*Official* First Test at Swalec Stadium, Cardiff

[Redbacks]

Well atleast you'll admit he didn't look comfortable. I'm just saying that I can't see him averaging over 50 for his career. That might be really harsh, and he has a great record but that's just my opinion.

just a ridiculous comment after watching someone bat once. Either way, why would you be judging a players projected career average after their 4th match

 

[Furball]

Except for that nick right

He struggled against Broad ffs, except for 4 or 5 fours Hughes looked bad. It was only the second time I had seen him, the first time was last year in a under 19 game but I didn't really take much notice of him. But from what I saw yesterday I was not impressed at all.

That's like saying "apart from the deliveries he scored runs from, Ponting looked like he couldn't score."

 

[ripper868]

Praying this rain stays away, will ruin Australi'as 1-0 lead.


tea time and a lead of 23...3 more than i would have frankly been dissapointed if we didnt have come tea...

 

[Steulen]

Flintoff seriously down on pace, barely reaching mid-80's now. Worn down by the Aussies with a little help from his own body, probably.

 

[Howsie]

Okay, so you aren't impressed with someone who murdered a guy through the offside field when he was bowling 90mph and swinging it both ways.

Believe what you want, but overcoming a weakness from lack of scoring off your hips is probably one of the easier things to overcome as a batsman and something that Hughes will probably add to his arsenal in the future.

But to overcome that problem he is going to have to change something, that's what Atherton was getting on about.

Why would I be impressed by someone scoring 36?

I've seen guys like Ryder smack better bowlers through the off-side and only make 30 odd. What's so great about that?

 

[ripper868]

Boulter, Hughes is 20 years old....plenty of time to iron out the kinks in his technique, and whats more the kid is ****ing good. Will back him to ton up in at least 2 innings with solid 50's in two others.

 

[Scaly piscine]

You wonder why it took so long for Strauss to give Colly a go, seems like he's just gone through the motions as a captain in this game.

Everyone who has some common sense knew this is exactly the sort of pitch that was going to be served up. So even if he can't captain on his feet the backroom staff should have got it into his head that on slow pitches you don't just keep bowling guys like Broad because unless he moves it laterally he's going to be totally ineffective. Medium pace is favoured the most (particularly if it's little cutters), they're awkward to get away and their off-cutters will bite on the pitch.

 

[wfdu_ben91]

But to overcome that problem he is going to have to change something, that's what Atherton was getting on about.

Why would I be impressed by someone scoring 36?

I've seen guys like Ryder smack better bowlers through the off-side and only make 30 odd. What's so great about that?

The way he scored 36 was impressive. The way he played swing bowling and how all of his runs came off the middle of the bat, unlike the English, who 40% of their runs came from edges or shots where they didn't intend the ball to go. Hughes decimated Steyn in South Africa aswell, and his the best bowler in the world at the moment, so yeah. That's something to be pretty impressed about.

 

[Uppercut]

The way he scored 36 was impressive. The way he played swing bowling and how all of his runs came off the middle of the bat, unlike the English, who 40% of their runs came from edges or shots where they didn't intend the ball to go. Hughes decimated Steyn in South Africa aswell, and his the best bowler in the world at the moment, so yeah. That's something to be pretty impressed about.

Jeez mate, you talk some bollocks.

 

[Redbacks]

It was interesting listening to the opinions of the commentators, basically that England needed Broad to take wickets because his batting adds great balance to the side:

a) you have to weigh up the costs of not playing Onions instead
b) you can't go picking a side based on what you hope players can do to bring together your dream situation, they should be capable of the job e.g. the best XI picks itself not a mix of bits and pieces players.

He may come good and take wickets in the next matches but it looks like he needs another few years to develop his skills in county cricket.

 

[Howsie]

The way he scored 36 was impressive. The way he played swing bowling and how all of his runs came off the middle of the bat, unlike the English, who 40% of their runs came from edges or shots where they didn't intend the ball to go. Hughes decimated Steyn in South Africa aswell, and his the best bowler in the world at the moment, so yeah. That's something to be pretty impressed about.

Sure

But I didn't see him in South Africa so I can't comment on that. I guess I will have to wait and see how he goes over here.

 

[Redbacks]

The way he scored 36 was impressive. The way he played swing bowling and how all of his runs came off the middle of the bat, unlike the English, who 40% of their runs came from edges or shots where they didn't intend the ball to go. Hughes decimated Steyn in South Africa aswell, and his the best bowler in the world at the moment, so yeah. That's something to be pretty impressed about.

meh, the RSA series is in the past, if he were to keep harping back to it then what will be the stimulus for him to grow as a player. He definitely wants to be a better player tomorrow, in 5 years, potentially just a state player etc. etc.

I will agree on the middle of the bat point though, he has brilliant hand eye and when you analyse other great players (good recent footage of hotspot), they also have a great ability to hit more balls than the average player in the middle of the bat e.g. Tendulkar. Gotta be able to stay in long enough though.

 

[wfdu_ben91]

Jeez mate, you talk some bollocks.

Sure

But I didn't see him in South Africa so I can't comment on that. I guess I will have to wait and see how he goes over here.

Eh, believe what yous want, go watch the first session of the match again.

 

[Howsie]

Boulter, Hughes is 20 years old....plenty of time to iron out the kinks in his technique, and whats more the kid is ****ing good. Will back him to ton up in at least 2 innings with solid 50's in two others.

Plenty of time to get figured out to. I'm not denying that Hughes must have some serious talent, but I just wasn't that impressed yesterday. Let's be honest here, if that was a Bangladesh batsmen playing yesterday, would anyone be going on about how great he looked and that he was the next big thing?

 

[Uppercut]

They would if he averaged 70 in Australian and English FC cricket and hit twin centuries against South Africa a few months ago.

 

[Howsie]

meh, the RSA series is in the past, if he were to keep harping back to it then what will be the stimulus for him to grow as a player. He definitely wants to be a better player tomorrow, in 5 years, potentially just a state player etc. etc.

I will agree on the middle of the bat point though, he has brilliant hand eye and when you analyse other great players (good recent footage of hotspot), they also have a great ability to hit more balls than the average player in the middle of the bat e.g. Tendulkar. Gotta be able to stay in long enough though.

Go and watch Ryder bat, he hits the middle of the bat more then anyone of seen. But you don't see anyone harp on about it.

 

[Howsie]

They would if he averaged 70 in Australian and English FC cricket and hit twin centuries against South Africa a few months ago.

I was meaning if that was the first innings who had seen him play, and he didn't have any records.

 

[wfdu_ben91]

Phillip Hughes is pretty gun on ICC '09 though... Played 3 ODI's, he got runout for 36, 91 off 55 and is currently on 114 off 73 balls...

 

[King Pietersen]

You must love watching Ian Bell then Ben. He always looks superb on the way to scoring 36, then also chucks his wicket away. Given the harsh way Ian Bell's been treated, I'd have thought getting to 36 and looking good was a bad thing, obviously not........

Man we need a hat-trick, well 2 actually. Just being milked for runs atm. We're so going to lose by an innings.

 

[ripper868]

nah wont be an innings loss, rain will save you.