Cricket

[23.21.159]

Whilst I agree with the sentiments bemoaning the state of world cricket (I used to consider myself one of the most tragic of cricket tragics), I can't help but wonder what difference it would make if we were still dominating the Test scene as we did when the likes of Warne, McGrath and Gilchristy were plying their respective trades.

 

[Panthera tigris FC]

(I used to consider myself one of the most tragic of cricket tragics)

I was also a lost cause, cricket tragic a few years ago. Now I can't name half of the players going around the domestic scene.

Seems to be a common theme. A lot of people turning off the game. I still watch it and am looking forward to the Ashes this summer, but I would have been ecstatic in the past.

Can't really put my finger on the problem, but I know that I certainly don't have the interest I once had and I know a few others in the same boat.

 

[spook]

Harsh there spook.

Paine has opened all his career in the limited over forms of the game & did in shield cricket when he was playing as just a batsman when he first started.

His century off 118 balls in last years one-day final against Victoria showcased his talents as has his form averaging over 30 in that role for Aus. Will only improve as he gets more experience in the role at that level. Once he does you will see him accelerate his scoring with the best in the world. He has every shot in the book to do it.

& surely we are in a position where we should be pushing our young players forward for greater roles.

Sure, but equally your leaders need to lead. Clarke should be setting the tone from ball one. I'm not having a go at Paine - I'm a fan - but the days of Geoff Marsh openers are long gone. He might be more expansive than Marsh but he doesn't have the explosiveness or the strokeplay required. Strike rate in ODIs and List A of 68. Not good enough when the field's up. Let him bat at 4/5 and push singles to long-on. It's a cop-out for Clarke to be doing that. And when Haddin's fit Paine shouldn't even be in the team. I reckon you need one explosive guy, one strokemaker, a la Gilchrist/MWaugh. I don't mind giving a young bloke experience at the top of the order with a long term view but if we want to win the World Cup I'd go with two of Clarke/Haddin/Warner/Marsh.

Cricket in Australia would be lots better if we had decent selectors... who played the best players in the country rather than hanging on to players way past there use by date

Selectors are a massive part of the problem. Trevor Hohns had no trouble tapping the shoulders of blokes with far greater pedigree than he, but I doubt the current panel has the same amount of sack. Losing AB to the sponsor conflict hurt. Greg Chappell can't take over soon enough.

That said, cricket is still a great game. We all just got complacent with winning. We miss the Windies of the 80s in retrospect, but we hated them back then. A great test match only has one rival in world sport, and we all know what that is.

 

[Leysy Days]

Navy reckons its a combination of things.

23.21 has a valid point. Apart from Punter we no longer have any icons of the game running around.
Interest would have likely kept up if we had gone hard for youth, but that has wained a bit with some older guard getting extended opportunity.

The other thing is the endless one-day merry go-round in the international circuit. The matches have little meaning & interest drops away accordingly. ICC need to realise less is more, but as the TV rights for these games are the lifeline of the sport that is unlikely to change.

Navy still loves a competitive test series, & has good interest in the domestic scene which is always competitive backed by excellent coverage on fox sports.

See Tas chalk up yet another one-day win against NSW today/night. ;D

 

[Leysy Days]

Sure, but equally your leaders need to lead. Clarke should be setting the tone from ball one. I'm not having a go at Paine - I'm a fan - but the days of Geoff Marsh openers are long gone. He might be more expansive than Marsh but he doesn't have the explosiveness or the strokeplay required. Strike rate in ODIs and List A of 68. Not good enough when the field's up. Let him bat at 4/5 and push singles to long-on. It's a cop-out for Clarke to be doing that. And when Haddin's fit Paine shouldn't even be in the team. I reckon you need one explosive guy, one strokemaker, a la Gilchrist/MWaugh. I don't mind giving a young bloke experience at the top of the order with a long term view but if we want to win the World Cup I'd go with two of Clarke/Haddin/Warner/Marsh.
Selectors are a massive part of the problem. Trevor Hohns had no trouble tapping the shoulders of blokes with far greater pedigree than he, but I doubt the current panel has the same amount of sack. Losing AB to the sponsor conflict hurt. Greg Chappell can't take over soon enough.

That said, cricket is still a great game. We all just got complacent with winning. We miss the Windies of the 80s in retrospect, but we hated them back then. A great test match only has one rival in world sport, and we all know what that is.

On Paine Spook,

Reckon you will find that once Tim gets comfortable at the level he will be one of the more explosive openers going. This part of his game has gone through the roof as his strength has developed as he's got older.

If he plays the domestic 20/20 comp this year check out his work. He will be one of the more destructive batsman in the country.

You do make some good points on Clarke though.

& fully agree that a great test match is as engrossing as sport can just about get.

 

[23.21.159]

The thing is, even before 20/20, I never really had alot of time for one-dayers aside from the World Cup. Now it's even worse. Living in Denmark, the only live cricket we get here on TV is 20/20 games centred around the sub-continent to cater for the ex-pats from there. So I have watched some 20/20. It is exceedingly boring. What makes a six a great shot is knowing how difficult it is to hit and the risk involved. When the boundary is 60 metres away and you're "entitled" to take such a risk anyway, it just doesn't mean anything. Give me the drama of a Test any day of the week.

Having said all that, some of the footy I've seen recently is sending me the same way ...............

 

[spook]

On Paine Spook,

Reckon you will find that once Tim gets comfortable at the level he will be one of the more explosive openers going. This part of his game has gone through the roof as his strength has developed as he's got older.

