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Cricket stuff that doesn't deserve its own thread

Shady Slim

International Coach
i think it was ian chappell who made the interesting point that the helmet has lulled batsmen in to a false sense of security somewhat and the advent of the helmet meant batsmen aren't as good at playing short balls

that's not to say we should eliminate helmets but it's something to ponder, and batsmen should be more cautious with the short ball and mustn't ever feel invincible due to having that extra barrier of protection
 

TheJediBrah

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I have a sneaking suspicion that Tino's escapades are, well, a figment of his own imagination.
They're not. A couple of good friends of mine went out with them a few times when they were touring here, about ten years ago I think. Apparently Tino was taking random girls up to his room 2 at a time. Basically I've had it confirmed from multiple sources, whom I trust. I was just a kid at the time but I remember thinking how cool Tino Best was and always remembered these stories whenever I saw him play.
 
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Daemon

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You were a kid at the time but your mates went out with Tino Best? More holes in your story then Tino Best has been in.
 

TheJediBrah

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You were a kid at the time but your mates went out with Tino Best? More holes in your story then Tino Best has been in.
lol why would I make it up? They were people I played cricket with, who were quite obviously older than me at the time.
 

cnerd123

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i think it was ian chappell who made the interesting point that the helmet has lulled batsmen in to a false sense of security somewhat and the advent of the helmet meant batsmen aren't as good at playing short balls

that's not to say we should eliminate helmets but it's something to ponder, and batsmen should be more cautious with the short ball and mustn't ever feel invincible due to having that extra barrier of protection
Yea, I think encouraging kids to play short bowling against soft balls without a helmet would help loads. Gully cricket is great for this. Tape ball on cement. And I think some international batsmen have tried the same thing, in order to refine their techniques.
 

StephenZA

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Ideally, I would enjoy them being kept separate like right now but if they HAVE to mess around with it, I would rather see them put together ODIs and T20s and leave the tests out of it.
This. Truthfully, Tests are the all important litmus (at least in SA) outside WC`s. Including ODI`s and T20`s in a points based system seems to be trying to make something relevant that`s not relevant. A good example of this is SA is considered to have had a really poor year in 2015, this is directly to do with the WC`s (which we still got to semi`s-) and the Test series losses to India and England. The fact that we won both the ODI and T20`s series is meaningless for just about any real perspective for a true cricket fan. Not that it wasn`t nice but who really cares!!!

i think it was ian chappell who made the interesting point that the helmet has lulled batsmen in to a false sense of security somewhat and the advent of the helmet meant batsmen aren't as good at playing short balls

that's not to say we should eliminate helmets but it's something to ponder, and batsmen should be more cautious with the short ball and mustn't ever feel invincible due to having that extra barrier of protection
I`ve always found this a poor argument. Playing the short ball is more to do with instinct and practice. I don`t think the helmet has changed the way in which the batsmen play the ball in itself as the problems comes in with the ball that surprises them (which is a major point of the bouncer) or comes off a length unpredictably. Not the one they see coming and react to accordingly. About the only way that this argument works is that it may make poor hookers`s/tail-ender`s 'braver' and for me you are either brave or not! No matter how safe bungy jumping is --- i`m not jumping!!
 

Shady Slim

International Coach
I`ve always found this a poor argument. Playing the short ball is more to do with instinct and practice. I don`t think the helmet has changed the way in which the batsmen play the ball in itself as the problems comes in with the ball that surprises them (which is a major point of the bouncer) or comes off a length unpredictably. Not the one they see coming and react to accordingly. About the only way that this argument works is that it may make poor hookers`s/tail-ender`s 'braver' and for me you are either brave or not! No matter how safe bungy jumping is --- i`m not jumping!!
it isn't an argument i necessarily agree with i just think it's an interesting one

i suppose the school of thought is that if batsmen have helmets there's less fear factor since batsmen aren't fearing for their life as much (though hughes would have changed that i assume) when playing a shot to a short ball, compared to the previous certain knowledge of "if i don't hit this i'm going down"
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
I saw a few Ranji players offering diary milk chocolates to receptionists at a hotel they stayed on when I was young. A lot of Aussies kept saying my aunt is beautiful at another time. She was just left with saying awkward thank yous.
 

91Jmay

International Coach
I have a sneaking suspicion that Tino's escapades are, well, a figment of his own imagination.
He played for a club local to me and those stories corroborate many I've heard about him, so I'd be inclined to give them some validity.
 

Shady Slim

International Coach
if anyone had cared m vijay's cousin's family on family feud won an All New Mitsubishi Outlander® as well as like 25K AUD
 

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
I`ve always found this a poor argument. Playing the short ball is more to do with instinct and practice. I don`t think the helmet has changed the way in which the batsmen play the ball in itself as the problems comes in with the ball that surprises them (which is a major point of the bouncer) or comes off a length unpredictably. Not the one they see coming and react to accordingly. About the only way that this argument works is that it may make poor hookers`s/tail-ender`s 'braver' and for me you are either brave or not! No matter how safe bungy jumping is --- i`m not jumping!!
I think the technique has changed somewhat. Batsmen don't get their heads inside the line of the ball nearly as much as they used to.
 

StephenZA

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I think the technique has changed somewhat. Batsmen don't get their heads inside the line of the ball nearly as much as they used to.
Yeah, that`s true.. but how much is this because of the helmets and how much is it because batsmen tend to stay legside of the ball more these days? It just feels more about technique than bravery, which is what the chappels comment implies, rather than the coaches teaching batsmen the correct or best technique of dealing with short pitch bowling.
 
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91Jmay

International Coach
Batsmen look to score far more off short pitch bowling now than they used to. Virtually gone are the days where a batsmen getting peppered puts away any shots against the short ball.
 

cnerd123

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It's quite different batting knowing you can get hurt vs batting whilst protected tbf. Atleast from my experience. I definitely attempt more strokes that I wouldn't if I wasn't well protected.
 

andruid

Cricketer Of The Year
They're not. A couple of good friends of mine went out with them a few times when they were touring here, about ten years ago I think. Apparently Tino was taking random girls up to his room 2 at a time. Basically I've had it confirmed from multiple sources, whom I trust. I was just a kid at the time but I remember thinking how cool Tino Best was and always remembered these stories whenever I saw him play.

If only he could score wickets as prolifically. Maybe he would still get to go on more tours
 

StephenZA

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Batsmen look to score far more off short pitch bowling now than they used to. Virtually gone are the days where a batsmen getting peppered puts away any shots against the short ball.
I personally think that since batsmen can`t practically leave the 2 short balls an over allowed in T20/ODI cricket that this rubs off in test cricket and they are more likely to play the ball. I also think that the shorter format of the game means that batsmen don`t get inside the line (like Dan said) and stay more leg-side.

It's quite different batting knowing you can get hurt vs batting whilst protected tbf. Atleast from my experience. I definitely attempt more strokes that I wouldn't if I wasn't well protected.
I`m not saying that the helmet has no effect, just that it is imo not the primary reason that the short ball is not played as well. Without the helmet though the short ball would probably not exist in the modern game though...

I will say that my best hook shot ever came when I was not wearing a helmet, smacked the ball for six out of pure instinct and self-preservation. Bowler turned out to be a considerably faster club bowler than I thought and he bounced me first ball (probably because I was not wearing a helmet). I put a helmet on straight away after that and did not time a ball again in the short innings I had left :) ...
 

TheJediBrah

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South Africa dropping to 6th in Test Rankings, surely has to be the lowest they have been for decades
 

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