Cricket

[DownSouth]

The first Test in Brisbane has been indefinitely postponed, probably until the next time India tour when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be extended from four matches to five.

Grade Cricket was suspended in SA and NSW for today, but all around the nation junior cricket went ahead with kids marking it in ways such as retiring at 63* instead of 50* and having 408 (Hughes' Test cap number) marked on the field.

 

[Chapeltom]

New Zealand have broken a world record for most sixes in a Test innings, McCollum hit 11 of what is currently 19. The previous record was 17.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

New Zealand have broken a world record for most sixes in a Test innings, McCollum hit 11 of what is currently 19. The previous record was 17.

Some notable match highlights by the end of the fourth day.....

Pakistan 351 all out (125.4 overs)
Hafeez 197 (3x6/25x4)
Craig 27.4-5-94-7

New Zealand 637-8 (130 overs)
McCullum 202 (11x6/21x4)
Williamson 192 (1x6/23x4)

I wonder what the fifth day has in store.

 

[Busaholic]

The bbc are reporting that an Israeli umpire was killed by a cricket ball yesterday, apparently ricocheting off the stumps at the bowler's end.

 

[Greenback]

A local umpire was killed by a cricket ball here in July 2009. A young lad threw the ball in when fielding and it struck the umpire on the head.

I must admit that when I was umpiring I was very aware of the power of some of the batsmen and the possibility of injury even at a very low level of the sport.

 

[DownSouth]

'Oscar' Hillel Awaskar was not only an umpire in their national league, but also formerly the captain of the Israeli national team.

In baseball, the umpire behind the catcher wears a catcher's helmet which is more optimised for frontal contact than a cricket helmet which is an adaptation of the baseball batter's helmet designed for a side-on stance. Catcher's helmets have been used in cricket by some wicketkeepers (Alyssa Healy and Jodie Fields have worn them when playing for Australia, and I saw a couple of keepers with them in the IPL one year) and should be considered as permissible for umpires who wish to wear them.

I remember that during the 2007 World Cup, after the match when Matthew Hayden hit his record-breaking century he was presented with both the normal man of the match award and a unique souvenir of Steve Bucknor's watch which was badly smashed when he intercepted one of Hayden's signature straight drives that was destined for the boundary.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Some notable match highlights by the end of the fourth day.....

Pakistan 351 all out (125.4 overs)
Hafeez 197 (3x6/25x4)
Craig 27.4-5-94-7

New Zealand 637-8 (130 overs)
McCullum 202 (11x6/21x4)
Williamson 192 (1x6/23x4)

I wonder what the fifth day has in store.

In answer to the question I posed, the fifth day was indeed eventful...

New Zealand continued batting and were eventually all out for 690.

Pakistan 259 all out (2nd innings)
Shafiq 137 (6x6/18x4)
Boult 15-6-38-4

New Zealand won by an innings and 80 runs.

 

[Oswyntail]

....New Zealand won by an innings and 80 runs.

Interesting comparison with the recent Australia matches

 

[WelshBluebird]

A couple of really nice tributes that I have seen today:
1 - The match scorecard has been changed so Philip Hughes is now "63 not out" rather than "63 retired hurt".
2 - It seems like in a local club game in Aus, a batsman walked off and finished his innings on 37, saying he had just finished Hughes' century for his final innings.

Just two really poignant actions.

 

[Phirstman]

A couple of really nice tributes that I have seen today:
1 - The match scorecard has been changed so Philip Hughes is now "63 not out" rather than "63 retired hurt".
2 - It seems like in a local club game in Aus, a batsman walked off and finished his innings on 37, saying he had just finished Hughes' century for his final innings.

Just two really poignant actions.

Another one was that a club captain declared an innings at 408-6 after 63 overs with himself 11 short of the club record on 220 not out.

Both 408 (test cap number) and 63 (number when retired hurt) are of course relevant to the recent sad events involving Phillip Hughes. A totally selfless act from that club player given he was closing in on a club record.

 

[Busaholic]

Another one was that a club captain declared an innings at 408-6 after 63 overs with himself 11 short of the club record on 220 not out.

Both 408 (test cap number) and 63 (number when retired hurt) are of course relevant to the recent sad events involving Phillip Hughes. A totally selfless act from that club player given he was closing in on a club record.

As not many people may have seen it, Andrew Strauss recalled that he only played one match for Middlesex with Phil Hughes in the side, but the two of them put on 240 odd for the first wicket, and apparently the opposing county did not know where to bowl to him. Gus Fraser as Middlesex coach got a lot of flak for allowing Hughes to sign up for Middlesex in advance of the Ashes series but Fraser is a good judge of a player, batsman or bowler. Apparently Nick Compton, then with Middlesex, became very friendly with Phillip, and attended his funeral. A shame that Alastair Cook wasn't there and not a good reflection on the TCCB in not agreeing to it.

