How good was the Ryobi Cup Final? I’m pleased for the Redbacks, but commiserations to the Tigers after playing such a strong game.
The game showed Australian cricket’s considerable depth, and gave the Australian selectors more ammunition to continue to make changes.
Because the Ryobi Cup has been provided with exposure via on Fox Sports and other Australian media sources, the number of players who can play for Australia has grown to around the 70 mark. We need another five teams just to fit all the deserving players.
I cannot believe the amazing quality of talent on display in Australian Cricket.
And no other country can match the number of skilled, drilled and no-frills athletes playing cricket in Australia.
While there may not be any freaks in the Shane Warne or Adam Gilchrist class, never in the history of Australian cricket have there been so many talented kids. Members of this new breed have cannons for arms, can run 50m in under 6 seconds, can hit the ball 100 metres and throw or bowl the ball at 140 kph, as well as catching everything in the air.
Never has there been a better depth indicator than the players who don’t make the Australian team. Guys like Aaron O’Brien, Gary Putland, Ryan Harris, Michael Klinger, Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper, Cameron Borgas and Adam Crossthwaite are top-class players who just cant make the first squad, due to the glut of talent.
I could not find fault with any of the athletes who ran around for Tasmania and South Australia. Dropping catches can be a mental thing but in terms of the skills of the game such as running, throwing, batting and bowling, these kids are super.
This talent is shown by the power of Dave Warner, Peter Forrest, Matthew Wade (find of the year with gloves and bat) and Rob Quiney. Sean Abbott from New South Wales is an absolute belter and he is still only a baby.
Aaron Finch is perhaps the most powerful human in the country per pound of flesh. George Bailey is captaincy material and a fine, fine young man.
A second year player called Liam Davis from WA scored 300 runs against New South Wales last week. In the same game Michael Beer took 7 wickets in an innings. Nathan Coulter-Nile is the closest thing to Black Caviar I have seen on a cricket pitch with bat and ball.
I count 18 fast bowlers who could, and some do play for Australia tomorrow. Dare me to name them.
Australian cricket is in a great position. The knockers have slated 50-50 cricket as a spectacle, yet we have had some amazing games in the past month. Domestic one day cricket is alive an well.
The great crime is that Australia might only be able to use 30-35 of these 70 athletes, all of whom would play for any other country in the world today if eligible.
jameswm
Guest
Can't believe how badly Tassie butchered that. Faulkner - sheesh.
Lolly
Guest
It would have been a surprising selection if he had. He's been playing poorly in List A for WA all season.
Rhys
Guest
I think the extreme heat played a part. You could see several players were struggling with fatigue. It's not an excuse, but probably a factor.
lolly
Guest
That was James Faulkner. Fair bit of pressure on him but it was kind of embarrassing. He only had to get Punter on strike. Considering both teams dropped a lot of catches and some of them real sitters, I think the fielding left a LOT to be desired.
Brian
Guest
A guy came out to bat at No 6 and couldn't lay bat on ball!
Tassyscott
Guest
Can someone please tell me Travis Burt didn't play in last nights Ryobi final?
Disco
Roar Guru
Well Pakistan, South Africa and England for a start. But, yes, junior cricket provides a lot of raw late teenage talent. Whether more Australians are developing into effective international cricketers than their foreign counterparts is another question.
Avid rugby fan
Roar Rookie
This game was a captains day, with Tasmanian captain Bailey hitting a ton, former Australian capatin Ponting getting a solid 50 and South Australian capatin Klinger taking 2 catches and scoring a 50. I think it was the captains that really made this game, not the youngsters as your article states. Nonetheless, Australia has some quality juniors coming through the ranks and hopefully soon every Ryobi Cup match will be as entertaining as this one was.
Bob
Guest
Other countries can produce talent (witness Sri Lanka's current ODI team) but not at the same output. How many other countries are able to produce bowlers like Cummins, Starc, Pattinson, Cutting at such a young age? Our junior cricket seems to have such a strong competitive edge.
Disco
Roar Guru
Australia isn't the only country that produces players that can put bat on ball or master the vagaries of line and length. As it is, most of the players you mention are either raw or inconsistent.
Red Kev
Guest
Yeah ... your examples are way off. South Australian fanboi much? "Aaron O’Brien, Gary Putland, Ryan Harris, Michael Klinger, Callum Ferguson, Tom Cooper, Cameron Borgas and Adam Crossthwaite are top class players..." Klinger and Cooper are genuine class players, Ferguson is there or there-abouts but with no consistency (he appears to me to be a lazy player to be honest), the rest are Shield players at best. Liam Davis has been playing first class cricket for 5 years and has looked like nothing but a journeyman until this season (his second ever century came this season). One good innings/game/season does not make you an international standard cricketer. This is the type of hyperbolic nonsense that sees players like Warner tagged as the next Bradman. What has made Ponting and Tendulkar so brilliant is not their talent, many many people have talent, but their ability to perform consistently for long periods. The idea that guys outside the top 30 of Australian cricket would be snapped up by the likes of England, South Africa and Pakistan is astonishingly naive and parochial. My advice is to watch some cricket from outside Australia, it might open your eyes to reality. I do dare you to name those 18 fast bowlers because by my reckoning there are no more than a dozen of genuine international quality and several of those only make the cut based on potential. And if your bowling list is anything like that list of "top class" South Australian players it'll be a good laugh to read.