This Krejza kid

[Xuhaib]

*Bump

Its always nice to see a young cricketer prove his critics wrong

 

[Xuhaib]

Krejza is much more likely to make an impact at Test level with the ball than White. Regardless of what the figures tell you, Krejza is a much better bowler than White on pitches that actually turn. He is capable of bowling quite well; he just doesn't do it particularly often - he could do serious damage if he bowled to the best of his ability while White is unlikely to make an impact with the ball even if he bowls the best spell of his career AFAIC. White's a partnership breaker at best - someone I'd probably give a few overs to if I had him in my team but someone I'd never select on the basis of bowling in any way, shape or form. Krejza's been unfortunate in that he has rarely been given the opportunity to bowl on spin-friendly surfaces in his career but the man can bowl. He's simply not consistent or accurate enough to be Test standard yet, on any surface, but he has the basic ingredients to be a threat on the subcontinent if he improves a few things in his game.

Good call PEWS

 

[Richard]

Haha, was so gonna bump this thread just now.

Really, though, what does knocking-over 5 for 15 with a lower-order and tail going for quick runs when you've just been smacked for 3 for 200 prove? Not a lot, ITBT. It'll take a hell of a lot more than this for Krejza to prove anyone wrong that he's woefully short of Test-class. I daresay he'll probably play at least the 2 games against New Zealand now though, and this should make the Symonds situation particularly interesting.

 

[Mr Casson]

I... I.... agree with Richard.

*Blurrrrrrrrrgh*

Yeah I just spewed, sorry guys.

 

[Goughy]

Its one of the strangest stat lines Ive seen. It reads both ways.

He went at 5 an over and took 8 wickets which would imply they got out attacking him looking for quick runs and he was the weak link that bled runs and could be expolited.

and

He took 8 wickets and his captain gave him over 40+ overs which suggests he was bowling really well and was a constant threat.

Take your pick.

 

[Xuhaib]

Its one of the strangest stat lines Ive seen. It reads both ways.

He went at 5 an over and took 8 wickets which would imply they got out attacking him looking for quick runs and he was the weak link that bled runs and could be expolited.

and

He took 8 wickets and his captain gave him over 40+ overs which suggests he was bowling really well and was a constant threat.

Take your pick.

When the other spin option is C. White then I guess the skip has no other option.

 

[SJS]

Krejza bowls just one delivery, a flighted off spin bowled with an orthodox action. And he bowls this one delivery very well indeed. Because he bowls this delivery so well and because this flighted pitched up deliveries got help when the ball landed in the rough created by the bowlers, he kept getting those odd deliveries to do a bit more than the batsmen expected. As the Indian innings progressed, the frequency of such deliveries increased due to the wicket condition. This is what got him his wickets.

BUT the important thing that goes against Krejza is that this is the ONLY delivery he bowls. He is too predictable and if the wicket is predictable too, with even bounce and very little turn, he is going to go for plenty. If he doesn't develop variations he will always go for runs as he did here and with fewer helpful wickets around the world he may not get many eight wicket hauls in a lifetime.

Thats all that there is to his seemingly contradictory stats of eight wickets and five runs per over.

 

[chaminda_00]

Since he moved to Tasmania he has improved his variations are fair bit. But my guess is due nevous and the way the batsmen were going after him. He went back to basics, that very good off break. If he gets more confidence he will start to bowl with more variation. Got the best doorsa and carrom ball in Australia.

Though his variations aren't good enough on pitches that don't turn.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I think he showed excellent composure under the circumstances, with good players of spinners attacking him. Ponting kept throwing him the ball and it paid off. You really can't be overly critical of a guy who took 8 wickets on a wicket which helped a bit, but wasn't exactly a raging turner. Doesn't mean he'll be world class or anything, but it's probably the best spell of spin bowling from an Australian since Warne retired.

 

[Top_Cat]

And to be honest, as far as variation goes, I reckon stuff like just bowling wider on the crease occasionally and maybe a few slightly faster balls would be all he'd need. Would keep the batsmen guessing at least.

