Hi Marcus –

Over penalty for the bat-second blokes is tricky. Agreed. And like football stoppage time, it’s kinda marvelously fluid (clock + chance of extra scoring = drama).

As for the T20s, I’m one of those who likes the fact that you can be age 10 again, with cricket on most nights in the holiday period.

But I think I’ll be more glued to today’s ODI. Love international cricket. Child of the 1980s. Bred on World Series summers.

As stated elsewhere in The Roar’s match preview for today’s game, Pakistan need to (preferably) win for the sake of the rest of the series.

🙂

Hi Marcus –

Free hits per over is intriguing. A bit like stoppage time in the world game. Imagine the captain/coach going off his face from the dugout…

“Argh. We couldn’t keep up the pace early and paid for it with that free hit in stoppage time” (etc)

🙂

A clock plus free hits would certainly eliminate any need to calculate the penalty runs.

But in ODIs it’s simply that you lose the overs in your chase. Equally seems sensible to me. So, if McCullum’s men (for example) deliver 18 overs in time instead of 20, then they only receive 18 to chase. Seems simple.

Hi Squish –

I like the clock concept.

My only thought as a fellow cricket fan would be whether it counts up or down. Either the time penalty occurs in a counting upwards sense (a-la canoe slalom or similar, but defining what is time accrued and how much would be tricky) or it starts with 90min on the clock and counts down to zero per innings.

Perhaps the umps (surely this should be possible in this day and age) have an independent timekeeper (there’s a novelty) in the video replay box (or similar) and chat with him/her as to when said clock is added to – even IF it’s counting down?

The umpires remain the sole judges of what is or isn’t cricket (so to speak) and thus your clock starts at 90, counting down to zero.
But with the proviso that an agreed set of cricketing incidents are built-in to NOT hamper the players.

At club level your general rule might be two minutes per wicket (given the time the batsman has to take strike) added on. Or in footy it’s 30sec per goal or whatever. Or an agreed time-out style period for players receiving medical treatment…

So you might start it at 90, counting down….. Let’s say at minute 75 (T-minus 75 and counting as NASA might say) there’s a wicket.

The ump then gives a brief word in his mic to the timekeeper. The clock goes back UP to 77 minutes now remaining, thus not penalising the fielding team for the fact that taking a wicket is a normal part of the sport. Aside from that (and unforeseen stuff like injury/lost ball/streaking idiot on the field/invasion of venue by giant guinea pigs, etc) the clock goes down and continues to do so.

It’s an idea worth pursuing at T20 level.

For ODIs/Tests one would think the logical solution remains the old standard 5-run penalty for every over not bowled by x cut-off time (say 6pm on your average Test day by the main clock at the ground) or 9.30pm AEST for ODIs in Oz (assuming an average playing time of 2-5.30/6-9.30 or so).

Here’s a bizarre thought (but rather fun, too)…

In 1934 in Italy and four years later in France, the World Cup was a 16-team knockout tournament. The qualifying saw 36 teams enter ahead of the tournament proper – said 16-team knockout. It’s been done before. Weird, but FIFA obviously thought it worked. At least once. Why not celebrate 100 years with a tournament in 3036 – (in between the respective centenaries) that is just one giant 64-team knockout? Sounds fun!

Venues? Rome, Paris, Marseilles, Florence, Bordeaux, Milan, Lille, Turin, Toulouse, Bologna, Lyon, Genoa, Reims

The teams that competed in 1934 and 38 (if they were existing today)
Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, France, Holland, Romania, Egypt, Brazil, Belgium, USA (1934)
Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Sweden, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Cuba, Romania, Germany, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Indonesia (1938)

Right now (although they aren’t perfect) the FIFA World Rankings (if you straight-up went 1v64, 2v63 etc) would have this…

