**Official** Australia in Sri Lanka Jan - Feb 2025

[Gob]

Well, Sri Lanka at least fought. Mendis still out there gives them a glimmer, but he'd need to go hard to get them to something defendable.

Connolly's selection remains pointless but thankfully Kuhnemann and Lyon have bowled well enough for it to not matter too much.

Mumbai 2004

 

[Spikey]

seems silly that catch is allowed when stuff like the starc catch in the ashes wasn't

more I think about it, the more I think matthews should have stayed on the field and got the 3rd umpire to look at it. seems absurd to me that webster could be deemed to have completed that catch. if he had held onto it, gone through his roll and fumbled it during the roll, it would not have been given, so why would throwing it away before finishing the roll complete the catch

now, matthews shouldn't have to stick around so that the umpires actually look at it, but that's a different matter

 

[Gob]

more I think about it, the more I think matthews should have stayed on the field and got the 3rd umpire to look at it. seems absurd to me that webster could be deemed to have completed that catch. if he had held onto it, gone through his roll and fumbled it during the roll, it would not have been given.

now, matthews shouldn't have to stick around so that the umpires actually look at it, but that's a different matter

Well Starc catch was not given for completely different reasons. He jammed the ball in to the turf

Similar instance to this one would be cummins's caught and bowl of Azar Ali was it when they were in Pakistan

 

[Spikey]

Well Starc catch was not given for completely different reasons. He jammed the ball in to the turf

Similar instance to this one would be cummins's caught and bowl of Azar Ali was it when they were in Pakistan

starc's catch was a catch that for the previous 20 years they've rubber stamped, and one day they decided not to. likewise, they've rubber stamped quick throwaways of catches like webster's. you'd think one crackdown would apply to the other. matthews should have put it to the test.

 

[Spikey]

Also this is the starc catch im referring to. If starc had just thrown it away as soon as he got the hands on it like Webster did today, that's a catch?

 

[Gob]

Also this is the starc catch im referring to. If starc had just thrown it away as soon as he got the hands on it like Webster did today, that's a catch?

If he did that though, we wouldn't have witnessed the greatest collective hissy fit of all time

 

[Shady Slim]

totally agree with the above posts. don't know if they need an nfl style "survive to the ground" rule but i hate the midair throwaway and to me it's not consummated

 

[trundler]

Honestly Cummins is nowhere near Smith as a tactician in these conditions

I'd imagine Smith grew up playing Crusader Kings a lot given his condition

 

[halba]

the Webster one looked dubious to me, why didnt Mathews stay? Your body has to complete the entire motion/ rotation with the ball in hand. ITs like herschelle gibbs one, dropping the world cup.

 

[SteveNZ]

Connolly's selection remains pointless

I just can't get my head around how he's even on the tour, let alone picked. OK, Murphy bowled dross in the 1st Test, but you're going to play a batting 'all-rounder' at 8, then hardly bowl him when he's a part, part-timer at best? Are selectors trying to make heroes of themselves by flinging in Hail Mary young guys in the hope they might average 45 at a S/R of over 100 and take wickets at 28s? I truly don't get it. Steve Smith says 'he bowls good balls in the nets' which is a high bar to have to leap over to get a baggy green.

Jamie Siddons must sit in a dark room and wonder whether he should end it all some days. 160 quality FC games and can't crack it once, yet these young guys can extravagantly nick three through the cordon and all of a sudden they blow up on X and they're wearing an Australian crest soon after.

 

[social]

I just can't get my head around how he's even on the tour, let alone picked. OK, Murphy bowled dross in the 1st Test, but you're going to play a batting 'all-rounder' at 8, then hardly bowl him when he's a part, part-timer at best? Are selectors trying to make heroes of themselves by flinging in Hail Mary young guys in the hope they might average 45 at a S/R of over 100 and take wickets at 28s? I truly don't get it. Steve Smith says 'he bowls good balls in the nets' which is a high bar to have to leap over to get a baggy green.

Jamie Siddons must sit in a dark room and wonder whether he should end it all some days. 160 quality FC games and can't crack it once, yet these young guys can extravagantly nick three through the cordon and all of a sudden they blow up on X and they're wearing an Australian crest soon after.

