***Official*** West Indies tour of Australia, Jan–Feb 2024

[Starfighter]

I'm aware thanks

Edit: didn't mean to sound like a grumpy ****. I am one, but didn't mean to sound like it

Embrace the grump

 

[Qlder]

Cummins has more runs this series than Smith, Labuschagne and Green combined

 

[TheJediBrah]

Is hazlewood injured? I thought the 9 down declaration was just to get some overs under lights with the new ball, but apparentlu green is warming up and not haze.

Surely Green wouldn't be taking the new rock over Cummins though

 

[NotMcKenzie]

And now Hazlewood comes on to bowl

 

[Starfighter]

Just like a couple of the Pakistanis, the very square way Chanderpaul sets up seems particularly ill suited to facing Hazlewood from over the wicket.

 

[mackembhoy]

What was the celebration like?

Superb

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1750826695932969359

 

[Starfighter]

But Ponting said yesterday that Smith never drops them.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

D R O P P E D
R
O
P
P
E
D

 

[Spark]

But Ponting said yesterday that Smith never drops them.

I can only assume he didn't watch the Pakistan tour. Though he usually does swallow anything like that.

 

[Burgey]

But Ponting said yesterday that Smith never drops them.

There’s always the golden child fielder from every country who the comms say that about but who invariably drops their fair share. See also Green in the gully, who’s good but can also drop sitters

Starc’s last couple of overs here have been terrific

 

[Starfighter]

Quality workmanship.

After Spark's comment they showed a slow mo of the release and it was very noticeable how much like a uniform, smooth orb the ball looks after that many overs.

Yeah. This isn't an abrasive pitch at all, there's enough dead grass on it that it won't wear much but with little seam movement. IIRC they've actually made the pink ball harder wearing with a thicker coating recently because in some matches on much harsher pitches it would just fall apart into strips. And remember at Adelaide they have left more grass on the pitch specifically to protect it.

It's something to do with the physical natures of the dyes used and how they interact with the leather. For both the pink and white balls I've seen, it's like it doesn't dye a bright colour. Exposed leather under the bright top coating is either dull pink or light grey with a slight greenish cast. Very worn and gouged balls sometimes end up with their colour worn off exposing a brown leather surface, as if the dye hasn't penetrated (though I've seen some white balls where it clearly has to some extent). Whereas the red balls have a very thin top coat if any at all, and the leather underneath, though much duller in colour than the new ball, is clearly a reddish colour all the way through.

Don't know about the exact chemistry behind it, but read an article once saying the red balls use an 'aniline' dye (I don't think they use actual aniline these days), which is a soluble dye that penetrates and leaves a natural surface. I think it even said the the dark colour of the Dukes ball is because the leather has absorbed the dye leaving not much on the surface. Whereas the pink and white dyes seem to be pigments, and they don't penetrate as much. Not sure if the paint-like coating is just how the dye ends up or if they deliberately apply that. But difference in dye behaviour is why there was such trouble with the white ball losing its colour (and why we now have the silly two new balls rules), and why the pink ball is so troublesome.

In my opinion the pink ball is not really suitable for test cricket because it doesn't polish, doesn't wear well for the spinners and I'm not aware of any instance where it has reverse swung. Combined with the fact the Kookaburra version at least seems to go soft very quickly, it just doesn't leave anything for the bowlers after the first fifteen or so overs unless the pitch is very grassy or you have an Ahmedabad situation where it skids unpredictably.

 

[Spark]

Snicko in Australia about a thousand times more sensitive than whatever they were using in Hyderabad yesterday.

 

[Starfighter]

Damn. I was hoping they could make it through to the close.

 

[mr_mister]

Meant to be for the howler

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

That’s a ****ing poor decision from the 3rd umpire

 

[Spark]

There’s always the golden child fielder from every country who the comms say that about but who invariably drops their fair share. See also Green in the gully, who’s good but can also drop sitters

Starc’s last couple of overs here have been terrific

In fairness I've never known a cricketer, even the great ones, who don't shell them in the slips every now and then. I think even Mark Waugh dropped a few.

 

[Spark]

That’s a ****ing poor decision from the 3rd umpire

?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

?

Needed another angle on that

 

[TheBrand]

?

Nothing on Hotspot, and the smallest of murmurs on Snicko. Questionable.

 

[Spark]

Nothing on Hotspot, and the smallest of murmurs on Snicko. Questionable.

Nothing on Hotspot means absolutely nothing. It's long established protocol that literally anything on Snicko at the right time = out, and rightly so