1. Argentina v UAE
2. Brazil v Montenegro
3. Germany v Uzbekistan
4. Chile v South Africa
5. Belgium v Mali
6. Colombia v Venezuela
7. France v Panama
8. Portugal v Morocco
9. Uruguay v Russia
10. Spain v Israel
11. Switzerland v Saudi Arabia
12. Wales v Ghana
13. England v Slovenia
14. Croatia v Nigeria
15. Poland v Burkina Faso
16. Italy v Albania
17. Costa Rica v Congo
18. Mexico v Australia
19. Peru v Denmark
20. Ecuador v Japan
21. Iceland v Serbia
22. Holland v Czech Republic
23. Rep Ireland v Greece
24. Turkey v Sweden
25. Slovakia v Paraguay
26. Hungary v Romania
27. Bosnia-Herzegovina v Algeria
28. USA v South Korea
29. Iran v Egypt
30. Ukraine v Tunisia
31. Austria v Ivory Coast
32. Nth Ireland v Senegal

Huzzah! 🙂

Hi Mo – and Alec our writer –

Yep, totally.

Absolute Daft Idea Of The Year stuff, this. And I’m an Australian and genuine appreciator of the world game.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/10-things-to-hate-about-fifas-new-48-team-world-cup-a7519126.html

Evan Bartlett for London’s Independent.

And this by Mike Cockerill for The AGE – interesting thought on Australia leveraging a return to Oceania, perhaps, to guarantee a spot – and hosting chance.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/fifa-world-cup-expansion-why-australia-should-consider-going-back-to-oceania-20170110-gtp692.html

But in reality, yep, 48 teams is insanity. Heck, even 32 was pushing it in terms of consistent quality games.

From memory, some suggested the 2014 tournament in Brazil was one of the best in years.

Funnily enough, it will (by 2026) though make the Euros (if still hopefully stuck at 24 teams) seem thoroughly quality-laden by comparison. And that was a surprisingly entertaining rollercoaster of a tournament last year in France (despite the usual off-pitch violence).

But yeah, this 48 team move should make us all try harder to enjoy 2018 and 2022 (if that’s possible, given other political and administrative machinations gone before)…

Argh.

As others have said today online elsewhere, perhaps time to turn off the World Cup and concentrate more on following your local club.

Hi Ant –

Thanks 🙂 It’s been fun to get back into a bit of Roaring…

Hi Ben – nice to hear from you 🙂

Unfortunately the pointy end is where the goals (usually/should) come from.

In a bizarre thought that’s just gone through my head (and one doubts would seriously go through the heads of Adelaide United management) – why not go reverse and admit it unlikely that the Reds will win the Champs League so you might as well play in some available youth while you can to toughen ’em up for the close of the A-League season?

Happy New Year, etc as well!

Hi Mike –

Long time no see from me.

A cricket fanatic who appreciates the world game, I am.

I boycotted the Big Bash for the first 3 editions due to its plasticity. As a former South Aussie resident I was happy enough with the state teams and felt that 8 city sides with colours/squads bearing zero relation to their home state just didn’t interest me.

However, with cricket available on Channel TEN so much over the hols I had to find a way into it.

Hence, I scoured the stats lists for the team that most closely reflects its home state. Hint – the least of these are Melbourne Red-e-gades and the GreenStars. And Adelaide.

So my allegiance (for what it’s worth) went to Perth.

The cricket is cricket – 11 a side, stumps, bat, ball.

But I feel it lacks context (some other family members have no idea who is playing for which team each season) and history.

I am a child of the 1980s – raised on World Series cricket, so short format in itself isn’t my issue. But even vague observers can recall Bevo’s 1996 last-ball boundary to beat the Windies. How many can recall a similar momentous moment from the T20s? I can’t.

It’s fun – and it’s some cricket to sit down and watch. But aside from that? Meh.

I have found myself enjoying A-League (even though it’s standard-def SBS2) each Friday night. Since its return to Free-To-Air it’s been easier to emotionally invest in and follow. And I’m finding it more so than the EPL – maybe as a married man with two kids age under 6, the average 11pm kickoff for the England games doesn’t help. Nor being an Adelaide United guy in the A-League.

But yes, for all the shazam of the T20s, the A-League is good. Not Serie A. Not EPL. But good. I agree that its more about admin tinkering with the quality of the teams now than gimmicks. The FFA Cup is (in itself) great, even if the final should be Jan 26 at Homebush (a-la Wembley). Expansion though then becomes a tricky proposition (for A-League and the T20s).

