*Official* Second Test at the Adelaide Oval

[joels344]

Given the quality of the Australian attack you have to wonder if Bradman's 974 is under threat. Especially if the pitches remain flat.

I've always thought of that as one of the unbeatable cricket records. But looking at these Australian pitches and seeing how Cook already has 438 runs with 3 matches remaining, one begins to wonder.

 

[Ruckus]

This is an amazing comment really, if anything it seems to suggest even more so to me about he lack of talent in Australia. Are you seriously wondering why a 35 and 36 year olds are out of form and another 35 year old is in form?

I think there are real problems with Australian cricket at the moment. I don't think you can even think of 7 batsmen to play for Australia who are under the age of 33. If you did, they'd be comprising of players with sub par records like Ferguson. From the outside, looking in, Im sorry man but thats a serious lack of talent.

You are suggesting their age is why they are out of form, but that is bull**** imo. Hussey has shown he is capable of being as good as he ever was. Katich, before the series in India, had been playing the best cricket he ever has etc. Their periods of bad form are simply coming at the wrong times. Why are you mentioning 7 batsmen under the age of 33? Almost every team has multiple batsmen 33 or over. My point was referring to the talent we have right now, not our team in 3 or so years.

 

[pskov]

Atherton asked Cook if he thought the changes to the Aussie bowling made it stronger than at Brisbane and he expertly deflected the question to talk about how hot it was and how well England bowled yesterday.

So in other words: No.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I thought Ryan Harris bowled well. Better than Johnson at Brisbane anyway.

 

[tooextracool]

You are suggesting their age is why they are out of form, but that is bull**** imo. Hussey has shown he is capable of being as good as he ever was. Katich, before the series in India, had been playing the best cricket he ever has etc. Their periods of bad form are simply coming at the wrong times. Why are you mentioning 7 batsmen under the age of 33? Almost every team has multiple batsmen 33 or over. My point was referring to the talent we have right now, not our team in 3 or so years.

These 3 guys are well past their best. To even argue that Ponting is anywhere near his best is a futile argument and Hussey is the same. Yes Hussey has done well these past 2 tests but this is on the back of what 2 years of mediocrity? Look these guys are all great players and are too good to fail miserably irrespective of age. However, at the end of the day these guys are at the stage where they cannot be relied upon as the fulcrum of the batting, which unfortunately is the case at the moment. They are vulnerable to more bad runs.

Age is relevant here, because if you are going to replace North with another 33 or 34 year old, the odds are that hes only going to play for 1-2 years. Also, when Im referring to talent, Im not referring to the leftover talent from the golden generation of Australian cricket - that is the late 90s-early 2000s. That includes Dave Hussey, Brad Hodge, Phil Jaques etc. There are only 2 young batsmen that Im aware of in Australian cricket who have any sort of reputation to back themselves up. One in Hughes who has had a real working over in international cricket and another in Khwaja who hasn't played yet.

And the less said about your spin options the better. Even if Australia miraculously regain the Ashes, Im fairly positive that this is when you say the cupboard is bare.

 

[Adamc]

Given the quality of the Australian attack you have to wonder if Bradman's 974 is under threat. Especially if the pitches remain flat.

Yeah for sure. Nearly halfway there. Might not get as many innings as originally anticipated if this keeps up though.

Aussie top order will come good eventually I'm sure but really struggling to see how the bowling problems are going to be overcome within the length of the series. Struggling to get twenty wickets in a month let alone a match. Warne and McGrath back for the third Test IMO.

 

[Spark]

I don't really fear too much for our top order. Hussey's in form, Ponting is near-to, North surely is at the end of his leash and Clarke is far too good a player to not have worked overtime on his technical glitch that he has right now. Yeah, I can see a few 400+, 500+ scores coming that way.

But 20 wickets...

 

[Ruckus]

These 3 guys are well past their best. To even argue that Ponting is anywhere near his best is a futile argument and Hussey is the same. Yes Hussey has done well these past 2 tests but this is on the back of what 2 years of mediocrity? Look these guys are all great players and are too good to fail miserably irrespective of age. However, at the end of the day these guys are at the stage where they cannot be relied upon as the fulcrum of the batting, which unfortunately is the case at the moment. They are vulnerable to more bad runs.

Age is relevant here, because if you are going to replace North with another 33 or 34 year old, the odds are that hes only going to play for 1-2 years. Also, when Im referring to talent, Im not referring to the leftover talent from the golden generation of Australian cricket - that is the late 90s-early 2000s. That includes Dave Hussey, Brad Hodge, Phil Jaques etc. There are only 2 young batsmen that Im aware of in Australian cricket who have any sort of reputation to back themselves up. One in Hughes who has had a real working over in international cricket and another in Khwaja who hasn't played yet.

And the less said about your spin options the better. Even if Australia miraculously regain the Ashes, Im fairly positive that this is when you say the cupboard is bare.

