Resource Non-AFL General Chat

[largebus]

Green still has the exact same problems from the Ashes, looking like walking wicket until he gets to 30. Shaun Marsh had the exact same issue, maybe it's a WA thing. He needs to get rid of it and fast.

He's done little to earn his spot back in the side other than his "potential", which is what they endlessly talked up when Watson got automatically selected regardless of form, only now there's a much better all-rounder in form.

I'll reserve judgement on Smith as opener, but the fact he suddenly put his hand up at the expense of an actual opener is pretty arrogant to say the least.

 

[BStaff17]

Green still has the exact same problems from the Ashes, looking like walking wicket until he gets to 30. Shaun Marsh had the exact same issue, maybe it's a WA thing. He needs to get rid of it and fast.

He's done little to earn his spot back in the side other than his "potential", which is what they endlessly talked up when Watson got automatically selected regardless of form, only now there's a much better all-rounder in form.

I'll reserve judgement on Smith as opener, but the fact he suddenly put his hand up at the expense of an actual opener is pretty arrogant to say the least.

Arrogant or selfless.

He wants a new challenge no one else put there hand up to open the batting. Smudge wants a fresh start at the top and is backing himself in.

Cam Bancroft is owed nothing from the selectors his FC career average of 39 & previous failed attempts at Test Level ain't someone that's been hard done.

 

[Tonga Bob]

 

[Docker82]

Arrogant or selfless.

He wants a new challenge no one else put there hand up to open the batting. Smudge wants a fresh start at the top and is backing himself in.

Cam Bancroft is owed nothing from the selectors his FC career average of 39 & previous failed attempts at Test Level ain't someone that's been hard done.

Bencroft was scoring a mountain of runs before he was selected in 2017. His technical flaws were exposed at test level though.

I don't believe much has changed this time around tbh.

 

[Paracleet]

Green still has the exact same problems from the Ashes, looking like walking wicket until he gets to 30. Shaun Marsh had the exact same issue, maybe it's a WA thing. He needs to get rid of it and fast.

He's done little to earn his spot back in the side other than his "potential", which is what they endlessly talked up when Watson got automatically selected regardless of form, only now there's a much better all-rounder in form.

I'll reserve judgement on Smith as opener, but the fact he suddenly put his hand up at the expense of an actual opener is pretty arrogant to say the least.

Ironically the incumbent opening pair weren't originally selected on the basis they were specialist openers. Khawaja hadn't opened since juniors when he was put in the job and Warner had only opened in first class cricket less than a dozen times when he was picked. He was a middle order batter in club cricket before his rise to the t20 team and was picked as one initially in the Shield. It also not like his test career took off on the back of ODI opening form either; he'd actually been dropped from the 50 over team pretty early on and only got back in at the same time he made his test debut.
You look at the list of run scorers for Australia in the last 20 years, hell 35 years; we have consistently shoe horned people in to opening. Forget all the nearly men, failures and fill ins. Most of the opening runs have been made by people they wanted in the team in preference to specialists:

For players with more than 2000 runs

Specialists: Taylor, Slater, Hayden, Rogers
Middle order players repurposed: Boon, Langer, Watson, Khawaja, Warner, Katich

The only reason we're even talking about Bancroft (apart from the chip on our WA shoulders) is the lack of other clear candidates for the test match top 6 in general combined with the fact they want Green in the team rather than back in the Shield waiting for Mitch Marsh to regress to the mean.

 

[Tonga Bob]

The only reason we're even talking about Bancroft (apart from the chip on our WA shoulders) is the lack of other clear candidates for the test match top 6 in general combined with the fact they want Green in the team rather than back in the Shield waiting for Mitch Marsh to regress to the mean.

And the Shield runs he's scored in the past two seasons.

 

[BStaff17]

Marcus Harris brought the Midas touch to the Perth Scorchers I see haha.

 

[Purpletown]

A very disappointing end to the season for the Scorchers. Just couldn't find adequate replacements for the players they lost during the season.

The loss of Turner and Richardson through injury were also both big losses.

 

[Docker82]

A very disappointing end to the season for the Scorchers. Just couldn't find adequate replacements for the players they lost during the season.

The loss of Turner and Richardson through injury were also both big losses.

I’d written us off prior to last night tbh. Surprised how many people think it’s a shock we lost considering the side we actually put on the park.

Unpopular opinion: Marcus Harris still wouldn’t get a game for WA. And yes, I understand he’s much better in the shield but Bancroft and Whiteman are superior players.

 

[largebus]

Can't be too unhappy after winning the previous two titles.

As Hardie's had to bowl more his batting and field placements got worse. With the rubbish up top barring Sam Fanning, he and Inglis had to fire and didn't for like the 4th game in a row.

