One of these records is guaranteed to be broken … Souths’ 21 premierships. Firstly, Souths will break it is they win another one.

I reckon there are a lot of others that won’t be broken, especially scoring records. Two that immediately come to mind are Dave Brown’s 45 points in a game and St. George’s 91 points in a game.

Yep, plenty of beasts there. Who was that bloke who played for Souths in the headgear in that era? Quite a tall bloke. Dead set defensive assassin.

David Gillespie! What a frightening prospect as an opponent. My Lord that man could hit in defence. Would love to see him hit a few “loose carriers” in the modern game.

Sexist! Misogynist! Chauvinist! Probably racist! And I didn’t even need to read the article to arrive at these conclusions. I’d say Trump is to blame.

“Bimbo problems” … awesome! Should be an officially recognised stat!

I would suggest a better way to put “honours even” is to day that “the state of play after day one is about what was expected”. While I have no idea about the match odds now vs. before the toss, I would assume not much would have changed.

As ever, a match can’t be judged until both teams have batted so things might change on day two, but any time you have your opposition 9 down at stumps on the first day, you will be happy with your work.

Don’t start me on the disgraceful handling of Phil Hughes (God rest his soul). We picked a young bloke with massive potential, perhaps with a range of shortcomings, but nonetheless with an immaculate record and prodigious talent.

We sent him off to South Africa and lauded him as “the next Bradman” after his exploits there. Two Tests later the selectors basically tell the bloke he can’t bat … an opener that can’t play the short ball … and chucked him into the bits and pieces bin. Phil should have been absolutely coached, mentored, counseled and carried through his entry to Test cricket. Instead we had him in and out of the team for years, perpetually unsure of his place and future and wondered why he could never quite fulfill that talent.

If Renshaw is to be the future at the top of the order, he needs to be trained in all conditions around the world. Unfortunately that will include a lot of “on the job training” which means failures/errors will be made during the apprenticeship.

I don’t understand what the alternative is. Every time we go to India/SL/Pak (UAE) we drop Renshaw and draft someone in “who can play spin”? Where are we going to find this opener? Presumably they can’t play pace, because if they could play pace AND spin, surely they would be in the team already!

From there then are we basically saying we’re not going to pick our “best team” for these tours because we want to protect them for when conditions are more favourable? Does that in turn mean we are essentially going to give up these away series? How far do we go with this? Pick players who can play the swinging ball for Eng/NZ (but presumably can’t play the straight ball)? Conversely, is our “best team” then a bunch of flat track bullies and bang the deck bowlers who can blast teams in favourable Australian (and maybe SA) conditions to the delight of home crowds and broadcasters, but can’t tour? The mind boggles …

If the reality of it is that we currently don’t have the team to win in Indian (or any other) conditions, let’s admit that and deal with it. And deal with it by assembling the best possible team and building all the requisite skills into them.

Six best batsmen … six best batsmen … six best batsmen. This must be the mantra of our selectors. Work out who they are and pick them. Build the requisite skills in them and their successors. Accept that our best six right now might not have all the skills, but build a plan to give them those skills … and more importantly what’s the plan to build those skills in the batsmen who will believe will/could replace the current selections over time.

Yep, tough to go past Harby’s view. I’ve said before that realistically if we win a Test the series will be considered a success. Par would be a competitive series that probably sees India win 3-0.

Beyond all the other things that have been said and written on this topic, patience is going to be key with both bat and ball. From both perspectives this is not a place to “blast” the opposition. If we are to win any matches it is probable that it won’t occur until the fifth day. The first three days will be little more than establishing position.

Batting needs to consider time at the crease as much runs. We can be fairly confident that India are going to bat for their “allotted” two and half days or more … can we do the same?

From the other perspective, it’s unlikely that India are going to fold inside 60 overs. We need to think about how we can contain them over probably 120 overs and grind out a war of attrition. We know India have no problem bowling for this length of time and ultimately getting a big win. Do we know who is going to bowl to a 120 or 150 over plan?

If we turn up with a “four day Test” mentality we’ll get flogged. If we turn up expecting to play a long grind over five full days, we’ve at least got the chance to be competitive … and once you’re competitive a touch of luck and a flash of brilliance can take you to a win.

Good Lord. M. Marsh shouldn’t even be in India, let alone anywhere near the Test team. Has done absolutely nothing to promote himself since his deserved dropping and now on the back of a “patient” innings and an “economical” bowling spell in a trial match he’s suddenly “a lock” for the Test team?

Agree, Chris, particularly on your final statement. Frankly, I’d say this article is bordering on plain nasty, not to mention the other adjectives used by others here.

It’s an issue with fielding in general for cricket, although obviously the wicket keeper is the most visible fieldsman. As mentioned above, some reference to baseball would be a useful starting point. The use of errors (perhaps with other statistics) would add to analysis.

