Roar Guru
Joined October 2014
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After the brave World Cup qualifying campaign ended in the heartbreak of a Blocker Wilson howler, rain and Duckworth Lewis calculations, this was our…
The West Indies' comprehensive loss to the Cricket Australia XI is, in isolation, not too concerning. Many past touring teams have been humbled by…
Who is the greatest cricketer that ever lived? It's not Sachin or Sobers or even the Don. It is not Kallis or Imran or…
Michael Klinger, Australian under 19s captain the year before Michael Clarke, is still hoping for his first international cap despite his successor having now…
A few weeks back I saw the excellent documentary Death of a Gentleman, by Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber. The duo initially set out…
Just a couple of weeks after the ICC failed to re-open the debate around the reduction of the World Cup to just 10 teams…
English cricket is not short of problems. Sure the team's performances were dire at the World Cup and disappointing in the Caribbean, however 10…
With the ICC confirming that the 2019 Cricket World Cup will be limited to just 10 teams, this year's edition could sadly be the…
With West Indies cricket on its knees, having abandoned an Indian tour and suffering a humiliating innings defeat to South Africa, the relief of…
Sadly the cricket that is not currently being played in India will prove much more significant than anything occurring between Pakistan and Australia in…
I agree there’s value in having a recognised global format and T20 has provided that with all associates etc able to play recognised T20 matches with more or less the same rules etc. I went to the hundred and it was brilliant with what it has done for women’s cricket, the new teams are OK and it seemed to make much more of an effort to be more accessible than say County Cricket.
However the format change from 120 to 100 doesn’t improve anything in my opinion and I believe the duration of the matches was pretty similar to standard T20s anyway which presumably defeats the purpose. You just get less of a chance to watch particular players as everyone bowls / faces less balls. I doubt they’ll rename it the 120 and go from 20×5 to 20×6 but I’d love it if they did.
'Drinking beers and making balloon animals': The Hundred set to shake-up cricket – again
Haha, brilliant insight and humour, Brett. Absolutely love this piece.
BRETT GEEVES: 'The day I truly believed Justin Langer was going to kill me'
It is concerning that they seem to be more worried about ‘leaks’ than 1) Langer’s actual behaviour and 2) the on field performance of the team. Conn’s article is damning. The environment appears toxic. If it’s true he’s now bullying social media staff for merely posting positive videos of the Bangladeshi team he’s completely lost the plot and has to go.
'Incredible job': CA backs Langer as coach faces accusations that he's causing player unrest
Interesting article. To be fair, I reckon Pujara and Rahane did a decent job today. However this is a team that has no qualms leaving Ashwin out and he is a waaay better player than these two. With the talent India have, if India don’t win this match, I’d be leaving at least one of them out of the next match.
What is stopping this Indian team from winning?
Some great names there. I reckon Dainty Ironmonger might be the best ever Queensland spinner but I think most of his top level cricket was played for Victoria. I wonder who would be the spinner in an all time Qld team? It would have to be an all rounder like Symonds /McCool / Veivers or even Border I guess given so many great pace bowlers.
My top ten Queensland spinners
It would be nice to see some overseas players in the Shield but I reckon the Shield and the one day cup are sadly seen more these days as development matches rather than legit competitions worth winning. In the past there’s been the odd boom recruit but these days they’ll spend any $ on players for the bash. Although perhaps we could see someone called up from grade cricket like Crane a few years ago.
The overseas recruits who can improve Australian domestic cricket this season
Really nicely done. Some very strong teams. Can’t argue with too many selections there. Look forward to seeing England.
Australia’s teams of the decade - 1930s to 2010s
Really interesting interview, thanks. Will def be keeping a look out for this guy!
IPL, Tasmania and ambidexterity: An exclusive with Nivethan Radhakrishnan
I remember being surprised that Slater got the nod in the 93 Ashes when Hayden was the clear front runner going into that tour. It is unfortunate he didn’t play more throughout the 90s as I think he would’ve done quite well. Ultimately I recall him really struggling against the likes of Ambrose (not on his own there) and then again in 05 against a very good England attack but I guess as an all time great opener you want to prove yourself against the best opening bowlers and I guess that’s one of the rare things he didn’t quite tick off comprehensively.
Pretty sure Sobers 365 was against Fazal Mahmood and Khan Mohammad – both top quality bowlers albeit in that innings the other main bowler seems to have broken down early and they both returned eye watering figures!!
Matthew Hayden wasn't overrated at all
Geez it should probably be added that ’45-year old county trundler’ also spanked 190 off 149 with 15 sixes prior to dismissing Marnus again. Stevo, what a legend. Test debut at 45?
Marnus Labuschagne FURIOUS after getting out to a 45-year old County trundler
Interesting question but CSK have got plenty of firepower with the bat anyway I reckon. Plus Dhoni’s legendary status is probably worth a fair bit in terms of viewers. I would argue his keeping and captaincy are more important these days. If he is doing those well, he is more than worth his spot in the team even if he bats at no 9 or 10.
