pulled out of its tour of Pakistan or not, so I suppose it's only fair to give mine.
Critics have come from far and wide, arguing about the precedents that the Aussie pullout will set, and of course the obvious fact that Australians will be safe. Perfectly reasonable, us Australians are loved worldwide at the moment, aren't we? Only last year Al-Qaeda threatened to bomb Australia, and what better way to advance their cause and seem more serious than to kill off the pride of the country, its cricket team? Surely they thought that through a little more!
Imran Khan was the latest in a long line of critics, the Pakistani cricket turned sex symbol turned politician throwing his hat into the fray, repeating what everyone else in Pakistan has said. He blamed Pervez Musharraf for the political instability; that's a surprise, dictatorships rarely end in fighting and uprising, do they? On the other hand, he made a more interesting point:
Of course Australia could worry about the precedent it is setting, but do we honestly think that what other people think and do is so important that we should risk our cricketers' lives for it? Even Andrew Symonds, the binge drinking tough guy who trained with the Broncos (although I never thought much of rugby league players) who is happy to go after streakers with shoulder charges, didn't want to tour their. In fact, he almost refused to go regardless of the outcome of the inquiry.
As far as I'm concerned, the only negative here is that players are too concerned about playing in the Indian Premier League during the cancelled tour's dates. But that's another story for another time!
Critics have come from far and wide, arguing about the precedents that the Aussie pullout will set, and of course the obvious fact that Australians will be safe. Perfectly reasonable, us Australians are loved worldwide at the moment, aren't we? Only last year Al-Qaeda threatened to bomb Australia, and what better way to advance their cause and seem more serious than to kill off the pride of the country, its cricket team? Surely they thought that through a little more!
Imran Khan was the latest in a long line of critics, the Pakistani cricket turned sex symbol turned politician throwing his hat into the fray, repeating what everyone else in Pakistan has said. He blamed Pervez Musharraf for the political instability; that's a surprise, dictatorships rarely end in fighting and uprising, do they? On the other hand, he made a more interesting point:
"People feel the Australians are unjustified in pulling out, but Australia's decision is understandable as everything that happens in Pakistan is magnified to larger proportions abroad," Imran said. "Australians don't live here and they don't know that bombings are not aimed at sportsmen but terrorists' targets are specific. No one has ever targeted sportsmen in Pakistan."Which brings me back to my original point that Australians are about as popular in the cricketing world as neo-nazism is to just about everyone else. Ignoring that fact, let's look at the overreaction issue. Bombs are going off in Pakistan. People's lives are in danger. There is political unrest. Magnifying an issue like that is all very well to criticise, but again, people are dying. Terrorists have assassinated the opposition leader. If there is anything here that isn't worth magnifying, let me know!
Of course Australia could worry about the precedent it is setting, but do we honestly think that what other people think and do is so important that we should risk our cricketers' lives for it? Even Andrew Symonds, the binge drinking tough guy who trained with the Broncos (although I never thought much of rugby league players) who is happy to go after streakers with shoulder charges, didn't want to tour their. In fact, he almost refused to go regardless of the outcome of the inquiry.
As far as I'm concerned, the only negative here is that players are too concerned about playing in the Indian Premier League during the cancelled tour's dates. But that's another story for another time!
Monday, 10 March 2008
From one silly season to another
Summer is a time for sunshine, picnics, parties and holidays. Sport is an important part too, but cricket is generally the break for Aussies from the rigours of football (whether it be AFL or Rugby) season, a chance to sit back, relax and enjoy some relaxing entertainment; can of beer in one hand, and an outstretched finger in the other, to soak in the sun and catch some runs.
So why is this night different from all other nights, ask those who have heard a lot of noise and a little of cricket. The simple answer is, this time, someone fought back. Not just in the cricket either, it would be one thing if Australia had just been outplayed on the field for the first time in 3 years, but the fightback also came off the field. For once, the foul mouthed Aussies had someone spitting in the other direction. It wasn't just whitewash predictions from the fast bowlers and stick it up their ass calls from the batsmen, because this time the opposition were not to be outdone, in fact quite the contrary!
Had it come out to just play cricket, India would have been respected greatly. Australia had not lost or drawn a test since 2005, but India forced them to suffer one of each in the space of 2 games, and then made the World Champions look like amateurs by winning the Tri Series finals 2-0 for the second year in a row. But it was one veteran spinner's war of words that dominated the tour, from the phantom 'monkey' taunt, to the constant 'I don't like them either' responses and cheap Indian pride stunts performed by the 12th Man (yes we're talking about Harbhajan again), not to mention the increasing amounts of spectators getting ejected. On face value, it sounds a lot like scenes from federal Parliament but this is cricket, the way the Aussies like to play it: aggressively. Their other favourite component is success, but we all know what happened to that one. However, India managed to drag themselves down to the Australian level, and lost a lot of respect as a result. Even youngster Ishant Sharma was seen puffing his chest and acting like a much more experienced bowler than he really is. All this isn't to say that the Australians are any better, they aren't, but that doesn't mean that India must try its hardest to be liked even less.
Despite the poor sportsmanship all round, some pretty good cricket was seen all round, but it wasn't enough to stop the sighs of relief erupting all around as cricket season finally came to a close, and football season made its way back in.