It might also be worth looking at some tennis statistics … particularly forced vs. unforced errors. The terminology would need to change, but would given some insight on those who can at least get into position to make a play vs. those that can’t get there to begin with. Combine this with other statistics that attempt to determine how many tough situations a keeper/fielder finds themselves in (i.e. how many opportunities they create) and you are on your way to using data to separate average from good from great.

Bang on Mike. I’ve often thought about this, albeit often from the other perspective. Rugby League must be one hell of a game to continue to draw the fans, both at the games and on TV (and in all other forms) despite utter incompetence at practically every level of management (code and club), club-level/salary cap scandals and issue after issue surrounding player behaviour.

One wonders if the day is fast approaching though. The AFL is a slick promotion machine these days. It’s no secret it desperately wants the broader Sydney market, not to mention the inroads the likes of WSW are making in the A-League. While the NRL has clearly managed to surround itself with a “protective moat” of support for many years, the raiders are certainly massing and are exploiting any hint of weakness.

Come on Kev … the ARU is even more adept a shooting itself in the foot than the NRL is. The ARU was really on the crest of a wave in the late ’90’s/early ’00’s The Wallabies were riding on the wave of winning the World Cup in 1999, winning/retaining the Bledisloe five years in a row (hard to imagine, I know!), back-to-back Tri-Nations, the series win against the Lions and the home World Cup just around the corner. The Waratahs and Reds were hot tickets and the Brumbies had built themselves into a slick outfit. All were attracting great crowds, especially the Friday night, after work crowds in Sydney and Brisbane.

Fast forward to 2017 and its a bumbling outfit. The Wallabies have become a second tier team, the Super Rugby has lost its following outsides the die-hards, especially in Sydney. The average punter is flat out even keeping abreast of what’s going on now that it’s on pay TV only … and Wallabies coverage is headed the same way. The fascination with inserting another level of competition between club and provincial level is bordering on the perverse. The assault on League ranks that occurred in days past is now gone. The ARU is now basically raiding the wallets of junior players’ parents to pay for years of mis-management.

Any threat from the broader, global RU arrangements appears not much more than a sideshow. Various blokes wondering off to Toulon (it’s always Toulon) never amount to more than one or two personalities from year to year, usually with other extenuating circumstances attaching. Very rarely, if ever, do the genuine top notch players get caught in these dramas.

Steady on Zozza … (a) this is an Australian site … most articles/responses are written from that perspective, and (b) I would be more than happy to stand by these comments involving many touring sides in recent times in similar circumstances, whether they be Australia or not. The comments centering on Australia are merely reflective of this particular example and the theme of this original article.

You are clearly a devoted NZ cricket fan. I would have thought therefore that you would want to see the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, no doubt amongst others relevant to NZ cricket, always played by the best possible players in the best possible circumstances. This most recent instalment has had neither and more shame on all involved as a result. This trophy deserves better than the shoddy treatment it is receiving at present.

And point (c) … maybe leave the name calling for other forums, there are plenty out there to suit your requirements.

Classic case of scheduling and context intersecting. On the one hand, many of the players that would be walk up starts in the “full strength” team were unavailable as they are preparing for India. On the other hand, we have the context of what is effectively a meaningless three match series shoehorned into the calendar just to make sure it actually gets played.

In terms of absolute prioritisation, it is hard to mount an argument against having players prepare for a Test series in India as opposed to three match one day series. From there, its not a big stretch to suggest that those participating in this series, but who will be going to India may have other things on their mind than top flight performance … bowling within themselves, working out niggling injuries, fine tuning aspects of their game, etc.

In its current form, the Chappell-Hadlee trophy is a disaster. From an Australian’s perspective (whether player or spectator) the first installment this season was a peculiar filler in between South Africa and Pakistan. Basically it seems we couldn’t fit the South Africans in before they wanted to get home for their own summer, so the Kiwis filled a hole. Out of place, difficult to comprehend, reeking of fodder for broadcasting interests. Again, from an Australian perspective, at least it was in the middle of the season, played on home grounds with the best possible personnel and so there was something to play/watch for.

This most latest instalment has little to commend it. An add on at the end of the season with an eye on bigger prizes. No FTA TV coverage back in Australia. Primary players off preparing for India. In the Australian context, the only players who would even want to be there are those who are fringe players pressing a claim … Marcus Stoinis come on down! Whilst ultimately a two match series, the fact he scored three times the runs of any Australian speaks volumes … as does the fact Cummins was second on the list!

The previous disaster in South Africa contained fundamentally the same issues, just with a different geography.

In short, I see this far less as an issue of performing on the road and far more an issue with performing in series where the top players are either unavailable (for whatever reason) and there being little consequence, as a team or as individuals, in the series performance.

As others have noted, this is not a “Sydney FC thing” … it’s actually a Sydney thing generally. Many, many reasons have been trotted out as to why Sydneysiders don’t get out to sporting fixtures in anything like the numbers enjoyed in other cities.

