Roar Guru
Joined February 2013
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Broadcaster - SEN. Ex-Nine Radio 2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR. Former middle order wannabe for the Roseville Cricket Club. Love the big red V.
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It slipped my attention that Saturday, March 6th marked ten years since the passing of my uncle, Vinay Verma. Many on The Roar would…
The Davis Cup, a tournament steeped in 118 years of tradition, is now officially the Little River Band of world sport. It exists in…
We have a tendency when compiling 'best ever' teams to default to overall records. You're three schooners in, and off the top of your…
For a brief moment, we faced the nightmare of a summer without a ball being bowled, such was the acrimony in the cricket pay…
Be it humility or platitude, the professional sportsman is prone to stating they're happy to have simply played one game in the top grade.…
In last year's Round 22 clash between the Raiders and the Tigers, I was completely enamoured with James Tedesco. He was irresistible that night.…
The term 'one-Test wonder' has become a pejorative expression. With connotations of luck and a whiff of a hoax, it's a name unbecoming of…
Sport loves a scapegoat. Finger-pointing and blame-shifting is the predictable by-product of failure - especially in a time-honoured contest like the Ashes The Argus…
There's nothing sexier than a rift, especially when it's between members of an ostensibly happy family. As the travails of Australian cricket play out…
We Sydneysiders are an arrogant lot. The 'yeah but we have the harbour' attitude sees us claim to have the best city in the…
Tigers legend Stephen 'Blocker' Roach once remarked he'd only ever seen the hill at Leichhardt stand for three players whenever they touched the ball…
Scanning The Roar's cricket comments is a riveting pastime. A symposium of passion, some points are well made, some less so. Some posts push…
In the second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, the Aussies were bested by their own hubris as much as the gorgeous reverse…
Fascinating breakdown, JGK. The big hundred measure is interesting. Not sure I’d take points of for that, given his hundreds in England were clearly match winning.
As for Lara having a series aggregate of 650+ runs on three occasions, one of those was in a 3 test series against Sri Lanka!
Whichever way you dissect it, Smith is a freak.
Could Steve Smith actually be the best after Bradman?
It’s important to clarify that Brett Stewart wasn’t suspended because of the sexual assault charge, but rather for being drunk at the NRL season launch, at which he was the face of the game.
JDB has to be stood down, and I’m a Dragons fan. His actions, which have yielded the most serious of charges, have clearly brought the game into disrepute.
Stand Jack de Belin down until his case is resolved
The Tigers favouritism may arrest that slide, Dane. Just like the Dragons, they don’t cope well with expectation.
After months in title contention, Dragons finally regain their mojo
Yes, but this has happened countless times before and the umpire doesn’t conduct a straw poll of the fielding side to determine whether a ball is still in play.
As such, perhaps there’s enough grey area to make such a determination despite the appeal.
If, instead of asking the keeper “did you ask him to throw the ball to you?” he asked, “did you consider the ball to be in play, given it had come to a stop and the player was not attempting a run?”, would the player have answered differently? Only he knows. Either way, they’re leading questions.
Look, you’re probably right and I’m most likely wrong, but it just frustrates me Spruce.
Young Windies have pushed the laws to their absolute lowest
We can’t all have Bellamy (although we got close at one stage). With anyone, be it player or coach, you look for improvement. Yes we missed the eight in 2017, but relative to expectation, it was a good year. That we ended up with the third best for and against after such an insipid 2016 is encouraging, but given the acquisition of a Hunt and Graham, another finals miss should spell the end of Mary’s time at the Dragons.
Is Paul McGregor the right man to coach the Dragons?
Common sense should have prevailed, Brett. Given the ball had come to a stop, the umpire should have regarded it as not in play (hence, dead). Instead, he asked Emmanuel Stewart “did you ask him to throw the ball to you?” I’m not comfortable with this kind of prompting. Mind you, that was a consequence of the initial appeal.
That the captain said on reflection he would have withdrawn the appeal is an empty gesture.
Young Windies have pushed the laws to their absolute lowest
His last two seasons have yielded six hundred odd runs each. Good, but a far cry from the thousand run seasons required in previous eras to earn a test cap.
His talent is identified but I’m not convinced he’s banging the door down. If we’re going to pick players on potential and a modicum of form, then you need to persist, or you just perpetuate that cycle of failure.
By that measure, Cartwright and Maxwell are ahead of him in the pecking order.