The history will come for BBL but it may take (er, who knows?) 20 years ?

There’s longer history with the A-League. Maybe it’s time to play that up a bit more? But how best to go about it?

Hi all – for me, it’s simple. Finite cash. People can’t justify expenses for $30-$50 a pop each week or two for the whole summer. I go to one day of cricket – either an ODI or a day of a Test – usually. Just to be there, say I’ve been part of the action live at the ground. The rest I watch on telly. I am booked this summer for a World Cup game in Adelaide. In March. And I think it was a big error to (a) play ODIs in November in itself instead of the Tests (shouldn’t we be at the Gabba by now?) and (b) of course in a World Cup summer some will indeed save their pennies to attend that. Each venue has a few international games this season and not many I’d say could go to every single one even within their own state.
I thought it was nice to see Perth actually open the series in itself as a double-header (the crowd figures seemed just about right given the venue, early season start and that these do really feel like World Cup warm-ups). Shock, gasp as to how the public will respond to the truncated-version World Series still to come in Jan/Feb (AUS/ENG/IND) before the Cup. And the Melbourne-Brisbane A-League game got more through the gates… So, as a cricket fanatic, I think there’s probably too much played that’s devoid of meaning, particularly this summer. I’d rather have seen more Matador Cup action and Shield by this stage. The Big Bash (love it or not) is holiday entertainment, well placed in Dec/Jan), but why not revive the annual AUS-NZL Chappell-Hadlee Trophy ODIs (three games) now instead of five vSAF? Just a suggestion. Or, play two Tests against South Africa (or even New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh…?) to lead into the India series. It just seems rather odd to have a string of ODI contests, three months before the Cup, then Tests, then more ODIs. What does SAF do in the meantime? I am not aware of any more internationals for them ahead of the World Cup… And remember what happened in 1991/92? Burnout? Australia played the full 15-game World Series in Jan/Feb, lost to IND and WIN and failed to make the final, lost the Cup opener at the Septagon (i.e Eden Park) and it kinda went downhill from there… Too much of a good thing, Cricket Australia? Or just too much at the wrong time? (and price range?)

Hi Fuss – at least in that case you’d get a similar telly-watching feeling if you’re in Syd/Mel/Adel… a late-nighter from 10.30pm-12.30am, just like watching the English Cup! 🙂

Hi Dave – GO UUU REDS!!!!! While this all sounds rather cool in itself, I too am weirded out about the final being at Hindmarsh. Three questions come to mind – one, why not the larger Adelaide Oval (if it must be in Adelaide), followed by whether the FFA had any sort of seeding or likely final venue in mind based on the position of the semi-finalists (e.g the A-League sides get preference over a tier 2 team like Bentleigh, etc) and three – surely, and maybe it’s just me, but I’ve long envisaged the “Cup Final Day” in Australian football as always being at Homebush in Sydney, a-la Wembley. It’s just the “home of the Final”, play the thing on Australia Day every year, 2pm kick-off and so on… Hope that happens from 2015-16 onward…

Hi Matt – hee hee! Indeedy. Watching more cricket is always a good thing. Whether one always has the time to get round to doing that is another matter 🙂

Hi Dave – watched over half the game last night on the telly. Weird-az. It seems to be the now traditional “I just about have no idea who 59.8% of the Aussie team are” match. And ditto for the opposition. Seeing the Matador Cup over the past month has been a real treat. This, by comparison, was soul-less stuff in front of a poor crowd. Bad midweek scheduling? Fans really don’t care? Wrong venue (and this is coming from an ex-Adelaidean who loves Adelaide Oval)? I think, at a pinch, I could recognise maybe a third of the Aussie team by sight (one relative also watching on the night at his house barely recalled who was playing for which state). Perhaps a grudge re-match against Pakistan in (at least) a one-dayer would’ve been a better way to start things off? Or how about an Australia v Matador Cup Champions charity shield-esque event over say 40 overs a side? I dunno. I’m a cricket nut, booked in to see IRE-PAK in the World Cup, and love the return of the World Series (AUS-ENG-IND) but just feel it’s all going to be interminably dull too often, particularly in the lead-up to a World Cup as well (and I mean the scheduling, more than any results). What must’ve looked good on paper just seems silly now. There’s just been a real “anyone actually want to bother?” feel to the home international summer starting yesterday. Have people all gravitated to the A-League instead? (and I say that as a long-time football admirer and Adelaide United fan, too!). Maybe it should’ve been a Friday night, inside The Dome in Melbourne, against Pakistan or even (duh) India, given they’re here for the Tests, aren’t they? If memory serves, last time the World Cup was in Australia, we played a full 12-game World Series (plus three finals) with India and the Windies. Australia didn’t make the finals, lost the World Cup opener at Auckland’s Septagon Stadium (a.k.a Eden Park) and it kinda went fairly well downhill from there. A fine balance between giving the hosts enough match practice pre-tournament and not boring everyone in the stands while doing so…