I don’t think that anyone will be surprised if Connolly isn’t picked for another test squad for 3 years or so which is probably the appropriate timeline for his career

Picking him here was rubbish but the selectors will simply point to the scoreboard and a series victory

 

[Gob]

Well he is averaging over 60 in the SS which includes runs in a shield final so it's not like they picked jake fraser mcgurk

A lottery pitch was expected here hence they wanted to lengthen the batting as games don't last very long on such wickets and more often than not, 3 front line bowlers are enough to get the job done

Obviously they read the pitch wrong and CC batted like a muppet but I get the thinking. It's not that difficult to see

 

[The_CricketUmpire]

I just can't get my head around how he's even on the tour, let alone picked. OK, Murphy bowled dross in the 1st Test, but you're going to play a batting 'all-rounder' at 8, then hardly bowl him when he's a part, part-timer at best? Are selectors trying to make heroes of themselves by flinging in Hail Mary young guys in the hope they might average 45 at a S/R of over 100 and take wickets at 28s? I truly don't get it. Steve Smith says 'he bowls good balls in the nets' which is a high bar to have to leap over to get a baggy green.

Jamie Siddons must sit in a dark room and wonder whether he should end it all some days. 160 quality FC games and can't crack it once, yet these young guys can extravagantly nick three through the cordon and all of a sudden they blow up on X and they're wearing an Australian crest soon after.

Jamie Siddons is one of quite a few players to play little to no Test cricket for Australia despite having good records in domestic competitions. It just shows how strong an era Australian cricket was - the 1990s through to the mid 2000s, compared to now and the past ten to fifteen years, it hasn't been strong depthwise.

 

[TheJediBrah]

A lottery pitch was expected here hence they wanted to lengthen the batting as games don't last very long on such wickets and more often than not, 3 front line bowlers are enough to get the job done

with that logic they should have picked McSweeney as the extra bat instead though

Let's just tell it how it is, they were looking for any excuse to get Connolly a game. "Oh he bowls some left arm spin" was a cop out

 

[Burgey]

I just can't get my head around how he's even on the tour, let alone picked. OK, Murphy bowled dross in the 1st Test, but you're going to play a batting 'all-rounder' at 8, then hardly bowl him when he's a part, part-timer at best? Are selectors trying to make heroes of themselves by flinging in Hail Mary young guys in the hope they might average 45 at a S/R of over 100 and take wickets at 28s? I truly don't get it. Steve Smith says 'he bowls good balls in the nets' which is a high bar to have to leap over to get a baggy green.

Jamie Siddons must sit in a dark room and wonder whether he should end it all some days. 160 quality FC games and can't crack it once, yet these young guys can extravagantly nick three through the cordon and all of a sudden they blow up on X and they're wearing an Australian crest soon after.

Siddons is a **** though

 

[the big bambino]

Kuhnemann has outbowled lyon here slightly again...Lyon perhaps losing his edge slightly , which is due to age.

Yeah but if Lyon takes a wicket in his next over it'd be "Lyon is the number one spinner. He is on track to break Murali's record but who will replace him when he retires as we don't have any young spinners coming through."

 

[Shady Slim]

lyon's been a great servant of australian cricket and a gun player but it feels so wrong he is going to jump mcgrath

 

[social]

with that logic they should have picked McSweeney as the extra bat instead though

Let's just tell it how it is, they were looking for any excuse to get Connolly a game. "Oh he bowls some left arm spin" was a cop out

Especially as McSweeney is a better bowler

 

[Qlder]

Cooper Connolly is now an 'all-format" player for Australia. Combined stats in 5 games:

11 runs @ 11.00, HS 7*, SR 50.0
14 overs, 0 wkts for 97 runs, econ 6.93

So it must be his once in a generation FC record that got him a test at only 21....oh wait

 

[halba]

Cooper Connolly is now an 'all-format" player for Australia. Combined stats in 5 games:

11 runs @ 11.00, HS 7*, SR 50.0
14 overs, 0 wkts for 97 runs, econ 6.93

So it must be his once in a generation FC record that got him a test at only 21....oh wait

He just played a few FC games on one deck. Looks like he will struggle to get games for his state side consistently. He was talked up a lot before the game.