 

[DownSouth]

Gotta feel for bowler Sean Abbot who must be in bits at the moment. It appears to have been just a million to one freak accident.

I do wonder whether Sean Abbot will ever be able to play again.

Although it is not the time for Sean Abbott to decide whether he can ever bowl fast again, I fear that the stigma would follow him around and he'd never be allowed to forget it, not that he would in any case, so it would I feel be most unlikely for him to return to his trade, as a tragedy like this does have colateral damage.

I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of this incident and it's terrible result. If I was Sean Abbott I don't think I could ever pick up a cricket ball again.

Sean Abbott returned to training with the NSW squad at their first (optional) training session last Tuesday ahead of the funeral and has been named in the squad for the rescheduled Sheffield Shield match at the SCG starting tomorrow.

South Australia have selected eight of the eleven from the 63* match for their match against Tasmania in Hobart, taking an extended squad of 13 (it's not normal for Shield teams to travel with a spare batsman) to Hobart today.

All of the other NSW players who were in the side have also been named in either the NSW side or for Australia to play tomorrow's first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Adelaide Oval.

In the Test and all three Shield matches, the bravest man won't be the first batsman to face a bouncer, but the first bowler to bowl one.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

A shame that Alastair Cook wasn't there and not a good reflection on the TCCB in not agreeing to it.

I don't know of any other players involved in current series (other than the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with its delayed start) who left their squads to attend the funeral.

Cook was playing an ODI (and getting suspended for thinking too slowly) well inside 24 hours before the funeral, I don't know if it's even possible to get from Sri Lanka to northern NSW in 24 hours without a private flight.

Who or what is the TCCB?

 

[gswindale]

TCCB was the Test & County Cricket Board.

Replaced in 1997 by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

 

[Busaholic]

TCCB was the Test & County Cricket Board.

Replaced in 1997 by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Old initials die hard. The same people anyway. Was it so essential for Alastair Cook to play that one-dayer? The funeral wasn't arranged at 24 hours notice and Phil Hughes had connections with three English counties.

There'll be more press and cameramen at South Australia's next match including Sean Abbott than cricket-loving spectators and his every move will be scrutinised in minute detail. Michael Atherton has written recently how Peter Lever was never the same fast bowler again after he felled Ewan Chatfield and thought he had killed him in a test and he'd already made it to the top level. Only time will tell.

 

[DownSouth]

Old initials die hard. The same people anyway. Was it so essential for Alastair Cook to play that one-dayer? The funeral wasn't arranged at 24 hours notice and Phil Hughes had connections with three English counties.

Well, they lost their next match without him (suspended for too many offences of thinking too slowly) so the answer is obviously yes.

I don't know of any other international teams whose players requested leave to attend, and when there were Macksville locals who knew Phil Hughes as a mate who were shut out and had to watch it on a screen it was probably not a good idea to have any more hangers-on swanning in than was absolutely necessary.

There is a former England captain who played against Hughes a number of times and is currently in Australia preparing to play for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL, maybe he could have attended the funeral as the official ECB representative and presented a condolence letter on behalf of the current players, captain, head coach and ECB managing director.

There'll be more press and cameramen at South Australia's next match including Sean Abbott than cricket-loving spectators and his every move will be scrutinised in minute detail.

The Redbacks will not play against NSW again until next summer, unless they meet in the Sheffield Shield Final which is looking rather unlikely. And there's every chance that Abbott will be on national team duty (like he was during this season's SA v NSW one day match and the first SA v NSW Shield match) or injured (it happens a lot for bowlers) or simply not selected (other NSW bowlers include Bollinger, Hazelwood, Cummins and Starc) next time the two teams meet.

I'm kind of hoping that the media will conclude their mawkish feeding frenzy and move onto something else well before next summer, ideally soon after the end of this week's first Test and next round of the Sheffield Shield.

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't see the need for Cook or any other international players to attend the service themselves. Surely, if anything, Hughes would have wanted them to play their matches rather than miss games for him? It might have been good to have a representative of the ECB (and other boards and player associations) but I would say that would be it.

 

[DownSouth]

The first Test is 5 minutes away from starting at Adelaide Oval, Australia have won the toss and will bat first.

