Australian Cricket - Crisis, What Crisis ??

[LP]

Why bother, just give the away team the choice of whether to bat first or second, in every test, all over the world.

I know that eliminating the toss has been proposed before, but there are skills in captaining and managing game tactics that give the toss a special place in the sport. If you eliminate the toss you are taking away many of those aspects of the sport. The other concern raised at that suggestion is that it would eventually led to very vanilla drawn tests as the most common result.

All the game really needs is reasonable wickets, it's clear to me the BCCI is focused on winning over the general governance of the game, and that in my opinion is a Indian cultural thing. Dealing in India I have found the outcome takes priority over the means, even if the outcome requires some questionable dealings.

For example, like China, in Indian business if you can avoid paying an invoice regardless of your relationship with the supplier you will be lauded as a good business person. The person or company they rip off is foolish, in their eyes you must expect that if an opportunity is available to cheat or shortcut it will be taken. I suspect this is why they have resisted DRS for so long, it's basically anti-Indian in their eyes. The real problem for "Western" societies comes after being burnt, the Indians will come back to you next time and expect the relationship to continue like nothing ever happened. This is a little different from the Chinese that won't show their "face" after doing the dirty. Westerners take offense at being "ripped off" and hold an everlasting grudge.

In India it's like they did you a favor by showing you how they can avoid paying! They were smarter than you, you will know better next time!

If you put all this in the context of a sport, the rules, the media statements, you can easily understand how they can look at a video replay and claim it's not showing the truth, or that the pitch is fine.

We are shocked about the pitches, they expect them to be that way.

[PaulP]

This might be hypocritical coming from me, but you might want to leave the racial stereotyping out of a cricket thread. In fact, just leave it out full stop.

[LP]

This might be hypocritical coming from me, but you might want to leave the racial stereotyping out of a cricket thread. In fact, just leave it out full stop.

Racism and stereotyping has nothing to do with it, I've seen the very same initial reaction from others being taught how to trade in India. They almost cannot accept that is the way things are, but how conflicted they must be when it's an Indian teaching them.

If that is the common business culture it's the business culture, and in India cricket is a business.

You can even attend corporate training sessions, some of which are operated by expatriate Indian and Chinese business people, that will take you through the reason why it is the way it is in those two cultures.

[Professer E]

Unfortunately Paul, it's far too close to the truth for comfort... I've been burned so many times by people of Indian background I've given up doing business with them.  The barefaced lies they come up with are shameful, the only way I could get my head around it is that it is part of their culture and that's the way it is.  They burn you and then come back as if they are your best mate and get offended when you point out their transgressions and that don't trust them.

[PaulP]

Pass.

[LP]

Pass.

There's a Timmy moment!

[townsendcalling]

We won the toss!  Great start

[LP]

This pitch will be running along the ground by Day 3.

Australia need to make quick Day 1 runs and plenty of them, but they must also bat well into Day 2.

A target of 150 might be out of reach Day 4 or 5.

Warner out, off a full toss! ...............  JonHenry where are you?

[JonHenry]

This pitch will be running along the ground by Day 3.

Australia need to make quick Day 1 runs and plenty of them, but they must also bat well into Day 2.

A target of 150 might be out of reach Day 4 or 5.

Warner out, off a full toss! ...............  Jon Henry where are you?

I'm here and he is a d!ck.
He needs a kick in the A5s

[crashlander]

Warner has certainly not come to terms with the conditions. That is a great disappointment, as he has handled just about everywhere else.

But a lot f our players lose concentration and get themselves out too easily. The Marsh brothers were the kings of that tactic. The Big Show tends to do the same: get an attack at his mercy and then get out.