Roar Guru
Joined February 2016
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Essendon fan, cricket fan. Not necessarily in that order.
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Every year, at the end of the home-and-away season, the AFL’s All-Australian squad of 40 is announced. And every year, fans and media pundits…
This was just meant to be a two-week gig, but AD only got home late yesterday and I've managed to wrangle a third round…
For the most part, the footy was highly entertaining this week, with several tight, frenetic encounters. The logjam of teams competing for spots in…
AdelaideDocker is away for a couple of weeks so I’ve been asked to fill in. It’s a brave call, handing this responsibility to a…
England's World Cup campaign is wobbling, with the No.1 ranked ODI side a chance to miss the semi-finals following their heavy loss to arch-rivals…
Just over four months remain before the first ball of the 2019 World Cup and it is difficult to recall the Australian One Day…
Warmup matches for touring Test sides in Australia have become nothing more than glorified centre-wicket practice. If that somehow wasn't apparent before this cricket…
Widely tipped to be cellar-dwellers in season 2017-18, the Bulls and the Tigers flipped the domestic cricket pecking order on its head to book…
BBL07 has come to a close, with the Adelaide Strikers defeating the Hobart Hurricanes in the final. That must mean it's time for someone…
After a disappointing 12 months of One Day cricket, culminating in an awful home series loss to England, Australia is in need of a…
It’s a pity they don’t start with the test. There aren’t many of them in women’s cricket so it’s disappointing that it will be a dead rubber.
Mooney stars with smashing knock as Aussies annihilate England to retain Ashes
Quite possibly, although I think it’s more likely that Marnus just wanted to bowl bumpers lol
Will Australia have the Galle to play just one fast bowler in Sri Lanka - Starc or Boland for solitary role?
It’s a bit odd, isn’t it? I’m perfectly fine with Carey as our test keeper but I recall him dropping at least two very catchable chances in the BGT. Not sure I can say the same about Pant.
Paine would never have got a glowing article like this, yet he was a better gloveman, had more dismissals from fewer tests and had a slightly higher batting average.
Quiet achiever Carey starting to enter rare air of Australia’s all-time wicketkeeping greats
I wouldn’t say Paine or Nevill tried to bat like Gilchrist. It was really only Haddin and Wade who generally tried to play in that counter-attacking style.
Quiet achiever Carey starting to enter rare air of Australia’s all-time wicketkeeping greats
When was the last time we had Australian pitches abrasive enough to reliably generate reverse swing? The trend in recent years has been to leave more grass on them.
The last time I recall Starc getting significant reverse swing was on the tour of Pakistan, and I don’t remember too many decks like that since.
Will Australia have the Galle to play just one fast bowler in Sri Lanka - Starc or Boland for solitary role?
The thirds thing is bizarre for players who are still in their ‘peak’ years, like Marnus and Head. We might as well apply it to Konstas, who has dropped away badly after averaging 60 in the first third of his career. Get rid of him!
Numbers don’t lie when it comes to the majority of Aussie Test team being in fading final phase of their career
My humble apologies. That economy rate of 3 is impressive! 😛
From grade cricket to Australia A in a few months: Forgotten man returns as selectors wield axe for Lions clash
“Up-and-coming spinner Jayden Goodwin”
You mean the guy who bats at 3 for WA and has never bowled a ball in FC cricket?
From grade cricket to Australia A in a few months: Forgotten man returns as selectors wield axe for Lions clash
I didn’t see it as a mistake to pick McSweeney to open. People go on about how opening is a specialist position, but a good number 3 needs to be skilled against the new ball anyway. Look at the success Langer and Katich had being promoted to open for Australia.
Given that no opener in the Shield had really stood out in the leadup to the first test, it was a reasonable call. McSweeney just got done by the best bowler on the planet in good bowling conditions and there’s no shame in that (especially given how Ussie, Smith and Marnus struggled early in the series too).
That said, I’d love to see him bat at 4 or 5 if Head opens in Sri Lanka. He’s a good player of spin and seems a safer bet in those conditions than Konstas.
McSweeney in the middle: Selectors must learn from opening error
I agree we need to blood new players soon but since when has a tournament – even ‘just’ the CT – ever been the time to do so? You pick the side you think can win it for you. There’s no point throwing around names like JFM (who plays for the Renegades, not the Stars), Konstas, Elliott, Webster, Swepson, Sangha, Renshaw and Murphy, when they have no or very little international white ball experience, and in some cases modest List A/BBL records. You said yourself there’s 2 years until the 2027 WC, which leaves plenty of meaningless bilateral matches to experiment with youth.
