Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Yep. Stood up when others fell.
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chicko1983
Member
Fastest test ton at Hobart bettering gillys match winning ton in1999 again Pakistan.
What a dead pitch, you know when a sixth-rate spineless depleted WI side has a partnership of 90+ runs for the 7th wicket you know the pitch is deader than the wood in the cricket bats.
I'd rather see pitches where games are over in 3 days over this shame that is the Hobart pitch.
I'd rather see pitches where games are over in 3 days over this shame that is the Hobart pitch.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
Why do they not want a test match there?
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Oh hey. We actually made them follow on.
bobnowhere
Member
This will be over by lunch at this rate.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Patto you sick Victorian cunt.
Not sure if it will be the last, but you definitely get the feeling they will at least split it between Hobart and Canberra. Hobart will definitely be a day/night test going forward I reckon.
It sucks because there has been some awesome tests at Bellerive, especially when the pitch does a bit. A couple of years ago when Bracewell tore us a new one and NZ got up - that was awesome.
I saw they reduced the prices by 30% or something...maybe they finally realised they can't go around charging $55 for a bloody seat and expect people to go.
Now watch as they get 10,000 to each of the domestic tiddlywinks matches lol.
chicko1983
Member
bloody been getting ready for cricket and have missed all the action this morning.
Another one down!
Its for ticket sales and timing.
There are only really 5-6 home test matches a summer.
Brisbane, Perth when their new stadium is built, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney will all get more to a game than down at Hobart.
Plus they want to also expand into different markets potentially bigger than Hobart - Canberra and maybe some North Queensland tests/Northern Territory tests during winter. They wouldnt move a test from the above five areas to Canberra or North Queensland or the NT, but they might move it from Hobart.
Its unfortunate as given Adelaide and Melbourne are losing some of their character pitch wise, and Perth will when it moves to a drop in at their new stadium, Hobart is another ground which plays uniquely to other grounds in the country.
Another one down!
Its for ticket sales and timing.
There are only really 5-6 home test matches a summer.
Brisbane, Perth when their new stadium is built, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney will all get more to a game than down at Hobart.
Plus they want to also expand into different markets potentially bigger than Hobart - Canberra and maybe some North Queensland tests/Northern Territory tests during winter. They wouldnt move a test from the above five areas to Canberra or North Queensland or the NT, but they might move it from Hobart.
Its unfortunate as given Adelaide and Melbourne are losing some of their character pitch wise, and Perth will when it moves to a drop in at their new stadium, Hobart is another ground which plays uniquely to other grounds in the country.
bobnowhere
Member
No wonder the players looked a little confused, more than half the ball was hitting both horizontally and vertically. No idea why it wasn't reversed.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Mercy rule.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
2 more tests of this.
Boxing day for this.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Boxing day for this.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
chicko1983
Member
channel 9 chairman mustve stepped in an gave that decision not out to prolong the conclusion of this match as much as possible.
haha, now they are taking the players from the field due to rain.
The sun finally looks like its out!
chicko1983
Member
Definitely need another eastern state Day/night test match so Hobart sounds like a good idea for one.
The Tassie Cricket Board definitely need to sell themselves as a day/night test venue if they want to see test matches in the future...
But imagine how hard it would be bat under lights on a Hobart pitch, and how cold it would be for the fielders.....
At the end of the day the only thing cricket australia care about is money. If hobart tests aren't profitable its because they cultured the expectation of sending sub-par teams there for the most part, or at least never playing the top teams there.
Add to that ridiculous prices, and it becomes a case of self-fulfilling prophecy.
That said, if hobart loses the test then by the same standard brisbane should too.
And really, teams like WI and NZ on short 3 test tours should be here playing a few 4 day games vs state shield teams for warmup on the same grounds they play on.
If they don't, we get boring whitewash series like these ones.
Add to that ridiculous prices, and it becomes a case of self-fulfilling prophecy.
That said, if hobart loses the test then by the same standard brisbane should too.
And really, teams like WI and NZ on short 3 test tours should be here playing a few 4 day games vs state shield teams for warmup on the same grounds they play on.
If they don't, we get boring whitewash series like these ones.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Well that was a shambles.
The ball in DRS is a bit of a con as it gives a false sense of certainty over what happened, it really should be two circles (one about 2/3rds the size of a ball indicating the amount of the ball which remains outside the margin of error, and one about a 1/3rd again the circumference of the ball indicating where it might have hit within the margin of error)
Don't get me wrong, the whole weighting for not out calls is bizarre.
bobnowhere
Member
Based on the rules, the ruling was correct: yellow (inside) green (outside)
But for the home viewer and even the players on the field it runs completely counter-intuitive to what we see on screen. Either the half-ball, half-stump margin is done away with or the rules really need to be explained better or finally just simplified. Anyone who sees the picture is never going to be convinced that shouldn't be given out.
Siddle did get away with one yesterday that was more than a ball over the stumps so it probably evens itself out in the end!
