Mega Thread 2022/23 Off-Season Sports Thread

[Dockeroo]

Is there anything more insufferable than hearing Gerard Whateley talk about Australian cricket?
The guy has an absolute God complex when he talks about this sport in particular. I reckon he actually thinks he’s Jesus. It’s like he’s thinks his opinion is as important as Donald Bradman, Shane Warne and Allan Border put together!

 

[Kram]

Is there anything more insufferable than hearing Gerard Whateley talk about Australian cricket?
The guy has an absolute God complex when he talks about this sport in particular. I reckon he actually thinks he’s Jesus. It’s like he’s thinks his opinion is as important as Donald Bradman, Shane Warne and Allan Border put together!

The pencil neck probably bowls worse than John Howard.

 

[Taylor]

I can imagine Whateley coming in off the long run up with head band and sweatbands on both wrists

 

[masai tu]

I can imagine Whateley coming in off the long run up with head band and sweatbands on both wrists

With his little whip in hand.

 

[MadDocker]

Warner silenced the critics (including me) with a great knock. Reckon he's buying Marnus a few beers after this test

 

[serial_thrilla]

Warner silenced the critics (including me) with a great knock. Reckon he's buying Marnus a few beers after this test

Probably booked his ticket to India and England next year too. He's better back it up.

 

[Docker82]

Probably booked his ticket to India and England next year too. He's better back it up.

Tbh there’s only one opener in the country that’s perform near Warner’s level and he’s the bloke that stands at the other end when the opposition bowl the first ball.

It’s really disappointing that Marcus Harris has been given so many chances. It’s not the selectors job to reward shield form - it’s the selectors job to make a judgement on whether shield form will translate to test level. For Harris is so painfully obvious it won’t and has been before he played his first test match. We’re ****ing around with a guy that clearly isn’t good enough when there’s 5+ openers at shield level that would more than likely do a better job - there’s plenty of middle order players we could try there if we need to try something else too.

Selectors could’ve given a guy with potential a go. Instead we’ll probably have Labuschagne and Smith joining each other at 2/10 most innings within 18 months.

 

[fnerd]

Probably booked his ticket to India and England next year too. He's better back it up.

He won’t .

 

[DockerDerek]

I’m a bit disappointed with Warner’s knock if it means he’ll be going to England.

Otherwise good on him!

 

[stax on the mull]

Warner is only a couple of months older than Khawaja so the Aust test team will need 2 new openers in the next year...or maybe sooner.

 

[freodog]

Cameron Green's broken finger probably stuffs up the Scorchers chances. He was supposed to come back at the end of the series when other imports were leaving. Compounding the problem Hardie should get the call up to replace Green in Sydney.

 

[Dockeroo]

It’s funny how Aussies get so wound up about Warner or others underperforming similarly.
It’s not an exaggeration to say you could probably beat South Africa or the windies with 8 players and 7 wickets.
International test cricket has become a bit of a farce really where there is only 2 or 3 serious teams. Even England were rubbish here last summer.
It’s a bit like Geelong or someone ritually beating north or GC by 200 points every time they play, and then their fans having a cut off the 4th best forward on the team for only kicking 5 goals instead of 10.
The most important thing for any sport is competitiveness.
I’m a genuine sports nerd but the one thing I can’t stand is watching blowouts. Non competitive elite sport is pretty depressing to watch.
I have zero interest in this “summer of cricket”. By contrast the recent T20 World Cup had something test cricket can only dream of, by and large. Genuine contests.

 

[Beak_A]

It’s funny how Aussies get so wound up about Warner or others underperforming similarly.
It’s not an exaggeration to say you could probably beat South Africa or the windies with 8 players and 7 wickets.
International test cricket has become a bit of a farce really where there is only 2 or 3 serious teams. Even England were rubbish here last summer.
It’s a bit like Geelong or someone ritually beating north or GC by 200 points every time they play, and then their fans having a cut off the 4th best forward on the team for only kicking 5 goals instead of 10.
The most important thing for any sport is competitiveness.
I’m a genuine sports nerd but the one thing I can’t stand is watching blowouts. Non competitive elite sport is pretty depressing to watch.
I have zero interest in this “summer of cricket”. By contrast the recent T20 World Cup had something test cricket can only dream of, by and large. Genuine contests.

