Opinion NMFC Board Cricket Thread III

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It's not like Windies were bowling absolute peaches every time. We had to select the moments to attack.

It was just lack of composure. It became a T20 game when it didn't need to be.
 
He has to be the un-funniest bloke I have ever seen. The format of the show is entertaining - he is shockingly bad.
His actual comedy is FAR better.

He's awful as a game show host, his style just wouldn't work on it (he's fairly crude/controversial) was blown away when I heard they had picked him for a free to air show.
 
of all the batters who failed, smith was absolutely not one of them in that second innings. Starc was not playing bazball, starc was batting how starc bats.
I didnt say Smith failed by a long shot. He was the anchor or the glue holding the innings together whilst others were falling around him. When it came to the tailenders he got more willing to chance his arm as he could see it slipping away. Had Starc or someone else smashed a quick fire 40 with Smith going strongly the game would have been won.
 

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His actual comedy is FAR better.

He's awful as a game show host, his style just wouldn't work on it (he's fairly crude/controversial) was blown away when I heard they had picked him for a free to air show.
He is unwatchable. I will check out some of his stand up.
 
I didnt say Smith failed by a long shot. He was the anchor or the glue holding the innings together whilst others were falling around him. When it came to the tailenders he got more willing to chance his arm as he could see it slipping away. Had Starc or someone else smashed a quick fire 40 with Smith going strongly the game would have been won.
fine, but you did criticize him for carrying the bat but "scoring less than half the runs" which he missed by 8 runs incidently, and thats an unfair criticism in my mind. had anyone scored an any rate 40 then we would have won, didn't have to be blasted, time was not a factor. Starc got the third highest score for that innings doing exactly what you love and it did not win us the game.

Because the reality of playing like it's a T20 is it's by no means without flaws. You live by the tonk, you get out like Starc did/does. In fact, you look a right tit when it fails because it fails spectacularly.

Head hasn't even managed a single run in his last 4 innings at the Gabba. That isn't a matter of how quickly or slowly he's scoring, that's just terrible. Carey scored well in the first and capitulated in the second. Marnus is all at sea. Marsh managed 31 for the game. That's where the game was lost.
 
I'll reiterate my stance that the hype over this being one of the great Australian teams is unwarranted. It's very good...not great.

They've only won 1 of their past 4 series - beating Pakistan, losing to India and drawing against England and the West Indies.

The top 7 batters contain 3 with averages in the low 30s. Admittedly, one is the keeper with a better average than Marsh or Healy but Carey isn't a Marsh/Healy keeper yet. The other two are all rounders but are there for their batting. Their bowling at this stage is a bonus. Smith is the only one with a claim to greatness. Uzzie is very good, Head good and Marnus's record is in free fall.

The bowling is excellent. But the 'only four to bowl with 250 wickets' is a bit of a furphy. Warne, McGrath, Lee and Gillespie all took 250 wickets and played plenty of times together and were every bit as good, if not better than today's four. They just missed playing together with all four having crossed the milestone. They also probably offered more as a tail.

Australia has some stern tests ahead. They were ordinary this Summer and hopefully the Windies gave them a serious wake up call. You're good. Not that good.
 
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For those still doubting bazball and I admit to being a big skeptic in the early days its hard to argue against the fact the poms have won 14 out of 19 bazball tests under Stoksey. the 5 non wins were a Innings loss very early on against Sth africa when bazball was still being refined on a juicy wicket, a 1 run lost to NZ in NZ which they were in control of all test match until the final session , the drawn Manchester wet weather wash out test against the Aussies when they surely would have won had the weather not washed out the 2 final days and the 2 other tests against the Aussies which they lost by 2 wkts after the Aussies great 9th wicket partnership (also the test when they declared in the first innings ) and the controversial Bairstow test both of which were close and winnable. Its not only those results ,but the number of test records that they have set along the way. Besides the innings defeat and the Manchester wash out the other 17 tests also provided some of the most exciting cricket ever played. Along the way they also beat Pakistan 3-0 in Pakistan which no team has ever done before. Facts dont lie in the end . That's why Im a believer now in it. It will be interesting now though with the 4 final tests against India. The last time the poms went 1-0 up against India in the first test the pitches then turned completly square on some of the worst wickets ever played on according to those that played. Expect the same here now.
 
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A lot more thought goes into bazball as well as playing aggressively . Tom Hartley who had only taken 40 first class wkts was identified for being a tall left hand spinner. Last time India beat England in India a tall left hand spinner caused all types of problems and the poms have not forgotten that but put it in the memory bank for this tour. The idea is that Hartley would get more varied bounce on Indian wickets being tall and be harder to play than other spinners. Bashar who is only 20 and one of the other English spinners who missed the first test with visa issues is even taller. He has only had 9 first class wickets but has been picked for the same reason. It will be interesting to see if he gets a game and whether this plan works over the whole test series.
 

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I'm fearing that the young fella Jaiswal is something special & we're going to be hearing his name for the next 15 years!

They are always going to find the occasional freak with a population of 1.4 billion!
 
I'm fearing that the young fella Jaiswal is something special & we're going to be hearing his name for the next 15 years!

They are always going to find the occasional freak with a population of 1.4 billion!

He looks great. What's going on with the rest of India's batting? No one else has passed 40. No one in the second Hyderabad innings got 40. Only Kohli did in the entire Cape Town Test (albeit a crap wicket) and only Kohli & Rahul did in the first Test of that series.
 

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Opinion NMFC Board Cricket Thread III

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