Roar Guru
Joined April 2020
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Interested in stadium politics, competition programming, sporting administration, cricket history and trivia
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Seventy-five years ago this month, a historic series began. It included one of the most controversial incidents in Ashes history. That event occurred during…
This summer will mark the fiftieth anniversary of a significant tour, where the international matches were not granted Test and One-Day International status. Nonetheless…
This article documents those rare occasions when a captain’s decision to insert Australia paid off handsomely. It therefore balances out the series’ preceding Part…
'Thanks champ, we’ll have a bowl.' The toss-winning captain then theatrically rotates an arm while walking off the field, prompting his teammates in the…
Cricket’s law 43.1 states 'win the toss and bat. If unsure, think about it, then bat anyway'. This series of articles will investigate what…
In Part 1, I ranked lone-hand performances by Australian bowlers in losses. Part 2 will undertake the same exercise for batsmen. To identify them,…
Every player at every level dreams of being a match-winner. Unfortunately cricket isn’t always rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes someone will play outstandingly yet his…
This article completes this series, with a final ten instances. The previous Part 1 and Part 2 listed 20 other things that will never happen…
Part 1 listed ten things that will never happen again in an Ashes contest. Part 2 continues the exercise, with another ten named in…
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” wrote LP Hartley in 1953. Cricket hasn’t fundamentally changed since over-arm bowling was…
This winter marks the centenary of the Australian team’s record-breaking feats under Warwick Armstrong’s leadership. After regaining the Ashes at home 5-0, it then…
Part 1 focused on chalk-and-cheese bowling combinations. Part 2 nominates five successful batting pairings in which one player was the dominant partner. Their run-scoring…
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Lillee don’t get you, Thommo must.” My recent articles have assessed opening and lower-order batting partners. This…
A lucky captain can call upon four Test-class bowlers, or at least a genuine fifth bowler who doesn’t weaken his batting line-up. For any…
“It’s not how, it’s how many.” Bowlers really do win matches. But sometimes, they do so with the bat. Even a genuine bunny can…
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics,” said the famous American author Mark Twain. Without any evidence at all, I…
“All wickets are equal, but some wickets are more equal than others,” As George Orwell would have put it had he spent more time…
How do you measure an Australian opening pair’s success, and which pair would then claim first place? This article attempts to answer both questions.…
Part 1 named a side made up of players who enjoyed fairytale endings to their careers. This article names a team of equally distinguished…
Great cricketers don’t always enjoy fairytale career endings. Some announce their retirement prior to a match or season, and go out in a blaze…
Bernard Lance Cairns
Graham Anthony Richard Lock
Plus lots of Sri Lankans but they may have different naming conventions from Anglicised ones.
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor
Robert Neil Harvey
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott
Wessel Johannes Cronje
Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva
Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Hi Pierro,
You’ve just named 3 members of my May-born side. I’ll be submitting it in 2-3 weeks’ time for publication.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Hi Targa,
Was Ramdin that good a batsman ? Averaged 25.87 in the highest-scoring era of all time. And scored just 4 tons in 74 games. Admittedly got to fifty 19 times in 126 innings.
Team of the Month: a March-born World Cricket XI
I’ll be interested to see how much interest the regular Roarers take in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The IPL doesn’t seem to be making an impact on them. Out of sight, out of mind ?
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
I might play both McDermott and Gillespie ahead of Murali, in Aus, SA and even NZ ?
Marshall-Barnes-Gillespie-McDermott on a fast bowler’s pitch would be a handful.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Cheers matth, looking forward to the next ones. It was your A-Z series in the early-2020 first lockdown that prompted me to start. And the page is looking pretty sparse, could use some content.
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Wow. Last year I had one rejected for being too long.
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Gerry Alexander (WI) to keep then !
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Brian Bolus (Eng)
Graeme Watson (Aus)
William Storer (Eng, wk)
Jeff Dujon (WI)
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Kevin Walters answers to Dougie
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Peter Matthew Siddle
Simon Mathew Katich
Joe Matthew Mennie
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Austin Matthews (Eng, 1937)
Craig Matthews (SA, 1992-1995)
Matt, Mat or Matthew... The Best XI that shares the popular great name to play top-level cricket
Hi Mike,
Not as strange as it sounds-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokers_v_Non-Smokers#:~:text=Two%20first%2Dclass%20cricket%20matches,by%20the%20other%27s%20national%20team.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Hi Choppy,
Do you want an April-born WA side ?
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Thanks JN,
And currently trying to come up with a theme for my next one.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Agreed, Mike.
And in ranking these 12 sides, I’ve tended to mark down those without a wrist-spinner. As you’ll see in a month’s time.
O’Reilly, Grimmett, Benaud, Mailey and Warne, as well as all-rounders Sobers, Armstrong, Steel and Simpson, made the cut.
But plenty of other high-quality ones were born in a month with better options. Including Faulkner, Vogler, Chandra, MacGill, Qadir and Yasir.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
I reckon this 11 plus Mankad and Gillespie, would make a great 13-man squad for all conditions.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Hi BG,
I also toyed briefly with Charlie Kellaway, to get that extra bowler in without unduly weakening the batting. But ultimately, I went with what I perceived as class, ahead of role. The strength of most sides in this series, means that any mere bits-and-pieces player would quickly be found out.
I was reluctant to drop Knott for Mankad, just to create a fifth genuine bowling option. Doing so would really upset Barnes, if it both reduced his workload, and led to a few chances going down.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Did Hadlee and also Murali, have it easier or harder often being his side’s only decent bowler ?
Didn’t have to share the spoils, and got the choice of ends and favourable conditions, and the chance to clean up the tail. But also could get over-bowled.
Reliving the Eighties and a great era for fast bowlers
Was Malone also a useful Aussie Rules player ? Like Graeme Watson, Eric Freeman and a few others ?
Reliving the Eighties and a great era for fast bowlers
Hi Rowdy,
There was a time when a cricketer wasn’t contractually prevented from playing other sports. And he had plenty of spare time each winter in which to do so. As well as having the opportunity to play multiple codes for his entire childhood, without being required to specialise in just one at age 10 by a coach or academy.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
Hi TLN,
The way I see it, a champion in one era would have been a champion in any era- the game hasn’t fundamentally changed in 150 years.
However, even the most talented player would still need a transition period. If Trumper landed in 2024 as a teenager, he’d be a star in 5 years’ time. And if Steve Smith was transported to 1905, he’d need 5 years to adjust.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI
I hope that being named in one of these sides, isn’t proving to be a curse.
Sadly, Derek Underwood passed away earlier this week. He followed Mike Procter in Feb, and Bishen Bedi last Oct.
Team of the Month: an April-born World Cricket XI