Australia vs Pakistan: 1st Test - Day 1, cricket live scores, blog

Agreed. Paine is no orphan re bowling rates by captains. But it needs to be tightened up on by the match referee and WTC points penalties need to be applied.

It really should be dealt with effectively the bowling rate , Lyon not bowling as much has claims for four seamers in these DN matches but Lyon has a fine record at Adelaide in the DNs .

My only answer is he isn't pushing his bowlers to get through their overs fast enough, though noting not so much bowling from Lyon. Yes it's the captain's responsibility. Though the whole team now gets a financial penalty

Jeff a bigger consideration is why are Australia bowling so slowly Is Paine managing the bowling tempo/change of ends quickly enough? Thats a speed which is too slow with lyon out there. Surely this lies with the captain not managing his bowlers well enough?

Jero leads me to the thought why are they being so slow? Is it paine not managing their bowling tempo. Lyon shouldn't be safe based on over rates thats not great.

Note your also comparing head to openers. Other nuances. Bancfroft would be dropping down the order, he’s mostly opened, surely easier for him and a good pakistan A match against the side we are playing. Sean marsh huge form all summer the issue is age there of course. Carey untried but needs experience. We will likely be one up against pakistan . With 10 months off we can afford to rotate a player or two out if they are out of form . Harris won’t be dropping down the order, neither will burns. Career averages are generally important for australian pitches (warner an example of his return to form but he’s been exceptional at Gabba and Waca at times as we know and is a senior member of the side despite his idiocy) but you have to acknowledge when a player is out of form or being too reckless and others are not getting a chance at his repeated failures. Luckily there was enough superior performance to take the heat of Heads batting yesterday but I wrote an article saying his selection was ambiguous before the test for a reason and it was not off point as many were indicating .

Not microanalysis jeff, Head has had one good shield innings in last six innings. Also failed in the one day match after it at gabba. Average of 23 in England over 4 tests beaten by siddle and equalled by pattinson. Dropped there. Failed against pakistan in the A game where bancroft made more and then failed again yesterday after being given a chance against Pakistan (which was an ambiguous selection in my opinion per my article) . Even if he was nudging the ball along (it just appeared he was reckless and much the same again ) it was long before Australia wanted to declare. Theres nothing micro about that , its just NOT GOOD ENOUGH . Now we know he was good last summer but fact is he has been nowhere near that form since last February thats a decent sample of matches. You need to acknowledge that within a 9 month period Head is seriously out of form. He had previously failed in shield this summer with 0 and 2 and you would not listen to this stats and then 23 in this test with poor technique and wayward batting and against spin (which is his strength on average output by some distance) and not pace bowling , well it was poor yet again. Im all for averages if consistent but not for 9 months of inept decision making and batting. In the last 9 months you’ve got one shield game to go on 9 matches now Jeff. No offense , I think you misunderstand or underestimate poor form and its applicability to test cricket. I called Warner out for technique issues in england before the ashes, one could have looked at career averages or done player comparisons but that didn’t matter he then went on to get the worst average in test cricket history in one series. His technique in england was floored his mental status in question . If we sat around going on long term averages all day it can lead to big problems and did . IF we went on career averages we never would have labuschgne in compared to other candidates who had higher averages. I called him for first test in england , it took smith getting knocked out to get him in. Look what he’s done. It was his technique in england and county that was the sign to me. There are things are away from career averages you do not seem to spot well jeff. No offense but I even wrote an article on Head before this test querying him on formalizes. Most of my calls arent far off and are often disputed. Im still leaning towards him for Adelaide as its his home pitch (something I often look at too as did for this test with burns/labs and it seemed to work) , I know how good head was last summer but you have to acknowledge he’s been out of form for 9 months now and reckless. Adelaide should be his last chance after the ashes and shield form. I hope he goes well there but its guillotine time if he can’t do well against this pakistan side

"but as Bancroft outscored head in the aussie A game and head has only got 20 " I can't agree with picking teams on this basis Pierro. Micro-analysing a batsman's "right" to be in a team based on one (or even three/four) "head-to-head" performances (or even his stand alone performances) fundamentally misunderstands cricket, IMO. A batsman CAN simply get a good delivery and get out out. Cricket can be unforgiving in that way. Simply because a batsman got that "good ball" when he was on, 20, not, 80, means little. Performances can only be assessed as "form" across a longer period/"sample size". "If bancroft came in and made 50 plus you’d have to say he deserved it as much as head on current form." But, Bancroft hasn't come in and done that, so it's pure speculation. "Stepping back though perhaps theres one more chance to let Head shine at Adelaide his home ground and if he can’t do it there against pakistan well hes truely lost form and bancroft could play at his home pitch in perth" No disagree. Head can't be assessed (discarded) on just a performance at Adelaide. He has performed very well in his Test career thus far and needs to be given a decent run to determine whether he can make it. Up to this point, he has. Below are some select stats (with commentary) that I have previously posted. You may or may not have seen. But match/series context is crucial and Head is clearly "head and shoulders" in front of most of his contemporaries (this is prior to this Test). Note: the key indicator here is what he averages versus the average for the team: "It’s a batsman’s career runs as a % of the team’s total scores across his career (but only when he has batted in the innings), as well the team’s average (so total runs divided by total wickets) but again only when that batsman has played. Taking the two incumbent batsmen – Burns and Head – Head has a marginally better career average by 2 runs, though the % of his team’s runs is scored is materially better. But it’s the differential in the team average vs the player career average that I think is most telling re how important Head’s contributions have actually been. Of course, stats don’t tell us whether one player was playing in a team of better batsmen, or against a team of weaker bowlers, or in good or difficult batting conditions. But I think the use of side-by-side metrics provides a more useful indication than jut the career average for example. % of team runs, (Test career ave), Aust team innings ave – Head 15.2%, (ave 42.26), 29.74 – Burns 12.6%, (ave 40.11), 43.18 – S Marsh 11.8%, (ave 34.11), 30.43 – Harris 8.6%, (ave 24.06), 30.56 – Bancroft 8.0%, (ave 26.24), 40.43"

