Australian Cricket Season 2023-2024

[VPS]

Love watching Merv Hughes and Piers Morgan on twitter

Merv is digging up posts Morgan made in 2013 about being saved by the rain ie England

 

[RB]

I really respect your opinions but not in this case.

Golf is one where personal integrity means more than winning. And yes I do realise Golf may not be considered a sport but that's irrelevant.

There are lots of examples in other sports.

I am a golfer & believe the sport has retained its personal integrity ( fair play/bending rules/cheating etc ) much better than other major sports. The problem of many professional sports is that many have forgotten the roots of the sport they play

 

[JohnK]

Which is why there was a thing called LIV?

Awful. Evil. Greg Nornan and Phil Mickelson were 2 of my favourites. Never again will I look at them as honourable champions. Pure greed.

John Rahm summed it up the best. Search Google for his response.

Rory McIlroy turned down a lot of money not to join LIV. He got shafted when the PGA tainted their reputation by accepting money to merge the tours.

We live in a sad world. Of that I have zero doubt

 

[Pushka]

Awful. Evil. Greg Nornan and Phil Mickelson were 2 of my favourites. Never again will I look at them as honourable champions. Pure greed.

John Rahm summed it up the best. Search Google for his response.

Rory McIlroy turned down a lot of money not to join LIV. He got shafted when the PGA tainted their reputation by accepting money to merge the tours.

We live in a sad world. Of that I have zero doubt

Missed my point in that golf is now exactly the same as the sports you revile, and - it's now become the one entity anyway.

 

[JohnK]

Missed my point in that golf is now exactly the same as the sports you revile, and - it's now become the one entity anyway.

I may have missed your point but golf becoming one entity again is not a good thing.

Think of the money the ones who stayed loyal to golf received. Oh that's right, nothing.

Now think of the money the ones who moved to LIV received. Yes obscene and now it's status quo and brushed under the carpet as if nothing happened.

 

[Gremlin]

One thing that seems to be getting very little mention is the state of the pitch at Old Trafford. Let's be clear, the weather forecast was well known and publicised at least five days out from the start of the Test match.

You're the home team. You need to win. The match is likely to be rain impacted. Old Trafford is the wettest Test Ground in England. Who in their right mind prepares a pitch that bats like a road in the first innings in that scenario? There were more than 900 runs scored across the two first innings. There were only 978 runs in total scored in the entire Third Test and that was on a ground with a lightning fast outfield.

It's almost like Bazball is so deified, so formulaic and so aligned to flat track bullies that no one in the English cricket hierarchy can take a step back and think, "It's going to be wet. Probably overcast for most of the match. We need a result. So why don't we prepare a traditional green English wicket conducive to good swing and seam bowling?"

 

[cjd600]

One thing that seems to be getting very little mention is the state of the pitch at Old Trafford. Let's be clear, the weather forecast was well known and publicised at least five days out from the start of the Test match.

You're the home team. You need to win. The match is likely to be rain impacted. Old Trafford is the wettest Test Ground in England. Who in their right mind prepares a pitch that bats like a road in the first innings in that scenario? There were more than 900 runs scored across the two first innings. There were only 978 runs in total scored in the entire Third Test and that was on a ground with a lightning fast outfield.

It's almost like Bazball is so deified, so formulaic and so aligned to flat track bullies that no one in the English cricket hierarchy can take a step back and think, "It's going to be wet. Probably overcast for most of the match. We need a result. So why don't we prepare a traditional green English wicket conducive to good swing and seam bowling?"

I don't think Bazball is exactly a multi-dimensional or flexible mantra lol
All fair points made.

 

[Scarlett]

I may have missed your point but golf becoming one entity again is not a good thing.

Think of the money the ones who stayed loyal to golf received. Oh that's right, nothing.

Now think of the money the ones who moved to LIV received. Yes obscene and now it's status quo and brushed under the carpet as if nothing happened.

You’ve missed a couple of points here John. What LIV golf did and what Greg Norman has been trying to do for nearly 20 years, is to create a more global top level golfing competition not owned, managed and run for the benefit of the PGA of America.

Did you not notice that to combat the rise of LIV golf, the PGA suddenly upped all of its prize money and ensured that even those not at the top of the leaderboard were getting more? They wouldn’t have considered such a thing unless pressured by the alternative that guaranteed good paydays to everyone. ‘The ones who stayed loyal’ as you put it, now get more, not because of some benevolence but because of the changes created by the LIV tour.

I agree with you that there is sportswashing occurring with Saudi money, but you know what, I’m glad they’re splashing a bunch of cash around on golfers and golf courses rather than on more bombs to lob at Yemen. I’m glad they’re opening themselves up and granting women the right to drive. I’m glad they’re modernising some features of society.

As for cricketers: some play to win at all costs (see Stuart Broad, Tony Grieg, Alex Carey et al); some play to win but tempered by what they think is ‘right’ (see Adam Gilchrist); some play because they just like their teammates and friendly competition each weekend. It’s all good.

 

[Scarlett]

One thing that seems to be getting very little mention is the state of the pitch at Old Trafford. Let's be clear, the weather forecast was well known and publicised at least five days out from the start of the Test match.

You're the home team. You need to win. The match is likely to be rain impacted. Old Trafford is the wettest Test Ground in England. Who in their right mind prepares a pitch that bats like a road in the first innings in that scenario? There were more than 900 runs scored across the two first innings. There were only 978 runs in total scored in the entire Third Test and that was on a ground with a lightning fast outfield.

