2nd Test Australia v NZ @ the WACA 10:30am WST

[Gough]

Brian Close used to do it, without the helmet.

He was mad though.

 

[JimDocker]

I have quickly tried to catch up on the last 10 pages.

I like Ian Chappell as a commentator. I don't like his attempts at jokes, but he talks more common sense than the rest put together. Reminds me of Boycott to an extent. When just talking pure cricket, I can listen to them all day. When they digress, it can be painful.

Would have been crazy to declare. The pitch was not up to test standard. As somebody that has seen Thomson, Lillee, Holding,, Marshall, Ambrose et al bowl on that pitch, I feel for the current crop. Starc bowled an incredibly hostile spell but got nothing out of the pitch. If NZ wanted to go for the win, surely, they could have opened with McCullum. See what happens, then fall back on the steadier batsmen to right the ship. Australia leading 1 nil, it was not their job to set up the game.

Mitch Johnson will be greatly missed. As a pom, I was never a big fan of how much stick he got from the Barmy Army. His lows were as low as I have seen from player with so much talent, but his highs were exhilarating. Great player to watch and I reckon he seems like a great bloke.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Impressive.

Pitch perfect

 

[Jesse Custer]

Amazing run scoring. In the past i was happy to see Taylor out cheaply and i realised why. Superb knock and seeing Voges face at thenon strikers end just after his century is what sport is all about. Looking forward to the Adelaide test. And how good of a bloke is the NZ skipper? Legend.

 

[JimDocker]

An update on the Kiwi at work and his betting.

He wagered on McCullum outscoring Warner for the series. Warner is currently 443 runs ahead in that battle.

To try and get some money back, he wagered in this game that Khawaja would outscore Voges. Khawaja got 121 to Voges 41 in the first innings, then pulled his hammy and could not bat in the second. Voges got 119 to win by 39.

I keep telling him gambling is a mugs game, but......

 

[WellHung]

Haven't watched any of the cricket yet this summer. However, I have some free time on my hands now and will be observing the next test with interest. Friends have told me that the pitch was terrible.

 

[gbatman]

Yeah I think so.
At the end of the day he's done the right thing. Go to Adelaide with a 1-0 lead.

Yeah I would have probably done the same thing at the WACA, if not to make a statement regarding the wicket, would have given the bowlers a little more time in Melbourne last year though. Smith will get better and better as captain, I think his ideas regarding playing overseas on dry wickets are on the money.

 

[JimDocker]

Can you remember when it was a great feat to average over a hundred in a test series ?

Currently 5 players are doing just that.

Most runs
Player Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s
DA Warner (Aus) 2 4 0 556 253 139.00 645 86.20 3 0 0 56 5
KS Williamson (NZ) 2 4 1 397 166 132.33 560 70.89 2 1 0 56 0
LRPL Taylor (NZ) 2 4 1 352 290 117.33 463 76.02 1 0 1 51 0
UT Khawaja (Aus) 2 3 1 304 174 152.00 436 69.72 2 0 0 27 4
AC Voges (Aus) 2 4 2 244 119 122.00 451 54.10 1 1 0 33 0
JA Burns (Aus) 2 4 0 240 129 60.00 323 74.30 1 1 1 32 4
SPD Smith (Aus) 2 4 0 214 138 53.50 333 64.26 1 0 0 29 0
TWM Latham (NZ) 2 4 0 127 47 31.75 281 45.19 0 0 0 14 1
BB McCullum (NZ) 2 3 0 113 80 37.66 140 80.71 0 1 0 15 2
MD Craig (NZ) 2 3 1 65 26* 32.50 97 67.01 0 0 0 7 2
MJ Guptill (NZ) 2 4 0 64 23 16.00 239 26.77 0 0 0 4 0
PM Nevill (Aus) 2 2 0 54 35 27.00 104 51.92 0 0 0 8 0
BJ Watling (NZ) 2 3 0 47 32 15.66 102 46.07 0 0 0 6 0
TG Southee (NZ) 2 3 0 40 21 13.33 45 88.88 0 0 0 6 1
TA Boult (NZ) 2 3 2 38 23* 38.00 61 62.29 0 0 0 6 1
MR Marsh (Aus) 2 3 0 37 34 12.33 85 43.52 0 0 0 5 1
MG Johnson (Aus) 2 2 0 31 29 15.50 55 56.36 0 0 0 5 0
MA Starc (Aus) 2 2 1 28 28* 28.00 19 147.36 0 0 1 3 1
DAJ Bracewell (NZ) 2 3 0 28 16 9.33 87 32.18 0 0 1 1 1
JR Hazlewood (Aus) 2 2 2 10 8* - 12 83.33 0 0 0 2 0
MJ Henry (NZ) 1 1 0 6 6 6.00 12 50.00 0 0 0 1 0
JDS Neesham (NZ) 1 2 0 6 3 3.00 40 15.00 0 0 0 0 0
NM Lyon (Aus) 2 1 1 4 4* - 1 400.00 0 0 0 1 0
Records includes the following current or recent matches:
Australia v New Zealand at Perth, 2nd Test, Nov 13-17, 2015 [Test # 2187]
Australia v New Zealand at Brisbane, 1st Test, Nov 5-9, 2015 [Test # 2185]

