Roar Rookie
Joined April 2020
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Sports fanatic, cricket nuffy and budding writer. Josshb97@gmail.com
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After Mitchell Marsh’s Headingley heroics, Cameron Green’s ability to turn the promise of brilliance into tangible on-field results has come under increasing scrutiny amidst…
Steve Smith’s current batting legacy is close to unparalleled: his test average of 60.90 is the highest of anyone to play more than 52…
T20 dominates the modern cricketing landscape. It has rapidly turned cricket from a gentleman’s game to high-octane, big-money entertainment. Short, sharp and action-packed, it’s…
There are few sports that will be hit harder by climate change than cricket. Cricket depends on the weather in so many ways. Even…
In a modern day cricketing landscape dominated by short, sharp and action-packed T20 matches, other formats of the game are slowly dying at domestic…
Over the last few years cricket’s distant Olympic dream has steadily been gathering pace. Hope has been raised that the sport could be included…
While cricket has been postponed or cancelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this disaster could solve a major problem in the game. From…
As well as he played in the last test, I’m not sure if I’d deem Marsh to be a genuine quality test all-rounder. He’s always had the ability to produce magnificent innings on his day, but his career batting average of 27 after 57 innings is one of the worst test batting averages of all time among players who’ve scored more than 1000 runs.
Australia must stick with Cam Green for the fourth Test
Cheers for the comment. I based the batter’s statistical peak years off these studies. They all vary slightly, but 30-32 seemed to be the most commonly agreed golden years across the four articles.
1) https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-optimum-age-for-a-cricketer-613709
2) https://cricketlife.co.uk/do-batsmen-get-worse-with-age/#:~:text=We%20note%20that%20the%20batting,change%20for%20a%20younger%20player.
3) http://thegameisafoot.weebly.com/sport-articles/cricket-batting-averages-by-age
4) https://5addedminutes.com/2016/09/03/the-batting-age-curve/
We will never know just how great Steve Smith could have been
I feel like decisions made by the high ups in cricket seem to be made more and more with money in mind rather than their audience. I worry that if cricket continues to become saturated with game after game, world cups almost every year in some format or another, and sell off all its TV rights to pay to view companies the sport it will end up rich but irrelevant, as has started to become the case in england.
T20 hasn’t killed Test cricket – it’s proven why Tests are the pinnacle of the sport
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I completely agree with you about the World T20, having one every two years (or one every year as is the case for the next two years) is quite frankly ridiculous, because all the anticipation and the rarity value that you should get for a world cup is completely lost. The world T20 is the ICC’s biggest cash cow so it would surprise me if they make it a once every four years event, particularly given that money seems to be the driving factor behind most decisions in cricket at the moment.
T20 hasn’t killed Test cricket – it’s proven why Tests are the pinnacle of the sport
I’m not a massive IPL fan anyway, but given the two positive Covid cases today it’ll be interesting to see if we even get a second half of the tournament.
As an aside, you would’ve thought guys would’ve picked Rashid Khan by now, but he just keeps adapting and continues to bamboozle the world’s best batsmen game after game, despite all the analysis teams can get on bowlers nowadays.
My IPL team of the tournament so far
completely agree rellum, cricket should do all it can to become carbon neutral or to carbon offset all the travelling involved, particularly given that cricket players rack up ridiculous air miles. I’d also like to see cricket play more games at night, particularly the shorter formats, as well as playing under roofs to make it cooler for the players.
Another issue is what will grassroots cricket do? Whilst the international game could find solutions/adaptions to climate change much more easily, all of them are probably going to be far too expensive to implement at amateur level.
It’s also interesting that not a single cricket board has signed up to the UN’s sports for climate action either.
Cricket must start preparing for climate change
gotta feel for Redmond, a bit like Kurtis Patterson, scoring a ton on debut and never pulling on an international shirt again.
I always thought of Munro as being a short format specialist, his first class average really surprised me, particularly when you think how crazily aggressive he is in t20. Shame he never got another game and a longer run in tests, though I’m sure he does alright for himself cash wise playing in the shorter formats.
New Zealand’s best ever one-Test players
absolutely no idea! They often put really weird lead images on the articles, I remeber writing an article about cricket at the olympics and they chose quinton de cock as the lead image! Do you know if you can suggest images or upload your own if they don’t require a licence?
