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Joined April 2020

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Interested in stadium politics, competition programming, sporting administration, cricket history and trivia

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Reverse psychology ?

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

+ Bill Watson makes 14.

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

+ Moises Henriques, Stuart MacGill

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

Thanks Mike,

After the final team has been published in early-May, I’ll submit a 13th article ranking all twelve teams, probably in late-May before the ICCT20WC commences.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Sydney’s First Grade final of 1994/95 was a memorable “reverse outright,” particularly after North Sydney only got there via a very expensive midweek court case.
The court-case background –
https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/361/warwick-adlam/blog/511/the-contrived-result-north-sydney-thrown-out-of-sydney-grade-cricket-semi-finals-in-1994-95
The final, as described by a participant-
1st GRADE FINAL vs Nth Sydney at Bankstown Oval:
Day 1 – Bankstown dismissed for 89 in our 1st innings on a green top. Nth Sydney finished Day 1 at 1-100. A lead of 11 with 9 wickets in hand. We were gone!!!
Day 2, we bowled the Bears out for around 200. We were then 5-150 in our 2nd innings and ended up scoring around 350 thanks to a great partnership by Steve Small and Scott Grant – great hundred by Shrub!
Day 3 – Thanks to an incredible effort by Scott Thompson (Scott Hookey out 1st ball) and Wayne Holdsworth (bowled Phil Marks for 100 at the death) we bowled Nth Sydney out a few runs short of the target to win back-to-back premierships.

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

Next they’ll be using the term to describe Test matches…

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

Thanks BBOB (and welcome to the Roar too !),

My associations must have been the exceptions to the rule.

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

In 50 years of following club cricket I’ve never before heard the term “reverse outright.”

In Sydney it would be called simply “an outright win after losing on first innings.”

The whole point of scheduling a 3-dayer, instead of the usual 2-dayer or 1-dayer, is to increase the chances of an outright result. Plus of course to reduce the chances of wet weather preventing even a first-innings result.

Incredible drama as Victorian Premier Cricket club go full Bazball, win grand final with all time run chase for 70-year first

Hi Mike,

I think that you’ll like the team for April, that I’ll submit in a few weeks’ time. It will include a gloveman that averaged 41.00 at number seven, and a bowling quartet so good that for the only time in this entire series, I didn’t feel the need to support it with a decent fifth bowler.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks Mike,

You’ve made a good case. I thought long and hard over the best complementary spin pairing- Herath/Swann, Herath/Giffen, Al Hasan/Swann or Al Hasan/Giffen. Each had advantages and disadvantages.

If you’re after a great side with a short tail, here’s a few options-

Team of the month: A June-born World XI

Team of the Month: a July-born World Cricket XI

Team of the Month: An October-born World Cricket XI

Team of the Month: A November-born World Cricket XI

Some months just got lucky.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks DaveJ,

So many factors play into “standardising” run-scoring across distant era. Great that your article got so many views and comments. There’s hope for humanity yet. Here’s a few other interesting ones-

https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1138684/who-are-the-fastest-scorers-in-test-history

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/analysing-test-dismissals-across-the-ages-622519

When comparing Hill’s era to the current one, one could argue that a 40 by him is equivalent to a half-century, an 80 to a ton, and a 160 to a double-century. Raw averages and scoring rates don’t need to be the only figures adjusted upwards.

On an entertainment basis, there must be a sweet spot. I think I’d rather watch 20 overs and 60 runs per hour, than 13 overs and the same 60 runs ! The scoreboard is ticking over as quickly, but the quantity of enjoyment via bowling is higher.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Happy birthday Clem Hill, born 147 years ago today, during what is now recognised as the very first Test match.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Hi chaukspp, thanks for the feedback.

This team is clearly the weakest one in the entire series. And unfortunately, strengthening a weakness in one place will only weaken a strength somewhere else. For example, playing Herath and Swann would mean commencing the side’s tail at number six.

Solkar would make a great twelfth man a la Gus Logie and Roger Harper. Especially as this side is weak in both bowling, and fielding. It needs to take every chance offered.

Fair comment about Hussain, given I did list Atherton. But with a career average of 37, and just 14 tons from 96 games, I didn’t seriously consider him.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Trescothick played 28 times with Strauss. In them he scored 9 centuries, and averaged 48.68.

But Trescothick struggled with his health when on tour. Those particular 28 games (of his 76 in total) comprised 21 in Eng, 2 in Pak and 5 in RSA. And his tours to Aus yielded 261 runs at 26.10 in 2002/03, then an early return home in 2006/07 without having played (shades of Trott and Swann in 2013/14).

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks Redcap,

The side will provide some entertaining cameos, but fail completely against ones like these-

Team of the Month: a July-born World Cricket XI

Team of the Month: A November-born World Cricket XI

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

He didn’t even get to leave the dressing room balcony to deliver a drink, towel or change of gloves every 10 minutes.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

And how did those 19th-century sides ever cope without a coach, assistant coach, batting coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, strength and conditioning coach, nutritionist, dietician, analyst, security manager, media manager, team doctor and psychologist ?

The 12th man (if he existed) must have been very lonely in the changeroom every time that his team was in the field.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Hi TLN,

And explaining to Giffen that a bowling change didn’t mean just a change of ends for him.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Hi DaveJ,

The 1928/29 combination of flat pitches, dry weather, timeless Tests, a weak opposing pace attack and an average over-rate of 21.4 per hour was lethal.

They made possible the glacial scoring rates of Hammond (905 runs at 35.89 runs/100 balls), as well as Sutcliffe (355 at a rate of 28.69) and Jardine (341 at a rate of 25.75). Hammond’s innings contrasted with his one at Lord’s in 1938 (240 at a rate of 60.91).

No wonder Bradman was so keen to return the favour in spades, at every possible opportunity during the next 20 years.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Hi mrl,

Inzy can field at first slip all day.

And Giffen can bowl from one end all day. I briefly considered making him captain, just so that I’d get away with picking only 2 other bowlers, and be able to play an extra specialist batsman.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

You’re welcome as always, Micko

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks, DaveJ

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks DaveJ,

Unfortunately picking the best 5 bowlers (including Herath and Swann) could have meant the tail started with Wasim Bari at number six ?

And a useful non-Test-playing attack might include van der Bijl plus 3 of Bart King, Jack Massie, Franklyn Stephenson, Ted Wass and Charles Kortright ?

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Thanks, TLN. But it would still be favoured to pick up the wooden spoon in this 12-team competition.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

Hi Ray,

I respectfully disagree, while acknowledging that neither of us can prove the other wrong !

Hill was exceptional in his own era, and in my opinion would have been exceptional in any other one. In his era, match conditions meant scoring was about 20% lower than it is nowadays. At the time of his last game in 1912-

* he was the highest Test run-scorer of all time
* only Trumper had scored more Test tons
* only Syd Gregory had played more Tests
* his career average was higher than that of any other batsman to date with more than 20 caps.

If he had been born 100 years later, his 16-year career could have yielded up to 200 Tests and 15,000 runs.

Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI

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