God help me - the Test Cricket thread

[ElwoodBlues1]

It was at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Joe Root was embarrassed to talk about it after the 5 wicket haul!

Correct was India of course, my brain was on the poor opponent copping those crape wickets...

[Professer E]

Careful EB,  everybody knows only the Aussies cheat,  never those butter wouldn't melt in my Indian types... Nope.  Never.  Not.

Those pitches are so rank those venues should be struck off the roster.  Remember the hoohaa when the MCG was deemed too flat?  Grow some cojones ICC!!!!

[ElwoodBlues1]

Careful EB,  everybody knows only the Aussies cheat,  never those butter wouldn't melt in my Indian types... Nope.  Never.  Not.

Those pitches are so rank those venues should be struck off the roster.  Remember the hoohaa when the MCG was deemed too flat?  Grow some cojones ICC!!!!

Prof, Two day test matches should be enough for the ICC to act, these are meant to be two of the better teams in the world and its just common sense that these last two test matches have been ruined by pitch fixing by the home country.
I wouldnt be bothered sending my best team to India, I'd just send an Australia A team and treat its as a training drill for younger players. What is the point of bowlers like Anderson and Broad turning up to play on wickets that the opposition use spinners to open the bowling with.

[crashlander]

Test over in 2 days in England, the wicket was a spin fest, even part timer Joe Root took 5 for 8 it was that friendly to tweakers.
Think I said previously the Indians would revert to their old ways and create spin nightmare wickets once they were one down in the series. Its farcical and time the rest of the cricket world drew a line in the sand and said we are not going to play games vs these cheats unless they get their act together and prepare decent fair wickets. All countries prepare friendly home town strips to suit their own but this is ridiculous and we almost need neutral pitch inspectors who validate the quality of the wicket before play is allowed.

The wicket India produced was a disgrace. Unlike the 1960's, there is no good reason to produce a pitch of rolled mud any longer. Indian groundkeepers are as professional as most now. If the Indians  tried, there simply is no reason to provide this sort of rubbish.

Yes, home teams generally make wickets to suit themselves better, at least somewhat. But this was a case of ridicule.
Cricket Australia asked groundsmen to create pitches that will produce a contest over 5 days. The idea is for the game to close, to keep the public interested and the money coming in. 5 close days at the MCG with 60 000 people minimum each day and Cricket Australia is happy, even if we don't win.

That is not the case in India. They don't get that much money from people attending test matches. They do not aim for tests to last the distance. They just want to win.

Look at Australian pitches for the last 2 tours from India: you will note that the pitches were most unusual. They were slower, lower and less pace friendly. Why? So the test would go the distance.
The other big problem with Australian pitches is that they don't tend to wear much. Most of them are drop in pitches. As a result, our spinners rarely get conditions to suit them. Note that Australia has lost game to SA and India lately with big 4th innings batting displays. That would not have happened 20 years ago (mind you, we also had Warne and McGill, so 4th innings bowling success was not a problem).

Effectively, we do not make the most of our home ground advantages. Other countries do. India has never tried to make tests last.

[Professer E]

Pucovski doesn't get a central contract..... Says that CA thinks he's cooked

[LP]

Can't send the players to SA because of COVID!

But it's OK for them to play IPL in India! :o

[ElwoodBlues1]

Can't send the players to SA because of COVID!

But it's OK for them to play IPL in India! :o

SA cricket is fecked, no money in going to SA but there would be a revolt if the players were stopped going to the IPL and getting their big pay cheques. The ICC otherwise know as the Indian Cricket Council...lets drop the the International as thats a furphy, wont have the games No 1 money spinning comp curtailed in any way.

Re: Pucovski...another weird decision, the kid does get injured a lot and has had some mental health battles but surely a suitable contract taking onto account those issues could be worked out given his level of talent.
I thought it was illegal to discriminate in the workplace against workers with mental health complaints if thats CA's main issue in terms of him being cooked mentally.?

[LP]

Just a hypothetical.

What if a player missed games for an injury, but the doctors thought that injury didn't really exist?

How would you deal with that in an official sense?

[LP]

The Aussie cricketers need to get out of India, sure they are revered on the field and off-field for what they do.

But if they fall, if they suffer a demise, they'll get trampled by the mob!

[LP]

Looks like the BCCI has given up protecting the IPL players, they can just wait a week or so and renamed it the Infected Players League!

I'm sympathetic yet indifferent to the likes of Slater moaning, these guys chose to go there for very very good money, despite knowing the risk before they left, a risk they chose to ignore for cash!

If they can pay for charter flights to ferry them to resorts, why the feck can't they stump up for a repatriation flight and the related quarantine costs. Why does repatriation have to come at the tax payers cost when they chose to go for profit?

I'm afraid I'm very cynical, I doubt Slater fears for his wellbeing, he's might even have already been vaccinated, is it his wallet he is protecting?