I usually agree and I like the team we have in brisbane even more so for adelaide but as Bancroft outscored head in the aussie A game and head has only got 20 its the one change thats up in the air. The 5th position is still no lock and not a bad thing to have bancroft and head duking it out for the position. If bancroft came in and made 50 plus you'd have to say he deserved it as much as head on current form. Stepping back though perhaps theres one more chance to let Head shine at Adelaide his home ground and if he can't do it there against pakistan well hes truely lost form and bancroft could play at his home pitch in perth. After the ashes , gabba and Adelaide it would be a fair enough rotation

Why change a winning team?

I tell you what Jeff, the Aussie pace bowling is the strongest I can remember although pakistan have batted poorly. The pakistan tour curse is coming back to roost. I don't think they will get the chocolates at Adelaide either given the Aussie DN record there but they can't do anywise than here. Wonder if its time to give bacroft a go in middle order at Adelaide. Not much justification to change anyone else in the line up save for the fact we keep not using lyon much of late but he has a good record at Adelaide

I think this is a really under-considered factor still in the WTC Jero. It's a 2 point penalty per over. This is calculated by the umps at the end of the match. In a two-Test series, the 60 points you get for a Test win will be less impacted by over rate penalties. But across a five Test series, where it's only 24 points for a Test win, the impact is amplified. From what I can tell though, there were *no* point deductions for the slow over rates in the Ashes, even though for both sides it was poor, but especially for England. Can't work that one out. And of course, none of that should take away from the actual principle of what is good for the game itself (though the WTC penalties are supposed to help with that).

Another fail from paine to I might add with bat

He just played the same way he usually does was attacking and a little reckless in fact only played the spinners where he has a good record. Not sure they were going that hard at it . Still another low innings from head . yet again.

When you say a fail from Head...? I actually was out and missed his innings, but didn't he go for a quick fire 24 with the score already at 500? That's not a fail Pierro. In fact the innings is irrelevant in context of drawing form lines, ability to perform in pressure situations etc. I wouldn't get to focused on the statistic of that innings.

Well well well another fail from Head Jeff. Bancroft in the middle order warrants respect . In the end I was not off the mark on Head showing poor form this summer . Moreover we could have gone with the four seamers here, lyon and omitted head. just noticing my call wasn’t a bad one jeff on this test neser with all round capability and seam may have been the selection missed this test even though it may not make a difference to the result.

Jeff with this batting and Pakistan getting the wobbles with the ball first session (a little predictable) , it looks like we could easily have gone in with the four seamers and spinner and dropped head here, notwithstanding that neser is capable of making runs too with bat. Id stick with this current side for Adelaide though, if it wasn’t a DN match, i.e. day test on a flat wicket at Adelaide Id be a little more concerned about not having an extra bowler or all rounder but the Adelaide DN match should be ok with evening conditions often being tricky

24 hrs on, Eng tail certainly helping, Leach making a meaningful contribution with Buttler. 50 run partnership and NZ will not be happy they were unable to close out the innings near the 300 mark.

None the less cummins just averaged 19 in the ashes and was the best bowler yesterday and he took the middle stump clean out of the ground , cummins has a lot of variations. He’s an intelligent bowler whose matured now to his full potential. He the number one bowler on the planet right now and hazel wood close to the second best

Cummins is weirdly successful IMO. Obviously he bowls 140 plus but batsman seem to be rushed picking up his length late and get done by pace and bounce. Maybe it’s his actions like Johnson, Wasim Akram, Marshall it’s quick and explosive at release. Maybe when the ball worn on one side and shiny on the other his cross seem scramble doesn’t bounce consistently and occasionally it hits the seem surprising his opponent with very different bounce. Like Smithy batting he has got something his opponents can’t work out but it’s certainly not what juniors are taught. I can’t believe he gets so many wickets from balls batsmen should leave the good ones he randomly bowls at the stumps surprise his victims.