Crikey it's the Cricket Thread

Gave them a good game and raised the confidence levels.

I kind of wish I had a newborn again so I have an excuse to be awake for the Ashes.

Your blokes remember there are some cricket matches on down here Babs or did they just come to check out the nightlife?

Australia Completes 4-0 Ashes Series Victory

The Ashes are home!

Thoughts after the series...

Aussies

•The fast bowlers were very, very good all series and the stats reflect that. But we missed Mitchell Starc in Melbourne and I just don't think anyone (Starc included) strikes fear into the opposition batsmen in the way that some former great quicks did. Is this current crop of quicks just too nice or has the tragic passing of Phil Hughes changed the psychology of fast bowling?
•Nathan Lyon is the spinner that Australia needed but I never thought he could become. Bloody champion.
•Steve Smith is an absolute freak. What more can be said?
•Good the see the Marsh boys in the runs. Hopefully they keep it up into the SAF tour.

England
•England missed Ben Stokes. Would his presence have changed the series result? Probably not.
•Moeen Ali was terrible all series. Do the Poms have anyone in the County setup ready to step up or is Mason Crane it?
•Vince and Stoneman showed glimpses.
•Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson looked disinterested most of the tour.
•Alastair Cook's double ton in Melbourne will go down as one of the all time great Ashes knocks.

Cricket is trash these days,none of these Test teams are good enough to win way from home

Originally posted by LockyersLeftBoot:

Australia Completes 4-0 Ashes Series Victory

The Ashes are home!

Thoughts after the series...

Aussies

•The fast bowlers were very, very good all series and the stats reflect that. But we missed Mitchell Starc in Melbourne and I just don't think anyone (Starc included) strikes fear into the opposition batsmen in the way that some former great quicks did. Is this current crop of quicks just too nice or has the tragic passing of Phil Hughes changed the psychology of fast bowling?
•Nathan Lyon is the spinner that Australia needed but I never thought he could become. Bloody champion.
•Steve Smith is an absolute freak. What more can be said?
•Good the see the Marsh boys in the runs. Hopefully they keep it up into the SAF tour.

England
•England missed Ben Stokes. Would his presence have changed the series result? Probably not.
•Moeen Ali was terrible all series. Do the Poms have anyone in the County setup ready to step up or is Mason Crane it?
•Vince and Stoneman showed glimpses.
•Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson looked disinterested most of the tour.
•Alastair Cook's double ton in Melbourne will go down as one of the all time great Ashes knocks.

Yeah, Australia looking for the next Thommo or Brett Lee.

"Bowling Gary!"

As good as he is, Smith is still not satisfied. Incredibly driven man.

Lot of hate for the Marsh boys. I'll admit to being fairly down on them im the past but they chipped in for this series.

I believe Stokes was just the kind of player England needed and could've made a difference but, as you say, not enough to turn the series.

World class spinners are rarer than rocking horse s**t in Australia and England it would seem.

England team seemed to lack belief across the board.

Cook needed that knock or he would've averaged about 10 for the series. Interesting stat is that except for one series (2013?) where his average was up over 70, all other Ashes series he's averaged under 40. For such a capable batsman that's below par and suggests Australia have had his measure for most of his career.

Hoping for a more competitive one day series.

Originally posted by BarrySandwich:

Cricket is trash these days,none of these Test teams are good enough to win way from home

And thats the truth.

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by BarrySandwich:

Cricket is trash these days,none of these Test teams are good enough to win way from home

And thats the truth.

Winning away is always challenging, but is a greater challenge in international cricket than in any other sport, in my opinion, due to the variation and degree which local pitch and weather conditions can determine how both batsmen and bowlers must play in order to be competitive. If players aren't adequately prepared for the conditions they'll face, they're already behind the 8-ball.

That said, in my opinion, it's not that the teams or players aren't good enough to overcome this, it's the over crowded international schedule which reduces the time to prepare for a tour and once the team is abroad, the test schedule doesn't allow for enough competitive matches against local first class sides, both prior to and during a series, to allow players to acclimate to the local conditions. The series can be already lost by the time they start getting a handle on things.

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by BarrySandwich:
Cricket is trash these days,none of these Test teams are good enough to win way from home

And thats the truth.

Sadly

England gonna win the ODI series 5-0.

South Africa wins Test series against India. The pitch with the high bounce was too much for the Indian batsmen to overcome. Virat Kohli had one good innings, but that was about it. His shot making is unbelievable, maybe MS Dhoni retired from Test matches too soon. In India the marriage of Kohl to Bollywood superstar Anushka Sharma overshadows the game.

Originally posted by RishikeshA:

South Africa wins Test series against India. The pitch with the high bounce was too much for the Indian batsmen to overcome. Virat Kohli had one good innings, but that was about it. His shot making is unbelievable, maybe MS Dhoni retired from Test matches too soon. In India the marriage of Kohl to Bollywood superstar Anushka Sharma overshadows the game.

They'll go back to their subcontinent dust bowl wickets, win a series and get right back to telling themselves how good they are in due course.

Will Smith dropped in to watch the Stars v Thunder BBL match tonight.

Cameron White at number 3 LMAO

Originally posted by BarrySandwich:

Cameron White at number 3 LMAO

His being selected at all was farcical.