*Official* Australia vs West Indies - Frank Worrell Trophy 2022

[Coronis]

We could always get Marnus to captain.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Also it's hilarious that Smith is exonerated for his role in cricket's most brazen cheating scandal because he's simply too pure for this world.

It's because he cried convincingly and Warner didn't.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Smith was captain on that tour and knew what was going on. I find it pretty surprising that he's captaining his country again.

Well, tbf, it's not like our shyte smells much sweeter in that respect. We made Gooch captain after he's taken the Apartheid Krugerrand and, some people* might argue our incumbent should be wearing an electronic ankle tag rather than batting pads**.

*Burgey mainly,
**and he's wrong

 

[BoyBrumby]

It's because he cried convincingly and Warner didn't.

Did he though?

Screwed up that weirdly ageless, doughy fizzog of his but not sure he squeezed an actual tear out.

 

[Ashes81]

Well, tbf, it's not like our shyte smells much sweeter in that respect. We made Gooch captain after he's taken the Apartheid Krugerrand and, some people* might argue our incumbent should be wearing an electronic ankle tag rather than batting pads**.

*Burgey mainly,
**and he's wrong

Fair points - I wouldn't have played any of the players that went on the various rebel tours to S Africa, nevermind have them as captain.

As for Stokes - again a fair point and what he did was far more serious than what Warner did.

The truth is that all countries will 'forgive' virtually any misdeamour by talented players.

I'm not surprised Smith and Warner are back in the team, but I am surprised Smith is vice captain - there must be other players that could do the job.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Did he though?

Screwed up that weirdly ageless, doughy fizzog of his but not sure he squeezed an actual tear out.

Yeah but

option 1



vs

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

 

[Gob]

Textbook cope. There is literally no way to even slightly alter the state of the ball without your pace bowlers explicitly approving it, let alone them not even noticing it. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Messing up the ball is the gravest sin any fielder can commit.

Also it's hilarious that Smith is exonerated for his role in cricket's most brazen cheating scandal because he's simply too pure for this world. Just like every time he doesn't score runs it's because he's too tired from scoring runs instead of being a fallible batsman. The bad man did the bad thing without any input from the captain or bowlers.

I meant the use of sand paper. I don't know if they were using any other method to shine balls lol but there was no way to consistently pull that off when there are 30 cameras. It was yellow ffs

And no I did not mean to exonerate Smith if anything it was the opposite. It was obvious by Greg Chappells anecdote that he was mentally gone at that point and had no control over Warner. All the more reasons why he should not be the full time captain

 

[Darwin Award]

941 is Ponting

Smith was 948 I think

Yes... you're right.. I must've had Ponting in mind (942)

Smith achieved a career best rating of 947 which Marnus still has some work to do to get there.


He's playing with 'house money' on Day 2 now... Compile some more easy runs & if he doesn't need to bat again that should be well enough to leapfrog Ponting's mark in the 940's

This pretty much means now that the Top 3 batting positions on the ICC All Time list are now all occupied by Australians.

 

[Starfighter]

let alone them not even noticing it.

This keeps being said, yet the umpires did not notice any change in state of the ball. The alteration made before Bancroft tried to stuff the evidence down his pants must have been minimal.

 

[GotSpin]

Textbook cope. There is literally no way to even slightly alter the state of the ball without your pace bowlers explicitly approving it, let alone them not even noticing it. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Messing up the ball is the gravest sin any fielder can commit.

Also it's hilarious that Smith is exonerated for his role in cricket's most brazen cheating scandal because he's simply too pure for this world. Just like every time he doesn't score runs it's because he's too tired from scoring runs instead of being a fallible batsman. The bad man did the bad thing without any input from the captain or bowlers.

Every team tries to alter the ball firstly and secondly it was undoubtedly Warner who went and carried out the idea of using sandpaper on the field

 

[Burgey]

Would have to think SA will fancy their chances if Haze, Cummins and JRich are all unavailable for the series. Makes the Aus attack comparatively thin on the ground.