Where I think you have more of a case is with the seam bowlers. I’m a bit unsure why Starc and possibly Hazlewood didn’t call it quits after the WC win. Maybe they see this as their last hurrah. Having one or two of Johnson, Morris and Bartlett in the squad would have been ideal. Then again, Johnson is carrying an injury and Morris only recently returned from injury.
Ageing ODI side worse than Aussie Test team when it comes to futureproofing - Konstas should be put on fast track
Carey also got dropped for poor form in (and leading up to) the 2023 world cup. Prior to those three hits in England last year he didn’t play for almost 12 months.
Fortunately the selectors don’t have to make a call on which of Carey or Inglis to pick – if not both – until the first game.
Ageing ODI side worse than Aussie Test team when it comes to futureproofing - Konstas should be put on fast track
For me the elephant in the room is why Sean Abbott – who missed all of the previous shield season, has a career FC average over 30 and is about to turn 33 – has been picked as the third seamer?!? Nothing against the guy but what has he done to suggest he’ll succeed on Sri Lankan pitches?
Selectors slam door shut on four Test careers after finally looking to the future with new-look tour squad
Don’t think Green will be right for Sri Lanka, sadly
Flem’s Verdict: Aussies have a Big Four with Boland no longer a back-up, SCG pitch not up to scratch and Beau knows Test cricket
I don’t think he was aiming it directly at Smith. He’s always been really supportive and respectful of Smudge. I think it was just a general go at the Australian crowd, reminding them of the sandpaper. Pretty childish but I guess that’s what happens when your bat is no longer doing the talking!
Flem’s Verdict: Aussies have a Big Four with Boland no longer a back-up, SCG pitch not up to scratch and Beau knows Test cricket
Smith and Jaiswal seemed to have a little competition going between themselves
Flem’s Verdict: Aussies have a Big Four with Boland no longer a back-up, SCG pitch not up to scratch and Beau knows Test cricket
You’re combining eras, though. Ponting captained 2 distinct eras. There was the 2004-2007 era where we won basically everything except one of the best series of all time, which came to an end when McGrath, Warne and Langer all retired. That was arguably the greatest Australian side since the Invincibles.
Then there was the 2008-2011 era, where we were in a steep decline. We couldn’t settle on top order batters or seam bowlers and went through a production line of spinners. A very different era, IMO
Every player rated from the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test: Boland, Beau brilliance shows the Shield still matters
“Is now surely in Australia’s first-choice pace trio ahead of Josh Hazlewood”
Ahead of the only Aussie to make the ICC test team of 2024 with an average of 13? Yeah, nah. If Hazlewood’s injuries get the better of him, or if Starc hangs up the boots, then absolutely. But not if everyone is fit and raring to go.
Every player rated from the fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test: Boland, Beau brilliance shows the Shield still matters
Think they got this one right tbh. Ponting acknowledged that the ball brushed the ground but claimed Smith was in control before then. To me that doesn’t make sense, since the catch has to be completed before the fielder can be deemed in control, and it wasn’t completed until Labuschagne took it.
'Obvious should be out', 'right decision': Twin DRS controversies divide Indian, Aussie legends, Smith's spicy exchange
Has no one learned that when we turn Virat into the villain, he plays better? The media need to stop giving him ammunition lol
'Big tough man, Virat': Kohli blasted for airport run-in with journo as Indian media match boycott adds to growing tension
Pant is 27 and Gill is 25, why would it be their last tour?
Precious and paranoid: Indian players don’t even trust each other as they treat fans and media with contempt
Well I was wrong about Konstas anyway lol
Malcolm Conn: Australia should avoid picking prodigy Konstas now - to deliver huge dividends in the long run
He clearly won’t play at the MCG. The question is what happens at the SCG. If we lose the Boxing Day test then the series is done. In that case, I’d probably bring Konstas in for Khawaja (unless he significantly out-scores McSweeney). At 38 and out of form, he’s unlikely to find it again.
Similarly, if Marsh struggles at the G then get Webster in for the final game. Green will almost certainly take Marsh’s spot for the Ashes anyway, so we might as well ues the intervening period to give Webster a chance. His ability to bowl spin will be handy in Sri Lanka.
Malcolm Conn: Australia should avoid picking prodigy Konstas now - to deliver huge dividends in the long run
The way the series has gone, he hasn’t just had the chance to bowl on a day 4 or 5 pitch. Hence he’s been tidy but not overly threatening.
Flem’s Verdict: Top order becoming one of the worst ever - more questions than answers with most players in both teams
It was the warm-up on day 4, not day 1. He bowled fine on day 3.
All-rounder issue exposed with Hazlewood hobbled as last-wicket stand and Brisbane weather conspire against Aussies
Nowhere near it 😂
'What's the point of the spike?' Bairstow, Faf du Plessis unimpressed by DRS call despite huge gap