General Cricket Thread ...

[Kumar]

Australia lose to Windies by 9 runs .. amazing victory to bundle out Australia in Gabba.

Shamar Joseph is the new bowling sensation from windies. Would love to see windies do well. They play an entertaining cricket.

[prasen9]

Not going to happen. Fluke.

[Naveed90]

Match Details:

AUSU19 vs PAKU19, Semi-Final 2, ICC Under 19 World Cup 2024
Date and Time:

Thursday, February 08, 2024, 12:00 AM
Venue:

Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Australia U19 Squad:

Playing: Ryan Hicks (wk), Lachlan Aitken, Charlie Anderson, Harkirat Bajwa, Mahli Beardman, Harry Dixon, Harjas Singh, Sam Konstas, Raf MacMilllan, Tom Straker, Callum Vidler, Corey Wasley, Hugh Weibgen, Tom Campbell, Aidan O Connor, Oliver Peake
Bench: [Support Staff]
Pakistan U19 Squad:

Playing: Saad Baig (c & wk), Ali Asfand, Ali Raza, Amir Hassan, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Haroon Arshad, Khubaib Khalil, Mohammad Zeeshan, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Shahzaib Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Mohammad Riazullah, Ubaid Shah, Ahmad Hassan

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Dane Piedt, getting success in NZ tracks whereas our spinners always have been below par in NZ test matches

[prasen9]

This is because of our batters. Because our batters are so inept on pitches with grass, New Zealand keeps grass on their pitch when we visit. But, now the RSA team is so weak that New Zealand is better than RSA in almost every aspect. So, they don't do any such thing. Anyway, I am not disagreeing with your point that our spinners are bad outside the subcontinent against good teams. I am saying that there is also another component to this event happening.

I also think this is a fluke. Piedt hit some good form and is generally not a great spinner. It is kind of like Agarkar getting five wickets and winning us a match in Australia, while otherwise being bad throughout his career. I often wonder why we don't see these types of random flukes more often from Indians in SENA except in the batting conditions of Australia when Pant, Washy, Gill, Thakur etc. won us matches despite there not being a classy player in this lot except of course Pant, who is awesome. In short, we need more flukes.

[Kumar]

Our guys are bunnies against pace bowling that pitches hardly favor spinners. In 2021 Australia tour, Nathan Lyon (average 55) was out bowled by Washington sundar with average of 42.

In england 2021, Moeen Ali averaged 50 while Jadeja averaged 56 with the ball. Ashwin did not get to bowl in that series. So the narrative that our spinners do badly abroad compared to the foreign spinners is highly flawed

[prasen9]

That is the claim because he is comparing different times, different teams, and different pitches - the last of which is what is the most important.

[prasen9]

Alex Carey played a Gillchrist. Or maybe more accurately a Pant. What a partnership by Marsh and Carey and then a steady but invaluable inning by Cummins. I hope Jadeja is watching and getting some ideas. Cummins is a worse batter than him but with a big heart and a calm mind. I hope in his twilight days Jadeja does a Cummins or Ashwin and wins us a test match with the bat while chasing over 200/250. That would be super. A real icing on a fantastic career. And, I hope that we get Pant back to his prior hand-eye coordination and form. Or Jurel becomes a Carey. Or a Pant. Best is a Gillchrist.

[Kumar]

Australia looked like they were imploding in 2021.. but have won all three WC since the defeat to India . On paper, this is probably a very ordinary Australian team, but they have been absolutely money in critical scenarios.

[prasen9]

On paper they look so-so because Smith is not firing like he does. Otherwise, on paper, this is a very good team. Consider this:

Tests: Smith is an all-time great, maybe second only to Bradman. Labu is among the great batters all-time. Maybe 3rd team, all-time. Then, they had two great openers: Khwaja and Warner. And, another very good batter in Head. This batting lineup is perhaps one of the best, if not the best in the world.

Wrt bowling, they have an all-time great in Cummins, who is perhaps only #2 to Glen McGrath, who is also a fantastic lower order bat under pressure. This is rounded out with an all-time great bowler Hazlewood. And, someone who would be an all-time great bowler in any other team: Starc. A very good spinner in Lyon.

They have had allrounders and keepers who can bat in Marsh, Green, Carey, Maxwell, etc. This team does not make all the PR noise and that is why we think it does not have talent?

This is the world's best test team on paper too. Where is the weaklink? I mean these teams cannot play spin but still with Lyon and some of their players overperforming they got a test in India.

[Kumar]

Would u revert Steve Smith to one down? And play eiyher Travis Head or Marsh as opener?

[prasen9]

Don't know. I'd give Smith some more time to figure it out. And, do very badly against India as an opener against a raging Bumrah, Shami, Siraj attack.