*Official* Pakistan in Australia

[Jayzamann]

Akmal was entertaining while he lasted. Both of them, really.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, like I said, against anyone else, I think it was too soon. Against Pakistan, though..... the way I see it, they'll look stylish and play some glorious shots but 300 will be a big ask even on this deck.

Hating myself, tbh.

 

[Prince EWS]

Wow a lot of people doing a good job at restoring my contempt for human beings. Seriously dumb the way people justify every single ****witted decision by Ponting purely looking at the result, not the percentages. I guess there'll be a big shift when one eventually goes wrong, even though I doubt he'll ever do anything quite as bad as the declarations he's made in the past few Tests.

Yeah, I tend to agree. Even if Australia win anyway, the decision in no way increased the chances of that happening. If Pakistan bat out *almost* the entire game from here - which the the whole point behind a declaration: to make sure you have time to bowl the opposition out twice - then they'll have passed Australia's score, making the declaration completely and utterly pointless unless it rains a lot. The only way it'll change a draw into a result is if Australia lose.

People are always quick to criticise captaincy they see as overly defensive but there's a universal acceptable of anything attacking at all, even if it's lacking in any logic like this decision. It's possible for a piece of attacking captaincy to be stupid, pointless or just plain wrong; I get the feeling that if a captain set four slips and two gullies for every bowler regardless of the situation and declared whenever the team hit 420, people would applaud it despite the fact that it'd be absolutely moronic. People talk about stuff like this being brave but I think it's quite the opposite these days - anything "attacking" is immune from criticism to a lot of people these days so it's an easy way out. It takes balls to make a calculated "defensive" moved based on the percentages because such moves are so roundly criticised by the do-gooders of the cricket world.

For the record I actually think Ponting is a decent captain but he definitely makes some really questionable calls at times. This isn't a Ponting issue for mine; early and completely pointless declarations happen pretty regularly.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, I tend to agree. Even if Australia win anyway, the decision in no way increased the chances of that happening. If Pakistan bat out *almost* the entire game from here - which the the whole point behind a declaration: to make sure you have time to bowl the opposition out twice - then they'll have passed Australia's score, making the declaration completely and utterly pointless unless it rains a lot. The only way it'll change a draw into a result is if Australia lose.

It's not the only point of a declaration, though.

People are always quick to criticise captaincy they see as overly defensive but there's a universal acceptable of anything attacking at all, even if it's lacking in any logic like this decision. It's possible for a piece of attacking captaincy to be stupid, pointless or just plain wrong; I get the feeling that if a captain set four slips and two gullies for every bowler regardless of the situation and declared whenever he hit 420, people would applaud it despite the fact that it'd be absolutely moronic. People talk about stuff like this being brave but I think it's quite the opposite these days - anything "attacking" is immune from criticism to a lot of people these days so it's an easy way out. It takes balls to make a calculated "defensive" moved based on the percentages because such moves are so roundly criticised by the do-gooders of the cricket world.

Geezus, 'do-gooders'? The above is right up there with your average Sydney talk-back shock jock!

 

[James90]

Dougeh!!!

Definitely adding him to my signature. Favourite bloke at the moment.

 

[Hit_Wicket]

Dougeh!

 

[vic_orthdox]

Smiff, wasn't in a superman kit up.

And too many blokes approach cricket captaincy a la International Cricket Captain.

 

[Burgey]

Moobs gets Asif but it's all Dougy. Dougy.

Dougeh!

 

[pasag]

Where were all you ****s when we were shouting at the top of out lungs that Dougy should have been in the side in 2008?

 

[Top_Cat]

Where were all you ****s when we were shouting at the top of out lungs that Dougy should have been in the side in 2008?

Telling you he had to bide his ****ing time. He did and it worked out, deal with it.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Oh geeze, hardly a huge verbal blast Greigy. For goodness' sake.

Commentators have been super ordinary over the last hour.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Smiff, wasn't in a superman kit up.

And too many blokes approach cricket captaincy a la International Cricket Captain.

Lame. Bloke was a ringer for ya.

 

[Jayzamann]

Ahhhh I love tenth wicket partnerships. Would be even better it it was Rauf and Ajmal going for a bit of a tonk.

 

[Fusion]

Very impressed by Misbah's fifty. Didn't have any expectations from him coming in.

 

[Howsie]

Good to see Peter Siddle plays the big man when the number 11 is at the crease. Where was this when Akmal was swatting you away with ease?

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Bowling ****in pies Sids, at the stumps you gronk.

 

[Fusion]

Pakistan have avoided the follow-on. I don't think Ponting would've enforced it anyway.

 

[Jayzamann]

Bouncer, bouncer, bouncer, drift onto the pads to concede a single, rinse, repeat.

Heh as I typed that, Johnson finally pitched it up and got a wicket. Firgures.

 

[archie mac]

The great WIs of the mid 80s never tried this "give the batsman a single" crap, they attacked both batsman and bunny

 

[Jono]

Was sick in bed

Such a pity, blocked everything yesterday and when for it today and I missed it. Bah.

What's the crowd like?

Gtfo you never come to the cricket with me.