The Cricket Thread

[STL]

Hopefully Singh gets belted, and also takes a full toss to his illegal drug filled toes.

You are evil but I like that thought!

The talk is that that track is going to get harder and harder to bat on very early on in the game. Australia to win have to bring it all to a close quickly today and bat through day 2 and day 3 to have any chance. Even if the pitch breaks though, I'm not sure we have the firepower to take the 10 wickets. Our bowling attack seems very ill-directed. Krejza has done okay, as much as can be expected by a newbie. But the remaining four bowlers, Watson and white especially, don't look even close to getting a wicket.

[jacksplatt11]

Krejza, 8/215... Who'da thunk it.. Equal most wickets in an innings on debut.. and also I think most runs conceded on debut, close to it anyway if not..

So, India all out for 441, let's see how AUS go..

[blackie]

Krejza, 8/215... Who'da thunk it.. Equal most wickets in an innings on debut.. and also I think most runs conceded on debut, close to it anyway if not..

So, India all out for 441, let's see how AUS go..

shows how if you just bowl for a whole day, your bound to take wickets eventually :P

[jacksplatt11]

shows how if you just bowl for a whole day, your bound to take wickets eventually :P

Haha true

[blackie]

i was happy today, cause i got to watch a bit of it, and what i saw wasnt great. Krejza really struggled to hit his spots when i was watching, and for an spinner this isnt great. i am a big advocate for cam white, but his bowling has gone downhill since he took over the captancy of victoria, too many captains underbowl themselves

Still cant believe they dropped clark for krejza, hes easily been their most accurate and tight bowler, and they know its not his job to take wickets, like lee and johnson should do, hes there to get them more wickets while taking his own occasionally. he was doing all the right things like building pressure on the batsman, and then the spaz at the other end would bowl absolute pies and get smashed and clark's work went to waste, cummon guys it called Bowling in partnerships.


on a side note anyone but george play at a decent club in melbourne, cause im looking to move asap...

[i_amtrunks]

8 for on debut is nothing to sneeze at, but Krezja did bowl 44 overs, and he was the most expensive bowler (in terms of runs conceded) on debut in the history of test cricket. Had he not gotten 8 wickets, there would be many howling at his inclusion (me included). He worked hard for his wickets, but I think the Indians never took him seriously enough, and that attitude contributed to their downfall.

What was encouraging was the lack of wag in the Indian tail, Kumble was the spine of the tail and now he is gone, their 7-11 are much weaker. India went from 5/422 to all out for 441, thanks to Krezja.
Johnson bowled a plethora of overs too, double what Lee bowled, and even Watson was bowled more than Lee. Again, why pick a struggling bowler when he is also not at 100% when you have better bowlers in the wings?

Australia's batting looks solid, Hayden looked ready for another big score before he was run out from Vijay (it was an excellent throw, on a stupid single). Katich looks set for a century or more (hopefully more) Hussey is solid as ever, while Ponting got bowled by his nemesis, trying to be clever. Since the other Aussie batsmen have done well, expect Clarke to make some runs as well. Haddin and White need lots of runs, as Australia need to post as big a 1st innings lead as possible before sending India in. This is now a test we can win, or India can draw.

[i_amtrunks]

We Started so well too.

I hate it when articles that are so very clearly written by biased Indian supporters are credited only as "Cricinfo staff". Anyone would think that it was exciting, edge of your seat cricket watching India bowl a foot outside off stump to an 8-1 offside field. If any other team tried that tactic to India the howling would not cease, but when India do it, it's the smartest move ever.

Yes it was smart, but it makes for such boring cricket, and showed how scared the Indians were of the Aussies scoring well, such a negative way to bowl for an entire session. On the flip side Khan and Sharma did brilliantly to bowl the correct line and length in such a long spell.

Katich managed 102, while Hussey was brilliantly run out on 90 (Vijay is one fantastic fieldsman, and room should be found for him in the 11 after Ganguly retires, India needs the best fieldsmen they can find). No surprise that when Clarke and Watson needed to stand up, both failed. Haddin and White tried to correct the ship but couldn't. I'm confident in saying that Clarke needs to be dropped again and given a good spell in the Sheffield Shield to get some form before any recall. But the selectors are brain dead morons, so it wont happen.

And why was Lee picked? Australia had one over at the Indians and it was handed to Johnson, not the supposed Aussie spearhead. India to bat for as much of the next two days, and bat slowly and cautiously when Tendulkar and Laxman get in. A terrible tour for both Australai and good cricket will end in the same manner that India played in 3 out out of 4 games. Boring and overly safe.

[STL]

The Aussies actually had a revival. They need 369 to win on the final day. That's about 4 an over. They achieved that run rate with their top 4 the other day but once India settled into negative bowling tactics, it pretty much ripped hte game away from the Aussies. I expect that to happen tomorrow. It'll be fairly ugly cricket and I think b/c of the never say die attitude of the Aussies, they could get bowled out and go 2-0. But I'd rather have an honourable defeat in pursuit of victory than a toothless draw.

And the Aussies have themselves to blame again anyway. They had India on the ropes at 6 for but then let Singh get away with a half century. That's put the game into near impossible reach. If they'd cleaned up, they'd only be chasing 290 odd. As it stands, that 100 runs will make all the difference.

I don't think the Aussies have played badly in this series. They've been very competititve despite poor team selections. I am interested to see though what people make of Watson's 4 wickets. Krejza took wickets again which I'm happy to see but I'm not sure how much of that is b/c of the lack of respect they have for him. His economy rate is poor though and you'd hope to have a Stuart Clark type at the other end to support him at the least. But I -hope- the selectors stick w/ Krejza. It'll be interesting to see how M. Clarke will play tomorrow. I have no doubt he'll be in, the question is whether or not he can handle the pressure.

[STL]

I just read this now.

Very disillusioned.

[i_amtrunks]

Johsnon and Lee are very slow fast bowlers, and Watson takes even longer to bowl each ball, even though he has a shorter run-up and bowls slower.

The Indians are also master time wasters, which cuts into over rates moreso than the pace bowlers. I noticed a few times when Ponting changes the spinners that it would take more than a minute for him to reset the field, thats too long, and explains why he needs to use part time spinners.

Australia could get 370 in a day, they have done it before, the wicket may be getting friendlier to spin, but it's still mainly a batsman's wicket. We need Hayden to score big, and Ponting to play a good innings too, Katich and Hussey are still in great form, but they both have abysmal run rates. If the Top 4 go for less than 200 we won't win Clarke and the tail won't hold out.

So India to bowl spin from the get go, and bowl a foot outside offstump to an 8-1 field again? Even if they only did it to Katich, it would be smart, to get under his skin.