 

[estibador]

** Obviously I am over simplifying here. Clearly your talent then dictates what happens with your decisions (and influences them). I could face Pat Cummins and could correctly decide I am going to pull a chest high short ball just outside my eyeline he bowls me. Due to my talent however (early middle aged mid grade park cricketer) the ball would probably have bounced off my right arm, hopefully not breaking it, before I'd even got my hands around.

And that's why I'm a better decision maker than you - because I would have ran out of the net while he had his back turned marking his run up.

 

[estibador]

ODIs were fine and if it had stayed just Tests/ODIs it would have been fine. The problem is people realised that even shorter form cricket appealed to a wider audience. The problem is, it has greatly shortened both the players (as a whole) and the audiences ability for long form cricket.

Unpopular opinion, but I actually don't mind the effect T20's have had on Test cricket prowess.

Tests are still my favourite form by far, but I've always preferred games where the ball dominates the bat so I don't mind this new era where batsmen are struggling to hang around for long periods.

It keeps the game moving, there's hardly ever long lulls anymore, we hardly ever see draws anymore, and it makes it more meaningful when batsmen are able hit hundreds, or even grind out a gritty defensive innings. I much prefer that to the boring period we had in the mid-00s when every team batting first would make 500 with the top 3 or 4 making hundreds every innings.

 

[Joao]

Unpopular opinion, but I actually don't mind the effect T20's have had on Test cricket prowess.

Tests are still my favourite form by far, but I've always preferred games where the ball dominates the bat so I don't mind this new era where batsmen are struggling to hang around for long periods.

It keeps the game moving, there's hardly ever long lulls anymore, we hardly ever see draws anymore, and it makes it more meaningful when batsmen are able hit hundreds, or even grind out a gritty defensive innings. I much prefer that to the boring period we had in the mid-00s when every team batting first would make 500 with the top 3 or 4 making hundreds every innings.

Each to their own. I love the historical game with the slow scoring, draws, the grind etc. I miss the proper tours were they played 10 tour matches and all that jazz as well The contrast is what made blokes like Gilly so special and how you knew 90/00s Aussie teams were so good.

I do agree that bowling wickets are great, some of the time, but not all pitches should be like that. Pitches used to have character and a lot of them have lost it. That's not a T20 thing though.

Pitches with something in it aren't unique to this time period either. It's pretty much only since Cummins became captain they started rolling out sporting pitches (wonder why...). It was road central in the 2000s and 2010s. I didn't mind so much in the 2000s because the team was godlike for most of that and won anyway. There have been other decades where you can see a clear increase or decrease in batting averages.

I realise the times been and gone though. Probably why my interest isn't 1/10th what it was 20 years ago. Sport peaked in the 90s.

 

[Tundrawolf]

A very disappointing end to the season for the Scorchers. Just couldn't find adequate replacements for the players they lost during the season.

The loss of Turner and Richardson through injury were also both big losses.

Turner was a massive loss. Richardson wasn't, he was very poor this season, going at about 10 and over in most games and only 6 wickets. Once he was injured at least the team was more balanced with a batter coming in at 7 instead of Agar.
Poor opening partnerships place too much pressure on Hardie and Inglis who both while consistent could not transfer starts into big scores.

Whiteman should never play big bash again, 81 runs off 71 balls at an average of 13 and a strike rate of 114 for someone who predominantly bats in the power play is beyond poor, Fanning's 1 innings was better than anything Whiteman produced.. Harris and Ezkanazi should also never play big bash again.

Inglis for all his talent was particularly disappointing.

How did Laurie Evans not make the team of the year, he was sensational, 292 runs at 41 with a S/R of 189 with 16 sixes.

Connolly's bowling was a big find and along with his power hitting in the middle order and great fielding makes him a perfect T20 player.

McKenzie looked good in the couple of games he played. Behrendorff was good as usual, Tye bowled some good spells along with some rubbish, but Agar is the big concern, not doing it with ball or bat. I would have liked to see Kelly or Haskett get a game as our bowling lineup is aging.

If we can get Turner, Evans, Hardie, Inglis and Connolly together next season along with some decent openers and maybe another spinning option who can hit a long ball that would be a good starting point.

 

[Purpletown]

Test cricket can be enthralling and exciting when two sides are evenly matched, or even if the weaker side show some grit and make a fight of it.

There needs to be a concerted effort to stop the time wasting that goes on nearly every day of any given test match.(all cricket matches really)

Make the bowling side bowl their allotted overs within the designated time or find a suitable penalty to ensure they do. For instance if the bowling side was penalised 6 runs for every over missed surely the over rate would get better across the board?