 

[Johnners]

From listening to the ABC blokes, it sounded to me like he struggled for accuracy, especially yesterday? At one stage Glenn Mitchell basically had a prefix of "and he drops it a bit short" during one of Krejza's spells.

 

[four_or_six]

If all the spinners to choose from are fairly poor with fairly similar records, which people seem to agree they are, they could do a lot worse than at least keep picking someone like Krejza for his personality and attitude. Especially since this is a five-man bowling attack with Watson/Symonds to fall back on if he gets tonked.

 

[chaminda_00]

From listening to the ABC blokes, it sounded to me like he struggled for accuracy, especially yesterday? At one stage Glenn Mitchell basically had a prefix of "and he drops it a bit short" during one of Krejza's spells.

He has always struggled for accuracy. It is one of reasons why he never made it as OD bowler. Most of times he played for NSW in ODs, was as batting all rounder. When the selectors thought he could be top order batsmen that bowls a bit.

 

[aussie]

Based on this performance i'd say Australia missed a serious trick by not picking him at least for the second test. Given that he could have really made solid use of the footmarks Johnson & Zaheer Khan would have created.

On his bowling itself, on the face value of course I am very encouraged my his composure & his ability to be a an off-spinner that Australia could potentially depend on to make use of turning decks in the coming years which is all i'd want from him.

The jury will still be out on his overall ability in most conditions & whether this performance will be Hirwani like or whether he can follow in the footsteps of the Mallets, Yardleys & Mays of recent decades.

 

[Uppercut]

Its one of the strangest stat lines Ive seen. It reads both ways.

He went at 5 an over and took 8 wickets which would imply they got out attacking him looking for quick runs and he was the weak link that bled runs and could be expolited.

and

He took 8 wickets and his captain gave him over 40+ overs which suggests he was bowling really well and was a constant threat.

Take your pick.

The way i saw it, he didn't bowl well but was a constant threat anyway because:

1/ the pitch offered him a little- not much, far more than the other bowlers were getting though.
2/ the Indians were intent on treating him with contempt
3/ when he did land it on a good area- which wasn't as often as you'd expect if he was bowling well- he got good turn and, most notably, bounce.

Credit where credit's due, and Ponting's decision to keep him on for so long despite him bleeding runs was excellent. I've been as critical as anyone of his captaincy this series, but on that occasion he was spot on.

Nice summary of his bowling from PEWS too, seems very accurate

 

[pup11]

I think kudos to Krejza for the way he has bowled in the 4th test, but he has a long way to go still to ensure that he can aspire any serious hopes of nailing a permanent spot in the Aussie test side, but hopefully he would take confidence out this performance and develop further as an offie.

 

[Prince EWS]

Good call PEWS

Thanks. TBH I lost a little bit of faith after the tour match (although even my posts in this thread were made after/during said game IIRC) but he bowled exactly how I expected him to when I called for his selection on tour in the first place. I didn't expect him to take eight wickets on the first two days, obviously, but I think I've been vindicated in my belief that he's Australia's best spinner (or second best, behind McGain) on turning pitches, even if he's short of Test class.

 

[Richard]

The jury will still be out on his overall ability in most conditions & whether this performance will be Hirwani like or whether he can follow in the footsteps of the Mallets, Yardleys & Mays of recent decades.

Yardley and May's success was almost as flash-in-the-pan as Hirwani's. Hirwani's lasted 4 games, Yardley's a season and May's 7 games.

Not to mention all three did rather better than Krejza has in this one innings.

 

[Richard]

Thanks. TBH I lost a little bit of faith after the tour match (although even my posts in this thread were made after/during said game IIRC) but he bowled exactly how I expected him to when I called for his selection on tour in the first place.

Yeah I thought that when I woke-up and looked disbelievingly at the 'card this morn, ITBT.

 

[Mister Wright]

You're obviously going to have a chance to take a lot of wickets when you bowl 40+ plus overs on anything that's offering even the slightest bit of turn. Even Sehwag got a 5-for bowling a similar amount of overs. However, I'm not going to be too critical has he took 8 wickets, but then, it's not like he took 8-70 either.