Opinion
There’s been a heap of cricket played in the past week or ten days and a lot happening off the field as well, so here are a few things that caught my eye.
India’s win in their series against England has been worked over pretty well by the media in recent days.
What seems to have escaped attention is them going back to the top of the ICC Test rankings, with New Zealand second and Australia next. Given the top two nations play England in the coming months, there’s every chance these rankings could change significantly.
Joe Root has passed Virat Kohli for fourth place in the batting rankings currently led by Kane Williamson, with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne next. Does this mean we have five batsmen to consider as the world’s best?
England have decided players involved in the IPL can complete their contracts with their franchises, even if that means missing Tests. There’s likely to be a scheduling clash with the last IPL games and the New Zealand tour, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I also hope this is a one-off and doesn’t become the norm.
It seems Justin Langer – and the many people who make up the support staff for the Test side – couldn’t find anyone capable of counting to 15, which is the number of overs the team needed to bowl as part of the conditions of play in the Boxing Day Test.
Australia averaged 13 and as a result, were docked points in the Test Championship, which cost the team a place in the final.
Apparently, they needed the team manager, who was on leave at the time, to count the overs that were bowled in the Boxing Day Test or at least get someone to do that job. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so deplorable.
Justin Langer and his staff should’ve kept a closer eye on the over rate at the MCG (Photo by Matt King – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
It also now appears the final will not be played at Lords but at Southampton. The venue change came about thanks to that virus. And in the event of a draw, the two teams share the trophy (I’ve no idea how that works).
Australia vs New Zealand T20 series
Both sides will take plenty of positives from the T20 series between New Zealand and Australia.
Australia showed a lot of resilience after being two down in the series: Aaron Finch batted his way back into something like good form, Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa showed why they’re so highly rated in this format and the rest of the squad had at least one very good moment in the series.
Devon Conway was a serious positive for the Black Caps, as were Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, while Martin Guptil showed why he’s such a dangerous player in this format.
As an aside, it was great Cricket Australia decided to charter a plane to bring the squad back home straight after the game, thus preventing them from having to quarantine.
Shield shenanigans
In the Shield, many are talking about how well Cameron Green is batting and rightly so. A small concern though was summed up by an on-air comment when he was out in WA’s second innings: “Unbelievable to see Green dismissed for 35, without triple figures beside his name.”
Fair enough – he’s batted extremely well this season, but I hope the commentator was simply confirming that, rather than genuinely expecting him to make huge scores every time he bats.
Young gun Green’s Shield form has been impressive (AAP Image/Jono Searle)
In the same game, I was thrilled to see a favourite of mine, Matt Renshaw, get another Shield hundred.
I know many still want him to open and eventually regain his Test place in that position, but the fact he’s making runs down the order’s a great start and I’m sure he doesn’t care where he bats if he’s wearing a baggy green.
At the other end of the batting spectrum, Sam Whiteman has not had a great go of it since the New Year, failing to make 20 in any of his four Shield innings. I had him pegged as a potential Test opening bat, so hopefully, he can turn things around quickly.
I was amused to read comments on the pages of The Roar suggesting Dave Warner’s done and dusted, after his first-innings dismissal against South Australia. His second-innings 69 should have put those doubts to rest.
That game highlighted old-fashioned sporting declarations, with both captains throwing down the gauntlet to the other to make a game of it. No doubt the Redbacks would be disappointed to lose, but it was great to see two sides trying to get a result.
Sean Abbott man of the match? Granted, he batted well, but his primary role is a bowler and he failed to take a wicket in either innings. For mine, Nathan Lyon was MOTM.
Fourty-five overs in the Redbacks’ first innings and another 21 in the second is a testament to his skill and perseverance as a bowler.
The pitch for the Vics-Tassie game was probably the talking point of that match. I was expecting huge scores in that game, but variable bounce meant batting was seriously tough.
In Brisbane, I thought the Gabba wicket would be lively and it proved to be pretty docile.
Maybe the Boxing Day Test should be held at the Gabba, when there’s a bit more juice in the pitch and the MCG held back until later in the season to get life into it, too!
Finally, the announcement that a statue of a female cricketer will be commissioned for the SCG has garnered worldwide attention. There are any number of outstanding candidates for the first sculpture and hopefully, more statues quickly follow at grounds around Australia.
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