 

[wolmeister]

Well it appears the consensus by some is that Smith did the right thing while some others like myself think he should have made a game of it and back his bowlers in to defend the game. So we agree to disagree. However test cricket is dying a slow death around the world with crowds falling all the time. Using gimmicks such as Day / Night test matches etc are only patch work solutions. All teams should be looking to create a win/loss result with a draw the last resort at all times and 90 overs in a day should be achieved with ease. The players are paid big bucks to entertain. Cricket Australia has plans to charge states to host test cricket. Do you think on the back of seeing a boring draw played out with uninspiring batting by Australia under Smiths captaincy the states will be in a rush to gamble on paying for a test if the product is only going to draw mediocre crowds. But thats ok, Smith will be a captain that doesn't gamble and wins 3 game series at home 1-0. That's what the viewing public wants right? Smith may have ensured Australia can't lose the series last night but Australian Cricket lost!

The only way that will happen if the pitches provide something for both bat and ball; there needs to be a contest. Too many matches (certainly in Aus) are yawn-fests with the bat overly dominant. This match was a perfect example of that. Based on what I watched I cannot see how you think Aus would have ever have bowled NZ out even if they had been more aggressive with the bat. In order to declare here there would need to be a chance of Aus winning the match else there is no point in declaring.

 

[The_Reaper]

Steve Smith should not lose matches on purpose just to ensure a result.

Gifting the opposition free wins is not the Australian way

 

[The_Reaper]

Well it appears the consensus by some is that Smith did the right thing while some others like myself think he should have made a game of it and back his bowlers in to defend the game. So we agree to disagree. However test cricket is dying a slow death around the world with crowds falling all the time. Using gimmicks such as Day / Night test matches etc are only patch work solutions. All teams should be looking to create a win/loss result with a draw the last resort at all times and 90 overs in a day should be achieved with ease. The players are paid big bucks to entertain. Cricket Australia has plans to charge states to host test cricket. Do you think on the back of seeing a boring draw played out with uninspiring batting by Australia under Smiths captaincy the states will be in a rush to gamble on paying for a test if the product is only going to draw mediocre crowds. But thats ok, Smith will be a captain that doesn't gamble and wins 3 game series at home 1-0. That's what the viewing public wants right? Smith may have ensured Australia can't lose the series last night but Australian Cricket lost!

Well maybe they could prepare a results wicket.

If CA and the states prepare draws then they shouldn't be surprised when they get a draw

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Maybe it was actually New Zealand that were gutless in not attempting to chase the runs?

 

[JimDocker]

Well it appears the consensus by some is that Smith did the right thing while some others like myself think he should have made a game of it and back his bowlers in to defend the game. So we agree to disagree. However test cricket is dying a slow death around the world with crowds falling all the time. Using gimmicks such as Day / Night test matches etc are only patch work solutions. All teams should be looking to create a win/loss result with a draw the last resort at all times and 90 overs in a day should be achieved with ease. The players are paid big bucks to entertain. Cricket Australia has plans to charge states to host test cricket. Do you think on the back of seeing a boring draw played out with uninspiring batting by Australia under Smiths captaincy the states will be in a rush to gamble on paying for a test if the product is only going to draw mediocre crowds. But thats ok, Smith will be a captain that doesn't gamble and wins 3 game series at home 1-0. That's what the viewing public wants right? Smith may have ensured Australia can't lose the series last night but Australian Cricket lost!

I agree that the 90 overs should be met each day. Apart from that, good wickets should produce results, not sporting declarations.

Test match cricket should be a contest between bat and ball. If the pitch does not enable that, it is the fault of the powers that be rather than the players.

 

[JimDocker]

Maybe it was actually New Zealand that were gutless in not attempting to chase the runs?

