**Official** Australia in Bangladesh

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

pffft....... You know what you REALLY need? The all round abilities of the awesome AA....

Pffft.... Dave Mohammed is a better left-handed batsman and spin bowler than Ajit Agarkar will ever be.

 

[aussie]

i dont think anyone in their right minds could have put mcgrath ahead of ambrose or donald(both of whom were probably near the best) because of 1 good series.

wel yea, your probably right. It would be as C_C said then 98/99 season.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

i dont think anyone in their right minds could have put mcgrath ahead of ambrose or donald(both of whom were probably near the best) because of 1 good series.

The 97 Ashes was far from McGrath's first good series. It was more like his 6th good series, in a row. He was certainly among the best bowlers in the world at the time, though I doubt many people would have rated him "the best" outright until a little after that.

edit: interesting to compare Donald and McGrath's records at the time though. In August 1997, at the time the Ashes finished..

Donald - 155 wickets @ 23.36
McGrath - 155 wickets @ 23.46

Bizarre.

 

[C_C]

The 97 Ashes was far from McGrath's first good series. It was more like his 6th good series, in a row. He was certainly among the best bowlers in the world at the time, though I doubt many people would have rated him "the best" outright until a little after that.

edit: interesting to compare Donald and McGrath's records at the time though. In August 1997, at the time the Ashes finished..

Donald - 155 wickets @ 23.36
McGrath - 155 wickets @ 23.46

Bizarre.

I dont think until 1999 or so could McGrath lay claim to 'the best' outright.
Donald was the better bowler till 97 or so, after which, it was a close shout.
And Ambrose + Akram definately figured ahead of McGrath at that point and Waqar too.
We tend to judge people retrospectively but we forget, that once upon a time, McGrath was considered 'merely a good bowler with promise trying to make it to the big boys leage'
Same with most players really.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Waqar wasn't anything like as good as Wasim, Donald, Ambrose or McGrath after about 95 or so. That's the main reason he never performed against Australia, by the time he actually toured with Wasim, in 1996, he was already past his best.

Aside from that you're right, though. McGrath was considered one of the top bowlers in the world by 97 or so, but he was never clearly the best until well after that.

 

[SJS]

It will be bizzare but absolutely fantastic if Australia were to follow on. It will be even better if they were to lose.

Hold on, I am not saying this because I am one of those 'hate-Aussie' types. Most of you know I am not but I honestly feel it will be great for the game, absolutely fantastic for Bangladesh and , frankly, not that bad for Australia. I honestly feel the wake up call that was the Ashes series 2005 perhaps wasnt enough. Australia really need it.

The difference between Australia and the rest is still big enough for them to continue to occupy the number one slot. But this is not about that. Its about a decline in absolute terms and not just a reduction in the gap between them and the rest in relative terms.

There are many things that need to be looked into in this Australian side. I have mentioned bowling before and have had some of my friends jumping at me shouting 'kaffir' I honestly feel, and said many months ago (before the Ashes series again - maybe a mole like Richard will be able to dig it out) that Australia need to bat in the test match way for a change which they appear to have forgotten thanks to their HUGE domination of the last decade.

Australia has benefitted from the massive talents of Gilchrist and his ilk but I feel they may need to be tempered by the presence of a Waugh like presence both in the gut and much more so in their techniques and how they approach test matches.

Again, I am a HUGE admirer of this Australian side and dont need to be told how great they have been and how good they still are.

I am also not drawing these conclusions from this one miserable game.

*runs for cover as the brick bats fly thick and fast*

 

[C_C]

Waqar wasn't anything like as good as Wasim, Donald, Ambrose or McGrath after about 95 or so. That's the main reason he never performed against Australia, by the time he actually toured with Wasim, in 1996, he was already past his best.

Aside from that you're right, though. McGrath was considered one of the top bowlers in the world by 97 or so, but he was never clearly the best until well after that.

I would say that Waqar was Godly before 95 - possibly the best fast bowler ever. From 96-2000 or so, he was a superb bowler ( 25+change bowling ave.) and after 2000 he was a mediocre bowler.

 

[chaminda_00]

Man this thread has taken many turns, too many covos going on for my liking. Wake me up when the cricket starts again.

 

[aussie]

god dam it Lee

 

[Haddin]

Lee's gone LBW. Not looking good now.

 

[Sportsgirl]

Gosh Gilchrist is gonna have to score 250 if Aussie is to get anywhere near the Bangers total.

 

[C_C]

god dam it Lee

Relax mate.
Its just a game- dont burst a blood vessel for the sake of, as i like to often say, ' whacking a ball with a stick'.

 

[Haddin]

Look, we have played poorly, Simple. On a track which Bangladesh made 427. And Australia are 7/130 or whatever, that just says who's been the better team.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Relax mate.
Its just a game- dont burst a blood vessel for the sake of, as i like to often say, ' whacking a ball with a stick'.

But currently, it's not an Australian game.

 

[SJS]

Gosh Gilchrist is gonna have to score 250 if Aussie is to get anywhere near the Bangers total.

And someone else will have to score another hundred odd from the other end in the meanwhile.

But dont worry they will do it. Just keep watching.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Look, we have played poorly, Simple. On a track which Bangladesh made 427. And Australia are 7/130 or whatever, that just says who's been the better team.

Wouldn't that lean more toward Bangladesh playing well then?

 

[aussie]

urghhhhhhh have australia suffered enough that bloody ball was missing leg , come on Dizzy give me another Chennai 2004, MCG 2004, Gabba 2004, Kolkatta 2001 innings & Gilly you just smoke these Banglafools..

 

[Haddin]

Wouldn't that lean more toward Bangladesh playing well then?

Exactly. And its good to see they young team doing so well.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

urghhhhhhh have australia suffered enough that bloody ball was missing leg , come on Dizzy give me another Chennai 2004, MCG 2004, Gabba 2004, Kolkatta 2001 innings & Gilly you just smoke these Banglafools..

This is precious. Not only are you peeved that Australia is struggling against Bangladesh, but now you're complaining about umpiring decisions being AGAINST Australia? Woe is you and the Australian cricket team. Can't catch a break these days.

 

[SJS]

Wouldn't that lean more toward Bangladesh playing well then?

No, no. Stop kidding. They just stuck it rich with a few lucky shots and a few streaky ones and then when they came on to bowl, the batsmen just realised it was the end of a long season and decided to get tired and played some lazy shots.

Bangladesh playing better cricket than Australia, even for half a game ??? NO NO