Australia:
Chris Rogers
David Warner
Shane Watson
Michael Clarke (captain)
Steven Smith
Mitchell Marsh
Brad Haddin (wicketkeeper)
Mitchell Johnson
Nathan Lyon
Ryan Harris
Peter Siddle
(12) Josh Hazelwood
(13) Phil Hughes

This side has 10 of the 11 players who won back the Ashes 5-0 last summer, George Bailey is the only one missing, replaced by Mitchell Marsh who also provides an extra bowling option.

India:
M Vijay
Shikhar Dhawan
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli (captain - MS Dhoni is still recovering from a hand injury though he bizarrely was seen bowling in the nets yesterday)
Ajinkya Rahane
Rohit Sharma
Wriddiman Saha (wicketkeeper)
Karn Sharma (leg spin bowler making his Test debut)
Varun Aaron
Ishant Sharma
Mohammad Shami
(12) R Ashwin

I don't see the need for Cook or any other international players to attend the service themselves. Surely, if anything, Hughes would have wanted them to play their matches rather than miss games for him? It might have been good to have a representative of the ECB (and other boards and player associations) but I would say that would be it.

Indeed, and the former England captain currently here in Australia would have been a perfect choice to attend and present a letter of condolence on behalf of the ECB and the current players.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Brendon McCullum also played plenty of matches alongside Hughes as a teammate and opening batting partner, and along with his NZ teammates and the England players he was able to get on with the game.

With the Shield match at the SCG underway and the others to start soon as well as the Test, it's now time for Australian cricket to get back to the game too.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

The first Test is 5 minutes away from starting at Adelaide Oval, Australia have won the toss and will bat first.

Australia:
Chris Rogers
David Warner
Shane Watson
Michael Clarke (captain)
Steven Smith
Mitchell Marsh
Brad Haddin (wicketkeeper)
Mitchell Johnson
Nathan Lyon
Ryan Harris
Peter Siddle
(12) Josh Hazelwood
(13) Phil Hughes

This side has 10 of the 11 players who won back the Ashes 5-0 last summer, George Bailey is the only one missing, replaced by Mitchell Marsh who also provides an extra bowling option.

You might have said that the Australian team contains nine of the players who lost their last series against Pakistan, but I seem to recall you missed that one!

 

[DownSouth]

Showers in Adelaide this morning, the lights are on (at 10:40am) and play is starting 10 minutes late.

There's another band of showers due in about 45-60 minutes - but at least the match is not being played on Kangaroo Island (south-western side of the radar).

Michael Clarke is coming out on 60 not out to replace Brad Haddin (dismissed in the 90th over yesterday evening) after retiring hurt yesterday, having injured his back while twisting to play a pull shot. I expect his main task will be to support Steve Smith who is on 72 not out, and then get out for Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to come in and deal out some lower order punishment.

You might have said that the Australian team contains nine of the players who lost their last series against Pakistan, but I seem to recall you missed that one!

Yes, I'm well aware that Pakistan remains Australia's banana peel team in Test cricket just like New Zealand and Sri Lanka (thought of by everyone else as ODI specialist teams and Test lightweights) are for England. New Zealand also posed that problem for us in the days when Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh were our captains.

My point was more that this is the first time in 11 months that we've been able to get our First XI together without anyone missing due to injury.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Michael Clarke is coming out on 60 not out to replace Brad Haddin (dismissed in the 90th over yesterday evening) after retiring hurt yesterday, having injured his back while twisting to play a pull shot. I expect his main task will be to support Steve Smith who is on 72 not out, and then get out for Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to come in and deal out some lower order punishment.

Australia 473-6...(111 overs)
Warner 145 (19x4)
Smith 142 not out (21x4)
Clarke 109 not out (16x4)

 

[Whistler40145]

Sounds like an average bowling attack to me.

 

[DownSouth]

Australia 473-6...(111 overs)
Warner 145 (19x4)
Smith 142 not out (21x4)
Clarke 109 not out (16x4)

And at stumps (bad light) it is now 7/517 with Smith on 162* and Johnson on 0*.

Only 30.4 overs were possible today (the first four balls were the remainder of yesterday's 90th over) with Australia putting on 1/163 at 5.3 runs per over, Clarke the only man out for 128 in what turned out to be the final over, caught while chasing quick runs with a shot that would have been four if it was a metre either side.

Smith was seeing the ball well off the seamers and would probably have opted to stay out there if the light was still offered to the batsmen like it used to be, the real risk in the late part of the day was to the fielders and umpires who were at risk of getting hit by the ball flying around at high speeds once Clarke and Smith shifted gears to chase a declaration.

