***Official*** India in Australia 2011/12

[Spikey]

tendulkar wont quit till he plays with his son imo

aka until he gets that ton

 

[Burgey]

Player ratings:

Gambhir 3.5
Sehwag 1
Dravid 4
Tendulkar 1
Laxman 3
Kohli 7
Dhoni 0
Vinay Kumar 1
Zaheer 5
Sharma 1
Yadav 8

Cowan 8
Warner 10
Marsh 2
Ponting 1
Clarke 2
Hussey 2
Haddin 1
Siddle 8
Harris 3
Starc 7
Hilfenhaus 9

Never thought I'd say this, but I think you're a tad harsh on Gambhir, He worked pretty hard day one and copped a Jaffa second dig.

Think Harris a tad harsh too. Thought him a bit better than how you've rated him.

 

[uvelocity]

Player ratings:

too many for dhoni. not enough for clarke, ponting and hussey catches. plus clarke's captaincy.

edit and harris, didn't notice that - ridiculous in the extreme.

 

[Spark]

Surely captaincy gets Clarke more than 2? Harris much better than 3 too. Think the batsmen in general get a harsh deal, this wasn't exactly easy to bat on (but it was flat as a pancake, I swear!)

 

[Burgey]

In terms of India's bowling, I'd like to see them replace Kumar and Ishant with Ashwin and Ojha

And if I was a selector, I'd also be telling Sehwag that he's ****ing lucky that Dhoni is out and he was VC as he'd have been gone as well

Not a bad shout, especially if there's hot weather forecast. Who could bowl some decent part time mediums for them if they do that?

 

[Burgey]

If you think this test was a sporting mess as a contest, did anyone see the spinning back kick KO in the lightweight bout at the UFC this arvo?

Fmd. What a shot.

 

[benchmark00]

Not a bad shout, especially if there's hot weather forecast. Who could bowl some decent part time mediums for them if they do that?

Kohli the only option that I see.

 

[uvelocity]

If you think this test was a sporting mess as a contest, did anyone see the spinning back kick KO in the lightweight bout at the UFC this arvo?

Fmd. What a shot.

took longer to hit the canvas than india imo

 

[Black_Warrior]

Oh you have me all wrong I'm afraid.

I'd rather walk from here to Perth to watch Laxman bat for an hour than trundle across the road to see others play. I'm happy to give players credit if I think they're good or great, even sanctimonious ****s like Tendulkar. Tbh the fawning here (in Australia and CW) over Tendulkar is what ****s me about him more than anything else. That and his selective deafness. But it ****s me to tears when he plays a leg glance and a billion people do a load. It's absurd really - "Great batsman puts away legside half volley shocker". Whoop de ****ing do.

Guys like Laxman and Dravid I've long thought of as great players. And while I put a lot of **** on indian supporters because some of them are ****s, it doesn't mean I think those players are no good. Even Zaheer, who now Harbhajan is out of the picture may now be the most lazy, big-headed, downhill skiing and odious character in world cricket to me, is obviously a very decent bowler now and no longer the joke he was at the start of his career.

So it's not that I won't give them credit. It's just that, especially with Tendulkar, there is a genuine need to compensate the OTT self love many on here express through their posts about him.

Fair
And
Balanced.

Edit: and I knew you were having a lend mate.

Understood..

And I think I read somewhere that you are a cricket coach? Anyone who is involved with the game like that would appreciate class when they see it regardless of who it is.

 

[Burgey]

Understood..

And I think I read somewhere that you are a cricket coach? Anyone who is involved with the game like that would appreciate class when they see it regardless of who it is.

Try to. Though some of the kids I've coached are borderline ******** and shouldn't be on the park tbh. It so tests the patience (of which I have little as I'm getting older!)

But we persist

Edit: borderline ******** is harsh. let's say they struggle and should consider other avenues of sporting endeavour.

 

[social]

Not a bad shout, especially if there's hot weather forecast. Who could bowl some decent part time mediums for them if they do that?

Given that their specialist medium pacers arent likely to be any better than part-timers in Adelaide, I'd say no-one

IMO, they should simply play their 4 best bowlers (no way that Ishant can be included in that group on current form) and be done with it

 

[Ruckus]

Surely captaincy gets Clarke more than 2? Harris much better than 3 too. Think the batsmen in general get a harsh deal, this wasn't exactly easy to bat on (but it was flat as a pancake, I swear!)

Yeh Harris was damn unlucky, bowled really well on the whole and deserves way better than a 3. Agree about the pitch being flat as a pancake ftr.

 

[Spark]

BTW was thinking over the day and I do think NUFAN's theory about dropping Johnson is really on the money. How often did we see Siddle swing it before this summer? Ever? Now he's hooping it around corners at will (just as many of us thought he should given his seam position)

 

[Black_Warrior]

Try to. Though some of the kids I've coached are borderline ******** and shouldn't be on the park tbh. It so tests the patience (of which I have little as I'm getting older!)

But we persist

Edit: borderline ******** is harsh. let's say they struggle and should consider other avenues of sporting endeavour.

That's the Burgey we know and love

 

[Prince EWS]

Try to. Though some of the kids I've coached are borderline ******** and shouldn't be on the park tbh. It so tests the patience (of which I have little as I'm getting older!)

But we persist

Edit: borderline ******** is harsh. let's say they struggle and should consider other avenues of sporting endeavour.

Well I obviously haven't really done any coaching but I thought that would've been part of the fun - getting the most out of someone naturally pretty ****house and seeing them hold their own at a decent level would be pretty rewarding, no?

 

[Daemon]

Ojha needs a game imo.

 

[Spikey]

Well I obviously haven't really done any coaching but I thought that would've been part of the fun - getting the most out of someone naturally pretty ****house and seeing them hold their own at a decent level would be pretty rewarding, no?

Burgey's coaching for his son and that's it imo

 

[Daemon]

Well I obviously haven't really done any coaching but I thought that would've been part of the fun - getting the most out of someone naturally pretty ****house and seeing them hold their own at a decent level would be pretty rewarding, no?

Haha, not when you have to tell them how play a front foot defence properly 1000 times before chucking tennis balls at them for hours. You need lots of patience to coach ****ty players, and you won't even get rewarded. I've helped coach Chinese kids out here and I'd never ever do it again.

Don't know how Neil Pickup does it.

 

[benchmark00]

BTW was thinking over the day and I do think NUFAN's theory about dropping Johnson is really on the money. How often did we see Siddle swing it before this summer? Ever? Now he's hooping it around corners at will (just as many of us thought he should given his seam position)

I agree it's a contributing factor, but there were occasions where Siddle used to open the bowling with MJ bowling first change and he didn't swing it.

No doubt Johnson not scuffing it up will help Siddle in his second and third spells, but I think the big reason he's getting to swing it is simply he's bowling a fuller length instead of trying to bang it in.

 

[Redbacks]

What a shame Jono's man stood up again. Reckon Kohli has the bottle plus a nice dash of self confidence to be a decent test player. If Dhoni thinks having Raina as pressure for him is a good thing then I would be saying to VVS/Dravid that the next block of training will determine who misses out in Adelaide.

If 'crash' craddock is correct, and they did rock up an hour late to pre-match training session and put in a poor net, heads should roll. Fletcher is a prank coach I think. Living off a McGrath rolled ankle, Dhoni seems a cool/calm customer but lacks the mongrel of a Harby/Ganguly to really rally the troops and set the standard. Probably helped (like punter) by having 3.5 ATG batsmen in his side who have performed brilliantly prior to England away and allowed his style to come off. He needs to evolve as a captain if India are to push ahead.