If he plays the domestic 20/20 comp this year check out his work. He will be one of the more destructive batsman in the country.

I'll watch with great interest. He does have a full range of shots.

The thing is, even before 20/20, I never really had alot of time for one-dayers aside from the World Cup. Now it's even worse. Living in Denmark, the only live cricket we get here on TV is 20/20 games centred around the sub-continent to cater for the ex-pats from there. So I have watched some 20/20. It is exceedingly boring. What makes a six a great shot is knowing how difficult it is to hit and the risk involved. When the boundary is 60 metres away and you're "entitled" to take such a risk anyway, it just doesn't mean anything. Give me the drama of a Test any day of the week.

Yep, as Navy says it's the meaninglessness of the one-day circus that loses people. The World Cup is great because it means something, but otherwise 50-over cricket is in trouble I reckon (I think there were only 30,000 to an ODI at the MCG last year - unheard of). T20 is all the thrills of one-day cricket without the 20+ overs of singles to long-on, distilled from eight hours to three. It's hit-and-giggle but if it brings people to cricket and they learn to appreciate the real stuff, it's serving a greater purpose.

 

[Ian4]

I lost all interest in cricket after the Symmonds / Singh affair in Oz when it was plain to see that no one had the balls to stand up to the BCCI. Our players looked like fools. Our administration looked spineless. The governing body looked compromised.

spot on baloo. when harbajan's suspension was overturned after the indians threatened to abandon the tour, that was the last straw for me.

The sub contininental countries sh!t me because like every other non white nation in the world these days in they all play the racist card when things dont go their way even if they are playing outside the rules the rules now get changed for them.

yep, you're referring to murali of course. but when symonds was branded a monkey...

Whilst I agree with the sentiments bemoaning the state of world cricket (I used to consider myself one of the most tragic of cricket tragics), I can't help but wonder what difference it would make if we were still dominating the Test scene as we did when the likes of Warne, McGrath and Gilchristy were plying their respective trades.

i was a cricket tragic too. infact i would go as far as to say that cricket was easily my no. 1 sport growing up. but no, Warne, McGrath and Gilly retiring had nothing to do with it for mine. my views on the game and its politics had changed well and truly before they retired.

20/20 hasn't helped either. it is just a sh!t game.

 

[snaps truly]

He's Victorian

He's a good average Victorian

 

[mb64]

He's a good average Victorian

Probably not quite up to international standard

 

[cooltiger]

yep lost lots of interest too ..the 20/20 probably have there place I guess ...but one dayers and 20/20s cater to mostly the same market ...so there gotta cut down on meaningless one day games ..
India controlling cricket doesn't help ...and our very conservative selectors don't help either

 

[Punxsutawney Phil]

Like most on here, my passion for cricket has waned over the years.

I still regard test cricket as the best form of the game and my interest in Tests still remains high, especially when we play against India, South Africa and the Poms. Nothing better than knocking off these sides.

One dayers I could not give two *smile* about, unless it is the world cup, which means something. T20 is again who cares stuff. fireworks but in the end don't really care who wins or loses.

The direction the Aussie selectors have gone in recent times hasn't helped either. For me, it started when Cameron White was picked as our first choice spinner in India a few years back when he hardly bowled himself for Victoria. It was then that they confirmed in my eyes they had lost the plot.

 

[Leysy Days]

The PRE cricket thread grudge match between Victoria & Tasmaia is evenly poised after day 2.

Tas all out for 326. Little Cozzy making a lazy 159.

The Vics are 8/261 in reply with Xavier Doherty taking 5-83 after the long overdue callup to the Australian squad this morning.

Well set for a good finish.

Victoria will then have the hapless task of taking on the all-conquering Tasmanian one-day outfit on Saturday. Poor souls.

 

[Brodders17]

Victoria will then have the hapless task of taking on the all-conquering Tasmanian one-day outfit on Saturday. Poor souls.

i hope tassie arent missing too many players playing for their country in the 20/20 match on Sunday.

 

[jb03]

The PRE cricket thread grudge match between Victoria & Tasmaia is evenly poised after day 2.

Tas all out for 326. Little Cozzy making a lazy 159.

The Vics are 8/261 in reply with Xavier Doherty taking 5-83 after the long overdue callup to the Australian squad this morning.

Well set for a good finish.

Victoria will then have the hapless task of taking on the all-conquering Tasmanian one-day outfit on Saturday. Poor souls.

Is Little Cozzy a homegrown Tasmanian?

 

[Lidsand]

Is Little Cozzy a homegrown Tasmanian?

bigger hamburgers in tas

 

[Leysy Days]

Is Little Cozzy a homegrown Tasmanian?

No he's from SA as you know.

While everyone else snobbed him after he was sacked from SA last year we sent Boony over to talk about Tasmania's fitness regime over a beer & a fag.

 

[jb03]

No he's from SA as you know.

While everyone else snobbed him after he was sacked from SA last year we sent Boony over to talk about Tasmania's fitness regime over a beer & a fag.

Disappointing to here Tassie are chasing titles rather than growing their own aust rep players.

 

[Scoop]

Disappointing to here Tassie are chasing titles rather than growing their own aust rep players.

Agree. Must have Greg Miller doing the list management.

 

[Leysy Days]

Now now lads, navy knows astute people like yourselves are aware the Tasmanian cricket program could barely be run much better if at all than it is.

On today's game. A cracking game of cricket. Tas close at 9/226 with a lead of 276. Sets up an excellent last day chase for Victoria.

Well poised.