*Official* India Tour of Australia 2018/19

[cnerd123]

From what I saw ticket sales weren't fantastic for the first Test either. Test cricket is really starting to struggle.

I'd go with TV viewership numbers rather than ticket sales as an indicator of Test Cricket's health. That's the real money driver, and in this day and age it's far more convenient and enjoyable to follow a game at home than at the grounds. Going to the ground has a special charm to it, but at home you have access to replays, stats, discussion, etc. Plus a comfy couch, food and drink (that isn't massively overpriced), and air conditioning. And you don't have to drive out to the ground and back. Just so much more comfortable and convenient.

 

[CricAddict]

Did I just hear correctly on the radio that Varun Arun is India’s bowling coach?

Google tells me it's this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Arun

Can see how you'd mishear that tbf.

Yeah, hearing loss is a common problem for old people.

 

[Gnske]

I can barely hear nothing and I'm 23 going on 83

And that's a good thing.

 

[Shri]

Yeah, hearing loss is a common problem for old people.

When did this **** join the club?

 

[Starfighter]

I'd go with TV viewership numbers rather than ticket sales as an indicator of Test Cricket's health. That's the real money driver, and in this day and age it's far more convenient and enjoyable to follow a game at home than at the grounds. Going to the ground has a special charm to it, but at home you have access to replays, stats, discussion, etc. Plus a comfy couch, food and drink (that isn't massively overpriced), and air conditioning. And you don't have to drive out to the ground and back. Just so much more comfortable and convenient.

You sound like a you're parroting someone from 25 years ago. It's not gonna apply any more this year than last. There's various reasons, coming off an Ashes series for instance or not having a day/night match, why attendance might be down. The team being rubbish might just be one of them.

 

[cnerd123]

Sure, but whatever the reason, it's not fair to say Test Cricket is struggling just because ground attendance is down. You need to measure all the ways fans engage with the sport to understand where its popularity is at - and traditionally TV viewership is the best indicator of this.

Social Media engagement also a good factor. Data on how much traffic cricket websites get for content related to the series will be useful too.

 

[Spark]

In fairness an attendance of 25000 would be big for the first day of any other Perth Test. It's just that they have a big ****-off stadium now.

Will be at the first day. Hopefully don't burn up as CA in their infinite genius have decided to close the shaded sections.

 

[Crazy Sam]

The obligatory day-before "Perth might be actually be fast and bouncy this year" pitch photo:

 

[Spikey]

And the heat gets trapped in the stadium

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Does anyone know if they will do a digital replica of the old scoreboard like they did for the Shield game?

 

[harsh.ag]

Rohit and Ashwin ruled out via injuries. Saves the trouble of dropping them. Or maybe these are "injuries".

 

[TheJediBrah]

Rohit and Ashwin ruled out via injuries. Saves the trouble of dropping them. Or maybe these are "injuries".

Yeah not really losing anything with those 2 tbh. Rohit a very questionable selection in the first place and Jadeja pretty much do anything Ashwin does. Only thing is possibly losing a bit with the ball in which case Kuldeep is an option but it would be a bit of a gamble

 

[OverratedSanity]

Nah, they wouldn't drop Ashwin. He did well first test. His fitness is a complete disgrace though, and it's completely predictable that he'd have a sidestrain after bowling a long spell.

Won't affect the team much imo, Jaddu is a fine backup and Vihari can't be worse than Rohit. I just hope they don't go with a 5 pacer attack just because it's Perth.

 

[cnerd123]

Feel bad for Karun Nair. Get dropped for Vihari for seemingly no reason, and then Vihari is benched to make way for Nohit. Now Nohit injured, so Vihari gets to play in Australia, despite the fact that all he's done in Tests so far is score a jammy 50 while Karun has a 300 to his name.

Hasn't been in amazing form during all this, but still probably feels screwed over and fairly so. Sucks.

Vihari and Jaddu in for Nohit and Ashwin. Wouldn't mind Jaddu + Bhuvi tbh.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

The risk witn Kuldeep is that if he is a bit off with his lengths he will tend to leak runs. Although judging by how most of our batsman play spin these days he could do a fair bit of damage. Where as Jadeja is more likely to keep things tight even if he doesn't really look that threatening.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I'd definitely go Jaddu over Kudeep. Better to have a containing spinnr if the pitch isn't going to be conducive to spin. Jaddu's batting could be valuable to considering how shite the lineup is. Tail would be way too long with Kuldeep in and no Bhuvi to compensate.

 

[TheJediBrah]

The risk witn Kuldeep is that if he is a bit off with his lengths he will tend to leak runs. Although judging by how most of our batsman play spin these days he could do a fair bit of damage. Where as Jadeja is more likely to keep things tight even if he doesn't really look that threatening.

That's why I think it would be a gamble, especially if Perth doesn't offer much spin. His good balls can be kept out and you can feast on anything loose. I'd actually prefer Jadeja over Ashwin outside Asia normally, except in Australia. I can see Jadeja just bowling straight breaks with no threat and going 0-150. Jadeja is more useful bat than Ashwin outside Asia too so even play 5 bowlers and **** off Vihari.

 

[sunilz]

So Perth pitch will be considered as sporting or doctored ? Just asking because I have read on this forum many times that Australia doesn't doctor wickets.

 

[mr_mister]

Errr nah

Fight me irl

 

[Borges]

Every pitch is prepared with the idea of giving some kind of an advantage to the home team.
That is how cricket has always been played; there is nothing wrong in doing it, IMHO.