*Official* Tour Matches

[vic_orthdox]

Didn't realise they'd done that. God, that sort of thing drives me ****ing nuts and shows that in some respects the game is still in the 19th century. It's even worse when they do that sort of thing with rain in the offing, but even without that, it's ****ing ridiculous

Meh, there would be a ten minute changeover for the innings break, may as well make it 20 and have a bite to eat.

 

[robelinda]

In between the 2nd and 3rd tests?? Havent looked it up, but thats the only logical gap that exists I think. Should be a 4 dayer.

 

[Furball]

Whens the match at the g? is it another 4 dayer?

IIRC it's a 3 dayer against Victoria, starting the 10th December.

 

[robelinda]

IIRC it's a 3 dayer against Victoria, starting the 10th December.

Ah bummer going to Wilson's Prom for a weekend away that exact weekend! Might have to go on the Monday to the G.

 

[Furball]

Ah bummer going to Wilson's Prom for a weekend away that exact weekend! Might have to go on the Monday to the G.

Double check cricinfo, I'm going purely by memory so I could be wrong.

 

[Woodster]

I think comparing the openers of both sides is an interesting one. England have two specialist openers, while Australia have two manufactured ones, maybe part of the reason Katich and especially Watson have not got a better conversion rate. Watson to his credit has been very consistent since he's moved to the top, but I've always thought a Jaques or a Rogers would have made more match defining contributions, ie big hundreds. Katich as we all know is a horrible batsman to watch, but I think a real nuisance to remove, Watson you'll always feel you've a chance of removing, but he can score quickly.

There has been question marks over the form of Strauss and Cook in the past year. Both openers have had to overcome pretty major technical issues, Strauss' dismissal in the last tour game was a perfect example of the area he really struggled with, driving on a fullish length just outside the off stump, it would invariably fly in the air to the gully area. To combat that when he played the series in NZ, that pretty much re-invented himself, he opted to leave virtually everything that was on that line, and just work with the deliveries where he got his head in line, and played the ball under his nose. His driving has since improved, through the cover region, but he does need to wary of this line of attack. He's also struggled of late with left-armers, so Bollinger and Johnson should certainly be able to test him. Another reason perhaps for Bolly's inclusion.

Cook has always struggled on a similar line, just outside off, bringing him forward where he just pushes at the ball. He also drived with a very stiff front leg, and much work has been done with Gooch to get front knee flexing much more.

Both are very good on the cut and pull/hook, so if the Aussies err ever so slightly in length these boys will love the bounce they'll get here. I don't think there's very much between the openers on either side, perhaps it's the ones that can go on and make it big that may prove the difference.

 

[social]

I think comparing the openers of both sides is an interesting one. England have two specialist openers, while Australia have two manufactured ones, maybe part of the reason Katich and especially Watson have not got a better conversion rate. Watson to his credit has been very consistent since he's moved to the top, but I've always thought a Jaques or a Rogers would have made more match defining contributions, ie big hundreds. Katich as we all know is a horrible batsman to watch, but I think a real nuisance to remove, Watson you'll always feel you've a chance of removing, but he can score quickly.

There has been question marks over the form of Strauss and Cook in the past year. Both openers have had to overcome pretty major technical issues, Strauss' dismissal in the last tour game was a perfect example of the area he really struggled with, driving on a fullish length just outside the off stump, it would invariably fly in the air to the gully area. To combat that when he played the series in NZ, that pretty much re-invented himself, he opted to leave virtually everything that was on that line, and just work with the deliveries where he got his head in line, and played the ball under his nose. His driving has since improved, through the cover region, but he does need to wary of this line of attack. He's also struggled of late with left-armers, so Bollinger and Johnson should certainly be able to test him. Another reason perhaps for Bolly's inclusion.

Cook has always struggled on a similar line, just outside off, bringing him forward where he just pushes at the ball. He also drived with a very stiff front leg, and much work has been done with Gooch to get front knee flexing much more.

Both are very good on the cut and pull/hook, so if the Aussies err ever so slightly in length these boys will love the bounce they'll get here. I don't think there's very much between the openers on either side, perhaps it's the ones that can go on and make it big that may prove the difference.

Dont really agree with that

Both are very good when the ball bounces no more than about waist high but have no track record to speak of when faced with bouncier pitches of the type they'll undoubtedly face in Brisbane and Perth

Strauss, in particular, could face problems as he generally hooks up when the ball does get above the waist and his "cut" is more of a square drive i.e. played with a straightish rather than horizontal bat due to the lower bounce in England

Anyway, whatever the case, the approach to both should be the same - fullish length on or about off stump

 

[Prince EWS]

Dont really agree with that

Both are very good when the ball bounces no more than about waist high but have no track record to speak of when faced with bouncier pitches of the type they'll undoubtedly face in Brisbane and Perth

Strauss, in particular, could face problems as he generally hooks up when the ball does get above the waist and his "cut" is more of a square drive i.e. played with a straightish rather than horizontal bat due to the lower bounce in England

Anyway, whatever the case, the approach to both should be the same - fullish length on or about off stump

I agree about Strauss's pulling/hooking, but I completely disagree with you about his cut. It's classically horizontal.