Well, McCullum could always have opened as I suggested earlier. They were the team that is/was behind in the series.

 

[frankrizzo]

Steve Smith should not lose matches on purpose just to ensure a result.

Gifting the opposition free wins is not the Australian way

I usually like malcolm knox but he wrote an article yesterday all but saying clarke was the vastly superior skipper simply because australia didn't have a draw in the last 18 test under his leadership, well frankly im a little sick and tired of this australian cricket exceptionalism that seems to be spreading just as our talent is thinning.

Australia have not found some magical formula that just simply makes us better than the rest, our cricket team has simply been arrogant and one dimensional and has used it's apparent all out aggression as a cover for it's total lack of fight when they are well behind the match.

Hard fought draws are worthy results and can lead to the ultimate prize, the last SA tour here showed us just that they could have capitulated at the gabba and adelaide yet they ground it out and instead of playing a WACA dead rubber they played for the whole series and took it.

So maybe if clarke had got the occasional draw(say Cardiff on a slow but not that difficult pitch) we might not have such an shocking record in places like india and england.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Well it appears the consensus by some is that Smith did the right thing while some others like myself think he should have made a game of it and back his bowlers in to defend the game. So we agree to disagree. However test cricket is dying a slow death around the world with crowds falling all the time. Using gimmicks such as Day / Night test matches etc are only patch work solutions. All teams should be looking to create a win/loss result with a draw the last resort at all times and 90 overs in a day should be achieved with ease. The players are paid big bucks to entertain. Cricket Australia has plans to charge states to host test cricket. Do you think on the back of seeing a boring draw played out with uninspiring batting by Australia under Smiths captaincy the states will be in a rush to gamble on paying for a test if the product is only going to draw mediocre crowds. But thats ok, Smith will be a captain that doesn't gamble and wins 3 game series at home 1-0. That's what the viewing public wants right? Smith may have ensured Australia can't lose the series last night but Australian Cricket lost!

LOL at thinking Australian cricket lost...we have at worst drawn the series against a very good side. We have won basically, we can't lose the trophy. A draw is a result. The onus is on curators and relevant cricket authorities to produce pitches that are not lifeless roads. For the last time, if we declared ANY earlier we lose the test yesterday, that was an absolute road. You shouldn't have teams scoring close to 400 in the 3rd innings at Perth! Not to mention NZ made 2-100 without breaking a sweat.

 

[MinerBoy]

I disagree with this to be honest, I thought the Australian way was to always push for the win, and I'm surprised Smith didn't to be honest

Winning the series takes precedence over winning this test match. Especially when an earlier declaration leaves the most likely result as a lost test match and a 1-1 scoreline heading to Adelaide.

 

[to1994]

Well it appears the consensus by some is that Smith did the right thing while some others like myself think he should have made a game of it and back his bowlers in to defend the game. So we agree to disagree. However test cricket is dying a slow death around the world with crowds falling all the time. Using gimmicks such as Day / Night test matches etc are only patch work solutions. All teams should be looking to create a win/loss result with a draw the last resort at all times and 90 overs in a day should be achieved with ease. The players are paid big bucks to entertain. Cricket Australia has plans to charge states to host test cricket. Do you think on the back of seeing a boring draw played out with uninspiring batting by Australia under Smiths captaincy the states will be in a rush to gamble on paying for a test if the product is only going to draw mediocre crowds. But thats ok, Smith will be a captain that doesn't gamble and wins 3 game series at home 1-0. That's what the viewing public wants right? Smith may have ensured Australia can't lose the series last night but Australian Cricket lost!

The attitude of blaming the players for a lack of entertainment is not the right way to look at it. The Big Bash and the IPL is where the players are paid to entertain. Test cricket should have integrity about it and it's the reason more guys like Chris Rogers and Alastair Cook should be playing but simply aren't being produced anymore due to the change in the system. By your logic only players like Warner should be allowed in as they 'entertain'.

Rogers was not paid to entertain. He was paid to get runs for Australia and contribute. Just like for Steve Smith, cricket would be in even bigger trouble if part of his job description was to make aggressive declarations to ensure people sitting at home would enjoy day 5 more. It is up to the boards to ensure pitches are produced that make for high quality cricket, it is not up to players or captains to create scenarios out of thin air to make the administrators look good.

Perhaps this season the footy teams should allow some of the lesser performing teams to kick a few goals so the scores are closer in the fourth quarter? Sure the game would lose some integrity but the players are there to provide entertainment so that shouldn't matter right?