Looking back on the Hollioake experiment 20 odd years later

[mr_mister]

Except Labuschagne himself wasn't a "Labuschagne-style selection" as you put it at all. It is often forgotten he was second on the Shield runs list the season before that UAE tour, so to say he completely came out of left field simply isn't accurate

I guess but does it matter? Napeleon was of average height and we still use the term Napoleon complex (pardon me I watched Master and commander last night)

Point being saying Labuschagne style selection is a quick way to get a point across

 

[TheJediBrah]

Even sl bowling is crazy, except vaas everyone else who bowled were spinners

So it was a standard Sri Lankan team

 

[mr_mister]

It's funny, I didn't notice but Samaraweera being at 11 in that match is probably the strangest thing related to batting positions on either side

 

[TheJediBrah]

It's funny, I didn't notice but Samaraweera being at 11 in that match is probably the strangest thing related to batting positions on either side

And Tillakaratne at 9. Tillakaratne wasn't much of a white ball cricketer though. And tbf Samaraweera would probably have batted 10.

At this stage he would have been basically a specialist bowler too. Samaraweera developed into more of a batsman later on, a bit of a similar career trajectory to Shoaib Malik in that regard.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

I guess but does it matter? Napeleon was of average height and we still use the term Napoleon complex (pardon me I watched Master and commander last night)

Point being saying Labuschagne style selection is a quick way to get a point across

It matters because it just isn't correct. I guess I pay more attention to Australian domestic cricket than most but it's not like Marnus was plucked out of obscurity. The batting lineup was massively weakened post Cape Town so therefore anyone with vaguely decent Shield numbers was likely to be considered.

I suspect a lot of this absolute myth about Marnus being an obscure selection is related to him having a poor summer for Queensland after his initial Test selection

 

[mr_mister]

It matters because it just isn't correct. I guess I pay more attention to Australian domestic cricket than most but it's not like Marnus was plucked out of obscurity. The batting lineup was massively weakened post Cape Town so therefore anyone with vaguely decent Shield numbers was likely to be considered.

I suspect a lot of this absolute myth about Marnus being an obscure selection is related to him having a poor summer for Queensland after his initial Test selection

Fair enough yeah, I didn't think too much about it while saying it. Was more interested in Hollioake discussion!

So is it accepted that Adam was better with the bat and Ben better with the ball?

Or maybe Ben had a higher ceiling in both areas but was too young/laid back to fully get the most out of his talents before his sad passing?

Will the Currans end up as the Hollioakes done right?

 

[Migara]

Both are ordinary

 

[Migara]

Gee that was a weird ODI on both sides.

Vaas at 3, Jayawardene at 6, and Ataputtu at 7. Sheesh.

Vaas as pinch hitter, taking Atapattu's place. Then once SL had to push scoring he was pushed down. Mistake in hindsight seeing that Tillekaratne's innings of 13(37). Atapattu would have settled better and would have ended up witha bigger score.

 

[Migara]

Even sl bowling is crazy, except vaas everyone else who bowled were spinners

Pramadoya Wickramasinghe who was a fast medium bowler was not used.

 

[mr_mister]

He probably knew that Miagra since he specified 'everyone else who bowled'

 

[Migara]

And Tillakaratne at 9. Tillakaratne wasn't much of a white ball cricketer though. And tbf Samaraweera would probably have batted 10.

At this stage he would have been basically a specialist bowler too. Samaraweera developed into more of a batsman later on, a bit of a similar career trajectory to Shoaib Malik in that regard.

Sam came in as a replacement for Murali. He was one of the top all rounders SL have ever produced, but a serious back injury cut short his bowling career. The Samaraweera we know was after the injury. Pre-injury, he had a elongated run up and a sent down his spinners with flurry of limbs. And it turned quite sharply as well. Post injury, he could not maintain that action.

And if I am not mistaken, Tillekaratne bowled ambidextrous in this match and his wicket was off a slow left arm.

 

[mr_mister]

yeah, his FC bowling average is very impressive


add to the fact he came back from a gunshot injury too and you have a really underrated player who could have been an ATG

imagine if he had his batting average of 48 plus kept bowling in tests and even managed 150 wickets at 30 or something. he'd be considered one of the best ever

 

[Migara]

And as you have guessed SL pick players for wrong reasons. Samaraweera was picked while his bowling was on wane due to injury. Farveez Maharoiof was picked as a seamer, while in reality he was a monstrous hitter of the ball who can play at #6/#7, and bowl some useful seam up. Then we had Dilruwan Perera, who was thrown in as an opener, while in reality he was a lower order hitter, and off break bowler. Latter did not become what they could have become.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Scorecard - 1998-1999 Carlton & United Series - 03/02/1999


look at that ridiculous side they played. Only 2 specialist bowlers in Gough and Giles - The Hollioakes, Ealham, Wells and Alleyne were all used as all-rounders - Adam wasn't even required to bowl.

fwiw thought that England side that played the 1998/99 tri-series was pretty decent in concept and execution. Had the measure of Sri Lanka, beat Australia a couple of times and should've beaten a couple of times more but lost their nerve right at the end. Generally better than probably all of the other ODI lineups they put out to Australia in the 90/91 to 14/15 era.

What let them down that series was the opening pair of Stewart & Knight. You'd think they would've got a stack of runs but they only managed one half-century in 23 innings combined.

 

[honestbharani]

Hick at 3 was awesome that series IIRC.

 

[mr_mister]

Yeah, had a run of 4 innings where he got 3 tons and a 60 odd

One of the few series where he lived up to the Hick hype that had been around since the mid 1980s

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It's a shame Goughy isn't still around posting. He had the lowest opinion of Ben Holioake as a cricketer as it's possible to have. Almost rated him village green level. I can't be arsed searching out threads at midnight, but his comments are still to be found somewhere.

 

[mr_mister]

Highlights from the game where he got his other international 50, against Pakistan when Waqar took 7fer, just got uploaded to YouTube not that long ago. From the 2001 Natwest series

He actually looked quite good in that knock. Like when playing shots his technique looked solid. Top scored too. So it adds a bit to the mystery of some people thinking he was completely useless

 

[Spikey]

Scorecard - 1998-1999 Carlton & United Series - 03/02/1999


look at that ridiculous side they played. Only 2 specialist bowlers in Gough and Giles - The Hollioakes, Ealham, Wells and Alleyne were all used as all-rounders - Adam wasn't even required to bowl.

this lineup hurts me

 

[mr_mister]

It's a shame Goughy isn't still around posting. He had the lowest opinion of Ben Holioake as a cricketer as it's possible to have. Almost rated him village green level. I can't be arsed searching out threads at midnight, but his comments are still to be found somewhere.

Do you have any idea in the direction I should look if I want to find them? Goughy has made a lot of posts. Do you remember roughly the year I should aim for in my hunt