Cricket 2013

[Prodigy]

Last time I checked we were 23/1 and we're still ahead by nearly 200 runs. It'd be nice to set India a target of 400 runs by around 5.30 PM GMT and then get 3 or 4 wickets by stumps.

 

[Troy]

England are in a great position. India only made it to 286 because Dravid scored a century, there wasn't much support for him. England should bat until about Tea and then declare. By then the lead will be close to 450, especially if they have a few wickets in hand at the end and swing the bat at everything, and it will give England some time to get a couple of wickets before the end of the day's play.

 

[Troy]

England have suffered a collapse having lost 4 wickets for 8 runs and are now 62/5. But the lead is 250 already and they have good batting depth so another 100 runs from here shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Troy]

England won that first test comfortably in the end. The second test is happening right now England 221 and 130/2 and India 288. Broad has been the star so far by top scoring in England's first innings with a half century and then taking six wickets as well as a hat trick! Dravid scored another century to make it two in a row. Ian Bell is heading towards a century right now.

Australia named their test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka:

Test squad: 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

Four uncapped players in that sqaud; Marsh, Pattinson, Copeland and Lyon. Nathan Lyon has been very good since debuting for SA last season but even as a South Australian I don't think he should be there. I think it could do him more harm then good especially if they do what they have done with the other 11 spinners since Warne retired. Spinners need mutiple games to find their feet, one or two tests isn't really fair. I do think that Lyon can do well but they are asking a lot. Marsh deserves his chance but I feel for Ferguson who has been in form, if Ferguson didn't spend a year out of the game due to a knee injury two years ago he would have been in there by now.

My 11 would be;

Watson
Hughes
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Marsh
Haddin
Johnson
Harris
Lyon
Copeland

To miss: Beer, Pattinson, Khawaja, Siddle

Beer and Lyon is a toss of the coin as is Khawaja and Marsh. Pattinson will be there to get some experience and I can't see him playing unless there are injuries. I would pick Copeland ahead of Siddle since I think Copeland is a better bowler. Siddle bowls too short and isn't consistent enough. Copeland has dominated domestic cricket since his debut and should get a chance. Johnson is pretty lucky but there isn't enough depth.

 

[Troy]

Sri Lanka won the two T20 matches against Australia. Australia still haven't figured out how to pick a T20 team.

The 1st ODI is happening now and Australia are on top. Sri Lanka batted first and scored 191 with Johnson taking 6/31! Incredible bowling from him and what a difference from the T20 games. Watson is still in incredible form and started the chase with 69 from 51 balls. Australia are 171/2 at the moment with Clarke 40* and Ponting 48*.

England vs. India the third test started today as well and once again England are cruising. India are 205/8 and struggling, they have fought back after being 7-111 but England will be very happy with the day so far. I am really enjoying watching England continue to beat India easily. India and the BCCI are just too cocky for my liking.

 

[ants]

What a difference :
a/ Having an experienced middle order; and
b/ Having a captain that actually knows how to use his bowlers and how to set fields for them.

People seem to forget that Michael Clarke captained the Aussie Twenty20 team to the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, and all people did was constantly give him crap for the way he batted. So, public pressure forces the countries best captain to stand down. Imagine after the two starts in the T20's we had a Clarke who is one of the best players of spin in the world, come in and be able to consolidate one end whilst Watson and Warner were doing what they do best. Instead we had Marsh, who no disrespect because I think he will be good, but he sucks against spin, as does Haddin who is better in one dayers against the new ball, and White, don't get me started.

But last night the difference was so clear. Clarke's fields were great. He had the faith in Doherty and Dave Hussey and gave them good fields and they got two quick breakthroughs, and then Johnson had the confidence to do what he threatens to do all the time. Not to mention how well Clarke and Ponting batted in chasing down the runs after Mendis looked like he was going to bamboozle everyone again.

Hopefully we can continue this new found form and can win this ODI Series and take some form into the tests!

 

[Troy]

Yeah the T20 balance just doesn't work. We have too many openers playing out of position in the team. Marsh is an opener in this format, and in ODIs, and he keeps being selected to play in the middle order. I rate White as a captain but he is badly out of form and low in confidence at the moment. Is Paine injured at the moment? I thought he was the T20 wicketkeeper for Australia. Michael Clarke was too slow batting in T20s though, in some of those games his slow batting cost us. It is really good for Tests and ODIs but T20's even a steady hand needs to bat faster. I actually like that he wants to focus on the longer forms though, shows that he is dedicated to wanting to became a great test captain. I like how he hasn't been tempted by the big money on offer in T20 leagues.

The ODI team is looking really good though. Not sure about Bollinger as the third seamer but he has time to prove he is ahead of the other options. The other thing is I am not sold on Smith yet. He hasn't been able to dominate with bat or ball yet but he is young and has plenty of time. Looking forward to the second ODI tomorrow.

England just completed a crushing victory over India by an innings and 242 runs. England look unstoppable here and India need to make a lot of changes. They desperately need Zaheer Khan and Sehwag back. England have a great allround team and are deservedly the number one ranked test team.

