3rd Test at the SCG, Sydney, 7 Jan - 11 Jan 2021

[marcus1232]

It's akin to Trumpism not walking when you're clearly out. It's imbued with a general world view that is conservative at heart.

Some people are walkers but when you get given out unjustly as many times as most top order batsmen do in comps where you don't have cameras everywhere. You learn to just stay and wait for the umpire to put his finger up.

 

[weldone]

For those who watched the match, how flat is the pitch?

 

[Starfighter]

For those who watched the match, how flat is the pitch?

Pretty

 

[marcus1232]

For those who watched the match, how flat is the pitch?

Its a batters paradise Ashwin got it to turn a couple of times and bumrah extracted a little bit out of it. But 450 should be the bottom end of a par score on it first innings

 

[TheJediBrah]

continuing my own coversation here, Gibbs could have sold his catch a lot better. His reaction doomed him. As soon as he fumbled it away he looked horrified and gave up, assuming it was a drop. I guarantee if the roles were reversed Steve Waugh would have just watched it fly away, ignored it and gone on celebrating, pretending that he meant to fumble the ball away the whole time. Good chance he would have got away with it too.

 

[Prince EWS]

For those who watched the match, how flat is the pitch?

Definitely the flattest pitch of the series. By how much exactly remains to be seen throughout the game, but the pace and carry was consistent and untroubling, and there was little to no sideways movement after the first few overs despite the overcast conditions. A couple of balls turned after tea, but it more or less just played like the SCG has played for the last ten years: Roady McRoadface McRoad.

 

[marcus1232]

continuing my own coversation here, Gibbs could have sold his catch a lot better. His reaction doomed him. As soon as he fumbled it away he looked horrified and gave up, assuming it was a drop. I guarantee if the roles were reversed Steve Waugh would have just watched it fly away, ignored it and gone on celebrating, pretending that he meant to fumble the ball away the whole time. Good chance he would have got away with it too.

I've seen players throw the ball away quicker after catching it compared to Gibbs apparent fumble that day

 

[TheJediBrah]

I've seen players throw the ball away quicker after catching it compared to Gibbs apparent fumble that day

Technically I think you have to be in control of the disposal, which he clearly wasn't, but I still think he could have bluffed a lot better.

 

[Spark]

Anyway I reckon Pucovski will end up slightly opening up his stance as he plays more internationals. Seems to be the general trend at top level cricket for batsmen to have that back and across movement, but to a more open stance than what he has right now. Might help him access straight deliveries and reduce the LBW risk.

The way he plays the pull shot is a bigger issue though.

 

[marcus1232]

Anyway I reckon Pucovski will end up slightly opening up his stance as he plays more internationals. Seems to be the general trend at top level cricket for batsmen to have that back and across movement, but to a more open stance than what he has right now. Might help him access straight deliveries and reduce the LBW risk.

The way he plays the pull shot is a bigger issue though.

At his age all very correctable though. His pull shots although airy were all safe shots as India didn't play a deep mid. Needs to work on that hook shot or remove it from his game all together.

Should become the opener for the future, but then again I said the same about Renshaw

 

[Victor Ian]

Never really understood the logic behind people thinking that Ponting catch shouldn't be out. Now admittedly I can't recall the exact wording in the rules but why do you care if he pushes the ball into the ground after he catches it, when it's a comfortable catch that was controlled all the way? As Gob said, he never lost control and fumbled it on to the ground. If you take a catch and throw it up to celebrate it hits the ground eventually, why is that ok but it's not ok to catch the ball and then put it on the ground? I'm sure there's some gray area in the rules but just purely from a common sense perspective, that is a catch and there shouldn't be any doubt about it IMO.

Very different to the Gibbs one, which was a genuine out-of-control fumble.

You can't satisfy the control criteria while you are not in control of yourself (ie. flying through the air navigating crash landing).

That said, he was in full control of that ball. Just as you need to be in control to throw it up, you need to be in control to smash it into the ground like that and not have it roll out.

 

[Victor Ian]

What has happened to the light sabre movements of smith and labu when they leave the ball? I don't recall seeing them do it this year.

 

[Spark]

I don't know about calling this a complete road tbh. Especially in the last hour or so, Ashwin was getting a few to really snarl from a length and Jadeja got a few to turn and bounce too.

 

[Spark]

At his age all very correctable though. His pull shots although airy were all safe shots as India didn't play a deep mid. Needs to work on that hook shot or remove it from his game all together.

Should become the opener for the future, but then again I said the same about Renshaw

Oh yeah these are very minor adjustments that will come in time. Plenty there to work on - again, assuming that the other issues he's had are ameliorated or solved.

 

[cnerd123]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1347052092729470976

#DropPant before the next #PantDrop

 

[Burgey]

I don't know about calling this a complete road tbh. Especially in the last hour or so, Ashwin was getting a few to really snarl from a length and Jadeja got a few to turn and bounce too.

Yeah it had a bit in it but it was slow turn. Most of the balls which did anything off the pitch were cross seamers, which is a bit random I guess.The two supporting quicks just weren’t Siraj in Melbourne standard today. Bumrah was hard to handle as always

 

[TheJediBrah]

I don't know about calling this a complete road tbh. Especially in the last hour or so, Ashwin was getting a few to really snarl from a length and Jadeja got a few to turn and bounce too.

Agree. It's always a natural reaction when you're team (or any team) struggles to take wickets to just say "don't matter, it's a road"

 

[Spark]

Yeah it had a bit in it but it was slow turn. Most of the balls which did anything off the pitch were cross seamers, which is a bit random I guess.The two supporting quicks just weren’t Siraj in Melbourne standard today. Bumrah was hard to handle as always

Wonder if a bit of residual moisture from all the rain and drizzle was responsible for the slowness. I definitely think this will turn and be unfun to bat on by Day 4 and 5, Sydney has been notoriously roady in the last 10 years but it does deteriorate.

 

[Burgey]

Wonder if a bit of residual moisture from all the rain and drizzle was responsible for the slowness. I definitely think this will turn and be unfun to bat on by Day 4 and 5, Sydney has been notoriously roady in the last 10 years but it does deteriorate.

Like your face and your posts tbh

 

[Daemon]

Dunno if Smith is back in form or whatever. The deck is easy, some of the bowling was poo. My theory is he was in ‘form’ all along but just got unlucky at times and also faced some good bowling to good plans. If he’d got a boundary to get going in those innings it’d probably have gone well for him. It was possibly largely in his head.

I wouldn’t pay much attention to the T20 struggles, he’s never been that good in them anyways.