But for the home viewer and even the players on the field it runs completely counter-intuitive to what we see on screen. Either the half-ball, half-stump margin is done away with or the rules really need to be explained better or finally just simplified. Anyone who sees the picture is never going to be convinced that shouldn't be given out.
Siddle did get away with one yesterday that was more than a ball over the stumps so it probably evens itself out in the end!
They should have scheduled the test series against Black Caps in Dec.
This years boxing day test will be a farce.
chicko1983
Member
Adelaide folk never moved on from that. That was CA deciding to finish the test summer in Sydney and just play ODIs and T20s after that.
If there is ever an Australia Day test, Adelaide folk would kick and scream if that test was not in Adelaide. For us, the Australia Day Test was synonymous with Adelaide, the way Boxing Day is Melbourne and New Years day is Sydney.
They then gave us an Australia Day ODI instead, and now I think it is going to be a womens and mens back to back T20 day.
So apparently this series was scheduled a couple years back when the Black Caps and Windies were similarly ranked teams.
CA tried to reschedule the series a little while back, maybe just after the world cup, but due to logistics of the Black Caps, Windies and Aussies' test and T20 world cup warm up schedules, they couldnt make the change happen where all three teams would agree to the change.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
No kidding. Losing sangakkara and jayawardene together seems pretty rough.
chicko1983
Member
They have some players who look ok.
Matthews, but maybe he has too much to do.
Chandimal, and Karunaratne looks classy when they were last in Australia and are probably test level.
Herath is a capable spin bowler too.
But yeah, just looking over the scorecard, there arent too many others I can remember from the last time they came to Australia.
The administration is broke financially and figuratively. Which will make it harder to develop the young players and first class players coming through.
Im not sure of the exact problems. I know they couldnt sell the broadcast rights to their test series as noone wants to pay for it in Sri Lanka.
If someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I think it is still popular over in Sri Lanka, but badly administered. Unlike cricket in the Windies which is badly administered but also losing popularity.
AdventureRacing
Member
Seems to be more an issue of test cricket losing popularity. I thought T20 was reasonably popular in the Windies? It seems as though that is slowly becoming the norm, decreasing interest in normal tests with massively increased interest in T20. It's disappointing as well because tests are so much more entertaining.
chicko1983
Member
Well, tests are so much more entertaining because it is more difficult. The shorter the game is, the less skillful because mistakes are less amplified.
It's why the best cricket and most interesting is when two teams are playing high quality, competitive test cricket against each other: One mistake, any ball, can change the game.
However, not all nations can play high quality competitive cricket for long periods of time. For those nations, they can still be competitive in T20 cricket, so I guess that is part of the reason why teams like Sri Lanka and windies and the associates prefer that. They can still upset the big teams in t20 format.
Also, it's no wonder test cricket is losing popularity when your players don't even want to be out there, which it looked like at times during the windies match. I suppose it is lucky I am Australian and get to see players actually trying to play to the best of their abilities, and opposition teams pretty much all try to lift to beat us.
If windies want to revive test cricket in the region, my suggestion is to make the quickest first class pitches in the world. Then hype up some young fast bowlers (there is one teenager from the leeward islands currently who has the potential to be very good) and then try and get people intrigued about westindian fast bowling again. That is what people loved about their teams in the past, the fast bowlers. They need to try to regain interest through fast bowling. I mean, even if roach and Taylor were given an ultra fast sabina park pitch, that would get my juices stirring. They probably would be rolled for 150 themselves, but they should be able to bowl teams out cheaply too.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Eh whatever, I don't really think some countries transitioning to the shorter game as a bad thing. It's just the reality of the game now.
chicko1983
Member
I see it as a very bad thing. You cant just have four or five nations playing test cricket, which is the pinnacle of the sport. I want to have as many competitive nations at test level as possible, not less.
20-20 cricket is fine, I know that BBL and IPL and other domestic leagues help bring in money for the cricket associations. However, I'd much prefer, no international T20 cricket whatsoever. This should be a domestic level only, with the club world cup every year, so that players who want to play for their country have to do so through ODI or test cricket.
ODI cricket should only be played as a max of three game series and world cups. People claim it is boring but I still think it is the best length of cricket for a World Cup tournament to be played at.
Then, those changes should hopefully free up the international schedule a bit more for more time for test matches between nations. Make tests series min.2, max.3 test matches only, but they have to have a reciprocal series within a year of each other. Also, Im all for four day matches and decision to bat or field first goes to the visiting team each game.
That is how I think international cricket should go. I definitely do not want nations focusing more on the 20-20 format and putting out sub-par test teams. It wont kill cricket, but it will definitely make test cricket far less entertaining to watch.
chicko1983
Member
As much as I love ashes series, its certainly feels like its heading that way, which would be a shame.
You mightve been facetious, but if things dont change soon, its probably realistic that test Cricket in 2050: An annual tri series of India, England, and Australia where noone can win away from home.