The crowd numbers have been very good considering the circumstances of it being played on weekdays and before the school holidays, the match being rescheduled and having poor weather today. 25,619 yesterday was excellent, and about 16,000 today was pretty good for a wet Wednesday.

Sounds like an average bowling attack to me.

Apart from Ishant Sharma who has been here twice before, it's a very inexperienced attack which has also suffered from Virat Kohli being an inexperienced (i.e. first time) Test captain.

Varun Aaron looks very poor - he's a fast bowler who is getting genuine pace up in the 145-150 km/h region, but almost every ball looks like an effort ball and he doesn't have much control over it. Mohammed Shami looks like he could be decent in the hands of a more experienced captain to work out better plans.

The spinner Karn Sharma looks decent, but he has simply had the misfortune of bowling lots of overs to Clarke and Smith. Shane Warne thinks he has promise, but not until some issues with his technique are sorted out.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Yes, I'm well aware that Pakistan remains Australia's banana peel team in Test cricket just like New Zealand and Sri Lanka (thought of by everyone else as ODI specialist teams and Test lightweights) are for England. New Zealand also posed that problem for us in the days when Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh were our captains.

My point was more that this is the first time in 11 months that we've been able to get our First XI together without anyone missing due to injury.

Fair point...any team does well to put out a full strength team these days so well done to Australia for that. After the gloomy news yesterday re Michael Clarke's back I was surprised that he was able to restart his innings, so well done to him! I do wonder how long he can manage such a chronic condition, tho'.
As a long standing England fan, I consider all other teams to be banana skins for them!

 

[DownSouth]

Fair point...any team does well to put out a full strength team these days so well done to Australia for that.

+1

More importantly, Australia have a pretty good idea of who is in their First XI these days (with two possible exceptions) which not all teams have.

Chris Rogers is regarded as playing to keep his position in the side at the moment, and he wasn't helped in his preparation by having to skip the day/night round of the Sheffield Shield due to his colour blindness.

The other uncertainty is Mitchell Marsh, simply because it's a fair chance that his great start (205 runs at 41) will only go on for so long before the opposition teams work out a plan for him and he'll need a break from the top level to fine-tune his technique. It's a trend that's happened plenty of times in the past (think of Phil Hughes, carving up South Africa then struggling in England) and the present (Ben Stokes, 12 months on from being the team's best player in the Ashes he is now a liability for England) and will happen again in the future.

After the gloomy news yesterday re Michael Clarke's back I was surprised that he was able to restart his innings, so well done to him! I do wonder how long he can manage such a chronic condition, tho'.

He seemed to get better after each break through today, but he was still obviously in pain after certain shots later in the day. Alex Kontouris (the team physio) would have to be a fair candidate for man of the match if Australia win by any margin less than the 68 runs that Clarke made today and/or if Ryan Harris gets lots of wickets.

Cricket Australia know that he won't be around forever (his lower back is a degenerative condition) and they are starting to make plans. George Bailey is locked in as the stand-in captain for the ODI team, but the current option for Tests (where Bailey's batting isn't enough to keep a place in the side) is just to pass it on to Brad Haddin and will probably stay that way until Steve Smith is a couple of years more mature and ready for the top job.

The captaincy succession here is a bit more orderly than it has been in England (who are their own worst banana peels at times) mainly because there's a bit more culture around the vice-captain's position as a unique on-field leadership role (usually reserved for the wicketkeeper) that is distinct from being anointed as the next captain.

Maybe there's also a bit more stability from the role of the Test captaincy being a somewhat significant national relationship role ranking above the Prime Minister's job. Where the British people respect the PM but gleefully watch as the cricketers throw knives at their captain, here it's the opposite.

As a long standing England fan, I consider all other teams to be banana skins for them!

I won't say anything more on the subject other than that as a true Australian (i.e. my 'second team' is anyone playing England) I am very much looking forward to the World Cup match on February 23. After certain events in September this year it could be just like that T20I match a few years ago when everyone was expecting the USA to comfortably handle Afghanistan.

 

[Busaholic]

Being colour blind myself, I feel for Chris Rogers, but surely it's time for Australia to move on from him? There were always far too many candidates for opener over last fifteen or so years. Langer only got his chance when Slater blotted his copybook one time too many and Matthew Elliott could get nowhere near the team. What about Klinger?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

And at stumps (bad light) it is now 7/517 with Smith on 162* and Johnson on 0*.

With two days elapsed, Australia declared at this overnight score.

I looked in on third day matters at 0500 British time and after 62 overs, India had reached 225-3:-
Dujara 73 (9x4)
Vijay 53 (2x6/3x4)
Kohli 50 not out (6x4)

I am some what surprised by the current bowling return of Johnson ... 13-3-68-1. He is normally not as expensive as this, especially in the first innings of a Test Match.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Just looked in again.....India moved on to 369-5 (97 overs).

