***Official*** Australia in India 2012/13

[Turbinator]

No-one will remember this series in 12 months

lol

How convenient.

 

[social]

One pitch ? Pretty sure the Perth pitch where you lost was supposed to be quicker than it was for a while. All the talk was about how Tait was gonna blow Indian batsman away.

Anyway, the thing is Indian pitches generally except 1/2 don't behave one way throughout the season in any case. And even it varies from pitch to pitch throughout the square. Chennai can be a road one FC match, and a turner the next. Both with low bounce as that is the natural soil value.

Not sure what your gripe is ? As if Indian pitches aren't prepared properly then most will be crumbling turners anyway and even worse ones than the last one, especially in summers or roads without breaking up, especially in winters.

So we produced a pitch that faoured the OPPOSITION

What is your point here?

My beef is not against the pitches prepared in India when they are up against it as any member of the Australian team that arrived in India not expecting dustbowls is seriously deluded (as Watson said today, Hyderabad is a great pitch normally but this is a test match and we cant expect a normal Hyderabad wicket)

My gripe is against the mmbers of th Indian team who seem to consider that this is "normal" behaviour

 

[social]

lol

How convenient.

The only reason that they will is because we will be playing each other shortly and it will make good press

The reality is that it is 2 average teams playing each other far too often

SA vs Oz = 3 tests

India vs Oz = 4 tests

Save me please!

 

[Furball]

Such delicious butthurt.

Carry on.

 

[Tangles]

I suppose the Aussies who play in the IPL may be expecting the same tracks they see for 20/20 in the tests. Which would be an bad assumption IMO. I dont watch the IPL but I would guess that they produce roads so theres more boundaries for the crowd.

 

[honestbharani]

Shane Watson. #shanewatsonthoughts

Gold, Jack..

 

[morgieb]

I dunno. I want to agree but the line's still pretty blurry.

There are good reasons why offspin doesn't really work in Australia, or didn't a few years ago, and so when Australia went to India with a world class spinner he was in all likelihood naturally going to be a leggie.

You can't really say that the makeup of your side is coincidental, it's usually going to spring from how your country plays cricket, often to be due to conditions.

Whether a batsman is right or left handed is a coincidence afaic.

 

[Burgey]

I don't really like pitches like the last one but it's a personal choice because I think relying on spin is inherently unmanly and effete. Ideally a pitch will have something in it for everyone, but in truth such pitches are rare as hens teeth anyway. They're usually either too green, too flat or too dry and turning. It's rare you get a pitch that has a perfect balance, and that's often because players fall in a heap when a deck is green and the match is over in three days.

Realistically though, the Chennai pitch can't be criticized when the first two innings produced ~400 and ~600. Look at the starts our blokes got but didn't convert. That's not the wicket IMO. There were some poor shots played in our first dig: Cowan, Hughes, Warner, Watson, Backboard. Many played poor shots and several pissed away a start. 450-500 (really the difference of one more bloke going on) and its a different game. I can't recall any of those blokes copping unplayables in the first dig. They just didn't bat well enough.

Sure, by late day four and day five it got tough, but there's nothing wrong with that. You would expect it to misbehave a bit.

 

[Son Of Coco]

One pitch ? Pretty sure the Perth pitch where you lost was supposed to be quicker than it was for a while. All the talk was about how Tait was gonna blow Indian batsman away..

The Perth pitch was supposed to be a return to how it used to be though, not prepared in a way that was unusual just because the visiting team didn't like it. It was assumed India wouldn't be comfortable with the extra bounce and pace because it was different to tracks at home, but it wasn't prepared any differently just because we were playing India.

The part of this that should really be investigated is the suggestion Tait would blow any batsmen away, which is obviously ridiculous.

 

[Top_Cat]

I'm pretty sure Indian curators have near total autonomy with regards the pitches they prepare. Whether that's enshrined in policy or not, I've seen arguments in the press between some of them and Indian captains about preparing decks to suit the home team and get the impression they're fiercely independent about their pitches.

 

[Andre]

Shane Watson. #shanewatsonthoughts

It's a joke, isn't it. Missed out with the bat, didn't get his coveted opening spot, so now he wants to bowl again. Nothing to do with the new all-rounder having a great first Test at all...

Wanting to bowl is one thing, coveting an incumbents spot is another... Really lost me when he did that. Bloke has no concept of team.

Any bets that if he doesn't score runs this Test he'll be fit to bowl for the 3rd?

 

[Red]

I was thinking we should have a Watson Watch Thread for ages now, based on the amount of times he comes out and claims a different spot in the team (usually ****ting in the face of a team mate).

- I want to open
- I want to bat in the middle order and bowl more
- I want to be an opener and not bowl
- I want to be Jaques Kallis and bat at 4 and bowl a bit
- Want to bat at 4 and not bowl
- Think opening is my best position
- Want to bat down the order and bowl a lot more
- I cant bowl, so I want to bat at 3 or 4
- Or maybe open again.

etc etc, every week or so.

Self serving git.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Him and McCullum should grab a coffee some time.

 

[uvelocity]

shane would burn his mouth and be out for 6-8

 

[shankar]

The part of the pitch's nature that needs to be criticised is the fact that it got slower with time. That's what makes these pitches boring and not the fact that they assist turn vastly more than pace.

 

[Valer]

I was thinking we should have a Watson Watch Thread for ages now, based on the amount of times he comes out and claims a different spot in the team (usually ****ting in the face of a team mate).

- I want to open
- I want to bat in the middle order and bowl more
- I want to be an opener and not bowl
- I want to be Jaques Kallis and bat at 4 and bowl a bit
- Want to bat at 4 and not bowl
- Think opening is my best position
- Want to bat down the order and bowl a lot more
- I cant bowl, so I want to bat at 3 or 4
- Or maybe open again.

etc etc, every week or so.

Self serving git.

So what should Watson being doing (optimally) given he seems to do better opening, can be VERY effective with the ball, but has obvious injury problems. Its hardly like Australia doesn't need the help in either discipline.

 

[Red]

So what should Watson being doing (optimally) given he seems to do better opening, can be VERY effective with the ball, but has obvious injury problems. Its hardly like Australia doesn't need the help in either discipline.

Personally, I'd have him in the team only if he is fully fit as an all rounder (able to bowl when asked by the captain).

His correct spot is as an opening batsman.

I think he's an excellent bowler when fit, and if he can bowl in England, it will be a huge bonus for us.

So imo, his correct position is an all rounder who opens the batting.

 

[Valer]

Personally, I'd have him in the team only if he is fully fit as an all rounder (able to bowl when asked by the captain).

His correct spot is as an opening batsman.

I think he's an excellent bowler when fit, and if he can bowl in England, it will be a huge bonus for us.

So imo, his correct position is an all rounder who opens the batting.

You'd be happy to have the line-up instability that this would cause?

(Part of) the problem is he bowls so well that if you don't try to limit the amount you call on him you'd see 30+ over matches with regularity.

 

[benchmark00]

What do you want Watson to say when asked a question about himself?

 

[Spikey]

i love shane watson #skidmark00thoughts