That would be shit for cricket.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Wait, why are we forgetting south africa?
edit: or pakistan really.
New zealand had a really good run before encountering australia.
edit: or pakistan really.
New zealand had a really good run before encountering australia.
chicko1983
Member
I'm not forgetting South Africa or Pakistan.
No other cricket board makes sustainable money off test match cricket other than when they play Australia, Eng, or India.
All it would take for those three to break away from the rest, is if playing other teams becomes unprofitable.
For example, if the west indies dont want to improve their test cricket, and if they continue to put a team out on the park like the one they have now, England, Australia and India are not going to want to play them. I wonder how much money Cricket Australia will lose over the course of this summer because of their series against Windies being noncompetitive? Also, the Windies also owe India about $25m from pulling out of their tour there last year.
It may get to the point in the future where its only profitable for Eng, India and Australia to play each other. Why would they want to play South Africa or Sri Lanka or New Zealand when they can play India or England and make 2-3 times as much?
We are currently heading towards that situation now. Here is a quote from an article on CA revenue in 2014.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...cord-300-million-revenue-20141026-11c246.html
Thats revenue, so the profit is a lot less obviously.
That article shows that there is already a large difference between playing South Africa, who were no1 ranked team at the time, and playing England.
Even the New Zealand v Australia series was only profitable because of the Day/night test.
My fear is that if the smaller nations focus less on playing test cricket, in favour of T20, and their skill level is ruined to the point they cant be competitive at test level, its only going to be sooner rather than later that the big three stops playing them. Which is bad for cricket.
chicko1983
Member
What are the details?
As I said, I'd like to limit test series at max of three and have a min of two games. I would also have a ban on two teams playing series against each other more than twice in a three year stretch.
Also, make tests four days and give the toss to the visiting team.
Unfortunately, this wont happen because Australia, India and England don't like it. There were supposed to be more even schedules implemented but those three voted against it last year/start of 2015.
Windies have a huge following in those three countries by locals, they are pretty much everyone's second team. If they had a decent team (like mid-late 90s even), those three countries would be jumping over themselves to host them, which would bring money to Windies cricket.
Zvonimir Boban
Banned
Will never happen because there's no money to be made by any of the big boys playing Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand etc so England, Australia and India will continue playing each other over and over with the odd series against the Saffers.
Meanwhile the rest of the international cricket calendar will be Zimbabwe begging everyone for a game with no luck until Bangladesh give them a pity series, but only because Bangladesh have already played Windies that year and Sri Lanka are busy with their 50th game against Pakistan in five years.
Meanwhile the rest of the international cricket calendar will be Zimbabwe begging everyone for a game with no luck until Bangladesh give them a pity series, but only because Bangladesh have already played Windies that year and Sri Lanka are busy with their 50th game against Pakistan in five years.
chicko1983
Member
lots of good points made by Ian Chappell in his latest blog:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/951709.html
bobnowhere
Member
So there is a chance that the WIN network, regional Australian TV, might be going off air on Jan.1 due to a dispute between the owners and Channel 9. Channel 9 have already done a deal with SBS in case this happens and they will show it outside of the major capitals.
I just want to watch it in HD.
I just want to watch it in HD.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Yesssssss finally get to see more Maxwell action.
He's been doing pretty well in the shield actually. Hoping he also has some form for the big bash.
He's been doing pretty well in the shield actually. Hoping he also has some form for the big bash.
bobnowhere
Member
Hope so! Though the A-league on SBS2 looks shocking.
Here I am so desperate for the cricket in HD, I'm slightly hoping for an entire TV network to shut down! I'm sure it won't happen, but channel 9 and CA are at least prepared.
One or two more wickets and he might not have much to do, Adelaide doesn't seem to bat that deep.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Travis head and hodge are really good t20 players though.
Stars seem pretty op this year though. Faulkner and Maxwell together? Damn.
Stars seem pretty op this year though. Faulkner and Maxwell together? Damn.
bobnowhere
Member
At least it's a decent pitch tonight. Because they don't have room at Spotless for full pitches out the back, last nights pitch was made in 2 halves with a seam in the middle and the two ends performed completely differently!
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Hah, it's been awhile since I saw someone step on his stumps like that.
bobnowhere
Member
Stupid stats I just worked out:
Voges needs 3 more test innings to reach 20, the point where stats are deemed "valid." Even if he scores a duck in each of his next 3 innings he will still go straight into the record books with the 2nd best test average of all time. Should call time after the Sydney test and just rest on his record! Don't want to end up like Trott tumbling down the record book, go out on top.
Voges needs 3 more test innings to reach 20, the point where stats are deemed "valid." Even if he scores a duck in each of his next 3 innings he will still go straight into the record books with the 2nd best test average of all time. Should call time after the Sydney test and just rest on his record! Don't want to end up like Trott tumbling down the record book, go out on top.