 

[Troy]

Another crushing victory by Australia. The bowlers were fantastic on a flat track to restrict Sri Lanka to 208. Bollinger took three wickets, Lee and Johnson two each with Doherty, David Hussey and Watson taking one wicket each. Clarke was great in his captaincy and I like how he used Hussey and Watson ahead of Smith. We chased down the total with only two wickets lost. Haddin looks out of sorts as an opener, he tries to hit every ball for six, and I think it would be best if he dropped to 6 or 7 to bat as a pinch hitter and then bring in Shaun Marsh as opener. Drop Smith to let Marsh in, Hussey, Watson and Clarke can bowl the ten overs. Ponting and Clarke were fantastic again. Ponting is relishing batting with no pressure and Clarke is handling the pressue extremely well. My only complaint about Clarke is he batted too quickly which prevented Ponting from scoring a century As a bowling unit we must be quicker between overs as well because we were at least ten minutes late finishing and if it happens again Clarke could be suspended.

Look forward to the 3rd ODI and as I said my only change would be drop Smith since he isn't used as a batter or bowler. Bring in Shaun Marsh to open and bat Haddin at seven.

 

[ants]

I don't think Marsh adjusted well to facing the Sri Lankan spinners in the Twenty20's so it's almost a bad call to change whats working at the moment. Having said that, Haddin struggling, if only Warner was over there so he could open with Watto, and then Haddin could bat at 7. Still 6 bowlers in the side, and they will get the job done.

 

[Troy]

It would be nice to have Warner over there now but Marsh is a specialist opener and I think against the new ball he can get us off to a good start with Watson. After Haddin failed again as opener he has to drop down to 7 as a pinch hitter and someone else needs to open. Either Marsh comes in as opener or Ponting simply moves up to open with Clarke at three.

In the third game Sri Lanka won convincingly. Their batsmen got off to a flier with Tharanga scoring a century, Dilshan a half century and Sangakarra 49. Once again though their middle order crumbled, this game showed that early wickets are key against them. Bollinger was fantastic again, I was wrong doubting him, taking the first four wickets to fall. Michael Hussey and Clarke were the only two Australians to score more than 40.

Surely Smith has to go now. He is rarely bowled and didn't fire with the bat. I think that bringing in a pure batsmen in Marsh for Smith would be a good way to sure up the batting line-up. It really is out of Smith and Hussey to be dropped and David Hussey is currently the better bowler and batter so Smith misses out in my opinion.

 

[ants]

Yeh, you're right. Haddin's really frustrating me at the moment because he looks so much more condfident when he plays over here. May as well give Marsh the chance, hopefully he can get settled before the spinners come on and bamboozle him again.

Last night was pretty poor to watch from an Australian fan perspective but I thought the Sri Lankan innings had everything. New ball without taking the wickets there was playing and missing, good shots to the boundary, then there was some controlled hitting throughout, and a cameo at the end with wickets falling regularly. Clarke and Hussey both looked good, I just said to my brother the ball before Clarke went out that he would be 50 in each innings with out going out, and then next ball bang out for 46 so i take the blame for that.

Looking forward to the next game.

 

[Troy]

For the fourth game Smith was dropped, Marsh in as opener and Haddin down to seven. Good change because Smith just wasn't being used and it is better to strengthen the batting.

Sri Lanka batted first and Australia dominated bowling them out for 132. Doherty took 4/28 with Lee taking 4/15. Doherty is going to become the new Brad Hogg, excellent limited overs bowler but struggles in the longer form of the game. Lee is a champion and keeps performing year after year. One of the best ODI bowlers of all time.

In reply we are 54/2. Watson and Ponting are both out but they have both performed so well already this series it is good seeing Marsh get plenty of time in the middle. Clarke has again reached double figures and continues his excellent form.

 

[Troy]

Marsh just brought up his fifty. Perfect comeback game for him and he did all that the selectors could have asked of him. This will certainly go a long way to ensuring he is the ODI opener at least for the next couple of series. 99/2 at the moment with plenty of time to score the rest of the runs.

In Australian cricket news good to see Hilditch and Chappell sacked. The rest of the selectors should go with them because they made horrible choices in the past few years and played a role in our demish from the top of test cricket.

Talking about the top of test cricket England are on top yet again. 591/6 early on day three. Pieterson scored 175 and Bell scored his maiden double century 235. Very happy for Bell who was never rated that highly, I am a fan of his and it is great to see that he has solidified his spot in the team. With rain occuring now I expect England to declare so that they give themselves enough time to bowl India out twice.

 

[Troy]

There was a mini collapse for Australia where we lost three wickets in four balls but we still won with five wickets and more than twenty overs left. Marsh finished with 70 and Clarke finished with 38 not out. For the final game I think we may see some of the middle order getting a chance to bat higher and find some form.

 

[ants]

Great that we won the one day series, really happy for Clarkey and the impact he has made not only as captain, but as a batsman. The only person who seemed to trouble him was Malinga, and guess what, there is no Malinga for the test matches. Thank the Lord. The hattrick he got the other day was great, and his ability to just be able to bowl yorker after yorker is simply incredible, and he single handedly won them that game the other night.

So on to the test matches, the first of three starting on the 31st August. It's perfect because they start at around 2-30 our time, so if the session go 2-30 til 4-30, 5-10 to 7-10, 7-30 til 9-30 I will be a very happy camper.

The make up of our first test side should be as follows:

Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Clarke, MHussey, Marsh/Khawaja, Haddin, Beer/Lyon, Johnson, Harris, Siddle...however there is some talk about the possibility of playing both the spinners which will mean Harris or Siddle will have to make way. As far as the question mark around the number 6 batting spot goes, I want to see Khawaja in the side. In two years he will be our number 3 bat, and there is no better time to bring him in.