Hi Vibhor – surely at least semi-finalists again for the Kiwis. Win the entire thing? Dunno. I remain unconvinced Australia will win the lot (and I’m an Aussie resident and fan!) either, and I doubt England, too. And, doubt South Africa. For some reason from the rest of the bunch Sri Lanka comes to mind, although equally I wouldn’t weirdly discount the Windies putting in a surprise performance. Ditto from the likes of Zimbabwe (yes, I’m serious), Ireland, Afghanistan and Scotland. I so hope one of the Associate nations springs another shock win over a Test opponent. Just to keep the ICC as honest as possible about their silly decision to cull the competing nations back to 10 from 2019 onwards…

Hi Dean – YES. YES. YES. You can tell I’m a fan of domestic Cup cricket from rather a way back… And yeah, I also like the idea from Craig (above) about adding a city franchise (as well) to the Big Bash. The move to the tournament idea is both good (place in the calendar in October, all run and won inside a month, over half the games on GEM this summer, a decent ‘get-to-know-the-faces-on-your-team’ exercise for the fans after the winter) and not so goo (why oh why in just two states – why not rotate hosting across the nation in six “weekend” triple-header rounds, e.g. opening weekend Fri night (d/n), Saturday (d/n) and Sunday (day) in Queensland, then the next weekend it’s Fri-Sa-Sun in NSW, then after that Fri-Sa-Sun in Victoria, etc, etc. With the semis and final always rotated in one city (e.g. The Gabba, North Sydney/Drummoyne/SCG/Homebush, Adelaide Oval/Glenelg Oval, MCG, etc, etc.) So aside from a couple of scheduling quibbles, yes, bring back the ACT. Manuka is becoming the neutral venue of choice for ODIs and so-on, though why it hosted the Big Bash final is a mystery to me! 🙂

Hi Adrian – all I will say is that as someone who boycotted viewing the race for 15 years due to the two-make regulations, it was (a bit) like being back in the 1980s. Bathurst when I was a kid! Multiple manufacturers (as it should be) and the feeling that the best drivers had come back to the Mountain simply to conquer it as a prestige event in itself. Nissan sorta proving its enduro reliability after a mixed bag in the sprint rounds was good, disappointing arvo for Volvo, and Whincup – you’d think in a long-distance race you’d get the fuel intake right! But yeah, great to see it return to some splendor of what it used to be. Well, that’s my view anyway! 🙂

Hi Davo – I am not referring to a particular period in my own life or football history. However, suggesting simply from four sentences online that I “don’t really follow the sport” is, I think, a pretty long bow. I’m hardly an expert on most sports (!!) and will declare my first sporting love is cricket. However, I have long enjoyed watching the world game (my first World Cup telly viewing was in 1990, and I’ve seen portions of every tournament since… I have also on-and-off attended Adelaide United A-League games at Hindmarsh when in SA as I now live interstate, etc). I am not ignorant of the sport itself and am most certainly not “bashing” the sport itself either. I totally get and appreciate it’s place as the most popular on the planet. And yes, the World Cup is the big-time important event indeed. And my comments above, while rather off-the-cuff perhaps and loosely-phrased, are not my “usual” and/or only line of thought regarding the sport. Was the penalty understandably given (contact, whether we like it or not, inside the box?) – yes. Could I totally understand that refs have waved away far worse I’m sure? – yes. Did I think Brazil deserved a 2-0 win in open play? – yes. The own goal was their own fault and the penalty did look let’s say rather ‘soft’ as penalty decisions go. But does this mean I don’t follow the sport or am usually the kind of person to ignorantly bash it? – no.