Firstly I don't agree at all that those 3 are "well past" their best. Katich is literally playing as good as he ever has - averaging 47 this year, 48 last year. Hussey looks like he might be returning to his old form, however if that continues remains to be seen. And Ponting I'm undecided on - when he gets in he plays as well as ever, but for some reason he is getting out in silly ways a lot. His situation is definately not resolved yet. But even when he is in bad form he is still averaging mid 40's, so it's kind of beside the point, because that is still good enough for a main spot in the team. Seeing as though my point was only referring to the team at present, the only required replacement at this stage is North, and Khawaja is a likely candidate.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I thought Ryan Harris bowled well. Better than Johnson at Brisbane anyway.

Not really a compliment to Harris is it. Thought he bowled ok but looked like his knee was giving him trouble in final session. Will be interesting to see how he turns up tomorrow. Picking injured players is a recipe for disaster anyway as England have found out so often in previous ashes series but if there are no better bowlers then what do you do?

 

[Spark]

Precisely it, tbh. If you're best bowlers aren't good enough, then you're well ****ed.

---

Amazing to think that Cook has spent all of, what, 45 minutes off the field in this series?

 

[Ruckus]

Precisely it, tbh. If you're best bowlers aren't good enough, then you're well ****ed.

I think they bowled a lot worse than usual today, but the pitch was obviously a complete road so I don't think you can criticise their performances too much.

 

[Spark]

Road pitch it may have been, but they fed and fed and fed and fed and fed and fed Cook and Trott by consistently bowling on their pads. That's just poor bowling, either way.

I agree that Bollinger is a much better bowler than we saw today, though.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I think they bowled a lot worse than usual today, but the pitch was obviously a complete road so I don't think you can criticise their performances too much.

In that case you have to slag off the way you batted yesterday then as to be skittled so easily was an absolute disgrace on such a good pitch. Only Ponting and Harris can make valid excuses as they got first ballers which can happen to anyone at anytime on any pitch, Katich was his own stupid mistake for ball watching.

Still think the batting is as good as ever?

 

[Redbacks]

Road pitch it may have been, but they fed and fed and fed and fed and fed and fed Cook and Trott by consistently bowling on their pads. That's just poor bowling, either way.

I agree that Bollinger is a much better bowler than we saw today, though.

Looked too impatient. One good length ball wasn't backed up with another consistently at all. A bit robbed as he should have been 2/20 after the Hussey drop.

 

[TumTum]

I don't really fear too much for our top order. Hussey's in form, Ponting is near-to, North surely is at the end of his leash and Clarke is far too good a player to not have worked overtime on his technical glitch that he has right now. Yeah, I can see a few 400+, 500+ scores coming that way.

Don't agree with that. We are ****ed.

 

[Prince EWS]

In that case you have to slag off the way you batted yesterday then as to be skittled so easily was an absolute disgrace on such a good pitch.

Yes, this, so much. The bowling wasn't good today but they were given nothing to work with so it's not terribly surprising. I don't think it was really *that* bad either, Doherty aside, given the conditions and the fact that they were probably a bit too hard for magic balls given the total that was set. The problem was the fact that Australia won the toss at Adelaide, batted first and only made half the runs they should've in these conditions.

 

[Spark]

Exactly. We should've taken a leaf out of how they bowled to Hussey and North yesterday - North was in for a long time, but they bowled a "negative" but very tight line with good field settings. If you can't take wickets, at least stop the runs, and eventually something will crack either way.

Don't agree with that. We are ****ed.

We're still ****ed anyway though because top orders don't win test matches, they just make sure you don't lose.

---

And yes, at the end of the day, the fault lies with getting 250 on a road.

 

[Ruckus]

Yes, this, so much. The bowling wasn't good today but they were given nothing to work with so it's not terribly surprising. I don't think it was really *that* bad either, Doherty aside, given the conditions and the fact that they were probably a bit too hard for magic balls given the total that was set. The problem was the fact that Australia won the toss at Adelaide, batted first and only made half the runs they should've in these conditions.

Yes, this, so much.

 

[social]

I think they bowled a lot worse than usual today, but the pitch was obviously a complete road so I don't think you can criticise their performances too much.

Batsmen deserve an absolute hammering though as 245 was simply atrocious considering
the wicket was an absolute road yesterday as well with par being a minimum of 450

Throw in dropped catches and people being picked on a wing and a prayer and it was always likely to be hard going today

 

[social]

In that case you have to slag off the way you batted yesterday then as to be skittled so easily was an absolute disgrace on such a good pitch. Only Ponting and Harris can make valid excuses as they got first ballers which can happen to anyone at anytime on any pitch, Katich was his own stupid mistake for ball watching.

Still think the batting is as good as ever?

Batting has been hopeless for 2 years and only those who choose to be blind to the completely obvious would dispute it