Cricket

[spook]

The pitch is a road.

 

[bigwow]

Starc & Lyon bowled poop.
Only positive is India may not have 11 fit blokes left for Brisbane.
Aussie quicks will be rooted after workload, and short turnaround.

 

[eZyT]

tough, disciplined cricket from the visitors

 

[Carter]

The pitch is a road.

Yeah

 

[tigerman]

Starc & Lyon bowled poop.
Only positive is India may not have 11 fit blokes left for Brisbane.
Aussie quicks will be rooted after workload, and short turnaround.

If Pattison is fit I'd bring him him for Starc at the Gabba.

 

[MB78]

Carey and Philippe would be surely a better option than Paine as a keeper.

 

[caesar]

Am a Paine fan but he's had a shocker today.

Yep less time sledging and more time taking his three dropped chances might have been more beneficial

 

[kyuss]

yep, great effort by india today. I was going for them in the end. Can't stand Pain, worst australian captain in my life time. His sledging is embarrassing, did very similar sledging to Koli a couple of years ago.

 

[tigertim]

Yep, excellent effort from India, Australia insipid. Only 3 wickets in 90 overs on a day 5 pitch with a world class attack.

 

[Tigers of Old]

The pitch is a road.

Didn't do ourselves any favours.

 

[marella jube]

Quicks bowled far too short & lyon lack of variation, flight & no wrong'un/arm ball palpable. Credit to India. Be handy to bat 1st in Brisbane on Friday & give our bowlers a longer breather after their exertions of the last couple of days.

 

[spook]

Didn't do ourselves any favours.

True

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

Disappointing not to get the result at face value, but none of the bowlers looked on song which suggests the wicket did us no favours.

first two Tests: 679 runs, avg 22.63 (excl. run outs), 2.53 rpo
Sydney: 650 runs, avg 43.33, 3.37 rpo

Did Australia's batting improve that much, or was there just not much in it for the bowlers? Certainly wasn't the fifth-day wicket that Warne and MacGill and even Allan Border used to clean up on.

As an aside, Shane Warne has gone downhill as a commentator and was doing his best David King impersonation in this match. Said a lead of 250 was enough to win the game on day 4, and before tea on day 5 declared a draw was off the table and it was 70% Australia, 30% India to win. Prefer the old-style commentary with a little more gravity when the match is in the balance. Everything is all rainbows and moonbeams nowadays. Vale Richie.

 

[MD Jazz]

The pitch is a road.

Lyon doesn’t bowl enough balls in the right areas. He’s not a 4th innings threat. He’s a good bowler with a fair dose of serendipity in the timing of his career.

Paine didn’t help him but he’s had plenty of opportunities to bowl us to victory and failed. The inane goat calls from his colleagues can be a touch repetitive too.

 

[Carter]

road. no way our batting is that good.

and warner / wade still found ways to *smile* their chances up

 

[Sintiger]

Here's my take.

I've heard every sports supporter of any code change any players name which sounds like one thing into another.

It's the foundation of most nicknames at sporting clubs.

And it's not even a sporting thing. I'm a teacher with an Italian surname, and I've copped all sorts of variations on my last name from students. I've had Mr. Aioli (which only ever sounds like my name if you mispronounce it anyway), Mr. Ravioli, and a whole host of others. At no point have I considered it a racial comment, simply a 'heh your name sounds like this.'

Now you're right. Context matters. But the context is all that matters. What you said is that changing someone's name crosses a line, which is clearly stupid.

Was the context racist? I don't know. Maybe. Given the evacuation and the reports from the Indian players, probably. So address the context. But the line is crossed elsewhere.

Otherwise, given your casually racist treatment of our Aarts, you're going to have to own up to something.

'There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.'

Yes good post.
It’s a tough one but I am generally one for the context being important. If the recipient thinks something is racist then it should be stopped.
I do think however that the Indian Cricket authorities would have more moral standing in their complaints if they stated them accompanied by an apology to Andrew Symonds

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

Steve Smith apparently in trouble for marking the wrong guard for Pant at a drinks break. Obviously hasn't learned much from his year off.

 

[tigerdell]

Lyon continuing his pretty average 4th innings bowling record in tests. Averages over 30 in the 4th innings when everything in his favour. Only 3 times in his 99 tests has he taken a 5 for in the 4th innings. Strike rate over 60 (one wicket every ten overs). Lyon's overall test average is 31.97

As a comparison, Ashwin averages 27.55 in test cricket. In 4th innings he averages 19.19 at a strike rate of 45. He has taken 5 for on 6 occasions despite bowling over 300 overs less in 4th innings than Lyon

Lyon has been a good bowler but only in the scheme of Aust offies and longevity.

Let's hope now I brought it up he flies through the remaining 5 wickets.

Jazz I think its worth considering that in Ashwin,s career he will have had far more games on spinner,s tracks. Every home test wouldve been suited to him. His average is significantly advantaged.

Thats not to rebut your criticism of Lyon and his 4th innings deficiency.
Just the comparison to Ashwin

 

[Althom]

Steve Smith apparently in trouble for marking the wrong guard for Pant at a drinks break. Obviously hasn't learned much from his year off.

That should at least put paid to any further talk of him returning to the Captaincy.

 

[spook]

Lyon doesn’t bowl enough balls in the right areas. He’s not a 4th innings threat. He’s a good bowler with a fair dose of serendipity in the timing of his career.

Paine didn’t help him but he’s had plenty of opportunities to bowl us to victory and failed. The inane goat calls from his colleagues can be a touch repetitive too.

Jazz I think its worth considering that in Ashwin,s career he will have had far more games on spinner,s tracks. Every home test wouldve been suited to him. His average is significantly advantaged.

Thats not to rebut your criticism of Lyon and his 4th innings deficiency.
Just the comparison to Ashwin

Australia is a graveyard for finger spinners, always has been. Any comparison of Lyon to other offies must take this into account.

The goat calls are inane, but he is easily the best offie Australia has produced in my 40-odd years of watching, with Tim May next, followed by a chasm.

Test records in Australia:
Lyon 51 matches, 197 wickets, average 32.71, strike rate 66.2 (that's a better strike rate than Murali's career strike rate of 70)
Ashwin 10 matches, 39 wickets, average 42.15, strike rate 86.2
Murali 5 matches, 12 wickets, average 75.41, strike rate 131.0
Harbhajan 4 matches, 9 wickets, average 73.22, strike rate 126.0
Vettori 12 matches, 37 wickets, average 40.18, strike rate 83.8 (left-armer, which Aussies traditionally struggle against)
Emburey 10 matches, 35 wickets, average 32.11, strike rate 98.8 (note: his Australian Tests were half against the weak non-WSC team of 1978/9, and half against Border's nadir side of 1986/7)
Laker (arguably the GOAT offie, took 19 wickets in a single Test once, averaged 21 with a strike rate of 62) 4 matches, 15 wickets, average 21.2, strike rate 68.1.
Gibbs 14 matches, 59 wickets, average 33.38, strike rate 97.2.

Tim May 13 matches, 30 wickets, average 40.03, strike rate 101.6
Peter Taylor 9 matches, 18 wickets (6 of them in the first innings he bowled in), average 41.33, strike rate 86.0
Greg Matthews 20 matches, 28 wickets, average 60.10, strike rate 130.5.

(WARNE 69 matches, 319 wickets, average 26.39, strike rate 60.8.)

So compared to Shane Warne, it takes Lyon one extra over - that goes for six runs - to take a Test wicket in Australia.

Modern spinners of all types suffer higher averages and economy rates because so many shots that would formerly be caught in the deep are now sixes.