5th Test Border Gavaskar Trophy January 3-7 1000hrs @ the SCG

[BGman]

Konstas has potential but his constant need to play like it's T20 is not going to suit test cricket in the long run.

This was a plan/tactic for India, whether orchestrated by the brains trust or Kid Kon himself. Can assure you normally he has a correct technique but does use his gears. Was surprised how cleverly he did that in his dual shield 100s.

 

[Achy Blakey Heart]

Has to be one of the worst summers of cricket I can remember.

Obviously Australia winning is a big positive. However the fact that 3/5 games were essentially done and dusted by day 3, 1 was a washout and we were left with just 1 quality game that went the length.

The pitches in Australia need some serious work. This summer was far to much in the bowlers favour and very few batsman could get on top.

Can’t have pitches that favour the bowling conditions to that degree. If this was in India and we had the same results on spinning pitches we’d be up in arms.

Found it a very disappointing series in the end and not up to the hype which was a shame.

Test cricket comes in many forms, and implied in its name, it is the ultimate test of players and teams in all conditions.

I think the average punter is incredibly ignorant at how difficult pitch preparation is at this level. Ideally, we want to see a deck that seams day 1, flattens out day 2-4, and then spins day 5. But this is impossible to achieve most of the time. There are so many variables that go into pitch prep, and ultimately despite all the hard work of the curators and intangibles such as weather, soil and atmospheric conditions, they are still probing in the dark a little until the pitch is bowled on in anger.

We have seen a trend away from the roads of a decade ago, i remember the cricket public all whining when decks were too flat because they wanted more for the bowlers.

I do think the pitches have been a little bowler friendly this series, but not to the extent that many are sulking about. Ultimately, playing on tough pitches will reap dividends for our bats down the track when we tour places like England, and NZ.

 

[Achy Blakey Heart]

It's all about quality not quantity and this summer was top drawer cricket.

Cannot agree more. Compelling viewing and great for the game here down under!

 

[JimmyBC]

What is ‘should’ mate?

In Australia’s history 10 batsmen batting between positions 4-6 have scored 2000+ runs in test cricket averaging over 45.

Where does ‘should’ come from?

5 of them are Chappell, Smith, Waugh, Border and Harvey who are unequivocal legends of the game.

Setting an expectation that a middle order batsman simply should just rock into the team and be averaging something around 45 as an arbitrary pass mark is ridiculous

Yea it's a weird passmark will be pretty happy if Travis hangs for his career at his current 43 average.

 

[JackFlash]

Womens Ashes then Sri Lanks

Is Konstas playing for the women?

 

[BGman]

Australia has produced imo the most exciting cricketer since Ricky Ponting and yet there are some on here that just love lopping the tall poppy. Is specially annoying when he is still a cricket baby on training wheels. So cut him some slack.

 

[PhatBoy]

Yea it's a weird passmark will be pretty happy if Travis hangs for his career at his current 43 average.

Blokes through the generations I have grown up and continued to watch;

Richardson
Azharuddin
Vengsarkar
Jones
Martyn
Aravinda
Boon
Cullinan
Robin Smith
Ganguly
Laxman
Sarwan
Bell
Mark Waugh
Malik

Etc etc etc

Good, world class players who made dozens and dozens of centuries, match winning knocks across all countries in all circumstances. None of them averaged more than 45 (Laxman with 45.7 is the highest).

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Has to be one of the worst summers of cricket I can remember.

Obviously Australia winning is a big positive. However the fact that 3/5 games were essentially done and dusted by day 3, 1 was a washout and we were left with just 1 quality game that went the length.

The pitches in Australia need some serious work. This summer was far to much in the bowlers favour and very few batsman could get on top.

Can’t have pitches that favour the bowling conditions to that degree. If this was in India and we had the same results on spinning pitches we’d be up in arms.

Found it a very disappointing series in the end and not up to the hype which was a shame.

I dont think the matches were bad per say some were short, but still eventful, but i think Perth should be stripped of test matches until the fans over there sort their stuff out. Embarrassing to have a near empty stadium every year over there to kick us off for the series.

IMO Ashes 2025 Should be;

Test 1- Brisbane
Test 2 - Adelaide
Test 3 - Tasmania
Test 4 - Melbourne
Test 5 - Sydney

 

[Bucking Beads]

Australia has produced imo the most exciting cricketer since Ricky Ponting and yet there are some on here that just love using the tall poppy syndrome. Jeez the kid has just turned 19, he is a baby in cricket terms. So cut him some slack.

When you consider that this team is crying out for someone with a bit of fire in the belly. We've always had someone to stand up for our team but before Konstas we didn't have that once Warner retired.

 

[BGman]

Sam Konstas pathway 3: St George Cricket Club president Kevin Greene said at the time that Sam was always viewed as "a prodigious talent" as he worked his way through the Saints junior grades from the age of eight.

"He lived just down the road from Hurstville Oval and he and his twin brother Johnny, who was also a very good player, were often at the ground watching first grade, or in the nets at the adjoining Timothy Reserve.

"They were always first to training and putting in an exceptional amount of effort.
"When the Norm O'Neill Centre opened in Penshurst Park, Sam and Johnny were also regulars there, developing their skills"

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Australia has produced imo the most exciting cricketer since Ricky Ponting and yet there are some on here that just love using the tall poppy syndrome. Jeez the kid has just turned 19, he is a baby in cricket terms. So cut him some slack.

