*Official* Australia in India 2023

[Senile Sentry]

I thought you were banned

Shame to see that isn't the case in all honesty

Me Too

 

[quincywagstaff]

Was just trying to think of the last time Australua won an away Test series after losing the first Test... and I think you have to go as far back as the 1997 Ashes.

Historically when Australia win overseas they start the series well; they're not the sort of side to have a slow start than turn things around during the tour. This is one of the reasons the rest of this series is such a major challenge for Cummins as leader.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah well Agar almost certainly shouldn't have been picked. But once he's there he's probably got to play next test in a 5 man attack.

I'd still only play four bowlers tbh. Australia need all the batting depth they can get - giving Lyon more of a rest so someone much worse than Lyon can bowl some overs doesn't seem like a winning strategy.

 

[Starfighter]

I have learnt new thing today . You judge a bowler by their series average and not overall career average . You are extremely deluded if you think Aus would even dare to produce quick wickets against Indian attack considering their batting line up didn’t cross 200 even once in 1st 2 Tests .

Neither of which were that quick. A fastish, bouncy but flat wicket - normal in Australia - would have suited both the Australian batsmen's preferred stroke play and short-of-a-length channel bowling more than the surfaces actually produced. Conversely, the slower, lower Melbourne pitch made things better for India, being used to stroke play and bowling more suitable lengths for such pitches.

Nobody deliberately alters their pitches for someone with Bumrah's figures. And he had better figures in Melbourne, which was by a margin the slower and less grassy of the first two pitches.

After 1st 2 tests , CA (PCB)ordered SCG curators to produce flat wicket because Aussie crowds wanted to see Steve Smith ( Babar Azam) century ?

Your emoji use just makes look like like a sooky troll - which you are.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Lol there's literally no evidence of that at all. You're just making it up sunilz.

The pitches have their characteristics - Brisbane is usually greenish and fast, Perth is fast and bouncy, Adelaide under lights does more than it used to when it was just a road, Melbourne is like the city itself - low and boring, and Sydney has been sadly flat as a pancake for a decade or more now too. These characteristics aren't generally prone to changing a great deal series to series, barring something being under done due to weather.

I mean Aus just dished up a ****ing terrible green top in Brisbane against a four man pace attack with a collective average in the low 20s for the opening test of the SA series. If they were worried about Bumrah then you'd think they would have had a word about Rabada, Ngidi, Jansen and Nortje

Sunilz has been spewing these ridiculous assertions about pitches literally for years, has had the common sense truth explained to him dozens of times and if anything he's only gotten worse. Don't bother.

Don't know why we're talking pitches though. There was nothing wrong with this pitch. Just a normal Indian wicket from what I saw

 

[Starfighter]

Sunilz has been spewing these ridiculous assertions about pitches literally for years, has had the common sense truth explained to him dozens of times and if anything he's only gotten worse. Don't bother.

Don't know why we're talking pitches though. There was nothing wrong with this pitch. Just a normal Indian wicket from what I saw

I'm responsible for this pitch talk, but only after CricAddict trotted out that canard again.

This pitch was more on the spinning side for India pitches (compared to say, 00s or seventies pitches), but nothing out of the ordinary recently.

The pitch talk does bring up another frustration - do you see Cricket Australia rushing to prepare A 'test' tours to India and Sri Lanka to prepare our next generation of batsmen? No I didn't either...

 

[Senile Sentry]

I hope Aussie players practiced at the Carmichael Coal Mine before they traveled to India. The Air Quality Index nearest to the stadium was 300+ when I last checked. Ridiculous that Cricket Australia even agreed to the venue.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Me Too

Credit where it's due, rate that response

 

[Senile Sentry]

One of the biggest intangible things with losing Pant is how he’d likely affect Lyon’s confidence

Nothing has changed. Seems Pant has inflicted terminal damage already.

 

[Sunil1z]

Nothing has changed. Seems Pant has inflicted terminal damage already.

Still 3 Tests are remaining . If he does well , it will make your post look like stupid .

 

[Sunil1z]

Considering Lyon’s age , how soon will Murphy replace him ?

 

[GoodAreasShane]

I'd still only play four bowlers tbh. Australia need all the batting depth they can get - giving Lyon more of a rest so someone much worse than Lyon can bowl some overs doesn't seem like a winning strategy.

Been going back and forth on this one, on one hand I agree it would be a strange move to weaken the batting, on the other hand the bowling looked a bit light with Lyon and especially Cummins early on being below their best

Certainly wouldn't drop either. Green being out still is such a blow still though

 

[Senile Sentry]

Still 3 Tests are remaining . If he does well , it will make your post look like stupid .

Considering the last 5 tests, I'd wager on Lyon getting dropped by the end of the series. He is a unidimensional bowler, who thrives on the StarcMarks (earlier Johnson) and/or the wide outside off stump line.

 

[Prince EWS]

Been going back and forth on this one, on one hand I agree it would be a strange move to weaken the batting, on the other hand the bowling looked a bit light with Lyon and especially Cummins early on being below their best

Certainly wouldn't drop either. Green being out still is such a blow still though

Picking an allrounder would obviously be the best way to solve it. There aren't any in the squad though (Agar is not one, especially not in India).

The bowling wasn't great, but the batting was much worse. Five specialist bowlers sometimes makes you lose by less, and sometimes it helps you win instead of draw, but it rarely if ever helps you win instead of lose.

 

[Sunil1z]

Considering the last 5 tests, I'd wager on Lyon getting dropped by the end of the series. He is a unidimensional bowler, who thrives on the StarcMarks (earlier Johnson) and/or the wide outside off stump line.

Still he is best non-Indian spinner currently. Give him some respect.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Both of India's last tours of Australia the pitches have been distinctly more favourable towards India (dry, slow, low-bouncing) than normal, even accounting for two of the venues being Melbourne and Sydney.

That describes Sydney and Brisbane well. Melbourne, though, was very seam friendly.

 

[Sunil1z]

Please no more pitch talks ?

 

[Gob]

Considering the last 5 tests, I'd wager on Lyon getting dropped by the end of the series. He is a unidimensional bowler, who thrives on the StarcMarks (earlier Johnson) and/or the wide outside off stump line.

How long would you be staying/posting?

 

[Burgey]

Considering Lyon’s age , how soon will Murphy replace him ?

End of next home summer a good chance I think

 

[Senile Sentry]

Also, I hope this tour will finally delink India from the "Subcontinent" bucket analyses by the experts. As if playing in SL or Pakistan automatically means the player is good to go in India. Not just about the conditions, but also the sheer gap in class as well of the players.

Even within India, the pitches can be chalk and cheese. There is no thing now as a typical Indian pitch. Indian pace bowlers average 23.6 on Indian pitches since 2016. Yes, it'd still require skills (using reverse and adjusting the lengths and lines) to adapt but it isn't anymore the spin-den it's supposed to be.

Which is why I think Australia needs to trust its strengths and go in with their best bowling attack. If it necessiates playing 3 pacers, so be it. And having Green back will be a huge positive as he can give that extra player cushion.