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The Roar

Sameer Murthy

Roar Rookie

Joined June 2013

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Do you mean T20 Internationals?
Wasim Akram actually played a season of T20 for Hampshire right at the end of his career in 2003.
Took 8 wickets @ 15 in 5 games, so was still very good even at the age of 37!

The best Twenty20 first XI who never played

Hi JGK, as a batsman you could say Ponting is more relevant. However at the age of 28, Ponting was yet to hit his complete dominance (he was at his best from late 2003-2007) while Smith is the No.1 Test cricket batsman in the world right now. As a captain, can’t see too many similarities as Ponting inherited a team at the peak of his powers only to oversee their decline while Smith is leading a young and vibrant Australian side in their mid to late 20’s.

Steve Smith would do well to avoid the fall of his South African namesake

Hi Ronan,
Just referencing your comment from my article on Arjun Nair last year (http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/12/22/arjun-nair-represents-the-changing-face-of-australian-cricket/). You said that “by the looks of this video he looks more like a slow medium pacer than a spinner, he gives the ball zero air. That might work at lower levels but very few spinners make a mark at international level by bowling flat and fast”. It wasn’t just you, but a host of other roarers didn’t rate him. While I think his bowling will be challenged as batsman get more used to his style, he has no doubt proved me right on everything I said about him.

Do you admit that along with being proved wrong with the CA XI concept, you also underestimated the talent of Nair?

Cricket Australia XI is paying dividends in the State One Day Cup

While this article is correct about Smith’s excellent away record, people shouldn’t judge Root yet so far as for his relatively poor overseas record. He was just 22 on the 2013/14 Ashes tour compared to Steve Smith who was 25 in this years’ Ashes. The current South African tour will be a better indication of how well he plays away from home.

"Steve Smith is a home-track bully": de-bunking the myth

Symonds*

Mitch Marsh needs to start scoring runs

Is Glenn Maxwell a better option at 6? Averages 40+ in FC cricket meaning he can hold is own with the bat while his bowling can be very awkward at times. He might be able to replicate the success of Andy Simonds if we take into account his dynamic fielding as well. Mitch Marsh can’t hold is own in the team either batting or bowling unfortunately.

Mitch Marsh needs to start scoring runs

I think looking at 20 year old Sam Heazlett’s success for Queensland is a much better indication of the strength of Australia’s youth program. Matt Renshaw has also played extremely well for the same team which shows the importance of having a stable team culture. Jake Doran hasn’t proved himself yet, but not easy when the team he is playing in is in a complete shambles. The media should stop making him a scapegoat and perhaps criticise the senior players in the team who aren’t exactly leading from the front.

The changing face of Australian cricket: Young gun Arjun Nair

How come we never hear comments of Bradman not walking in the 1st test of the 1946/47 Ashes Series at Brisbane when a fielder claimed a catch? As people have mentioned, ridiculous to blame Chappell for ‘not walking’ when it had happened for so long before.

Ian Chappell did cricket a great disservice

He is also a very handy lower-order batsman so surprising he isn’t liked more by the selectors

O'Keefe: The unwanted spin master

I think when ur a race that has been marginalised for so long, ur naturally going to gravitate towards your own for inspiration that you might have a chance to play professionally.

Where cricket lags behind AFL

I don’t understand people that deny Test cricket is in trouble. Crowds are terrible in India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and West Indies. New Zealand had to shift to grounds like Seddon Park and University Oval in Dunedin just to create some atmosphere. If u look at footage from the 80’s and 90’s, crowds in the West Indies, India and South Africa were extremely high. The Hobart test is expected to have a paltry crowd and people can’t just blame the weak opposition, because surely seeing the national team is a ust in a small city. Yes u maybe right about the 89 Ashes but in a series where there is 6 tests, there are bound to be a few days which have less crowds. There is also plenty of footage in the 89 Ashes in which there are sellout crowds

A Broken Record: What Test cricket can learn from the vinyl revival

Hi Nick,
Soccer by default is an international game and in Australia the problem has actually been getting the mainstream Anglo-Saxon population involved. NRL has done a pretty good job IMO, having a large base of Indigenous, Maori and Pacific Islander players. Players like El-Masri (Lebanese) and Kevin Gordon (Filipino) also have shown the diverse flavour that NRL can offer. I chose AFL because they have people from all backgrounds and NRL still hasn’t had an extremely notable Subcontinental or African Player. I may be wrong in this regard.

U are right about cultural differences but we are seeing more Subcontinental cricket players in the system. Clive Rose is of Pakistani origin and he is on the Tasmanian Roster. Jason Sangha is a 16 year old Indian lad who is dominating junior cricket at National level.
I think we will see more sportsmen of Asian origin in Australia but overall it is correct that they haven’t seen as much top level represention. However I know both NRL and AFL have had a few Asian players. Cricket desperately needs another Richard Chee Quee though.