The quality of teams ebbs and flows over time like all sports.

Australia vs India last year had some top class competitive test cricket but there arent any teams who can rival Australia at home at the moment.

If you’ve got some time to spare and want to see what test cricket is all about go and watch the 2005 Ashes series in England. T20 will never recreate that level of competitiveness and suspense ever


My Buddy is NOD

 

[Beak_A]

Cameron Green's broken finger probably stuffs up the Scorchers chances. He was supposed to come back at the end of the series when other imports were leaving. Compounding the problem Hardie should get the call up to replace Green in Sydney.

Nah Lance Morris come on down


My Buddy is NOD

 

[Beak_A]

Warner silenced the critics (including me) with a great knock. Reckon he's buying Marnus a few beers after this test

A knock for the ages alright, showed all the grit and determination that has made him a great batter.

Personally, Id like to see him retire on a high note after this test series but i think he’s earned the right to make his own call after this 200


My Buddy is NOD

 

[Dockeroo]

The quality of teams ebbs and flows over time like all sports.

Australia vs India last year had some top class competitive test cricket but there arent any teams who can rival Australia at home at the moment.

If you’ve got some time to spare and want to see what test cricket is all about go and watch the 2005 Ashes series in England. T20 will never recreate that level of competitiveness and suspense ever


My Buddy is NOD

There’s only one team (India) that seems to be competitive against Australia at home in recent times. Hard to see that changing much either.
I think you are understating the extent of the imbalance in this sport at the “top” level. It’s actually worse that rugby league right now TBH. A sport where there is an overwhelming imbalance towards Australia as the best team globally. I think if SA played 20 cricket tests this summer in Aus, it would be 20-0 to Aus. Supposedly South Africa are a top 3 or 4 in the world team? Goodness me.

Calling Warners effort a knock for the ages just doesn’t pass the pub test for me.
It’s downhill skiing of the highest order. He’s playing against grossly inferior quality opponents.
It’s not Australia’s fault at all. Competition is crucial in any sport though and the impact of any great performances are completely watered down when there is no decent opposition.
It’s up to the ICC to provide the conditions ams infrastructure to allow weaker teams get to the level of the top couple of sides and they seem to be doing the opposite.

 

[Beak_A]

There’s only one team (India) that seems to be competitive against Australia at home in recent times. Hard to see that changing much either.
I think you are understating the extent of the imbalance in this sport at the “top” level. It’s actually worse that rugby league right now TBH. A sport where there is an overwhelming imbalance towards Australia as the best team globally. I think if SA played 20 cricket tests this summer in Aus, it would be 20-0 to Aus. Supposedly South Africa are a top 3 or 4 in the world team? Goodness me.

Calling Warners effort a knock for the ages just doesn’t pass the pub test for me.
It’s downhill skiing of the highest order. He’s playing against grossly inferior quality opponents.
It’s not Australia’s fault at all. Competition is crucial in any sport though and the impact of any great performances are completely watered down when there is no decent opposition.
It’s up to the ICC to provide the conditions ams infrastructure to allow weaker teams get to the level of the top couple of sides and they seem to be doing the opposite.

You won’t have to wait long for Australia to come back to the pack. Australia is obviously very good at home but have tours of India and England coming up. I wouldn’t expect the same dominance in either of those.

Geez you’re a hard critic. I’m not a fan of Warner but even I can respect him making 200 given the media pressure he’s been under and the speculation about his future on a 37 degree day where he can’t walk at the end due to cramp. The SA attack are no slouches though they lack a quality spinner. I expect Nortje to be the best bowler in the world in a year or 2. Certainly not downhill skiing imo


My Buddy is NOD

 

[Dockeroo]

You won’t have to wait long for Australia to come back to the pack. Australia is obviously very good at home but have tours of India and England coming up. I wouldn’t expect the same dominance in either of those.

Geez you’re a hard critic. I’m not a fan of Warner but even I can respect him making 200 given the media pressure he’s been under and the speculation about his future on a 37 degree day where he can’t walk at the end due to cramp. The SA attack are no slouches though they lack a quality spinner. I expect Nortje to be the best bowler in the world in a year or 2. Certainly not downhill skiing imo


My Buddy is NOD

Not a critic of Warner really. He’s clearly a quality player. Was having a bad spell but there’s 10 other players on the team. They can’t all score 100 runs every innings.

