2024–25 Australian Domestic Season

[Qlder]

So Qld pace bowling stocks looking good then with 3 decent debutants in last 3 shield games (Straker, Whitney and Floros)

 

[TheJediBrah]

Like every other bowler in the country though he's apparently crocked half the time.

I swear a couple dozen must be injured right now just looking around the grounds. The attacks all look second string and the Aus A attack isn't particularly good either

 

[Starfighter]

I swear a couple dozen must be injured right now just looking around the grounds. The attacks all look second string and the Aus A attack isn't particularly good either

Of non-playing options in and around the state and national squads I get:

ODI squad, not playing:
Starc
Cummins

A squad, not playing:
Neser
Boland
McAndrew

Injured:
Abbott
Whitney
Steketee
Tremain
Hatcher
Haskett
Sandhu
Agar
Vidler
Ryan

Managed:
Richardson
Morris
Jackson (AFAIK)
Nisbet (he barely bowled last match for Pete's sake!)
Johnson

Stobo seems to the the only one who's actually been dropped.

 

[Qlder]

@Starfighter when did Abbott get injured as he took 7 wkts in last Shield game. If he is, surely they wouldn't have released Hazlewood to play Shield as Starc, Cummins and Abbott are the only pace bowlers left to play the ODI on Monday?

You could probably add Bartlett and Ellis to injured list as they haven't played yet this season

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Scott with a 50, great to see him backing up his bowling success in the last game with runs here today.

Hopefully this partnership can keep going for a while, Thornton is certainly competent enough with the blade


EDIT: ahh for **** sake, shouldn't have said a word

 

[Spark]

In that particular 2022 test, rainfall was average to below average in Brisbane in the two months leading up to the test, and it was not unusually wet overall. In 1974 rain was above average, and that was earlier in the year when evaporation is less. Meanwhile if we look at the NSW match today, the pitch is green and damp on top despite three months of below average temperatures and warmer than normal temperatures.

Even if your theories were correct, this is only tangential to large amounts of live grass being left on the pitch. You can look at the WACA pitch. Perth has a very long-term rainfall deficit, especially pronounced recently. Yet many of the Shield pitches have thick, green grass on them. Whereas you look at a classic WACA pitch from the 70s and it's nearly white. And in SE Aus, 74-76 had above average rainfall without exceptionally green wickets, while last year was generally below average and they were often very green everywhere.

The groundsman can easily cut the grass off, or use the covers to exclude moisture if it does rain and kill it and then roll it into the surface. To grow that amount of grass even in Perth, with no rainfall, it'll require watering which will make the top layer of soil soft which will make it hard to get a firm surface regardless of what's happening deeper down.

I'm not claiming it's monocausal. Water is water is water, if the groundsmen chooses to massively overwater the wicket block then clearly the same physical effects will occur regardless. But all else being equal, periods of heavy rain will lead to softer wicket blocks with less bounce, less consistent bounce and more prone to divoting and seam movement than those with drought where the wicket blocks harden right up and have zero moisture all the way down. At the end of the day, heavy rain is a far more efficient but uncontrollable way to deposits large amounts of water on the ground than anything else - moreover, it's a one way street; if the wicket block gets too moist and it keeps raining, there's nothing you can do it until you get a prolonged period of dry weather, which may not come.

Contra your assertion that in late 2022 soil conditions were neutral to dry in Brisbane, here is BOM's record of upper level soil moisture around the country (so just the top 10cm) on 01/12/2022:



Notice the big blue blob centred right in SE Queensland! This clearly would have had a significant impact on pitch preparation and what they were able to achieve. They clearly overgrassed it, but their hands may have been somewhat tied by the time the Test rolled around.

 

[Spikey]

Anyone get a good look at Floros with the ball today? I've never seen him bowl and unfortunately couldn't today either but I heard good things last year from someone who played against him. Like every other bowler in the country though he's apparently crocked half the time.

wow the continuation of one of our great cricketing families

 

[Starfighter]

I'm not claiming it's monocausal. Water is water is water, if the groundsmen chooses to massively overwater the wicket block then clearly the same physical effects will occur regardless. But all else being equal, periods of heavy rain will lead to softer wicket blocks with less bounce, less consistent bounce and more prone to divoting and seam movement than those with drought where the wicket blocks harden right up and have zero moisture all the way down. At the end of the day, heavy rain is a far more efficient but uncontrollable way to deposits large amounts of water on the ground than anything else - moreover, it's a one way street; if the wicket block gets too moist and it keeps raining, there's nothing you can do it until you get a prolonged period of dry weather, which may not come.

