*Official* Match 4 - Australia v Zimbabwe

[Jayzamann]

How soon before the matches start do these polls close? I always miss out

There's a lot to like about this Zim side. Almost more than the Australian one, dare I say.

 

[Nate]

Its pretty simple mate, I'm definitely not talking about the times of the Waughs, Warnes or McGraths; in fact pretty much the same Aussie squad that you are just completly blowing off has in recent times gone onto beat India in India and win the Champions trophy.

White, Clarke and Haddin have form issues but that doesn't mean all of them suddenly become crap cricketers, I think with a rejuvenated Ponting back at helm things are gonna get better or atleast as an Aussie fan I'm hoping that would be the case.

Where did I say we're completely blowing them off? In the other thread I said we'd get to the semis.

The point is, as you say, is that the Australian batsmen are not in good form, in fact they're in much worse form than in the CT, and we're minus Hussey. On pitches likely to take turn, against Zimbabwe's spin-based attack, then this -

Haha... mate if we can't even play the Zimbabwean spinners properly than we might just as well pack our bags and leave.

seems like you've misunderstood the situation.

Again, though, let's see what happens tonight.

 

[pup11]

We lost against Sri Lanka at home. And Australianism for mine would be coming back from 2-0 down in the Ashes to win 3-2, instead of winning a solitary Test. (Yes I know the 1st Test was a draw)


Hussey isn't playing in this World Cup. With him went the last bit of A'ism.

Again you are mixing the Aussie test side with the Aussie ODI side, the Aussie test side has gone to the dogs ever since Hilditch took over and his utterly ridiculous selections have driven the test side to the position where we are now, fortunately though the ODI side has somehow managed to stay stable in between all this.

Now.... the Indian and Sri Lankan ODI series just prior to a long Ashes summer was the most ridiculous example of cricket scheduling in ages, and if losing such an inconsequential ODI series kills Australianism then I can't say much about that.

When people look at the recent 6-1 series win over England I think they tend to forget that those wins weren't really handed to us on a platter, there were a lot of games where we were basically down and out but still some different individual rose to the ocassion everytime and bailed us out of trouble, think that's ample proof that Australianism is still alive and well.

 

[Nate]

Again you are mixing the Aussie test side with the Aussie ODI side, the Aussie test side has gone to the dogs ever since Hilditch took over and his utterly ridiculous selections have driven the test side to the position where we are now, fortunately though the ODI side has somehow managed to stay stable in between all this.

Now.... the Indian and Sri Lankan ODI series just prior to a long Ashes summer was the most ridiculous example of cricket scheduling in ages, and if losing such an inconsequential ODI series kills Australianism then I can't say much about that.

When people look at the recent 6-1 series win over England I think they tend to forget that those wins weren't really handed to us on a platter, there were a lot of games where we were basically down and out but still some different individual rose to the ocassion everytime and bailed us out of trouble, think that's ample proof that Australianism is still alive and well.

Haha, why are you even quoting this? BoyBrumby is the one who brought up the Ashes, so I responded to him about it, thank you very much.

So the two ODI Series that we lose don't matter, because of scheduling, but the English one is important? Or could it be that India and Sri Lanka are very, very good sides, and England just almost lost against Canada?

 

[TT Boy]

Haha. Just the other day everyone was saying how refreshing it was to hear Dhoni (iirc) say Sreesanth has to up his game. We can't have it both ways - bag standard cliche speak then bag them when they speak their minds.

It's not like Ponting has been out there excluding himself from criticism either.

Just score runs ffs.*


*Hoping in the current climate that doesn't lead to infraction points.

But Sreesanth is crap thus an easy target. Bhaji was useless for 2 years but never heard a peep out of Dhoni about him or any comments about Dravid's form either. Also Haddin seems a strange target, what about Cam White?

 

[vcs]

Haha. Just the other day everyone was saying how refreshing it was to hear Dhoni (iirc) say Sreesanth has to up his game. We can't have it both ways - bag standard cliche speak then bag them when they speak their minds.

It's not like Ponting has been out there excluding himself from criticism either.

Just score runs ffs.*


*Hoping in the current climate that doesn't lead to infraction points.

