Cricket 2013

[Troy]

Ponting played a great shot before but it went straight to the fielder in the deep and he was out for 7, his fifth single digit score this series. He needs a rest but they need Clarke back to replace him. Hopefully Wade can start timing them to take pressure off Forrest.

 

[AZUCAR!]

I've been surprised by England's One Day form against Pakistan.

We got thrashed by them in the Test series and yet, now our One Day squad is 3-0 up which I didn't think would happen. I'd like us to stay at #1 in the ICC Test Rankings but it's highly unlikely. Hopefully the selectors will decide to use Steven Finn for our next Test series too. Since he's been on form against Pakistan in the ODI's.

 

[Troy]

It is odd since the opposite happened against India. I have been surprised at how much life is in those pitches over there because normally they have been roads. Back in England I see Finn getting the spot since two spinners won't be played again. Panesar had a brilliant return taking 14 wickets in just two tests, puts a little bit of pressure on Swann but Swann is still the clear number one spinner for England.

In the end Australia easily won the ODI. Michael Hussey starred again with a run a ball fifty, Forrest struggled early but finished with his second half century in three games and Christian and DHussey finished in style. 288 was always going to be too much and when India were 3/16 it was all over. Finished with 178 with Lee taking three wickets and Hilfenhaus taking his first five wicket haul in his first ODI game in two years. Dhoni scored a fifty but has been banned again for having a slow over rate.

There was a T20 on last night between New Zealand and South Africa and Richard Levi in his second game for his second game for South Africa scored 117* from 51 balls. He hit 13 sixes which is a record in an IT20 innings.

 

[Troy]

This is the squad for the next few games:

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson (vc), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Ponting has been dropped and he has a press conference in a couple of days time. It sounds like he will retire from ODI cricket and will focus on only test cricket. Bailey and Starc are also out of the squad with Clarke, Watson and Harris coming into the squad. Other big news is that Wade is now the preferred kepper for ODI's and Haddin won't get his spot back. If Watson comes back he should just bat and we shouldn't risk injurying him by getting him to bowl. Christian and D Hussey can cover 10+ overs. Wonder if Warner will be dropped since Watson is back?

Watson
Wade
Clarke
Forrest
Hussey
Hussey
Christian
Lee
Harris
Doherty
Hilfenhaus

I think that will be the team unless Warner stays in and Forrest is dropped.

 

[Troy]

Australia vs. Sri Lanka is on now. Won the toss and Clarke chose to bat first. Ponting is out with Clarke coming in, Watson is 12th man. Both Wade and Warner fell cheaply and surely this means that Warner will be dropped for the next match when Watson returns to open, obviously Wade can't be dropped because he is keeper and Forrest is scoring runs so Warner has to go. Forrest has another half century, his third in four ODIs, I was skeptical of him at first because he wasn't in form and averaged less than 30 in List A matches but he has proved me wrong. The only issue I have is he scores so slow his S/R was below 60 for ages and now is only at 66 which is too low for ODIs. S/R of closer to 75 would be much better. Clarke in the runs again with 45 not out.

2/132 from 31 overs

 

[Troy]

Forrest just brought up his hundred, his first in any version of the 50 over game. He is still going too slow at a strike rate of around 70 and he needs to free the arms now pick up the pace because this is an ODI. As I type that he hits a four and then tries again but skies it and gets out 104 from 138 balls. Clarke got out earlier for 72 from 78 and did a great job of keeping the scoreboard ticking over. 201/4 from 40.2 overs now with both Husseys batting. Need some big hitting again from these two and Christian to get us a good total because this pitch is a good one.

 

[Troy]

Bad loss yesterday, in the end 280 wasn't enough. Harris and Lee bowled poorly and Forrest's slow batting was costly in the end. Some changes need to be made for the next game Watson in for Warner to open and then McKay in for Harris.

Just watched South Australia somehow win the one day final with a tie. Incredible game that had so many momentum changes. Incredible final over by Gary Putland got us over the line. Our fielding nearly screwed us. Bailey and Ponting were fantastic for Tasmania but Faulkner just couldn't give Ponting the strike at the end.

Just quietly three of the top four scorers in the Ryobi cup this season are from South Australia with Klinger 100 runs in front of the number two yet he is never considered for Australian selection.