Contra your assertion that in late 2022 soil conditions were neutral to dry in Brisbane, here is BOM's record of upper level soil moisture around the country (so just the top 10cm) on 01/12/2022:

Notice the big blue blob centred right in SE Queensland! This clearly would have had a significant impact on pitch preparation and what they were able to achieve. They clearly overgrassed it, but their hands may have been somewhat tied by the time the Test rolled around.

Except the match started on December 17. The upper layer anomaly varies rapidly, so choosing Dec 1 is very much a cherry pick. Day-by-day in the two weeks before the match started it was generally around average. The 0-1 metre depth anomaly in that period was slightly above average, but nothing exceptional. There was 35.4 mm at Brisbane in the two weeks prior to the match, with the most significant fall nine days before.

The current Gabba is known for its drainage, and while I don't have any comparison data at hand the properties of the soil chosen for drainage and the actual presence of drains under the ground would almost certainly mean better drainage than the natural soil types used in the moisture model, hence the ground would be drier. And lastly, the groundsman has the ability to exclude moisture from the wicket block. Weather forecasts and observation tools are good these days so the full-time groundsman shouldn't be getting caught if they have any weather sense. (In those conditions the groundsman's hose would also be more of a controlling factor than in natural conditions).

In comparison in 1974 there was 122.6 mm in the two weeks prior, with a significant regional rainfall nine days out snd cooler weather than 2022. The soil moisture model does not extend that far back, but would have shown a major moist anomaly. There was a storm two days out, which produced similar rainfall to the one significant fall in 2022 in Brisbane, though it may have been heavier at the ground, as the square was flooded. The ground also did not have as good drainage then. After the intended pitch was abandoned as being too damp the test pitch was then hastily prepared on a less damp area overlapping a used pitch. The overall result was less damp, less inconsistent and much less grassy than the 2022 one, and produced a good game that went five days.

There was nothing in the lead up to the 2022 match that was out of the ordinary. In particular, there was nothing that forced the groundsman to leave so much grass on the pitch in 2022. He could even have cut it in the day or two before, or even morning of the match and the ball would have moved less and the surface dried more. It could have been rolled more. Melbourne had a greater soil moisture anomaly in the immediate period before the test there yet produced a much drier, less grassy pitch that was harder and bouncier than normal. And again, if we go back to the Sheffield Shield pitches, Perth has experienced periods of very dry weather with a long term rainfall deficit. Yet the Sheffield Shield pitches are usually grassy.

You consistently blame weather and use it as a reason to excuse the groundsman. Yet the weather only has a modest influence on the most noticeable trend over the past few seasons, which is the amount of grass left on top of the pitch. If it rains and the pitch is uncovered, the grass might grow. If it doesn't rain, the groundsman can water it. But it is under the groundsman's control whether there's thick thatches of grass, not rolled into the pitch, left on match day.

 

[ajdude]

man this is such a ****in nerd discussion. let’s talk about dom thornely or some ****

 

[Prince EWS]

wow the continuation of one of our great cricketing families

Yeah it's his brother lol

 

[Prince EWS]

man this is such a ****in nerd discussion. let’s talk about dom thornely or some ****

Richard Chee Quee imo

 

[Spikey]

man this is such a ****in nerd discussion. let’s talk about dom thornely or some ****

the 261* is probably the greatest innings in shield history right

 

[TheJediBrah]

Dom Thornely is actually still playing, but under the name Liam Hatcher

 

[Qlder]

Hong Kong sixes is on. Who picked this team, do you have to be retired to play?

Sam Heazlet (c), Jack Wood, Dan Christian, Alex Ross (+), Fawad Ahmed, Andrew Fekete, James Pattinson

 

[Nintendo]

Is James Pattinson even bowling? Swear he was a specialist bat in grade stuff nowadays.

 

[Qlder]

Pattinson didn't bat in 1st game, took 1-14 off his one over. Seems they had to rest him from the 2nd game

 

[Prince EWS]

Is James Pattinson even bowling? Swear he was a specialist bat in grade stuff nowadays.

Everyone bowls one over in Sixes.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

This is definitely the best I've seen Ben Manenti bowl in a while, good to see

 

[Nintendo]

Has bancroft always batted so far across his stumps? He's starting with leg almost visible and ending up almost on off stump. Swear that and him coming down the crease are why he's been getting nicked off by those back of a length balls so much this season.

 

[Nintendo]

For reference, took a random image from the start of the day's play in 2022-23 vs now for bancroft


His back foot is way further across in the more recent example and further across than his front foot, and even his front foot looks an extra half a stump across. This is pure conjecture, but I feel like this may be why he's been getting out pretty much the exact same way for single figures so much this season. He's further across and coming down the crease and ends up pushing at balls he would normally just be able to leave.