JBH001
International Regular
Fair play to him making those comments.
Never knew Marvan had such a way with words too - almost poetic lol!
And yes, he will play. Who else is going to open? Cant think of anyone worth the name.
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***Official*** Sri Lanka in Australia
- Thread starter JASON
- Start date
Never knew Marvan had such a way with words too - almost poetic lol!
And yes, he will play. Who else is going to open? Cant think of anyone worth the name.
JBH001
International Regular
Nah. Maharoof is a better bowler when he does not get above himself and just bowls. His only problem is that he lacks a little extra something that could make him truly effective. For the lack of pace, or gain off the pitch, or something, he needs to work more on variations like cutters to complement his seamers. But he could make a perfectly decent test standard medium pace bowler. The problem with Fernando is that he is fundamentally unreliable. On his occassional good days he may be very good (though I personally have never seen those days) but by and large he will usually find a way to let his captain and his team down - a bowling attack like SL cannot afford the luxury of a Fernando imo.
An attack of Vaas, Malinga, Maharoof, and Murali would be far more suitable.
PhoenixFire
International Coach
Fernando could be quite good though. He has pace and bounce, and can be pretty nasty, but the rest of the time, as you say, he just sucks.
Mate , I have said exactly the same for a long time...but it was a lost cause as far as I was concerned when they picked him ahead of Malinga ...and it showed in the first morning and afternoon...had we lost the Toss Aussies would have nailed us in 3 days ....I agree with Atapattu's comments to a considerable amount although not entirely and am disappointed by his timing of the comments ...just destroying Team morale even if it was not directed at them..
Perm
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
You like seeing poor players do well?
He should, because he has a good defensive technique even if he doesn't score too many runs a 40 or 50 is more than what others have managed....But not sure about Team morale and discipline...Was this the Right time to make these comments...Did he want to be a Hero to all those people from the Press who were affected by the Blackout ..Was he trying to get his 15 minutes of Fame here ?
IMO he could've waited till after the Test or better still after the Series...Even if these comments are not directed at the Team it does impact team morale when someone goes out on a loose cannon like this...
Having said that, I agree with most of what he said..but not the entirety ....The selectors were damn stupid even in this Test by keeping a guy like Malinga in the sidelines when he could've made a real difference on the opening morning and afternoon...
I think the selectors were right in recalling Atapattu for this series because of the inexperience and poor form of guys like Tharanga and worse still the poor form of 38 year old Sanath...I think the selectors and the Sports Minister panicked after their poor showing against England and in particular by Sanath's poor form and quite rightly called for or begged Atapattu's return, for which he has repaid him very nicely last night...
As far as SL's long term planning goes...I agree with Atapattu, SL selectors have no vision...they have been under frequent Political interference ...frequent changes of Board Chairmen and their Hoons...each board lasting 1-2 years only and consequently each bunch of selectors last that amount of time only ...Thugs and Mafia elements in SL have tried to control SL Cricket in the past and surprisingly when they controlled SL cricket these issues were not there ...more by luck and co-incidenace rather than any visionary things done by the mafia people..
Combined with these the frequent changes of Coaches...Moody was damn good ...he was more worthwhile holding onto than the entire Cricket board and their hangers on...The dummies failed to realise this ...or in their damn short sightedness let him go without offering him adequate incentive to stay....Bayliss is ok but he seems just an ordinary coach ...he can't pull anything exceptional like Moody...Its what you get for what you pay...Moody should've been retained...and If SL lose this series 2-0, I will be happy...because of that reason alone...
SL cricket boards have had Political interference for over 15 years...Politicians have wanted to control it and have their dummies in positions of power at SL cricket...and the SL Sports Minister by some constituitional decree has total control of the Cricket Board as it is today....So he can dismiss Cricket boards..He can dismiss Selectors ...He can appoint selection committees at his fancy whenever it pleases him to do so...there lies the fundamental flaw ...and there lies the Politicians desire to appoint their Cronies to control SL Cricket...this then flows onto Team selections too....
On top of this When Politicians have not been involved, and whenever free elections have been held ...the contests have seen Mudslinging , membership stacking by different opposing elements...then Mafia bosses and Book Makers have been controlling SL Cricket followed by Business elements with vested interests .....The decent Educated Professionals and other smart Clean living Sri Lankans have run away from participating in SL Cricket's activities for fear of these above mentioned elements.... Can you blame them...The Educated , Decent , Intelligentsia in Sri Lanka in general and Colombo in particular keep away from SL Cricket ...because of fear of being targeted by these people...
The only way forward for SL Cricket is to make it Constitutionally independant of control from the Sports Minister for one....To get rid of rogue and undesirable elements amongst them ...or make some fundamental law making it illegal for people with book maker interests and the like from holding office... The Minister and the Government should get Educated , Decent clean living Sri Lankans and past Cricketers to participate or become part of SL Cricket board...
As for developing talented Cricketers...they are already there ...in the schools and rural areas of Sri Lanka...they need to be nutured and developed... and perhaps additional funding and even having a committe of ex-cricketers involved in this may be the way to go...
WRT ageing Cricketers in SL , Atapttu's career by his own admission must come to an end after this series...and perhaps Jayasuriya's too...
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I think for the series in West Indies in March , Sri Lankan Team should look like this, IMO..
