***Official*** India in Australia

[Son Of Coco]

Brilliant effort considering he made more than half of India's score so far.

Are you Michael Hussey?

 

[Son Of Coco]

Hope it doesn't rain over the next few days, the match is set up beautifully.

Didn't Laxman play well today? Just a joy to watch an innings like that.

And, wow, who would have suggested such a thing, but things evened out a bit today, with India getting a bit of luck, with some easy catches dropped, a wicket off a no-ball, and what looked to me to be a pretty plumb LBW turned down. It's almost like these things even out in the end!

Laxman played some wonderful shots, and I was really pleased to see Dravid stick at his task and achieve a good score - hopefully this will mark the turning of a corner in his form and he'll be back to the Dravid we know and love.

I thought Lee's ball to remove Wassim Jaffer was a doozy, and unless I'm mistaken TEC, it swung in. Johnson bowled well, but today was the first time IMO that the predicted "there are two batsmen set, and no Warne or McGrath to throw the ball to" problem occurred.

I think you might be mistaken, I thought it moved out...really late.

 

[Captain Cricket]

Are you Michael Hussey?

Michael Hussey is Mr.Cricket. I am Captain Cricket

 

[pasag]

If we bowled them out before tea, assuming they keep the same run rate which you'd think they would considering the batsmen to come, they'd have made 400 easily and then we'd have one session on day three and two and a half or so on day four to set a reasonable target (assuming we would, alternativley India could demolish us and only need to chase down a small score themselves), giving us a day and a bit to bowl them out which is no guarantee even without the rain. But with the rain it's not looking all that likely. Our best and perhaps only chance to win this match is to obviously rip through their batting order tomorrow morning, barring that the match will end in a draw unless the rains stay away, so vital session ahead.

 

[Matt79]

And you would be critising him if he didn't get those runs and didn't last as long in that partnership with Laxman so STFU.

And your problem is.....?

So you admit you're a troll - that's good, admitting your problems is the first step to solving them.

 

[Matt79]

I think you might be mistaken, I thought it moved out...really late.

i was drinking, but I thought it did - maybe I'm getting old?

 

[Captain Cricket]

assuming they keep the same run rate

Remember that V.V.S. Laxman was responsible for their current run rate ending up higher than expected. But if we can get Tendulkar or Ganguly out in the first session tomorrow, dismiss Dhoni (considering his poor form) and finish off the tail in the afternoon session, we would be set up in a comfortable position rain or no rain.

 

[Matt79]

Remember that V.V.S. Laxman was responsible for their current run rate ending up higher than expected. But if we can get Tendulkar or Ganguly out in the first session tomorrow, dismiss Dhoni (considering his poor form) and finish off the tail in the afternoon session, we would be set up in a comfortable position rain or no rain.

Few rather large "ifs" in that outline, but yeah, that is the plan.

 

[Son Of Coco]

i was drinking, but I thought it did - maybe I'm getting old?

Were you standing on your head when it happened?

 

[tooextracool]

And, wow, who would have suggested such a thing, but things evened out a bit today, with India getting a bit of luck, with some easy catches dropped, a wicket off a no-ball, and what looked to me to be a pretty plumb LBW turned down. It's almost like these things even out in the end!

I thought Lee's ball to remove Wassim Jaffer was a doozy, and unless I'm mistaken TEC, it swung in. Johnson bowled well, but today was the first time IMO that the predicted "there are two batsmen set, and no Warne or McGrath to throw the ball to" problem occurred.

Ball swung away a touch. As said earlier it was one of a marginal number of balls that Lee swung all day, a comparable statistic to his test career in general.
Btw, dropped catches and a wicket off a no-ball is not 'luck'. Not being able to catch or overstepping by a foot is down to indiscipline from the opposing team and it is something that can be controlled. On the other hand, poor umpiring decisions or bad weather are external issues that are not under the control of either team.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Michael Hussey is Mr.Cricket. I am Captain Cricket

You're....you're a superhero!

 

[Son Of Coco]

Ball swung away a touch. As said earlier it was one of a marginal number of balls that Lee swung all day, a comparable statistic to his test career in general.
Btw, dropped catches and a wicket off a no-ball is not 'luck'. Not being able to catch or overstepping by a foot is down to indiscipline from the opposing team and it is something that can be controlled. On the other hand, poor umpiring decisions or bad weather are external issues that are not under the control of either team.