If this was enforced most test matches could reach a result within 4 days thus speeding the game up and making it more attractive to a greater section of the cricket lovers of the world.

 

[Taylor]

Scorchers didn't have the batting consistency this season. Every game I was content with us losing the two openers for absolutely nothing and then Hardie and Inglis batting for twelve overs together and if they didn't do it then Evans would throw the bat to rescue the side.

 

[Docker82]

Turner was a massive loss. Richardson wasn't, he was very poor this season, going at about 10 and over in most games and only 6 wickets. Once he was injured at least the team was more balanced with a batter coming in at 7 instead of Agar.
Poor opening partnerships place too much pressure on Hardie and Inglis who both while consistent could not transfer starts into big scores.

Whiteman should never play big bash again, 81 runs off 71 balls at an average of 13 and a strike rate of 114 for someone who predominantly bats in the power play is beyond poor, Fanning's 1 innings was better than anything Whiteman produced.. Harris and Ezkanazi should also never play big bash again.

Inglis for all his talent was particularly disappointing.

How did Laurie Evans not make the team of the year, he was sensational, 292 runs at 41 with a S/R of 189 with 16 sixes.

Connolly's bowling was a big find and along with his power hitting in the middle order and great fielding makes him a perfect T20 player.

McKenzie looked good in the couple of games he played. Behrendorff was good as usual, Tye bowled some good spells along with some rubbish, but Agar is the big concern, not doing it with ball or bat. I would have liked to see Kelly or Haskett get a game as our bowling lineup is aging.

If we can get Turner, Evans, Hardie, Inglis and Connolly together next season along with some decent openers and maybe another spinning option who can hit a long ball that would be a good starting point.

I feel like there needs to be a bit of a change in players 16-18 in the squad along with the overseas players tbh (squads are 18 players).

Having batters that are 28+ and haven’t really made it at BBL level isn’t ideal. Feel Fanning and others need to be given opportunities ahead of Whiteman and Hobson next season. Whiteman can still be a local replacement player if Inglis is called up to to the international squad or is injured.

All three overseas players need to be batters that’ll be with the scorchers all tournament.

FWIW our out of contract local players are Whiteman, Hobson, Tye, McKenzie and Haskett. Tye probably ends up re-signing for one year - the others are a bit borderline. We probably want to fit Green into the squad next year too - I hear the internationals could be available for a lot of the tournament next time.


Also we need to stop pretending Agar is an all rounder. Can’t remember the last time he scored decent runs in any format of the game.

 

[Paracleet]

And that's why I'm a better decision maker than you - because I would have ran out of the net while he had his back turned marking his run up.

In reality I'd shake hands on the idea, then walk out through the club bar while he warms up, sneak out the back door and get a taxi to the airport and never return to this wide brown land I love so much.

 

[Chicken Treat]

There were calls from interstate BBL fans to bring in a second WA BBL side prior to the game because the Scorchers keep winning. The lack of awareness of those fans was quite something.

 

[Joao]

I'd face Cummins (well maybe not now but back in the day) or Pidge or Gillespie or Haze or anyone how knows full well where the ball is going as I trust them not to kill me.

I'd never want to face Tait, early Lee, Starc or Johnson. Those dudes could kill you by accident.

 

[The Feeder Club]

De Minaur playing some solid tennis here. I thought Rublev would smack him but it's anyone's match

 

[Paracleet]

I'd face Cummins (well maybe not now but back in the day) or Pidge or Gillespie or Haze or anyone how knows full well where the ball is going as I trust them not to kill me.

I'd never want to face Tait, early Lee, Starc or Johnson. Those dudes could kill you by accident.

I was actually at the WACA for a couple of sessions of the last Shield game Lee played in before being called up to the test side (so what mid Dec 1999): Quickest and most hostile bowling I have ever seen by some margin (WA top 7: Hussey, Campbell, Langer. Martyn, Gilchrist, Julian, Hogg). Maybe saw some quicker spells from Shoaib on TV in the same era but his tennis ball bounce combined with his lack of stamina meant he couldn't match early peak Lee (a pretty short period) for pure hostility imv. Lee always slid on to the batter and it was aimed (more or less with intent) between the heart and the neck of the batter.

The coda is of course that Tait and Shoaib bowled most of their career near their top pace whereas Brett spent the last two thirds of his just floating them up there except when it suited him.

 

[The Feeder Club]

Superb hitting by De Minaur

 

[Piggy Smalls]

If he can win from here it will take a Leighton Hewitt-esque effort

 

[The Feeder Club]

Beware the wounded player. Rublev went full nuclear there when he couldn't move.
Bad for the demon. But Rublev also probably a sitting duck now for the next round against Sinner