Phil Hughes is gone, but can Australia win? (AP Photo/Chris Crerar)
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Why have the Australians lost their last two ODIs against India and Sri Lanka? Run outs. Six of them, as compared to a clean sheet by their opponents.
Anyone who has played cricket knows only too well a run out is not only wasteful, but dumb cricket.
And dumb cricket usually doesn’t win matches at any level.
To magnify the problem the six Australian run outs have “featured” six different batsmen:
David Warner (18), Dan Christian (39), and Clint McKay (3) in the 4-wicket loss to India with two deliveries remaining, in Adelaide.
And Matt Wade (15), Brett Lee (0), and Mitchell Starc (17) in the 8-wicket thumping by Sri Lanka with 101 deliveries remaining, at the SCG.
All up 11 Australians have been involved in the six partnership breakers, so the malaise is wide spread. Only Wade has surfaced twice.
Warner was batting with his skipper Michael Clarke, Christian with Wade, McKay with Ryan Harris, Wade with Peter Forrest, Lee with David Hussey, and Starc with Xavier Doherty.
Later today, the Australians face a must-win game against India at the Gabba. Any more pointless run outs will not only destroy momentum, but could again prove costly.
You would expect any cricketer at the elite level to be a good judge of a run. But not with this lot. They have become edgy which goes hand-in-glove with lack of confidence and bad starts at the top of the order, adding pressure to up the run-rate.
But run outs only add to the pressure.
Not every partnership can be like Bill Lawry and Bobby Simpson, the very best judges of a run in the history of the sport. They never missed a chance to keep the scoreboard constantly ticking over.
Not only brilliant, but bowler frustrating in the extreme.
Let’s have some of that for a change.
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The Crowd Says (7) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
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- Australia, Cricket, Michael Clarke
February 19th 2012 @ 10:39am
Jason said | February 19th 2012 @ 10:39am | Report comment
Isn’t ensuring that international cricketers don’t run like primary school children part of the job of the batting coach?
I wonder who that is again…
February 19th 2012 @ 10:49am
Disco said | February 19th 2012 @ 10:49am | Report comment
The cheerleader that’s helped the likes of Hughes and Khawaja so much.
February 19th 2012 @ 10:57am
Al said | February 19th 2012 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Spot doggy.
February 19th 2012 @ 11:29am
Eric said | February 19th 2012 @ 11:29am | Report comment
Not only that, they missed two sitters of run outs against Dhoni when he got India home last match.
February 19th 2012 @ 11:42am
Bayman said | February 19th 2012 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Curiously, in two of those six run-outs the batsmen suffered because they hit the ball too well. Surely that one has got past him, time to take off…………wait a minute…..if I’m halfway down the track, how come he’s actually got the ball in his hand? Bugger!
I know it’s old fashioned but wouldn’t it be nice if a batsman checked first and ran later.
Mind you, three sacrifices an innings (even if it is in two consecutive games) still falls short of the running disaster that was the 1975 World Cup final where no less than five Aussies managed to run themselves out. I’m still wondering, “What if?” about that one.
February 19th 2012 @ 6:17pm
aussiepolliessport said | February 19th 2012 @ 6:17pm | Report comment
It is quite annoying that there have been too many run-outs compared to our two opponents this triangular series. A few less would be bearable if they were close calls as it shows our players are putting pressure on opposition fielders.
Stupid and confused calls are also something that needs to stop because they end up with huge and pointless run-outs.
February 19th 2012 @ 7:17pm
Chris said | February 19th 2012 @ 7:17pm | Report comment
When the selectors stop changing the team and batting lineup every game the batsmen will be able to get to know their batting partners and the number of stupid runouts will be reduced.