He swung a large number away early when the ball was new.

 

[Matt79]

Alright, I accept I must have had a brain inversion or something with that ball of Lee's. Oh well, it was a nice theory.

Re: luck - dropped catchs, wickets off no-balls, etc, are let offs that would 9 times out of 10 would not occur. Whether Australia caused it, or whether the umpires caused it, is irrelevant to that point. That a few such occurrences happened in a row equates to luck in my view - and in saying that I'm not knocking the Indians - God knows after some appalling umpiring decisions yesterday, the cricketing gods owed them some form of restitution and while I'm not saying things are "even" now, I'm saying that such good fortune has gone some part of the way towards evening the cosmic ledger.

 

[tooextracool]

The thing with Dravid is that many, myself included belive that behind the scenes and political/media/dressing room dramas have taken their toll (more speculation than anything), coupled with the long Indian season, so some time in the middle might not be what the doctor ordered for regaining form, rather a break from the game and some rest (imo).

Looked to be getting some sort of form at the end of his innings. I think it was the sort of innings that one plays just before a much bigger inning, which are not good signs for Australia. Now if only they would get him to bat down the order....
Laxman on the other hand was quite brilliant, as good an innings I have seen in a while. Didnt take any risks and his timing was exquisite.

 

[Laurrz]

That would hurt us. Our only hope to win this match would be to bowl the Indians out by tea tomorrow before any rain begins.

apparently its raining in Sydney atm

hopefully it goes away tomorrow when play starts

the outfield will be slower and pitch will be juicened up perhaps ...so not all bad for us

 

[tooextracool]

Alright, I accept I must have had a brain inversion or something with that ball of Lee's. Oh well, it was a nice theory.

Re: luck - dropped catchs, wickets off no-balls, etc, are let offs that would 9 times out of 10 would not occur. Whether Australia caused it, or whether the umpires caused it, is irrelevant to that point. That a few such occurrences happened in a row equates to luck in my view - and in saying that I'm not knocking the Indians - God knows after some appalling umpiring decisions yesterday, the cricketing gods owed them some form of restitution and while I'm not saying things are "even" now, I'm saying that such good fortune has gone some part of the way towards evening the cosmic ledger.

except that dropped catches are not 'bad luck'. They are down to cricketing skill. Its about as ridiculous as claiming that Laxman's dismissal was down to bad luck because 9 out of 10 times he would not have hit that shot to the fielder.
Wickets of a no-ball are much the same, especially when you overstep by about a foot it does give any bowler a significant advantage. AFAIC, its the bowlers fault and no one elses for not getting the wicket. I dont really think luck has evened out yet, India have most certainly had the bad side of it and the fact that Andrew Symonds alone had more luck than the whole Indian side did today emphasises that.

 

[SJS]

I mean as an Australian fan my highlight of the day (after Laxman’s innings obviously) was that Symond’s save on the boundary. It was inspiring.

It was brilliant. I remember telling myself - when will indian fielders do that. For some inexplicable reason I started looking at Symonds in a very favorable light (as a person and cricketer overall) after that tremendous effort.

Dont ask me why.

 

[SJS]

SYDNEY WEATHER :

• Tonight: Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 68F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
• Tomorrow: Cloudy skies with a few showers later in the day. High near 75F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
• Tomorrow night: Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 69F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
• Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. High 74F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
• Sunday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 60s.
• Monday: Occasional showers possible. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 60s.

 

[Laurrz]

except that dropped catches are not 'bad luck'. They are down to cricketing skill. Its about as ridiculous as claiming that Laxman's dismissal was down to bad luck because 9 out of 10 times he would not have hit that shot to the fielder.
Wickets of a no-ball are much the same, especially when you overstep by about a foot it does give any bowler a significant advantage. AFAIC, its the bowlers fault and no one elses for not getting the wicket. I dont really think luck has evened out yet, India have most certainly had the bad side of it and the fact that Andrew Symonds alone had more luck than the whole Indian side did today emphasises that.

i think the point in his post still stands..

 

[Captain Cricket]

SYDNEY WEATHER :

• Tonight: Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 68F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
• Tomorrow: Cloudy skies with a few showers later in the day. High near 75F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
• Tomorrow night: Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 69F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
• Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. High 74F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
• Sunday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 60s.
• Monday: Occasional showers possible. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 60s.

(Post 4000 in this thread )

The weather report looks worrying.