The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

[stephen]

I was watching Amazon documentary on The Test and have finished 4 episodes.
My question is have MCG / SCG become road in recent years or they were always like this ? Because Australian team clearly was unhappy with the pitch and were disappointed when they lost the toss .Or this is just an excuse by them as they are no longer the team they used to be in past .

Just want honest opinion (Like Langer?)
Didn't know where to ask .

Since the MCG and SCG became drop in wickets they've lost all of their character and are now just flat roads that offer nothing to the bowler, unless the grounds staff leave grass on the wicket. The MCG used to be a fair and balanced pitch - probably the best in the country before it went drop in. The SCG used to favour spinners but now it's just a dead pitch that is too slow for spinners and too flat for quicks.

Turgid wickets both. The Gabba and both Perth pitches are the best in the country, though Adelaide is great for day night matches these days.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Beefy, really?

I always picture him more as the bloated old buffoon he is now

 

[Spark]

Since the MCG and SCG became drop in wickets they've lost all of their character and are now just flat roads that offer nothing to the bowler, unless the grounds staff leave grass on the wicket. The MCG used to be a fair and balanced pitch - probably the best in the country before it went drop in. The SCG used to favour spinners but now it's just a dead pitch that is too slow for spinners and too flat for quicks.

Turgid wickets both. The Gabba and both Perth pitches are the best in the country, though Adelaide is great for day night matches these days.

The SCG isn't a drop in wicket, whilst Perth Optus is, so I don't really think assigning blame to drop in pitches is entirely fair these days. They've gotten very good, although they still don't deteriorate as they ought to.

 

[stephen]

The SCG isn't a drop in wicket, whilst Perth Optus is, so I don't really think assigning blame to drop in pitches is entirely fair these days. They've gotten very good, although they still don't deteriorate as they ought to.

Fair enough re: drop in pitches, though that was definitely the point when the MCG became a superhighway. Removing the concrete block seems to have helped though.

I don't know what's wrong with the scg, it was good for spin in the 90s but it's been rubbish for spin for a long while.

 

[DriveClub]

2nd test MCG pitch was really spicy this time around, helped the spinners and seamers a lot. They must have made some adjustments

 

[Gob]

Beefy, really?

I always picture him more as the bloated old buffoon he is now

Apparently there was a time when he was very good looking. Certainly before sporting that horrible mullet


Young Mik Clarke came close

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Apparently there was a time when he was very good looking. Certainly before sporting that horrible mullet
View attachment 26993

Young Mik Clarke came close

Looks like he is trying to be a poor mans James Hunt there

 

[TheJediBrah]

DAD BOD XI:
Gatting
Taylor
Boon
Inzamam
Ranatunga
Lehmann
Pant
Powar
Warne
Hughes
Malinga

 

[h_hurricane]

Current XI of players I like

Shubman Gill
Cheteshwar Pujara
Kane WIlliamson
Ajinkya Rahane
Rishabh Pant
Jason Holder
Mohammad Rizwan
Ravindra Jadeja
Pat Cummins
Kagiso Rabada
Jasprit Bumrah

Up against personalities I dislike

David Warner
Mathew Wade
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli
Ben Stokes
Tim Paine(c)
Stuart Broad
Nathan Lyon
James Anderson
Josh Hazlewood

Virat to keep his massive ego aside and bat behind the cheat.

Paine to captain the team ahead of him and to babysit Kohli's daughter as a token of gratitude.

 

[Gob]

DAD BOD XI:
Gatting
Taylor
Boon
Inzamam
Ranatunga
Lehmann
Pant
Powar
Warne
Hughes
Malinga

To take this on

Gibbs
Dilshan +
Ponting
DeVilliers
Symonds
Collingwood
Rhodes
Flintoff
Jadeja
Lee
Anderson

guaranteed to run all the fat shits out

 

[TheJediBrah]

To take this on

Gibbs
Dilshan +
Ponting
DeVilliers
Symonds
Collingwood
Rhodes
Flintoff
Jadeja
Lee
Anderson

guaranteed to run all the fat ****s out

Flintoff slip
Ponting 2nd slip
Anderson gully
Rhodes point
Symonds cover
Collingwood midwicket
Lee fine leg/third man
Jadeja/de villiers mid on/mid off
Gibbs square leg

 

[_00_deathscar]

guaranteed to run all the fat ****s out

Why would they even run though? They're just counting in boundaries.

 

[ataraxia]

SA all-time XI:

1) Barry Richards /
2) Graeme Smith* /
3) Jacques Kallis / o
4) Graeme Pollock /
5) Dudley Nourse /
6) AB de Villiers / +
7) Aubrey Faulkner / o
8) Shaun Pollock o /
9) Hugh Tayfield o
10) Dale Steyn o
11) Allan Donald o

Decided to leave a proper keeper out to play Faulkner. Tough leaving Procter out but I couldn't really fit him in.

SA A:

1) Bruce Mitchell /
2) Gary Kirsten /
3) Hashim Amla /
4) Herbie Taylor* /
5) Daryll Cullinan /
6) Trevor Goddard o /
7) Clive Rice / o
8) Jock Cameron + /
9) Mike Procter o /
10) Vernon Philander o /
11) Neil Adcock o

This is obviously a very quirky side. With Faulkner and Tayfield gone, SA's spin stocks are bare. I decided to go with Goddard to fill the stock bowler's role. Bruce Mitchell can do a job as part-time spinner. If I had included a proper spinner it would be a tough choice between Vogler, Schwarz, and even maybe Alan Kourie.

 

[ankitj]

India all time XI which can bat pretty deep now.

S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Kohli
R. Jadeja
M.S. Dhoni (wk)
K. Dev (c)
R. Ashwin
A. Kumble
J. Bumrah

 

[TheJediBrah]

India all time XI which can bat pretty deep now.

S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Kohli
R. Jadeja
M.S. Dhoni (wk)
K. Dev (c)
R. Ashwin
A. Kumble
J. Bumrah

Bats deep but also a long tail for an ATG team. Jadeja at 6 is at least a spot too high.

 

[h_hurricane]

I would have Laxman instead of Kumble and move everyone else a spot down. Dhoni to bat ahead of Jadeja.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Yes. 3 spinners is absolutely excessive, and more Laxman is always a good thing

 

[_00_deathscar]

India all time XI which can bat pretty deep now.

S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Kohli
R. Jadeja
M.S. Dhoni (wk)
K. Dev (c)
R. Ashwin
A. Kumble
J. Bumrah

Kumble + Jadeja + Ashwin is unnecessary.
Swap Kumble for Laxman for batting or Shami for bowling - case to be made for latter day Ishant too.

 

[CricAddict]

S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Kohli
V.V.S. Laxman
M.S. Dhoni (wk)
R. Jadeja
K. Dev (c)
R. Ashwin
J. Bumrah

But it is going to be tough for Kapil to captain and manage the egos of Gavaskar and Kohli. Tendulkar and Sehwag can chip in with part time spin.

 

[TheJediBrah]

S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Kohli
V.V.S. Laxman
M.S. Dhoni (wk)
R. Jadeja
K. Dev (c)
R. Ashwin
J. Bumrah

But it is going to be tough for Kapil to captain and manage the egos of Gavaskar and Kohli. Tendulkar and Sehwag can chip in with part time spin.

You've already got 2 specialist spinners. More likely to need someone to chip in with some seam-up, unless every game is going to be on a dustbowl.

As someone mentioned earlier another fast bowler instead of Laxman might be a better team balance.