2013 Sheffield Shield Final

[The Passenger]

(which is why I like bowlers who can bowl tight when the wickets aren't coming).

massively. mcgrath, pollock, clark (stuart), philander are masters of it. if you can keep the opposition scoring rates down you never feel like you're too far away from a good individual performance.

it is a team game, but still every bowler wants to come off the field and look at nice figures, or at worst, reasonable figures. no one wants to come off and see 2/100+ against their name.

guys like above can go 20 overs without a wicket and have 0/50 but they know that in no time they can be looking at figures of 2/60 which is fine. a guy like mitch johnson goes 20 overs without a wicket and he's most likely got 0/100 against his name.

 

[The Passenger]

Shield finals never stream as it's a foxtel broadcast on Fox sports.

is it back on fox? it wasn't last season from memory. wasn't there quite some controversy over that decision?

 

[Carbine Chaos]

For those watching/who have seen him what kind of player is Silk?

 

[Badesumofu]

of course, but as said, scoring very slowly really puts you mentally under the pump. especially a guy like cosgrove who likes to play his shots. i don't know enough about silk.

Does it, though, when you're hosting a Shield final? We just have to not get out, all the pressure is on QLD to make something happen. Shit, I'd be tempted to just play the best 11 batsmen available to me if I was hosting a Shield final. Still, making runs means more time Queensland have to spend making runs, which gives them less time to take wickets, so you'd like to see us pick up the scoring rate somewhat at some point.

I tell you what, Australia couldn't even go 2 over without losing a wicket in that other match that started today. They could learn a lot from our Shield side. When there's a case to be made that you have less discipline than Mark Cosgrove, you know you have serious problems.

 

[The Passenger]

Does it, though, when you're hosting a Shield final?

it's just a mental thing. when you're batting it's good to tick the runs over. it also gets the field out. i don't know what fields hopes is setting by i imagine they are still quite attacking, given the opposition are 0/ after 60 overs.

so far so good for tassie though.

 

[CAS79]

Does it, though, when you're hosting a Shield final? We just have to not get out, all the pressure is on QLD to make something happen. Shit, I'd be tempted to just play the best 11 batsmen available to me if I was hosting a Shield final. Still, making runs means more time Queensland have to spend making runs, which gives them less time to take wickets, so you'd like to see us pick up the scoring rate somewhat at some point.

I tell you what, Australia couldn't even go 2 over without losing a wicket in that other match that started today. They could learn a lot from our Shield side. When there's a case to be made that you have less discipline than Mark Cosgrove, you know you have serious problems.

I take the clux of your point though but at the same time making runs ensures Queensland will be behind longer on the chase and have to take more risks to get in the game.

I'm happy enough to this point but would like to see this innings build and a score settle around it too.

 

[Tassieboy]

is it back on fox? it wasn't last season from memory. wasn't there quite some controversy over that decision?

It was on FOX and online last year.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I think there's a case for playing Shield finals on neutral grounds with sporting pitches produced.

 

[TassieEagle]

I think there's a case for playing Shield finals on neutral grounds with sporting pitches produced.

The game being extended a day makes up for roads being produced. Home ground advantage is deserved.

 

[Ron]

We have had some decent shield finals over the years which have been good to watch.

Don't think this will be one of them.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

The game being extended a day makes up for roads being produced. Home ground advantage is deserved.

Odd time to say that, not sure anybody really deserved it this season.

It's also odd having the final a different format to the rest of the season. Would rather have a greener pitch and a proper four day game to the final being a different game/style of match entirely.

 

[Spitz]

For those watching/who have seen him what kind of player is Silk?

Mark Waugh compared him to George Bailey in his style.

Reckon thats a pretty good one.

Genuine opener, really good pull shot, good temperament.

One for the future with this kind of application, got a good defence.


I believe he holds the Sydney A grade youngest maiden century record, 15 and 9 months or something.

 

[TassieEagle]

Odd time to say that, not sure anybody really deserved it this season.

It's also odd having the final a different format to the rest of the season. Would rather have a greener pitch and a proper four day game to the final being a different game/style of match entirely.

We did, we finished top of the table. The tightness of the season is great for the comp but really of little relevance beyond that. I would have been elated before the final round to be playing Vic or QLD or anyone else away from home and would really hate to see the home ground advantage removed from any side finishing top of the table.


As for draws deciding the season there is only a handful of options I see. Draw goes to to the top team, first innings 'points', an in final quotient or perhaps a countback between the two sides during their other two meetings.

I do agree in an ideal world the final would be over four days but that gives the visiting team almost no chance. As for being an entirely different game, well... just no, after all we do use FC form to determine test spots and they aren't entirely different games.

 

[Tassieboy]

I think there's a case for playing Shield finals on neutral grounds with sporting pitches produced.

There goes the reward for finishing first right there. Thus I don't like it.

 

[Tassieboy]

It's not even close to a road.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

There goes the reward for finishing first right there. Thus I don't like it.

Then CA should be on the local curators to be producing fair pitches for finals. I'm not accusing Tasmania of anything, btw. I just think it leaves it open for, let's say SA if they were to host a final, to produce a 1000+ run first innings track haha.

Not that our batsmen could manage anything like that.

 

[Spitz]

And as Waugh said earlier, ton up in the final, meaning a century in the semi, and century in the final, and he'll book himself a Australia A spot to England.

 

[CAS79]

Then CA should be on the local curators to be producing fair pitches for finals. I'm not accusing Tasmania of anything, btw. I just think it leaves it open for, let's say SA if they were to host a final, to produce a 1000+ run first innings track haha.

Not that our batsmen could manage anything like that.

This pitch had a bit in it this morning.

 

[Badesumofu]

I think it's worth pointing out that all the way through the Shield teams have the incentive to win. There's not much difference between losing and a drawing a match since you don't get any points for a draw. It's all about forcing results. Then the final comes along, and for one team it's still about winning - there is no difference between a loss and a draw for the visitors. The hosts though, after having played all season in a competition where there is almost no difference between a draw and a loss, now are in a situation where there is no difference between a draw and a win.

The no points for a draw thing is also a bit unfair on teams who have matches rained out. I get that the point of the Shield is to produce Test players, not to be a totally fair competition. But playing for a draw, that is - save a Test, in a difficult situation is an important part of Test Cricket and a part that the current side seems to struggle with. It might be worth taking another look at the structure of the Shield in general.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

This pitch had a bit in it this morning.

Any drops? Was hoping Harris would put in a big performance.

 

[eth-dog]

Any drops? Was hoping Harris would put in a big performance.

Harris dropped a half chance off Hauritz

 

[CAS79]

Harris dropped a half chance off Hauritz

A tough chance. Proabably a bit better than half though.

 

[TassieEagle]

There is inequities in the final that heavily favour the home side. There is one more option, scrap the final best tea over 10 matches wins the title.

 

[Cousin Jed]

Could be a tough matchup between Bushells and Dilmar. English Breakfast could also do the job over 10 matches

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I actually like it. Its more like the last Test in a series.
Think 1-1 going into the final Test where the home side holds the trophy. Its similar to that, in that the visiting team needs the win to gain the trophy and a draw is good enough for the home side.
The big difference, of course, is that the home side doesn't actually hold the trophy - just gains a similar advantage by virtue of leading the table. The team finishing second needs to prove they can beat the team who finished on top; seems fair enough, and provides something a bit more Test match like.