Is this the end of the road for MS Dhoni?
I agree there’s nothing quite like the tension of the conclusion of a closely fought test match but let me stick up for T20 here too.
Test cricket, by it’s nature is extremely elitist. Probably around 90% of ICC member nations are excluded from playing test cricket and many existing test playing nations are treated as 2nd class teams in any case. Australia is among the worst culprits with very obvious disdain shown to the likes of Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and sometimes others. I would suggest that outside of the Big 3 (plus NZ at the moment) test cricket is really struggling.
Test cricket used to be the format that pitted the best players against each other, but increasingly, many of the globe’s biggest stars play little or no test cricket these days. Other than a quaint notion that test cricket is ‘superior’, there is zero incentive for the likes of de Villiers, Russell, Gayle, Pollard, Maxwell etc to put their hand up to play.
As for T20 games not being memorable, I would say there are also a lot of forgettable, one-sided test matches. Carlos Brathwaite hitting Stokes for 4 consecutive sixes in the final over to win a global tournament is as good as or better than anything I have ever seen in test cricket. In a way it is not as epic as a Brian Lara knock or a Shane Warne spell which can unfold over hours or days, however the way players need to instantly react to the match situation and pressure of T20 shows incredible skill too.
T20 hasn’t killed Test cricket – it’s proven why Tests are the pinnacle of the sport
Very interesting article. To be fair, picking up tail end wickets (particularly cheaply) is a pretty critical skill often the difference for winning and losing and I wouldn’t necessarily mark down guys with a higher tail % too much. Starc’s ability (in form) to smash through the tail with genuine pace is worth it’s weight in gold and not necessarily something others could replicate as effectively. Similarly Merv prided himself on bowling as quickly at the end of the day as the beginning – which in a team without a regular spinner until Warne came along probably allowed him to be effective against the tail even after bowling 20+ overs.
What’s a wicket worth? Part 1: Baggy green bowlers
C’mon Tim, Scotland will surely be independent by 2032! Pretty sure we beat England last time we played them too! 😊
A Brisbane Olympics? Cricket should be included
“…they have a grim history of avoiding matches against minnow teams in all formats.” Very true Ronan, there’s only what… 11 test teams, CA can’t actively avoid about half of them and then complain about not getting enough matches.
Played 3 tests against Zim in 29 years! And only 6 against Bangladesh in 20. Never played Afgh or Ire in a test. Pretty poor.
I am certain CA and many Australian cricket fans would consider various opposition teams as ‘Minnows’ too – a small or insignificant person or organization – which is part of the problem. In reality the current Australian team is a long way from that of say, 20 years ago.
England's giant Ashes advantage due to uneven Test schedule
I reckon Paine was given the job, not because he was the best player or even necessarily the best captain available, but because he was a calm, experienced, reliable head. He has done a pretty good job over the past couple of years.
However in a match where a great deal of focus has been on the tourists being abused, probably racially by the crowd, Paine himself is seen abusing both umpires and opposition. Even worse than his own poor performance, he had lost a lot of credibility. I reckon the main reason he is in the side is because he is perceived to be able to keep his cool so hopefully this is just a one off.
A dkhead away from disaster: Does Australia's image deserve to crumble?
Surprise, surprise Maxwell getting the blame. Australia only hit ONE boundary (Stoinis’ six) in the last six overs of the match despite having plenty of wickets in hand. The problem is that the tail starts at No 5.
Australia snatch T20 defeat from the jaws of victory
Like this side. Very strong. Agree with Tikolo and possibly Odoyo to come in. I reckon Hamid Hassan was absolutely super and world class. He’d prob be the first pace bowler I’d pick.
My Associates ODI XI of the 21st century
The way Gayle has perfected six hitting is absolutely incredible. Pretty much any ball pitched up to him goes over the ropes.
Still head, less footwork as you say. He has tweaked his own technique specifically for T20 cricket. The gap between Gayle and others is much smaller than Bradman to others but he may turn out to be much more influential to future batting approach and technique than Bradman was.
Chris Gayle is the Don Bradman of T20 cricket
Think they already sacked Finch as skipper once so Smith could captain the 2016 world T20. It didn’t work out too well. I’d just stick with Finch. He’s a better captain and a more proven player (in T20) anyway.
Is Steve Smith Australia's best captain?
Correct. I did indeed enjoy that match 😊
Cricket World Cup fans, you must maintain your rage!
Yeah. I guess the commercial realities are there. If the agreement says India needs 9 games, I’d just go for two pools of 10 teams and play 2 games per day instead of one 😁
Cricket World Cup fans, you must maintain your rage!
I reckon they have to look internationally. Particularly for white ball cricket. Australia appears to be behind the curve in T20 in particular. Maybe Jayawardene, S Fleming etc.
The Australian coaching role should be split by format