Hard to disagree with you.

let the kid be a kid for now. In time he will learn to value his wicket more, just needs more experience.

 

[PhatBoy]

Sam Konstas anecdote 3:

St George Cricket Club president Kevin Greene said at the time that Sam was always viewed as "a prodigious talent" as he worked his way through the Saints junior grades from the age of eight.

"He lived just down the road from Hurstville Oval and he and his twin brother Johnny, who was also a very good player, were often at the ground watching first grade, or in the nets at the adjoining Timothy Reserve.

"They were always first to training and putting in an exceptional amount of effort.
"When the Norm O'Neill Centre opened in Penshurst Park, Sam and Johnny were also regulars there, developing their skills"

This is like a cross between the two great interviews on Bill Lawry: This Is Your Life

1. Ian Chappell telling the ‘funny’ story of how they found Phantom comics in Bill’s kit bag and called him Phanto

2. Bill’s former club mate Kevin ‘Droppa’ Grogan:
“Any good stories Droppa?’
“Hahaha, oh yeah, lots of great stories Mike. Too many!”
“Haha yeah too many!”
“Yeah.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, Droppa Grogan.”

 

[the_interloper]

I too found the cricket captivating, but agree with the sentiment that the pitches favoured the bowlers just a little too much, and we were therefore deprived of 5 day contests.

Sure, chaos over 3 days is exciting, but a contest that is a little more even over 5 days can be just as tense and exciting.

Yeah I guess Boxing Day was so epic partly because it went the full stretch. Personally I do enjoy the odd test where the ball dominates, I know you end up with a shorter game but some of those 3 day tests are action aplenty.

 

[BGman]

let the kid be a kid for now. In time he will learn to value his wicket more

His attitude inspired us to the G win, the words of Marnus, Smithy and one or two others. He values his wicket, just take a gander at his dual 100s. It was those that catapulted him into a Baggy Green.

Personally I do enjoy the odd test where the ball dominates

They challenge a technique and sort the fair dinkum from the pretenders.

 

[grumbleguts]

I've been following cricket for over 20 years

It's good to see a newb come to the table Welcome.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Has to be one of the worst summers of cricket I can remember.

Obviously Australia winning is a big positive. However the fact that 3/5 games were essentially done and dusted by day 3, 1 was a washout and we were left with just 1 quality game that went the length.

The pitches in Australia need some serious work. This summer was far to much in the bowlers favour and very few batsman could get on top.

Can’t have pitches that favour the bowling conditions to that degree. If this was in India and we had the same results on spinning pitches we’d be up in arms.

Found it a very disappointing series in the end and not up to the hype which was a shame.

I'm not so sure the pitches were that difficult overall. A bit of help for bowlers at times, but mostly nothing over the top.

Both sides came into the series with top sixes with zero in form players, and either good bowling line-ups or one or two utter stars. On the form lines coming in, these games could have been played on complete roads and not have been expected to make it deep into day four.
As it turned out a few players found some form, or at least had a couple of good innings, along the way.

 

[Outtatym]

So....what's the chance of rain today?

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

So....what's the chance of rain today?

Possible late shower, and don't expect any play tomorrow.

 

[grumbleguts]

Has to be one of the worst summers of cricket I can remember.

Obviously Australia winning is a big positive. However the fact that 3/5 games were essentially done and dusted by day 3, 1 was a washout and we were left with just 1 quality game that went the length.

The pitches in Australia need some serious work. This summer was far to much in the bowlers favour and very few batsman could get on top.

Can’t have pitches that favour the bowling conditions to that degree. If this was in India and we had the same results on spinning pitches we’d be up in arms.

Found it a very disappointing series in the end and not up to the hype which was a shame.

Quest: Tell me you have no clue what you are talking about without telling me you have no clue what you are talking about.
Status: Achieved.

 

[PhatBoy]

Quest: Tell me you have no clue what you are talking about without telling me you have no clue what you are talking about.
Status: Achieved.

Well done. You looked on track from ball one and never really deviated from the path, realistically.

 

[Bletch]

He got out of his form slump if you remember: final 40 innings of his career brought 1719 runs @ 47.75 and he was pushed into retirement - he retired by choice and on his terms aged only 34.

Sort of... that average very much boosted by his 334* Tubby was an excellent opening bat, and a better captain, but his time was up. Quick look at his last 5 years:



Can see with this that he was underperforming for quite some time, though had that happy knack of pulling out a ton at the right time. Reckon he was still doing enough throughout this time to justify his spot (along with his captaincy), but was cooked by end of the 98/99 Ashes.

 

[Big Bryza]

Harry Brook V Sammy Konstas is going to be absolute main event in a years time.

Hope SK matures over the next year though. Needs to value his wicket more.

Brook is light years in front of SK.

 

[Voice of the G]

So....what's the chance of rain today?

Heavy rain in Melbourne today.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

 

[Coops93]

Test cricket for me is always far better when bowlers dominate

I don't think test cricket is better when either side is dominant due to conditions.

I'd probably prefer a slight favour to the bowlers, test cricket shouldn't be easy for batting, but not a dominant sway to the bowlers.

If it's a fairly balanced pitch but one bowler is ridiculous dominant that's one thing, as can be the same when a batter puts together a brilliantly dominant innings, but as a broad stroke bowlers being dominant, no that's too much.