It's almost like Bazball is so deified, so formulaic and so aligned to flat track bullies that no one in the English cricket hierarchy can take a step back and think, "It's going to be wet. Probably overcast for most of the match. We need a result. So why don't we prepare a traditional green English wicket conducive to good swing and seam bowling?"

How long do you think it takes to prepare a wicket? At what point do weather forecasts become reliable? Also, how do you rate the Australian bowlers?

Considering those questions may deliver the answers you seek.

 

[drron]

Play to win also occurs in the lower echelons of amateur sport. Some people are just like that.
In the last few years of my cricket career I was captain/Coach of our club's 6th grade side. Myself and another old geyser and the rest were under 16 though it was the adult competition. Now one of the other clubs had the same set up but their Captain/coach was the exact opposite of me. He wanted to win no matter what. He was a much better cricketer than me, An all rounder who could bowl fast. One day when playing his side we were slaughtered. but into bowl on a sticky wicket and all out very cheaply. they quickly whipped up a lead of about 70 and the young fellows on our team were going down like flies. I tried to make sure i was the one facing their captain. I noted a very black cloud approaching. So on his first ball I stuck my arm out and got struck. immediately fell to the ground and writhed in pain. He stood over me saying i was faking it which of course I was. It was fortunate on this day that we had an official umpire who I knew really didn't like our opposing Captain. So when he walked across i said to him if it gets much darker it will be dangerous to continue. I played out the over and the others didn't find it difficult to survive the next over so that i was on strike for their captain. When he walked back to his mark and was about to start his run up I put up my hand and said mr. Umpire I am appealing against the light. Appeal granted and the fellow exploded.
However back in the grandstand i got a few thank yous from the young fellows on his team for teaching him a lesson.

 

[Gremlin]

How long do you think it takes to prepare a wicket? At what point do weather forecasts become reliable? Also, how do you rate the Australian bowlers?

Considering those questions may deliver the answers you seek.

As a youngster I did some work as an assistant groundsman for a couple of seasons at a suburban ground, so pitch preparation is something I know a little bit about. For a Test match pitch they are looking at about two weeks prep. But that doesn't mean that the pitch conditions are set two weeks out. In particular, it takes time to get water out of the wicket (effectively deaden the grass). For seaming conditions, you want to put water back in (or not take it out as quickly). Taking water out takes far more time than putting it back in. If the pitch is too dry, you can adjust up until about a day to day and a half before the match. If it's too green, there's not much you can do to speed it up short of a lot of heat and fans. Furthermore, the height of the grass impacts the amount of swing and seam movement you can generate. The decision on how short to cut the grass wouldn't have been made until the day before.

It's also worth noting that Day One was Wednesday. Everyone has obviously talked about the rain during the match. But in the lead up to the Test, it rained at Old Trafford on the preceding Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. That much rain in the last few days before the Test starts and you'll typically get a greener wicket than usual. And yet the pitch was still far drier and flatter than would be normal in English conditions. That tells me that's by design, not by accident.

As to the Australian bowlers, well they are a quality line up. Wickets would tumble on a green pitch. But Australian batsmen consistently struggle with good quality late swing in England. Broad, in particular, is an excellent exponent of it. Old Trafford is typically one of the most swing-bowler friendly pitches in England, but the pitch they prepared was a road instead. And to keep the Ashes alive England needed to take twenty wickets.

 

[VPS]

I love how some of the Poms think that is unfair we won because they played better cricket WTF

 

[VPS]

Even Iceland have got involved

 

[TheRealTMA]

Even Iceland have got involved

View attachment 337609

ICEball!

 

[CaptJCool]

Murphys Law - the Green "leprachaun" got dropped (tall is short - of a game)

 

[Pushka]

So question for non Adelaide people. Are there betting ads being shown on gem or go or whatever 9 clone it is. We get these breaks in transmission and we were trying to work out why. We thought maybe SA had banned online gambling 30 minutes before an event.

 

[CaptJCool]

So question for non Adelaide people. Are there betting ads being shown on gem or go or whatever 9 clone it is. We get these breaks in transmission and we were trying to work out why. We thought maybe SA had banned online gambling 30 minutes before an event.

yes

13. Advertising on radio and television—General(1) Gambling advertising must not be placed on radio between 6.00am and 8.30am, Monday to Friday(both days inclusive). This clause does not apply to gambling advertising on a dedicated sportschannel.(2) Gambling advertising must not be placed on television between 4.00pm and 7.30pm, Monday toFriday (both days inclusive). This clause does not apply to gambling advertising on a dedicatedsports channel.

https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/documents/ABO-COP_30-March-23_Final.pdf

 

[Pushka]

yes

13. Advertising on radio and television—General(1) Gambling advertising must not be placed on radio between 6.00am and 8.30am, Monday to Friday(both days inclusive). This clause does not apply to gambling advertising on a dedicated sportschannel.(2) Gambling advertising must not be placed on television between 4.00pm and 7.30pm, Monday toFriday (both days inclusive). This clause does not apply to gambling advertising on a dedicatedsports channel.

https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/documents/ABO-COP_30-March-23_Final.pdf

Thankyou South Australia.

 

[drron]

Well what do you know. coughmins won the toss so we are bowling first.

 

[cjd600]

Well what do you know. coughmins won the toss so we are bowling first.

I was surprised on both counts