Cricket must start preparing for climate change
There’s a bit of an issue with that given that the the T20 World Cup is the ICC’s biggest money spinner and I don’t think they’d be willing to lose such a profitable competition, especially given that they won’t get any of the cash from the olympics if cricket was to be included.
Why cricket doesn’t deserve to be an Olympic sport
He’s got a big break coming up as he’s not taking part in the IPL, which should hopefully be a chance for him to rest and get back on his feet.
There’s no doubting that he had a very poor season, but I still feel that on Australian soil Starc just about deserves his spot, particularly against the poms who often struggle against fast, bouncy, hit the deck hard type bowlers such as Starc .
I hope he gets some momentum behind him in the white ball games this year, which he has been performing brilliantly in as of late, and then comes back raring for the ashes.
At 31 he’s in his peak years still, but if he flops again this summer then I completely agree that someone else should be given a shot.
Starc's Sheffield Shield flop puts Ashes spot at risk
nice point, but why draw a similarity with Kevin Petersen when you don’t have to?
The Wrap: Revealed! The real reason why the Wallabies bombed out of the World Cup
If only we could have no IPL every year and the best cricketers would actually play for their countries rather than franchises and the focus might shift a bit towards tests
IPL season postponed
labuschagne has the highest test average since Bradman so I think he’s pretty much bolted on, but I agree with your point about Burns, he hasn’t yet proved himself.
World Test match: North versus South
Agreed. This idea of making the best batsman the captain is ridiculous, not only does it put pressure on your big run getter, but also your captain should be someone who’s good at the job, not just someone who’s good with the bat.
Why Steve Smith should be the next Australian captain
Plus, NSW may recommend Steve Smith instead of Cummins anyway…
States can shape cricket captaincy debate
It’s ridiculous that some players won’t play in their domestic cricket leagues but will play in the IPL and hundred. Now the hundred’s here top players will have two leagues to play in were they can make serious money instead of doing the right thing and playing for their country
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
Agreed, I think a lot of people forget about those who play domestic cricket and earn less ludicrous salaries and they’re the ones who’ll struggle the most, especially in places like England where the domestic season should be happening now
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
Agreed, with the revised format there are so many games in the Big Bash it was almost impossible to even remember which game was on yesterday, making it feel so pointless. Maybe all these cancellations will make us appreciate the sport even more when it returns.
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
Thanks for the comment, I guess Steve Smith is no stranger from time away from cricket! It is definitely a concern though, as Labuschagne and Steve Smith are two of Australia’s key players and if their form drops the side could be in trouble. However, you must also consider the other side of the argument, players such as Glenn Maxwell and Dom Bess who have had struggles with mental health and who would relish a break.
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
I wonder how many players would actually play in the IPL purely for the experience and the cricket if they decreased IPL wages significantly and central contracts became more ludicrous.
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
Good point, but isn’t it in the ECB’s and CA’s best interests to try to support players? It’s gone beyond the stage where top players are going to opt not to play in the IPL, so surely the boards should recognise this and help out the players anyway so they can help their top performers to be at their best for international duty?
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
I agree with your point about the IPL, but nowadays it feels like CA are also cramming in too many white ball series. Take the Australia vs NZ ODI series that was cancelled for example, that would have gone on until late March by which it’s the start of the footy season. Series like that one are surely just for TV sponsorships and more cash for CA?
Cricket has an opportunity to solve a major problem thanks to coronavirus
I agree it was well worth a watch, but I felt it could’ve given a more rounded picture. Two episodes isn’t enough to give audiences a picture of an Ashes tour to England and it didn’t answer the burning question of what is David Warner really like as a person? The only parts of the series that felt like CA hadn’t influenced were the sections about Khawaja and also the part about the bromance between Zampa and Stoinis. There was way too much focus on Kholi, which is surely just a way to get Indian viewers to watch the series.
'The Test' a rare insight into a reformed Australian side
I take your point.
Personally, even though he’s been out of form, with the extra wicket or two he gets Australia every game in the gully, as well as his genuine bowling ability and the way he elongates Australia’s batting lineup, I feel that picking Green gives Australia a better chance of winning the Ashes outright.
If Cummins had selected Murphy over him in this test, Australia’s would have a far longer tail, a less impactful fielder and a spinner with very limited experience who doesn’t appear to be trusted by his his captain.
Australia must stick with Cam Green for the fourth Test