God help me - the Test Cricket thread

[Professer E]

100 percent correct, its a collective effort.
High level cricket relies upon having the skill sets to execute plans, and that's the problem I have with Starc.  Part of that is sustained pressure, and he releases it too often by bowling junk.  Sure, he gets wickets with Jaffas and that's a legitimate approach to taking wickets, but he seemingly doesn't worry about the other rubbish and that hurts the collective bowling effort.  He is also deadly when conditions suit (eg the night test Adelaide) but so often on flat decks he's old rope.  I thought he was a highlights package bowler in the ashes (images of him getting carted) and was staggered when he received a gong.  In the two most recent home series vs. India he shouldn't have played the last games, he was below par and we lost both. 

[northernblue]

But that’s also the dice they (selectors and captain) roll.
“You get wickets and you over there, you get runs”
The balance has tipped to attack, dig in, graft, occupy for batsmen and contain, limit and choke for bowlers are out of favour.

Footy is similar, you run not only to create an opportunity for your teammates but to hurt your direct opponent.
How many touches you get is largely irrelevant.

[LP]

100 percent correct, its a collective effort.
High level cricket relies upon having the skill sets to execute plans, and that's the problem I have with Starc.  Part of that is sustained pressure, and he releases it too often by bowling junk.  Sure, he gets wickets with Jaffas and that's a legitimate approach to taking wickets, but he seemingly doesn't worry about the other rubbish and that hurts the collective bowling effort.  He is also deadly when conditions suit (eg the night test Adelaide) but so often on flat decks he's old rope.  I thought he was a highlights package bowler in the ashes (images of him getting carted) and was staggered when he received a gong.  In the two most recent home series vs. India he shouldn't have played the last games, he was below par and we lost both.

I suspect the CA wear this because if they don't they will further kill Test Cricket, the only thing that even gave the Pakis a sniff was Starc letting them off the hook with 90% pie chucking.

But that might be the trick for him, because somewhere in the remaining 10% is an unplayable delivery when conditions suit and when he is switched on, you just have to wear the rest. It's that last point that is the most burring, because often the pie chucking seems attitude based not a result of the conditions or pressure, it's like he switches off and body language exposes a Laissez-faire approach, I assert that is what is most grating to cricket die hards.

We grew up watching blokes like Sobers, Lillee, Ambrose, Garner, Willis, Hadlee give batsmen nothing, the idea of a half-ar5ed spell was anathema to them, they were dirty on just releasing one bad delivery. Not only did you have to survive, but getting runs off them was like growing algae on a rock for a daily feed!

Now in context look at the batting records tumble, can you imagine if blokes that did dominate like Richards, Simpson, Walters or Border were batting now getting 2 or 3 lose pills an over or having a Cummins type try to bounce them out on the modern pitches, pitches that look like relative batting paradise compared to the 60s, 70s or 80s?

[DJC]

I suspect the CA wear this because if they don't they will further kill Test Cricket, the only thing that even gave the Pakis a sniff was Starc letting them off the hook with 90% pie chucking.

But that might be the trick for him, because somewhere in the remaining 10% is an unplayable delivery when conditions suit and when he is switched on, you just have to wear the rest. It's that last point that is the most burring, because often the pie chucking seems attitude based not a result of the conditions or pressure, it's like he switches off and body language exposes a Laissez-faire approach, I assert that is what is most grating to cricket die hards.

We grew up watching blokes like Sobers, Lillee, Ambrose, Garner, Willis, Hadlee give batsmen nothing, the idea of a half-ar5ed spell was anathema to them, they were dirty on just releasing one bad delivery. Not only did you have to survive, but getting runs off them was like growing algae on a rock for a daily feed!

Now in context look at the batting records tumble, can you imagine if blokes that did dominate like Richards, Simpson, Walters or Border were batting now getting 2 or 3 lose pills an over or having a Cummins type try to bounce them out on the modern pitches, pitches that look like relative batting paradise compared to the 60s, 70s or 80s?

When you read about him doing a net session after play because he was unhappy with his action, you know that his attitude is spot on.

I reckon Starc is more like Lee or Thommo than the bowlers you mentioned.  Even when his radar is a bit off, there's a good chance that his next ball will do some damage.

And the question remains, how was he Australian player of the last Ashes series if he was chucking pies?  Perhaps because he was the leading wicket taker ...

Starc has 342 wickets from 84 tests at an average of 27.53, marginally better than Mitch Johnson, Lee and Thommo and is ranked among the best Australian left arm quicks. 

[DJC]

The Voice of Cricket just now, “Another wicket for Mitchell Starc.  What a star for Australia!”

Interesting if brief discussion of Starc’s bowling by Jim Maxwell and Stuart Clark.  Basically, Clark maintains that there’s too much reliance on Starc and his impact as a strike bowler is diminished.

[Professer E]

And since that first over, 12 overs of very mundane crap, especially when he pitches short.

Cummins saving the day yet again.

[Gointocarlton]

And so a decorated and some controversial career ends.
Thanks D Warner, an absolute star.

[DJC]

Certainly a controversial character who made some serious errors of judgment, but a very good career despite that.

What’s the chances of a couple of 8 year old cricket mates going on to open the batting for Australia … and very successfully at that?

Warner said that he was hoping for a Test spot bowling some leg spin and batting at 6 or 7 ?

[Gointocarlton]

Certainly a controversial character who made some serious errors of judgment, but a very good career despite that.

What’s the chances of a couple of 8 year old cricket mates going on to open the batting for Australia … and very successfully at that?

Warner said that he was hoping for a Test spot bowling some leg spin and batting at 6 or 7 ?

I love Warner's and Uzi's stories. Warner was a local "backyard" cricketer when given a go.
Uzi's career seemed and dead and buried, persistence saw it resurrected. Just goes to show if you want something bad enough, you can make a name for yourself in sport and get rewarded handsomely as Warner did in the IPL.
I was listening to Stan The Man Longanides on radio yesterday, his motto or rather what he tells kids is "what are you prepared to sacrifice, what are you prepared to give up to go up". It pretty simple.

[DJC]

I love Warner's and Uzi's stories. Warner was a local "backyard" cricketer when given a go.
Uzi's career seemed and dead and buried, persistence saw it resurrected. Just goes to show if you want something bad enough, you can make a name for yourself in sport and get rewarded handsomely as Warner did in the IPL.
I was listening to Stan The Man Longanides on radio yesterday, his motto or rather what he tells kids is "what are you prepared to sacrifice, what are you prepared to give up to go up". It pretty simple.

I was made captain of our under 15 footy team and a kid who had dominated in under 13s the previous season didn't show up for training.  I tracked him down at school and asked whether he was going to play in the under 15s.  His response was, "I want to play Test cricket for Australia so I'm not going to play footy any more."

He went on to play 18 Tests for Australia after leaving our northern suburbs school for University High; Gary Cosier.

He would have made a difference to our under 15 team's chances but I discovered later that he had a dodgy back and probably should never have played footy at all.