 

[four_or_six]

Dont really agree with that

Both are very good when the ball bounces no more than about waist high but have no track record to speak of when faced with bouncier pitches of the type they'll undoubtedly face in Brisbane and Perth

Strauss, in particular, could face problems as he generally hooks up when the ball does get above the waist and his "cut" is more of a square drive i.e. played with a straightish rather than horizontal bat due to the lower bounce in England

Anyway, whatever the case, the approach to both should be the same - fullish length on or about off stump

Cook averaged 46.25 over Brisbane and Perth last time around, as apposed to 27.6 overall. I don't think it's right to say those pitches are likely to be his weakness.

 

[Woodster]

Dont really agree with that

Both are very good when the ball bounces no more than about waist high but have no track record to speak of when faced with bouncier pitches of the type they'll undoubtedly face in Brisbane and Perth

Strauss, in particular, could face problems as he generally hooks up when the ball does get above the waist and his "cut" is more of a square drive i.e. played with a straightish rather than horizontal bat due to the lower bounce in England

Anyway, whatever the case, the approach to both should be the same - fullish length on or about off stump

Cook has the classical hook shot, always hitting from high to low. Strauss certainly a better puller than a hooker, but he is very quick onto anything short in length, he does play the short ball well, if it does go above a height that isn't comfortable, he'll pull out of the shot. He has in the past been out, as you say, hitting up on the ball, but if they think that's a weakness they'll look to expose, it would no doubt be a mistake.

As for the cut shot, this really is a strength of both players.

 

[tooextracool]

Bowling short to Cook is a recipe for disaster, the guy is like a mosquito when it comes to feeding on the pull shot. Johnson bowled plenty of short deliveries at Lords in 2009 and let him off the hook back when his technique was far more suspect than it is now. The result was that it was the only time that series he got 50+ and it essentially cost Australia the test match.

Morkel and Ntini did the same thing in 2008 and he averaged 47 when he shouldn't have come anywhere close. The lesson here is don't bowl short to the guy.

 

[Riggins]

All the comparison with regard to head to head batting, just thought i'd post my thoughts aswell.
I actually think opening the batting h2h england have the advantage, really all 4 guys are pretty equal, yea watson seems to have a lot of potential, but at the moment he's an average player, and he's a wanker. Strauss is the one of the 4 on another level imo, seems to step up when it counts and lead really well.

In the middle, KP is obviously a trump card but i think the aussie middle order at top **** stomps on all the rest other than SA, and so i think they have it here. (Reserve the right to not include marcus north in this regardless of how well he does in the ashes, i hope his neighbour gets drunk and accidentally sets his house on fire.)

I think Haddin/Johnson is the wildcard, if they fire (Haddin with the bat, MJ with both, then Aus win, if they don't we lose. V Interesting.

(Side note - much like MJ's bulls in '90-'92, when he has a motivation other than hi legacy they dominated and elsewise were lethargic, I think the whole series will depend on Johnson's activity especially early(

I love Hilf/Siddle, so hope they both do well for the series.

I think Finn and Anderson will both get completely destroyed in the series, they are average grade bowlers.

 

[Jarquis]

Would love to see Australia try and pepper Cook with balls just back off a length

 

[Furball]

Would love to see Australia try and pepper Cook with balls just back off a length

Hopefully Siddle gets picked then.

 

[superkingdave]

All the comparison with regard to head to head batting, just thought i'd post my thoughts aswell.
I actually think opening the batting h2h england have the advantage, really all 4 guys are pretty equal, yea watson seems to have a lot of potential, but at the moment he's an average player, and he's a wanker. Strauss is the one of the 4 on another level imo, seems to step up when it counts and lead really well.

In the middle, KP is obviously a trump card but i think the aussie middle order at top **** stomps on all the rest other than SA, and so i think they have it here. (Reserve the right to not include marcus north in this regardless of how well he does in the ashes, i hope his neighbour gets drunk and accidentally sets his house on fire.)

I think Haddin/Johnson is the wildcard, if they fire (Haddin with the bat, MJ with both, then Aus win, if they don't we lose. V Interesting.

(Side note - much like MJ's bulls in '90-'92, when he has a motivation other than hi legacy they dominated and elsewise were lethargic, I think the whole series will depend on Johnson's activity especially early(

I love Hilf/Siddle, so hope they both do well for the series.

I think Finn and Anderson will both get completely destroyed in the series, they are average grade bowlers.

Hang on, if the Aussie middle order ****s all over Englands, and half Englands bowling attack are grade bowlers....how does it come down to Johnson and Haddin as to whether Australia win or lose?

 

[Pothas]

Please stop calling Siddle crap it is making me nervous. If he plays and does well it is entirely your fault.

 

[TumTum]

Don't think Cook & Strauss will punish the short ball here like they did in England. They might get a few away but inevitably they will sky one, if we happen to go with that plan.

 

[tooextracool]

That may or may not be the case, but it just seems a tad stupid to follow that plan when in both of their cases there is a more clear cut and less expensive way of dismissing them.

 

[TumTum]

True, but on pitches like Adelaide or Perth where the ball isn't going to do much when pitched up, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bounce those openers out.

 

[Howe_zat]

Neither Strauss nor Cook are strong against the short ball. Strauss is excellent against the **** ball. Johnson would have been fine at Lord's if his bowling were back of a length and accurate - if not completely successful. He got wrecked because he was bowling short, wide, leg side, the works.