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**Official** 5th Test at Sydney, 3-7 Jan 2025

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Yep, this. There's confidence and there's ****ing stupidity. Konstas drops and runs a single with 3 balls to go, mouths off at Bumrah with 2 to go, full well knowing it isn't him that has to face the fire for the final two deliveries of the day. Yeah, Khawaja has played a mud shot but my god, if I was a senior player I'd be having a quiet word. The guy took 71 wickets last year, more than you scored runs. Calm down.
I'm not sure what the big deal is.

End of the day, they only lost Khawaja who always seemed vulnerable against Bumrah.

Day could have ended far worse for Australia.
 

Singh Is King

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Levels of stupidity to unpack here

Firstly, in no way does a green wicket help Australia. Even ignoring the series situation a green wicket just brings India's seam bowlers into it as much as Australia's and Aus batsmen aren't exactly great against the moving ball. If Australia wanted to doctor a wicket to suit them it wouldn't be green or seaming, it would be flat, hard and bouncy.

Secondly, look at the series scoreline . . . all Australia need is a draw. Why the **** would making a green seamer help them? If they were going to doctor a wicket it would be the roadiest road that ever existed to try and ensure a draw
It's very obvious and it's been mentioned a few times .... in the last 2 India tours previous to this Australia produced normal Aussie wickets (flat, great for the batsman), and India won 2 test series in a row on traditional batting wickets.
So Australia can't risk a flat batting pitch in a Test they can't afford to lose, so they produced the greenest wicket EVER seen in Australia. Coincidence? Not even a stubborn Aussie thinks it's not a coincidence that the greenest wicket ever seen in an Aussie test match is during the final game of the series when india need to win.

Yet when an Asian team do things like that Aussies turn into a bunch of border line racists. Double standards, it will never be forgotten. Yes an Asian doctored wicket means shite spinners do well, it doesn't quite work like that for seam bowlers on a green wicket - that doesn't mean Aussies are doing exactly what india have done with their pitches.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
You just produced the greenest wicket ever seen in Australia knowing full well india are shite on them.....

when an Asian team does things like that Aussies turn into border line racists
Please.

We've produced bowler-friendly wickets for the whole series.

Bumrah is the leading wicket taker in the series by a country mile.

If we were doctoring pitches, this one would be flat as a tack to ensure we come away with a 2-1 series win. Instead, it is a deck we could easily lose the game on.

Because producing a flat wicket to protect a lead would be a dog act, as many of us know.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
The wickets have been the same for the last 3 summers.

I don't see us trotting out a draw wicket for the last test because we're ahead. Maybe I'm mistaken. Is that what you are seeing?
India totally did that at home in 2023. They prepared a draw test just as Australia seemed to be threatening them in the last test.

I am glad Australia didn't go that direction this time. Would have been a disappointing end to a good series.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
So Australia can't risk a flat batting pitch in a Test they can't afford to lose, so they produced the greenest wicket EVER seen in Australia.
There have definitely been wickets greener than this in the last three years alone, even if we restrict ourselves to international level (there have been some ridiculous wickets at Shield level). SA in particular would laugh at the idea that this was the greenest wicket ever seen after what they had to deal with at Brisbane a few years back.
 

Singh Is King

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Please.

We've produced bowler-friendly wickets for the whole series.

Bumrah is the leading wicket taker in the series by a country mile.

If we were doctoring pitches, this one would be flat as a tack to ensure we come away with a 2-1 series win. Instead, it is a deck we could easily lose the game on.

Because producing a flat wicket to protect a lead would be a dog act, as many of us know.
So the Greenest wicket ever seen in an Aussie Test (your own pundits said this as well), is a coincidence?? Why? Aussies play the game with honour?
 

Spark

Global Moderator
The SCG curator should probably already have been sacked for being completely incompetent anyway so maybe if enough of a stink is kicked up about this pitch, it'll happen, and someone who knows what they're doing can get the job.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
I think @Singh Is King has a larger point that is absolutely true but honestly, making a green seamer where it evens the playing field when all Australia need is a draw is just not something I think they would have ordered, if they had the choice. Now, they may well think this will flatten out over the next few days, but SCG does not have drop in wickets like the other grounds, does it?
 

Spark

Global Moderator
I think @Singh Is King has a larger point that is absolutely true but honestly, making a green seamer where it evens the playing field when all Australia need is a draw is just not something I think they would have ordered, if they had the choice. Now, they may well think this will flatten out over the next few days, but SCG does not have drop in wickets like the other grounds, does it?
It doesn't, but they've had pretty consistent problems with pitch preparation there in the last few years.

This pitch is slightly actually reminiscent of the pitch in this Shield game: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...vs-tasmania-17th-match-1391786/full-scorecard - this was an absolute minefield, completely impossible to bat on normally by about halfway through Day 2 (which is why I'm somewhat concerned with respect to this game). Tim Paine gave the SCG curator a proper spray on radio after this game and rightly so.

It's been pitches like that or some of the slowest, most turgid puddings you can imagine, with little in between. I really don't think they know what they're doing up there right now.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Incidentally that 23 by Konstas is the first time I actually thought "hmm, this kid can really play". Surviving 72 balls on that thing was no small feat.
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
Levels of stupidity to unpack here

Firstly, in no way does a green wicket help Australia. Even ignoring the series situation a green wicket just brings India's seam bowlers into it as much as Australia's and Aus batsmen aren't exactly great against the moving ball. If Australia wanted to doctor a wicket to suit them it wouldn't be green or seaming, it would be flat, hard and bouncy.

Secondly, look at the series scoreline . . . all Australia need is a draw. Why the **** would making a green seamer help them? If they were going to doctor a wicket it would be the roadiest road that ever existed to try and ensure a draw
I mean the wickets prepared for NZ series didn’t help india either. They neutralized their best bowler and removed the quality difference between the spinners too.
 

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