Though AFL's preseason is already completed, domestic cricket reaches its pinnacle this week when Victoria takes on New South Wales at the SCG in the final of the Pura Cup. New South Wales will celebrate the achievement of coming first by dropping its entire pace attack for three international players, including one who has played two matches all season for them, and taken one wicket all up (including a wicketless Pura Cup match). Now don't get me wrong, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken (Michael Clarke is also coming back from international duty) are all fantastic players, but to drop the players who got them there in the first place is a big slap in the face for their hard working youngsters. "Get out there and play your best cricket, but no matter how well you play, you'll still be dropped if our Aussie internationals are available," seems to be the message. Mark Cameron was last year dropped for the Pura Cup final when Matthew Nicholson returned from injury, despite taking 5 wickets against Tasmania a fortnight earlier, and he will now be dropped for Lee and co. despite having taken 27 wickets this season at 17.51. Two years in a row the promising 27 year old has had his confidence shattered, which reminds me of the time Victorian skipper Paul Reiffel declared with Michael Klinger on 99 a few years back. It promises to be an exciting clash though, with the star studded New South Wales team taking on a more settled but less spectacular Victorian side.
Of course, no AFL pre season competition is complete without cries of not trying/caring, and a fair bit of controversy to back it up, but this year's reached new heights when Swans coach Paul Roos was accused by the AFL of deliberately throwing a match. Perish the thought! A team not trying their hardest? Now that's a new issue in football! Of course this is a bit more serious than a team not trying their hardest, but is less serious than a team tanking most of the latter half of the season.
Sanity prevailed of course, and Roos was found not guilty, but it didn't stop the conspiracy theories from Roos, who claimed that the AFL hates him, ever since they called the swans 'ugly ducklings' several weeks before they ended up winning the premiership. Apparently Andrew Demetriou and co are out to get him. Get a ticket and wait in line please Paul.
So why is this night different from all other nights, ask those who have heard a lot of noise and a little of cricket. The simple answer is, this time, someone fought back. Not just in the cricket either, it would be one thing if Australia had just been outplayed on the field for the first time in 3 years, but the fightback also came off the field. For once, the foul mouthed Aussies had someone spitting in the other direction. It wasn't just whitewash predictions from the fast bowlers and stick it up their ass calls from the batsmen, because this time the opposition were not to be outdone, in fact quite the contrary!
Had it come out to just play cricket, India would have been respected greatly. Australia had not lost or drawn a test since 2005, but India forced them to suffer one of each in the space of 2 games, and then made the World Champions look like amateurs by winning the Tri Series finals 2-0 for the second year in a row. But it was one veteran spinner's war of words that dominated the tour, from the phantom 'monkey' taunt, to the constant 'I don't like them either' responses and cheap Indian pride stunts performed by the 12th Man (yes we're talking about Harbhajan again), not to mention the increasing amounts of spectators getting ejected. On face value, it sounds a lot like scenes from federal Parliament but this is cricket, the way the Aussies like to play it: aggressively. Their other favourite component is success, but we all know what happened to that one. However, India managed to drag themselves down to the Australian level, and lost a lot of respect as a result. Even youngster Ishant Sharma was seen puffing his chest and acting like a much more experienced bowler than he really is. All this isn't to say that the Australians are any better, they aren't, but that doesn't mean that India must try its hardest to be liked even less.
Despite the poor sportsmanship all round, some pretty good cricket was seen all round, but it wasn't enough to stop the sighs of relief erupting all around as cricket season finally came to a close, and football season made its way back in.
Though AFL's preseason is already completed, domestic cricket reaches its pinnacle this week when Victoria takes on New South Wales at the SCG in the final of the Pura Cup. New South Wales will celebrate the achievement of coming first by dropping its entire pace attack for three international players, including one who has played two matches all season for them, and taken one wicket all up (including a wicketless Pura Cup match). Now don't get me wrong, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken (Michael Clarke is also coming back from international duty) are all fantastic players, but to drop the players who got them there in the first place is a big slap in the face for their hard working youngsters. "Get out there and play your best cricket, but no matter how well you play, you'll still be dropped if our Aussie internationals are available," seems to be the message. Mark Cameron was last year dropped for the Pura Cup final when Matthew Nicholson returned from injury, despite taking 5 wickets against Tasmania a fortnight earlier, and he will now be dropped for Lee and co. despite having taken 27 wickets this season at 17.51. Two years in a row the promising 27 year old has had his confidence shattered, which reminds me of the time Victorian skipper Paul Reiffel declared with Michael Klinger on 99 a few years back. It promises to be an exciting clash though, with the star studded New South Wales team taking on a more settled but less spectacular Victorian side.
Of course, no AFL pre season competition is complete without cries of not trying/caring, and a fair bit of controversy to back it up, but this year's reached new heights when Swans coach Paul Roos was accused by the AFL of deliberately throwing a match. Perish the thought! A team not trying their hardest? Now that's a new issue in football! Of course this is a bit more serious than a team not trying their hardest, but is less serious than a team tanking most of the latter half of the season.
Sanity prevailed of course, and Roos was found not guilty, but it didn't stop the conspiracy theories from Roos, who claimed that the AFL hates him, ever since they called the swans 'ugly ducklings' several weeks before they ended up winning the premiership. Apparently Andrew Demetriou and co are out to get him. Get a ticket and wait in line please Paul.
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