It’s more about the sport in general. It’s a relatively popular game globally. Plenty of interest and nations that take it very seriously such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri lanka, even Afghanistan. Yet 3 nations dominate the test agenda (Aus, India and England).
It’s just hard to get enthused about such a one sided sporting contest. It’s men against boys here against South Africa and the windies series was just about as Mickey Mouse as it gets in reality.

I’m not sure what the answer is TBH. Pitches seem to have a much greater influence on Cricket than any other sport. Doesn’t help that test cricket doesn’t have a World Cup style tournament as such, where the best on the planet can go at it in the biggest games and there is a crescendo or natural apex within the sport to target.

There would be a better chance of Peel Thunder reserves beating Geelong Cats premiership 22, than there is of South Africa beating Australia in Sydney on the New Year’s Day test. Not a good situation for the sport in general.

 

[stax on the mull]

I thought New Zealand reached the No 1 spot in Test Cricket about 2 years ago.

 

[Dockeroo]

I thought New Zealand reached the No 1 spot in Test Cricket about 2 years ago.

They are so minor they don’t even ever get to play in any major series against Australia! They seem to only play in early summer warm up matches against Australia, a bit like the windies matches this year.
Has Aus ever played NZ in a Boxing Day test?

 

[stax on the mull]

They are so minor they don’t even ever get to play in any major series against Australia! They seem to only play in early summer warm up matches against Australia, a bit like the windies matches this year.
Has Aus ever played NZ in a Boxing Day test?

The last boxing day test between Aust & NZ was in December 2019. That was the only series that NZ lost overseas between 2017 and 2021 on their way to becoming ranked No 1 in the test playing nations in January of 2021.

New Zealand deserve the no.1 Test ranking

January 6th, 2021 will forever be remembered in the eyes of Blackcaps fans as the New Zealand Test team reached the number 1 spot…

www.theroar.com.au

 

[Joao]

There’s only one team (India) that seems to be competitive against Australia at home in recent times. Hard to see that changing much either.
I think you are understating the extent of the imbalance in this sport at the “top” level. It’s actually worse that rugby league right now TBH. A sport where there is an overwhelming imbalance towards Australia as the best team globally. I think if SA played 20 cricket tests this summer in Aus, it would be 20-0 to Aus. Supposedly South Africa are a top 3 or 4 in the world team? Goodness me.

Calling Warners effort a knock for the ages just doesn’t pass the pub test for me.
It’s downhill skiing of the highest order. He’s playing against grossly inferior quality opponents.
It’s not Australia’s fault at all. Competition is crucial in any sport though and the impact of any great performances are completely watered down when there is no decent opposition.
It’s up to the ICC to provide the conditions ams infrastructure to allow weaker teams get to the level of the top couple of sides and they seem to be doing the opposite.

I don't think Warner's 200 was as good as the coverage would have you beleive but you're taking the **** if you think scoring 200 against Rabada, Nortje and Jansen is downhill skiiing. They are not at their best and the complete lack of runs to defend doesn't help, but that is 3 high quality pacers they have matched only by us.

The reason SAF is terrible is because their top 7 has one player averaging over 32 and he's made about 20 runs all series. As bad as England were here last year with the bat, at least they had Root and Bairstow doing something. This SAF batting lineup is the worst they have put out since 92 by a staggering margin.

The pitch is flat which greatly helps but that just highlights how terrible their batting is when they couldn't even scrape to 200 on it.

 

[Purpletown]

Love him or not Warner's 200 showed some real grit. A very hot and physically taxing day and batting against some very good bowlers made good watching with him being totally exhausted at the end.

The SA bowlers were brave and gave their all on day one as well and were spent by stumps.

Green grafting a very steady half century whilst having a broken finger was enthralling and Stark bowling with blood seeping from under the nail on his bowling hand were both acts of great courage too.

Test cricket is often about individual courage as much as performance and results. Give me test cricket any day and well done to the players from both sides.

 

[MadDocker]

Smith clean bowling to end the test with his part time leggies sums it up really. What a shit show.

 

[Joao]

Smith clean bowling to end the test with his part time leggies sums it up really. What a s**t show.

Smith has a FC 7-fer bowling legspin...