Cost of living and cost of sporting tickets and associated items (food, etc.)
Too hard to get around the city to/from major stadiums/the suburbs
Other options available for entertainment (sporting or otherwise)
Scheduling sporting fixtures at times that are inconvenient to potential attendees
Stadium facilities not up to scratch
Fickle supporter bases compared to other cities (perhaps as a result of above matters)
So on and so on …

I’m sure they all contribute to answer, but there is certainly no one solution to all of these problems. Indeed, the problems here cannot be solved by one group alone. If you accept the above points as problems, they are caused by/can only be solved one by one by either government, sport/code administrators or individual sporting clubs. Not to mention that if Sydneysiders view sport as a “sometimes” event, this cultural issue cannot even hoped to be addressed until the other impediments are removed.

All of this has then led to Sydney having an “event” culture. As noted, the Swans seem to have got a good following and it will be interesting to see what happens with the BBL, but outside that you are looking at various forms of derbies/grudge matches or pinnacle events (finals, representative games, etc.) that draw the big crowds. As a rule, Sydneysiders don’t come out to “non-event” fixtures, regardless of the sport/code you are talking about.

Great article! I agree with others that the omission of a thorough understanding of Warnie’s tips on previously unheard of (and never to be heard of again) spinners was an opportunity missed. Does anyone have a catalogue of these?

Thanks Ryan, I really enjoyed this discussion of Pythagorean wins … never heard of this before … don’t know where I’ve been hiding! While it is a bit complex/number-heavy it resonated with me intuitively. How applicable is this approach to other sports?

Amazing. New record for the highest first innings score resulting in a loss. Just when you think Bangladesh have turned a corner …

I think this was a most wonderful penalty. Now, if only we could get some of these penalties enforced at Test level we’d have a far better product. I know I am far from the only one that wonders why (even with 30 mins of obligatory overtime) that Test teams are unable to get through 90 overs in the day. Giving teams 6.5 hours and then having them fail to get through their allocation is disgraceful. Frankly, penalties should be imposed if the team can’t get through the 90 overs in the allotted 6 hours with the overtime being exactly that … purely there to make up for work that should have been done in normal hours.

The irony of the above situation is that when a bowling team is running out of overs on the final day, chasing a win, suddenly the over rate improves out of sight … 100 overs in a day? No worries! Oh, you mean on the first day … nah mate, just not possible.

Football/soccer is popular the world over, for the same reason that athletics is the most competitive sport in the world … at its heart is a very simple game that is cheap to participate in. It only needs a patch of ground, a ball and two “nets” to get started. The game can easily be improvised for any number of players.

Outside football/soccer and athletics, practically every sport, especially any that would be recognised as mainstream at an international level requires a significant investment in either infrastructure or personal equipment at anything beyond the most basic (kids) level.

I agree he shouldn’t be picked, but the question here is what role is he supposed to be playing/who is he providing cover for?

If I look at the XI that played in Sydney, surely the only role he could even possibly be considered for is replacing Cartwright. But then, surely that is why Maxwell (and possibly Agar) have been included. If not, what is Maxwell doing there?

Then, if they’re not going to bat him at 6, who are they going to leave out for him to come in? Starc? Hazelwood? Lyon? O’Keefe?

Or are they expecting Maxwell/Agar to replace Lyon/O’Keefe? Oh dear …

The net analysis is I don’t know what he’s doing there at all. Can’t bat well enough to bat 6. Can’t bowl well enough to bat 8.

A bowling all rounder would bat at 8. This would mean, as you say, picking him ahead of Bird or whoever you believe to be the third best seamer available. As you also say, this would be absurd.

I just can’t see how the World Cup would suddenly be inundated with “Burkina Faso v New Zealand” fixtures.

Without going into nuts and bolts details of these two teams, the tone of the article suggests these two teams would firstly be “the third teams” in their respective group. So they wouldn’t be meeting there.

In order to play against each other in R32, one would have to finish top of their group, perhaps getting past the likes of Germany and Mexico, while the other would have to finish second in their group, dealing with perhaps Argentina and the Netherlands. So a possible, but unlikely meeting.

Perhaps both Burkina Faso and New Zealand manage to burgle two draws in their groups, finishing second on goal difference after Germany knock off Mexico, and Argentina account for the Netherlands. So they line up against perhaps Brasil and Portugal in R32. Both teams play out of their skins and post stirring stoppage time victories, finally meeting in R16. Again, possible, but unlikely.

On the other hand, if these countries did manage to achieve the above, would they not have justified their places in R16? If they did happen to meet with one then guaranteed a QF berth would this actually be a bad thing? Any worse than Costa Rica in 2014, Turkey/Senegal/Korea in 2002, Romania/Bulgaria in 1994 or Cameroon/Ireland in 1990?

Seriously? Is no opinion safe from allegations of racism these days?

Whether or not you agree with the proposal and then various arguments in support of or against it, there is nothing racist in the story here.