 

[TheJediBrah]

cricket's most brazen cheating scandal

not even close. Barely even had an effect on the ball

The only thing that made it a big deal was the reaction and ridiculously excessive punishments

 

[morgieb]

It's a tough story because what was said doesn't feel right, yet it's nearly 5 years on and no-one has really said anything otherwise in that time. Maybe we'll hear more post-Warner/Smith/bowlers retirements but I do kind of feel like someone would've slipped up in that time if the story wasn't accurate (I guess Bancroft came close?)

Although, it does kind of make sense why CA wouldn't want to throw the whole team under the bus - yes Smith should be more culpable than even the bowlers as captain let alone rank and file members of the team but if it was clear that the bowlers had egged on ball-tampering (even if they didn't know it was sandpaper) a lot of people would've wanted their head as well. And 2-3 years of getting belted by pretty much everyone as an Aus A team could've killed off Aus cricket long-term (or at least really hurt it for years). I know a few fans might've liked that, but it would've been bad for the game IMO.

 

[Shady Slim]

not even close. Barely even had an effect on the ball

eh imho it's a mistake when looking at the seriousness of wrongdoing to weight a factor like this, outside of the control of the wrongdoer, too much, when really what's important is the intent factors (to me at least)

 

[morgieb]

not even close. Barely even had an effect on the ball

The only thing that made it a big deal was the reaction and ridiculously excessive punishments

And this I think is why it kind of makes sense why the bowlers didn't know it was sandpaper - there had tampering (with more "legitimate" substances) going on for a while so it was hard to tell how the ball was tampered. Which I guess is two different things - it shows that it wasn't a one-off (which I'm not convinced anyone actually believes, and I'm pretty sure more kosher forms of ball-tampering was rampant sportwide for a long-time).

Unless you take an Afridi-esque bite out of the ball I do think it's difficult to tell what kind of tampering exists, given there wasn't any shiny sparks out of the ball or anything.

Anyway this sort of saga is going to be a nuisance for a long-time. Let's hope some other teams gets arrogant about it in a similar way and then the bloody shirt will become harder to wave.

 

[Gob]

Would have to think SA will fancy their chances if Haze, Cummins and JRich are all unavailable for the series. Makes the Aus attack comparatively thin on the ground.

Cummins is certain starter for that series. Hazlewood less so

 

[morgieb]

Would have to think SA will fancy their chances if Haze, Cummins and JRich are all unavailable for the series. Makes the Aus attack comparatively thin on the ground.

In fairness I think even a combo of Starc/Boland/Neser/Morris should be fine given the dire state of South Africa's batting. If they were to be competitive it's because of their bowling - and we haven't had any batting injuries. I guess 250 v 250 is obviously dicier than 250 v 150 though.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Cummins is certain starter for that series. Hazlewood less so

Nothing is ever certain

 

[The_CricketUmpire]

What Head is doing right now is no surprise. What he needs to be doing is performing away from the comforts of home. I think he is good but needs to perform outside Australia and to me is slightly overrated at the moment.

Travis Head - Career Scores Outside Australia

2018: 0 vs Pakistan (Dubai)

2018: 72 vs Pakistan (Dubai)

2018: 14 vs Pakistan (Abu Dhabi)

2018: 36 vs Pakistan (Abu Dhabi)

2019: 35 vs England (Birmingham)

2019: 51 vs England (Birmingham)

2019: 7 vs England (Lord's)

2019: 42* vs England (Lord's)

2019: 0 vs England at (Leeds)

2019: 25 vs England (Leeds)

2019: 19 vs England (Manchester)

2019: 12 vs England (Manchester)

2022: 8 vs Pakistan (Rawalpindi)

2022: 23 vs Pakistan (Karachi)

2022: 26 vs Pakistan (Lahore)

2022: 11* vs Pakistan (Lahore)

2022: 6 vs Sri Lanka (Galle)

2022: 12 vs Sri Lanka (Galle)

2022: 5 vs Sri Lanka (Galle)

Innings: 19
Runs: 404
Average: 23.76
Ducks: 2
Not Out's: 2
50s: 2
100s: 0
Highest Score: 72 (vs Pak 2018 in Dubai)