Jake Lehmann's dad Darren is the reason he won't be selected
Lehmann won’t be picked. He’s cavalier but I’d like to see a full season of runs.
Jake Lehmann's dad Darren is the reason he won't be selected
If it wasn’t for the boycotted tour of Bangladesh in 2015, Bancroft most probably would’ve worn the baggy green. He is first and foremost an opener.
I’d be disinclined to pick him as a keeper, considering he wouldn’t be his state’s first choice of Whiteman was fit.
Has ability, but would like to see a bit more.
The pair of Aussie bolters who have screamed into Ashes contention
I can’t understand why people are so spellbound by Shaun Marsh.
We need to look past the aesthetic. He’s been dropped at least four times.
He’s demonstrated that he has no consistency over a series.
Unquestionably talented, but limited.
Shaun Marsh goes bang to stake Ashes claim
Renshaw won’t be dropped. He plays the long game, which is what the selectors did when they selected him. He came under criticism for getting bogged down in Adelaide, and was praised for improving that aspect of his game after a couple of tests.
To be fair, not one team notched 200 in the most recent Shield game, and not once did the run rate get above 3 per over.
Does Matt Renshaw need to be dropped for Brisbane?
A lot of players had one or two good series averaging over 50 (i.e. Cook, Clarke, Bell, Pietersen, Hussey), but haven’t sustained top form over the course of five series.
Surprises in the best hybrid Ashes team in the post-Warne era
When records are similar, I tend to go with combinations. Aggression and accumulation. Warner’s strike rate in Ashes cricket is 72.
Surprises in the best hybrid Ashes team in the post-Warne era
I’m not talking horses for courses. More a general point about incumbency. While Khawaja appears to have been pigeonholed as a hard deck specialist, both Maxwell and Cartwright have shown form on home wickets. In that case, I suspect Maxwell, slightly more entrenched in the side, may win out for the first test at least. But it’s anyone’s guess.
Maxwell deserves Ashes selection, but Cartwright is better
You’re right Ryan. Was thinking back to last season.
Maxwell deserves Ashes selection, but Cartwright is better
Incumbency, as it traditionally has, should hold some sway. I know that Cartwright is an incumbent, but given Usman is a certainty, it would follow that Hilton, who replaced him, would be the man to go.
I think Maxwell deserves first crack. With the first test being a pink ball match, it is unlikely the fifth bowler will be called upon to do much, if anything.
Maxwell deserves Ashes selection, but Cartwright is better
Yes Red Kev, but we’re playing this series on Aussie wickets.
Maxwell deserves Ashes selection, but Cartwright is better
240 games, 18 origins, a premiership and about to enter my prime. Yep I’m more than happy to do “what’s best for the team”.
Roosters "unfairly treated" Pearce, says NSW fan who blames him for everything
Gilchrist’s observation about Nevill is commonly held and commonly stated. Not what I would call mind-blowing.
As for Woakes, I don’t mind a few verbal barbs. It adds to the build-up. Having said that, as a bloke who took 1/96 in his only test against Australia (at 4 an over), perhaps he should focus on being better. I mean he’s not exactly Glenn McGrath now is he?!
Two mind-blowing pre-Ashes quotes from Adam Gilchrist and Chris Woakes
We’re all armchair critics when it comes to the commentary box. Is it perfect? Certainly not, but refinement rather than overhaul is the solution.
From what I can glean, each commentator has fans and critics in equal measure. What does that tell you? All of them have insight. Mark Nicholas is a wonderful student of the game. I concur that less fluff is required and the Benaud rule of ‘less is more’ should apply more stringently. But all in all, the coverage is pretty good. Everyone should lighten up.
As the late great Jack Gibson once said, “they’d boo Santa Claus, this mob”
Five ways to improve Channel Nine’s cricket coverage
Smudge’ll be right.
My inclination is to pick Maxwell at 6 and allow him a crack on Australian wickets.
The next couple of Shield games will paint a picture. A half century might maintain the selector’s faith.
Steve Smith is in a form trough ahead of Ashes
Moises is a great St.George boy.
More questions than answers after Round 1 of the Sheffield Shield
Fascinating figures and background. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Hard to predict what the weather was going to do. Prudent of Paine to err on the side of caution. In many ways, 335 will be more easily recalled than any other score in the 300s due to it being one more than the famous 334. Would he have got to 400? We can only speculate. It’s the stuff of cricket articles now.
Should Paine have let Warner chase Lara? Part 1