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

[Teja.]

oh yeah but that wasn't today. pratters referenced the bouncers today... to gill and pujara.

Yeah, agree with you.

 

[Spark]

No we get you don't like your attitude, but it's just not relevant to the actual problems with the team in a performance sense. I don't like Ireland's new ODI shirt but when they lose I don't use it as an excuse to suggest the loss has proven they should change it.

there also isn't that much evidence that they do have an attitude problem tbh. acting out when they're under pressure doesn't mean they have a "bad attitude" in the sense that they're trying to play nasty, pushing-the-edge-of-the-rules cricket like a waugh or ponting side might have. it just means they're weak under pressure. that's an entirely separate issue that has nothing to do with "team culture" in the way that pratters is referring to.

 

[trundler]

 

[Pratters]

oh yeah but that wasn't today. pratters referenced the bouncers today... to gill and pujara.

I dont have an issue with them bouncing Pujara etc at all.. it just seemed a bit odd as a plan to go on with it .. there seemed to be no other plan beyond a point.

 

[Bahnz]

Huh, we've finally learned Pratters true identity and it's Mark Reason.

Mark Reason: Australia's cricket loses honour in shameful short bowling assault on India

Opinion: With their scuffing of every moral creaseline, Australia's cricketers have shamed their sport and country, writes Mark Reason.

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[Senile Sentry]

I think the key point should actually be that even if you can complain about it, the conduct doesn't create poor performances. It's not the reason they lost. If anything it seems to happen the other way with this group of players - they start acting more ****y when they're behind and frustrated.

Being less dickish isn't going to fix the problem with the team people actually care about - ie. its performance.

I think acting edgy probably betrayed their growing insecurity and the Lyon throw was the tipping point.

They demolished India at Adelaide and looked absolutely intimidating without even need for a word or a stare. Look at Cummins, almost all parents would be happy to have a son in law like him, so well behaved and letting his performance do the talking.

But look at spouse cheating Lyon. His body language got geometrically progressed form bad to worse from MCG to Gabba through SCG.

I think it also betrays the latent thinking that trying conspicuously to be non-edgy, especially since sandpapergate, is somehow un Australian at least among a section of players ? like a call of "MAKE AUSTRALIA SL'EDGY' AGAIN" .. But of course it didn't work in this series and I hope the thinking, if at all it exists, dies a quick death.

 

[Pratters]

Yeah it's more a pointer to other things than the cause itself. Making a conscious decision to not be scrappy or dickish or angry or whatever but not addressing the cause would not make the team perform better in any meaningful way.

Pratters doesn't actually care if they perform better though; his posts absolutely reek of "you lost so now I get to blame it on the things about the team that annoy me and demand they be changed". Thankfully this logic doesn't have as big a place on CW as it does elsewhere online or I'd have about 300 less posts today.

Hey come on its not that. I dont think Smith should be captain.. thats all..

 

[OverratedSanity]

Nothing wrong with australia's bouncers/behaviour today.

Was a relatively well mannered series on the field by Australia-India standards. I would like to see some kind of change from ICC as I mentioned before on whether those unnecessary head/shoulder high throws from close-in fielders/bowlers can be treated similar to beamers. For example if a bowler does it, give a no ball, and give him a beamer warning, one more and he's gone. If a fielder does it, 5 penalty runs? No ball? I dunno, but I'd like to see something in the rulebook to discourage what is really petulant, shitty and can someday cause a worrisome injury especially since its a scenario where a batsman might not be expecting it to come his way.

 

[Starfighter]

there seemed to be no other plan beyond a point.

Being tactically clueless - which we have all pointed out about thirty times each - is not the same as having behavioural / attitude faults.

 

[Prince EWS]

I dont have an issue with them bouncing Pujara etc at all.. it just seemed a bit odd as a plan to go on with it .. there seemed to be no other plan beyond a point.

Yeah it was a bad plan after a while. No arguments there. "The captaincy hasn't been very good" has been a very regular complaint.

The extra narrative you created around it made it feel like one of those bullshit sensationalist articles Peter Roebuck used to write with seventeen too many layers of artistic license.

 

[cnerd123]

The answer to this, oddly enough is likely Neil Wagner. He’s helped to transform bowling when searching for a breakthrough.

India did it first. They sucked at it, but then Ishant took 7 wickets at Lords and won us a Test

 

[Prince EWS]

Hey come on its not that. I dont think Smith should be captain.. thats all..

Smith definitely shouldn't be captain, no arguments there.

 

[Teja.]

Australia lost because India played exceptionally well, Paine was a poor captain, Starc choked and Lyon was in the bad end of his spectrum of mediocrity.

Can we not do the easy media narratives about evil bullies spanked for being evil bullies please?

 

[Spark]

Nothing wrong with australia's bouncers/behaviour today.

Was a relatively well mannered series on the field by Australia-India standards. I would like to see some kind of change from ICC as I mentioned before on whether those unnecessary head/shoulder high throws from close-in fielders/bowlers can be treated similar to beamers. For example if a bowler does it, give a no ball, and give him a beamer warning, one more and he's gone. If a fielder does it, 5 penalty runs? No ball? I dunno, but I'd like to see something in the rulebook to discourage what is really petulant, ****ty and can someday cause a worrisome injury especially since its a scenario where a batsman might not be expecting it to come his way.

Yeah I wouldn't be at all opposed to that tbh. Adds nothing to the game.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Australia apart from Starc, I thought actually bowled pretty well today. Pretty amazing that we won despite that

 

[Prince EWS]

Australia apart from Starc, I thought actually bowled pretty well today. Pretty amazing that we won despite that

Yeah Starc aside they all executed poor plans pretty well.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Can we not do the easy media narratives about evil bullies spanked for being evil bullies please?

This is far too tempting tbf so I understand Pratters

 

[Pratters]

FTR I love Hazelwood, have always liked Lyon from when he started his career and am a huge fan of Smith as a batsman. Any ways.. I am not sure how else to express maybe I am missing a beat here. Any ways.

 

[Spark]

Australia apart from Starc, I thought actually bowled pretty well today. Pretty amazing that we won despite that

Hazlewood looked pretty flat tbh. Not bad but he looked totally cooked. Lyon was better but he also was coming off a very low base in terms of wicket taking threat and even then, didn't exactly look unplayable. Paine ended up stitching up Steve Smith pretty hard as he predicted last night that Green would be a major factor and take a bunch of wickets. Bowled three okay overs early on and was never seen again.

I think the performance is reflected pretty well on a scoreboard. They weren't, like, mown down the way SA did when they chased down 400, but they were well beyond the end of their tether as a collective energy-wise and the pitch didn't really do a great deal.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Lyon was reasonably threatening. And there was a fascinating spell where he kept teasing Pant with slightly widish ones, I was sure he'd keep leaping out and try to smash those but it only happened once or twice.