 

[Troy]

Easy win yesterday, 87 run win against India to get the bonus point. We only scored 252 but it was more than enough in the end. Warner was lucky to get another game thanks to Clarke's back injury flaring up again and then he ended up top scoring with 68. Hussey and Wade both got half centuries as well. There was some controversy about David Hussey handling the ball but he was always going to make his ground and was just shielding his face. As for the bowlers Watson stared in his first match as captain with 2/9 from 5 overs.

 

[Troy]

Sri Lanka and Australia will contest the finals after Sri Lanka beat Australia tonight which was their third win in four games against us this season. Sri Lanka scored 238 but looked set for a much bigger score until Daniel Christian ripped through them with a hattrick on his way to 5/31. Pattinson chipped in with 4 wickets in only his third ODI. We were bowled out for 229 after our top order failed yet again. Watson and David Hussey both scored half centuries but it wasn't enough in the end. With Michael Clarke to come back for the finals surely Warner is dropped because he is the worst performed out of all the batsmen.

Also Ponting scored 130 in a first class match for Tasmania against South Australia today, still in great touch.

 

[Troy]

First final is on now, Clarke and Lee are back in for Forrest and McKay. Forrest is unlucky to be dropped when he is the second highest run scorer for Australia this series. Australia are batting first and after 10.2 overs are 69/0, Wade and Warner looking good so far but they are off at the moment because of a rain delay.

 

[Troy]

Wade was out before thanks to a quality catch to Herath. Went for a straight six but didn't quite middle it, Herath walked in from the boundary but then realised he went too far so he threw a hand up and it stuck. Good innings of 64 for Wade. Warner is currently 78* and Australia are 153/1 after 27 overs.

 

[Troy]

What a crazy finish.

Australia ended up scoring 321 thanks to 163 for David Warner. He was well overdue for that innings and it was needed to keep him spot in the team. In reply Sri Lanka were in lots of trouble at 6/144 but Tharanga and Kulasekara had a brilliant partnership to put them back in the game. Some good death bowling by Watson got us over the line in the end, winning by 15 runs. David Hussey finished with four wickets and Lee and Watson both took three wickets. Our death bowling was horrible and we need to work on that. It didn't help that Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Christian were poor with the ball throughout the entire night.

 

[Troy]

Second Final was onesided. Clarke scored an awesome century and Warner also scored a century but it was simply too slow. We made 275 which was 40 runs shorts, Warner made 100 from 140 which was the slowest century by an Australian since 1992. Sri Lanka were fantastic and completey rattled the Australian bowling line-up.

Third and deciding Final is happening now. Once again we are batting first and we are missing Clarke and Pattinson due to injury with Forrest and Lyon taking their spots, this is Lyon's ODI debut. After 14 overs 75/1 with Warner just getting out for 48.

 

[Troy]

Great final game for a fantastic series. The batting kind of collapsed after my last post and we were struggling until Lee and McKay showed some fight and scored 32 and 28 respectively to get us to 231. In reply Sri Lanka lost a lot of wickets early but were still in it for the entire game. McKay, Watson and Christian were awesome with the ball and McKay won the MOTM for his batting plus 5/28. I hope that we use the tri-series format again but instead of four games against each opponent I think that three games would be more than enough.

New Zealand are playing South Africa in a test match at the moment and after the second day NZ lead by five runs with one wicket in hand. Great close contest with no batsman able to go on with it. Philander is on track for yet another five wicket haul which would be his fifth in five matches. He currently has four for the innings and with Chris Martin batting he has a great chance to get five.

In potential big news Dravid has announced a press conference for tomorrow and it is speculated that he will be announcing his retirement.

 

[Troy]

Rahul Dravid announced his retirement today. He was one of the best batsman of his generation with 13288 test runs and 10889 ODI runs. He was often overshadowed by more flamboyant players like Tendulkar and Sehwag but he has been the rock of the Indian middle order for more than a decade. Stylish player with a classical technique and a true professional. Will be missed but in saying that it was time for him to retire. Laxman can't be too far behind and neither can Tendulkar.

In the South Africa/New Zealand test the tailenders gave NZ a 35 run lead but Smith and Kallis have dominated the day to give South Africa the edge. The both scored centuries, this was Kallis' 42nd test ton and he currently averages over 57 in tests! He has had a dream run over the past couple of years and just can't seem to do a thing wrong with the bat. At the end of day three South Africa are 233 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand.