4th Test at the Gabba, Brisbane, 15 - 19 Jan 2021

[honestbharani]

Now some guys are speculating that India are looking to play both Ashwin and Sundar in the XI. That would make no sense.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Now some guys are speculating that India are looking to play both Ashwin and Sundar in the XI. That would make no sense.

Treating Sundar exactly as a budget Jadeja. Except, not even Sundar knows how good is his batting or bowling now in longer format.

Genius.

 

[TimAngas]

Seriously ? Hopefully Swepson has improved but he is not in the class as Lyon for consistency.

Just who else has Australia got ?

I mean he took 23 wickets in 3 games, and while I doubt he'd be as accurate as Lyon (few wrist-spinners would be) I am super interested in seeing him play tests ASAP. I'm not saying Lyon should be dropped straight away either though.

 

[honestbharani]

Treating Sundar exactly as a budget Jadeja. Except, not even Sundar knows how good is his batting or bowling now in longer format.

Genius.

NO I mean, his selection seems to imply an insurance against Ash not being able to bowl too many overs or something like that. We will be much better off playing Kuldeep for Ash then. Since we get some decent runrate controlling fingerspin from Sundar anyways. Go for the aggressive option at the other end.

 

[Senile Sentry]

So BCCI did have a valid point when they threw a hissy fit at staging this at Brisbane. While it seems all is well after their intervention, not exactly the kind of things teams want to focus on just before a series decider.

I mean, raise your game Cricket Australia. BCCI is basically salvaging your tri annual finances here and the very least you an ensure is them getting basic facilities.

Imagine if it been the over way around.

 

[honestbharani]

So BCCI did have a valid point when they threw a hissy fit at staging this at Brisbane. While it seems all is well after their intervention, not exactly the kind of things teams want to focus on just before a series decider.

I mean, raise your game Cricket Australia. BCCI is basically salvaging your tri annual finances here and the very least you an ensure is them getting basic facilities.

Imagine if it been the over way around.

The other link indicates CA are doing their best to help out. I really dont think we can blame CA too much in any of this, except perhaps their insistence on having the 3rd test in Sydney but then again, NSW Government and cricket board helped them out when they were in a pickle at the start of the tour. Its not necessary to blame as such as it seems to have been a breakdown in communicaitons more than anything else and things are being fixed now. Echo Spark's thoughts that really the ones who are coming out of this looking bad seems to be the Queensland Government.

 

[Senile Sentry]

NO I mean, his selection seems to imply an insurance against Ash not being able to bowl too many overs or something like that. We will be much better off playing Kuldeep for Ash then. Since we get some decent runrate controlling fingerspin from Sundar anyways. Go for the aggressive option at the other end.

I really don't know how Sundar will go in tests. He is a effective run skimmer in shorter version but I am not so sure about that here.

What I am reasonably sure is Kuldeep will go for runs and take fewer wickets than expected on this pitch.

 

[Spikey]

CA have been fine. The problem was that they didn't want to strip the test from Brisbane despite it being perfectly obvious that, like Perth, it would be a nightmare working with the Gov

 

[anil1405]

I'd pick Sundar and have him bat at 5 if I had to instead of picking a hopeless Shaw.

 

[Senile Sentry]

The other link indicates CA are doing their best to help out. I really dont think we can blame CA too much in any of this, except perhaps their insistence on having the 3rd test in Sydney but then again, NSW Government and cricket board helped them out when they were in a pickle at the start of the tour. Its not necessary to blame as such as it seems to have been a breakdown in communicaitons more than anything else and things are being fixed now. Echo Spark's thoughts that really the ones who are coming out of this looking bad seems to be the Queensland Government.

Thats what I said, all this is part of their job description. I dont give a damn where they stage the tests, but it's upto them to ensure basic facilities are provisioned.

 

[Starfighter]

I would absolutely love to move on and focus on the vastly more interesting endeavour of thinking about random fringe Shield cricketers all the time

Would be much better if someone showed Lyon a video comparison between now and couple of years ago and he started putting his body into his action again.

 

[Senile Sentry]

I'd pick Sundar and have him bat at 5 if I had to instead of picking a hopeless Shaw.

Is Sundar really a good bat in these conditions? He was struggling to clear the infield in IPL. I dont think he is someone who can do minimum power hitting even if his life depended on it.

 

[Spark]

Thats what I said, all this is part of their job description. I dont give a damn where they stage the tests, but it's upto them to ensure basic facilities are provisioned.

In this case, it isn't. The Queensland Government has taken direct responsibility for the hotel isolation/biobubble whereas before it was up to CA to organise that. So in every meaningful sense, the QLD Government is the ones responsible here.

 

[anil1405]

Is Sundar really a good bat in these conditions? He was struggling to clear the infield in IPL. I dont think he is someone who can do minimum power hitting even if his life depended on it.

If he survives 10 balls he'd have a better output than Shaw.

 

[honestbharani]

In this case, it isn't. The Queensland Government has taken direct responsibility for the hotel isolation/biobubble whereas before it was up to CA to organise that. So in every meaningful sense, the QLD Government is the ones responsible here.

Would explain why the protocols were different between Sydney and Brisbane too, even though it was thought to be the same by both boards.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Would be much better if someone showed Lyon a video comparison between now and couple of years ago and he started putting his body into his action again.

I was thinking after you mentioned that the other day, you are dead right. He definitely looks a bit flat and a bit low energy compared to where he was. Where's noted Canadian legend John Davison when you need him?

 

[Senile Sentry]

@honestbharani, See how BCCI conducted a very successful IPL which had not two, but eight teams with full contingent, that too in a foreign country with their own complexities.

For example, Abu Dhabi had as severe, if not more, restrictions on entry as QLD purportedly has. Yet the whole tournament went on without any disruptions per se, once the initial quarantine period was met.

You can see the attention they gave to details when you realize that the ongoing UAE - Ireland series is at risk of being cancelled due to a few players contracting the virus.

I think BCCI should have offered CA to organise and conduct the tour here as well, for a fee of course. At least, the players would have been spared these embarrassing situations and could concentrate on their cricket.

 

[Spark]

@honestbharani, See how BCCI conducted a very successful IPL which had not two, but eight teams with full contingent, that too in a foreign country with their own complexities.

For example, Abu Dhabi had as severe, if not more, restrictions on entry as QLD purportedly has. Yet the whole tournament went on without any disruptions per se, once the initial quarantine period was met.

You can see the attention they gave to details when you realize that the ongoing UAE - Ireland series is at risk of being cancelled due to a few players contracting the virus.

I think BCCI should have offered CA to organise and conduct the tour here as well, for a fee of course. At least, the players would have been spared these embarrassing situations and could concentrate on their cricket.

Is this a serious post? Why in god's name would CA have agreed to give up a home series to play their marquee series in a country with a worse epidemic? Come on, this is farcical.

 

[Senile Sentry]

In this case, it isn't. The Queensland Government has taken direct responsibility for the hotel isolation/biobubble whereas before it was up to CA to organise that. So in every meaningful sense, the QLD Government is the ones responsible here.

Yeah, I understand that, but itsupto CA to ensure that what had been agreed has been provided to the visiting players, isn't it ?

Otherwise why there is CA at all? BCCI could've arranged their own stay directly with the Govt.

 

[Spark]

Would explain why the protocols were different between Sydney and Brisbane too, even though it was thought to be the same by both boards.

Yep. CA basically was relying on the QLD government to do what they indicated as much as anyone else, they obviously don't have power over the actual government.

Yeah, I understand that, but itsupto CA to ensure that what had been agreed has been provided to the visiting players, isn't it ?

Otherwise why there is CA at all? BCCI could've arranged their own stay directly with the Govt.

I don't know how else to put this but CA is not, in fact, in charge of the government.