Hi Vas – watched the second half on SBS this morning. Ah, the dirty cheating diving and fake injury exaggeration has started already (from both teams). With the seriously under-pressure kingpin Mr Blatter looking on from the stands. So sad to see such blights on the sport that can’t ever be remembered for its simplicity as a beautiful game in itself any more…

Hi all – watched from innings 4 onward on GEM. Terrific stuff. Never saw the opening titles/anchors etc but to have the real MLB commentators was a plus, and it all seemed presented just as it would be over in the US. Not too many superfluous comparisons with the cricket, etc, etc. And it looked to me like the D-Backs’ late-game pitching simply was too inconsistent for the task tonight. But an enjoyable lounge-chair experience. Well done to the organisers 🙂

Hi Josh, Pete… Cracking win from the Reds. Djite is an absolute legend for mine. Caught the majority of the game live on SBS. As a former Adelaide resident now living in Victoria it was great to see the lads on telly. And it was a nice night all round really – by 8.30pm you could flick through the A-League, AFL and NRL, all live, all free-to-air.

Hi Dan – from a cricket fan’s perspective… I think firstly the split opener was daft by the AFL hierarchy. Make it a full set of nine games (even if that’s Thu-Mon). However, I am also someone who (despite being a former SA resident now living in Victoria) could equally accept the Shield Final at Junction Oval/Punt Road/Kardinia Park instead of the MCG. Heck, even Bendigo or Ballarat? So yeah, it’s nice IF at all possible that the MCG (purely in terms of its clout as a sizable venue) gets used on the opening weekend (not necessarily the opening night – it’s no longer VFL so that honour could be rotated between Melb/Syd/Bris/Per/Adel etc) in future. But of course not next summer – sorry footy fans, but an ICC World Cup don’t come round too often (!!) I should know. Loved attending the 1992 edition (IND-SAF at Adelaide Oval) and will be going to the first phase IRE-PAK fixture (again in Adelaide) next year. Hurrah.

Hi Scott – always personally preferred a team in Tasmania and one in the north (Darwin sounds great but perhaps a broader team encompassing the NT and northern Qld might work better?), followed by maybe an Eastern side taking in some of NSW plus the ACT. But Coast and Western Sydney are here now, I suppose…

Hi Adam –

I still enjoy the occasional sporting trip to the venue. There are memories to be made, definitely, in going with friends to special events. I have a ticket for the IRE-PAK ICC World Cup game for next summer with a relative. Marvellous. Going to SANFL games during my childhood with my Dad. Marvellous. Likewise all those World Series matches at Adelaide Oval (pre and post-lighting towers)… I do find basketball a better live sport than on TV, and yet for me football (i.e. the world game) is great on the box. I think Aussie Rules footy does have the crowd/pie/drink factor thrown in at the oval though. Rugby union is great either way for me. So, while TV keeps one up to date with a competition, it’s always nice to say you’ve gone to the ground yourself. Occasionally. Given ticket prices, petrol, food, etc.

Hi all – just caught the news. Seriously – any quibbles (and yeah, there are a few) should be consigned to the brain-bin, at least for 12 months. This is utterly brilliant stuff for the sport in Australia. Hurrah.

Hi Mitch – a no from me, too. Indeed, I think the AFL has actually got it right this time. Just practice games. The NRL now has the Nines. No need whatsoever for the FFA to consider an exact copy of anything pre-season from that lot. As others have said, a Charity Shield/Cup/Trophy event between the A-League Champions and their NPL equivalent would be fine, probably at Homebush for mine, make it a tradition, a-la Wembley, etc. And yeah, the FFA Cup is the big deal everyone’s waiting for, which should offer far more longer-term sustainable interest than a set of play-everyone-yet-again weeks before the same teams, er, play all over again.