Vandort
Tharanga / MDK Perera (? Chamara Silva as opener)
Mahela
Sangakkara
Samaraweera
Chamara Silva (or Kapugedera if Chamara opens)
Kaushal Silva (wicket keeper)
Vaas or WRS de Silva
Malinga
Dilhara (or Welagedera/Amerasinghe etc..etc..)
Murali
Vandort
Tharanga / MDK Perera (? Chamara Silva as opener)
Mahela
Sangakkara
Samaraweera
Chamara Silva (or Kapugedera if Chamara opens)
Kaushal Silva (wicket keeper)
Vaas or WRS de Silva
Malinga
Dilhara (or Welagedera/Amerasinghe etc..etc..)
Murali
Mister Wright
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Haha. Lee is far from a poor player. He has been one of the best one day bowlers going around for close to a decade now, he was tripe in tests for oh, so long and should never have played as many tests as he has, but he looks to be a far better bowler now. I am still reserving my judgement until he faces a quality batting line-up, but he is far from a poor player.
Symonds is anything but a poor player, again probably our best ever ODI player, and yes, he had a poor start to his test career, but again he is anything but poor. He is a genuine allrounder despite what many on here think and he does have the batting talent to succeed at test level. Not all players are stars from their first test, some take longer to settle into their test careers.
Surely you are joking about Younis Khan. The guy's all quality.
Perm
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I'm talking about being poor players in one format of the game, which Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds and Younis Khan all are, or have been to date (I'm still holding out for Lee
)I've argued the case against Younis Khan many times, and it really baffles me as to how the Pakistan selectors continue to pick him in the ODI side based on his Test merits. He played a good knock against India, and I think it was his 3rd century in about 150 games, 1 of which came against Hong Kong. Far from impressive, especially for a guy who mostly bats at #3.
I'm not a fan of Symonds in Test cricket, I personally don't think he has what it takes to succeed or be anything more than an average batsman who bowls a little bit. He's had a good game so far, and his batting was very ODI-like but I think he'll struggle when he comes to a situation that requires true Test match batting. His bowling isn't up to it IMO, but we'll see how he goes.
I'm a Brett Lee fan, I'll admit it. He has a good attitude, work ethic and the tools to be a fine Test bowler. So far he hasn't shown that, but we seen signs yesterday that he may relish leading the Australian attack, and it was the best I've seen him bowl in a long time. I'm really hoping he'll step up now that the responsibility is on his shoulders.
FaaipDeOiad
Hall of Fame Member
As I've said however many times, Lee has been pretty good in test cricket for a few years now, basically since his last recall to the side. He was dropped for ages leading up to the 2005 Ashes, and had a pretty mixed series there but not a good one overall, but since then he's been very consistent. Nobody should be surprised he bowled well in this match, and a lot of the more astute followers of Australian cricket on this forum predicted it, with good reason. He's no McGrath, but he's been closer to Alan Donald than Mohammad Sami in the last few years, and people should take notice before writing him off again.
Even based on his overall career record, calling him a "poor" player is a massive overstatement. His career average is like 2 runs higher than Chaminda Vaas, who people generally rate as a very good test bowler. If McGrath is great at 21, and Vaas is good at 29, how is Lee trash at 31? Obviously it's easier to criticise him because he plays for Australia, but it's still a bit much.
Even based on his overall career record, calling him a "poor" player is a massive overstatement. His career average is like 2 runs higher than Chaminda Vaas, who people generally rate as a very good test bowler. If McGrath is great at 21, and Vaas is good at 29, how is Lee trash at 31? Obviously it's easier to criticise him because he plays for Australia, but it's still a bit much.
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sideshowtim
Banned
That can't help feeling in the dressing room....
Probably not wise to make those sort of comments mid-tour and mid-test....I also don't see why he doesn't just retire if he's sick of selectors "calling up 37 and 38 year olds"....
Johnners
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Add to that his strike rate of 53 which is a strike rate a fair number of test match bowlers would be jealous of, even if he does leak a few runs.
pasag
RTDAS
Nah, I just like to see people sprouting crap on internet forums proven wrong.
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Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I've liked the look of Lee in Test cricket since his recall in the 2005 Ashes, and he has generally bowled well since then, averaging 25 against Test standard opposition. Added to that, his batting and fielding has added great impact to the Australian team.
He is comparatively poor when put up against the likes of Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath, who have been Australia's fast bowlers in recent years. I wouldn't say Lee is trash, but seamers that average over 30 are generally considered poor, and anything under 30 is good. Keep in mind that Chaminda Vaas has bowled on some pretty touch wickets in his time, whereas Brett Lee has generally had wickets that would assist his style of bowling. His career to date has been poor, but going on recent form I'm confident he'll turn into a quality bowler.
Perm
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I don't think it's crap to label Younis Khan as a poor ODI batsman, it's pretty obvious. Open your eyes a bit son.
Perm
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Where did that story come from?
chaminda_00
Hall of Fame Member
Can the first innings classifly as a tour match. FFS why couldn't the CA give us Four Day tour matches like we wanted. Those extra couple days getting used to Australian conditions could have made a massive difference IMO. We might have not won, but we would have been a lot more competitive.
For those who don't know much about Vandort his very much in the mould of Atapattu, scores big or nothing. Hopefully its the later today.
For those who don't know much about Vandort his very much in the mould of Atapattu, scores big or nothing. Hopefully its the later today.