Where cricket lags behind AFL

I should’ve said ‘some of the batsman we consider on the level of the best of all time’ and you have listed some legendary batsman there. However I think people are being too nostalgic when not rating Steyn higher than he should be.

Is Dale Steyn the greatest fast bowler post WWII?

“In Asia, not always a happy hunting ground for the quicks, he averages 22.7 in 20 Tests”
Lillee didn’t have a great record in Asia, so maybe this gives Steyn the edge over him

Is Dale Steyn the greatest fast bowler post WWII?

Really unimpressive ODI stats? 175 wickets at 26 isn’t legendary but still extremely good in an era where boundary sizes have shortened, bats are bigger and pitches are very flat as seen by 400+ scores being more common now days.

Is Dale Steyn the greatest fast bowler post WWII?

People can rave on about Lillee or Marshall as much as they want but the matter of fact is that they didn’t play in an era of 3 formats, heavy protection for batsmen, highly engineered bats or an overall trend of flatter pitches everywhere. Taking this into consideration, Steyn is the greatest bowler on par with Mcgrath post WW2 because he was able to do well in spite of a bowling period of time heavilly biased towards batsman. Mcgrath should get the nod as well cause he was able to get the better of Tendulkar, Kallis, Lara and Dravid on many occasions and these are batsmen we consider the best of all time

Is Dale Steyn the greatest fast bowler post WWII?

Just like Bollinger still has to pay for “hitting a wall” at Adelaide 2010, Bird’s poor bowling during the 2013 Ashes at Durham seems to still be hurting him. I remember he struggled to support Harris, which allowed England to set up a decent 4th innings target which ultimately won them the series

Australia's 140km/h policy cruels Bird and Sayers

That’s because until recently, the pitches at Shield level have been very green and favoured medium pace swing bowlers such as Bird and Sayyers rather than the hit-the-deck quick bowlers like James Pattinson. Remember Tasmania for a long time had been producing greentops at Hobart which explains why Jackson Bird’s average is so low.

Australia's 140km/h policy cruels Bird and Sayers

The problem is that Rodney Marsh’s questionable selections will not be exposed as even Sydney First Grade team would have a genuine chance at beating this West Indies XI

Cricket Australia's selection process is broken

“There does appear to be a shallowness of thinking around what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot. The issue here is judging a shot solely on the result, rather than analysis of the mechanics of the shot”

You have hit the nail on the head here but this isn’t just a problem limited to the Ch 9 commentators. At junior and grade level, coaches will judge a shot by the result but not the intent. For example, I have many times seen batsmen criticised for getting stumped off a spinner but if he had hit a 4, then he would be praised for using his feat.

Question marks remain over Australia's batting, and the analysis of it

He isn’t exactly living life as a King now, compared to the heights he achieved as a cricketer. Perhaps other people have witnessed his arrogance that he dished out to you.
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/chris-cairns-is-cleaning-bus-shelters-to-provide-for-his-family/15613169

What to think of Chris Cairns?

I disagree that Warner struggles to thrive on pitches that offer support to the bowler. Against the best bowling attack in the world (South Africa) in South Africa, he demolished them and got 3 centuries. I remember him getting a century on a UAE dustbowl against Pakistan last year while his other teammates struggled. Yes it is true he didn’t have a great Ashes tour but I think he still got 4 or 5 half centuries especially doing well in the 3rd and 4th test green-tops. Perhaps u have a point in that his first innings record in tough conditions needs work, but I think people need to give more credit to the bloke

Vive la difference: Embracing change in cricket

Unfortunately Indian crowds don’t show up of for test matches even in games against Australia as seen in 2008, 2010 and 2013. If they do it is an exception, not the norm

If day-night Tests fail then long-form cricket is dead

Ian Bell’s problem has always been that he is like Mitchell Johnson in that he has periods where he is a brilliant player capable of winning series but otherwise was an inconsistent player who never looked relaxed despite playing 118 tests. He struggled to follow up on his wonderful batting in the 2013 Ashes or batting at home against India 2011. He was superb in South Africa 09′, which meant England should’ve backed him on this tour as his experience would be invaluable but his fluctuating form over a decade has cost him.

Bell axing a sign of Bayliss making his mark

Darren, that is a correct statement about the Gabba test match but we also have to factor in Brisbane’s population growth and the increased seating capacity of the Gabba in the past 2 decades. You make a fair point about people only going to the big test clashes in Australia but that doesn’t explain the trend of poor crowds in UAE, India, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. Australia and England on most occasions get good crowds but the series against West Indies here will test the passion of some of the ‘purists’ who have posted on here and think Test Cricket is in great health. New Zealand is able to get a decent amount of people through the gates albeit in small capacity grounds like University Oval in Dunedin. Do we really want a situation like Netball where there are only 4 countries interested in hosting/playing Test Cricket? If you have Fox Sports, just have a peak at the crowd in Nagpur today where India and South Africa are playing and it is terrible. Remember this is the country that hosted the famous 2001 series against Australia which was full of sell-out crowds

If day-night Tests fail then long-form cricket is dead

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