Kohli dismissed for 115 late on in the day, so the next two days play should be quite eventful.

 

[DownSouth]

I am some what surprised by the current bowling return of Johnson ... 13-3-68-1. He is normally not as expensive as this, especially in the first innings of a Test Match.

It is looking like a very good track for batting, as is usually the case for the first couple of days at Adelaide. There hasn't been much in it for the bowlers so far but the fourth and fifth days will see that change - the Adelaide curators always set out to produce pitches that will see a result achieved on the fifth day, something they achieved even with the Tests in the three whitewashed series (England 2006-07, India 2011-12, England 2013-14) of recent times.

Mitch did look a little rattled after badging Virat Kohli early in the day's play, and his best overs only came at the end of the day after he got Kohli out. He's usually pretty expensive because he's a wicket taker and balls flying around the park come with that territory, his performance against England last summer (in Brisbane he batted only once and still scored more runs than he conceded) was an exception to that rule which required a combination of both excellent bowling and abominable English batting.

Make sure you look up the Kohli wicket on YouTube - Ryan Harris made lots of ground and took what would be a career highlight catch for any player, but when you consider he's a big fast bowler coming back from what could have been a career-ending knee injury it looks even more incredible. Twenty20 has had some negative effects on cricket, but ramping up the players' athleticism and the intensity of the fielding in all formats of the game has certainly been a major positive.

Being colour blind myself, I feel for Chris Rogers, but surely it's time for Australia to move on from him? There were always far too many candidates for opener over last fifteen or so years. Langer only got his chance when Slater blotted his copybook one time too many and Matthew Elliott could get nowhere near the team. What about Klinger?

The general consensus seems to be that Klinger would be just as much of a short-term option as Rogers, and he does have a reputation as a flat track bully (his previous domestic team was SA, playing home matches on the batting-friendly Adelaide Oval) who has struggled since shifting to WA where the conditions aren't so nice.

The ideal long-term option is probably Shaun Marsh, who was temporarily added to the squad while Clarke's fitness (the hamstring injury which would have had Phil Hughes announced as his replacement for the original first Test date in Brisbane, not this Tuesday's latest back injury) was still up in the air. He does need to sort out his fitness and get some consistency before he can take up a place for the long term.

 

[Busaholic]

Loath as I am to agree with KP, both on principle and because a lot he speaks is Nuts, it is beyond the time when Cook should be giving up his captaincy and place in the one-day team. Morgan should no more be a certainty than Cook, his batting is going backwards, much like Shah's did, the parallel being that both play/ed for Middlesex and both have often been reluctant to bat unless a large cheque was waved in front of their noses. James Taylor suffered just because KP didn't rate him, apparently because of his height (never mind Tendulkar, Vishy, Kanhai and the rest) but is now showing his true class. He also has plenty of captaincy experience and would be my choice of captain right now, even though Broad might sulk. Woakes too should be permanent in the one-day side as the replacement for Bresnan.

 

[andrew bell]

Loath as I am to agree with KP, both on principle and because a lot he speaks is Nuts, it is beyond the time when Cook should be giving up his captaincy and place in the one-day team. Morgan should no more be a certainty than Cook, his batting is going backwards, much like Shah's did, the parallel being that both play/ed for Middlesex and both have often been reluctant to bat unless a large cheque was waved in front of their noses. James Taylor suffered just because KP didn't rate him, apparently because of his height (never mind Tendulkar, Vishy, Kanhai and the rest) but is now showing his true class. He also has plenty of captaincy experience and would be my choice of captain right now, even though Broad might sulk. Woakes too should be permanent in the one-day side as the replacement for Bresnan.

I agree with you (apart from Woakes) KP was basically a South African who wanted everything his way or would throw his toys out of the pram.

My xi for the first World Cup match is as follows

Ali
Hales
Bell
Taylor (c)
Root
Bopara
Buttler (wk)
Broad
Tredwell
Anderson
Finn/Woakes

Depending on the condition of the pitches in Australia and New Zealand (and the atmospheric conditions) I would play Woakes instead of Ravi to have 5 specialist bowlers

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Day 4 in the Test Match saw India progress to 444 all out, with Lyon ending with a bowling analysis of 36-4-134-5.

Australia then batted well in their second innings to score 290-5 and Warner registered his second century of the match with 102 (1x6/11x4), which with the fifth day to come, sees Australia having a lead of 363 runs.