Ponting has hardly been one to hide from criticism when he's gone through run droughts as well... really can't see what TT Boy's point is TBH. He's doing his job as a captain.

 

[Spark]

But Sreesanth is crap thus an easy target. Bhaji was useless for 2 years but never heard a peep out of Dhoni about him or any comments about Dravid's form either. Also Haddin seems a strange target, what about Cam White?

Wasting good form is far less forgivable a sin than not being in form.

 

[pup11]

Where did I say we're completely blowing them off? In the other thread I said we'd get to the semis.

The point is, as you say, is that the Australian batsmen are not in good form, in fact they're in much worse form than in the CT, and we're minus Hussey. On pitches likely to take turn, against Zimbabwe's spin-based attack, then this -



seems like you've misunderstood the situation.

Again, though, let's see what happens tonight.

Mate... first you make-up your mind, on one hand you are saying we are likely to struggle against the Zimbabwean spinners then on the other hand you are saying we will make it into the semis..!!

It kind of just doesn't add up, if we are so bad that we are gonna struggle against Zimbabwean spinners then obviously there is no way we are beating New Zealand, Sri Lanka or Pakistan either.

Also as I said a while ago, I really don't expect the ball to turn much in India apart from maybe at Delhi; most wickets in India are gonna be flat and true and its only in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where we could expect big turn.

 

[benchmark00]

Where did I say we're completely blowing them off?

 

[Burgey]

But Sreesanth is crap thus an easy target. Bhaji was useless for 2 years but never heard a peep out of Dhoni about him or any comments about Dravid's form either. Also Haddin seems a strange target, what about Cam White?

Don't disagree with you, I'm just saying we can't want candour then bag them when they give us just that.

White's been terrible though, hasn't he?

 

[Burgey]

Infraction points: 12.

 

[Spark]

Don't disagree with you, I'm just saying we can't want candour then bag them when they give us just that.

White's been terrible though, hasn't he?

Had a near free pass from everyone bar here. It seems to have gone completely unnoticed that he hasn't made a 50 in something like 9 innings, which is starting to get into the "uh oh" territory (but not quite into the "wtf" territory of 18+ months, eh KP?). That for me is much more of a worry than Dussey (who is finally beginning to learn how to score international runs it would seem) and Smith.

Mind you, I wouldn't even think about dropping him. He's much too important a cog in our wheel for that. The one good thing about the long, long group stages is that it's good for getting blokes into nick.

 

[Burgey]

Mate... first you make-up your mind, on one hand you are saying we are likely to struggle against the Zimbabwean spinners then on the other hand you are saying we will make it into the semis..!!

It kind of just doesn't add up, if we are so bad that we are gonna struggle against Zimbabwean spinners then obviously there is no way we are beating New Zealand, Sri Lanka or Pakistan either.

Also as I said a while ago, I really don't expect the ball to turn much in India apart from maybe at Delhi; most wickets in India are gonna be flat and true and its only in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where we could expect big turn.

If Lee and Tait bowl well it won't matter how Zimbabwe bowl inthis game.

Different story in the other matches though, and I am looking forward to seeing the Zimbabwe spinners in action. Actually, looking forward to seeing the whole Zimbob side. It's been too long.

 

[Prince EWS]

Wasting good form is far less forgivable a sin than not being in form.

Who's more sinful is a completely different argument to whose place should be under threat and/or whose doing more damage to the team, though.

It's not a fair world but if you're in form more often, you can afford to waste it more often. Haddin's very rarely out of touch (much less so than White, despite being an inferior LO batsman) which makes his contribution frustrating, but there's a difference between frustrating and damaging.

 

[Spark]

Who's more sinful is a completely different argument to whose place should be under threat and/or whose doing more damage to the team, though.

It's not a fair world but if you're in form more often, you can afford to waste it more often. Haddin's very rarely out of touch (much less so than White, despite being an inferior LO batsman) which makes his contribution frustrating, but there's a difference between frustrating and damaging.

Hmm, we're not talking about that though. In terms of getting a bit of a dressing down from the captain, it's the guy wasting starts that I'd concentrate on first.

 

[Prince EWS]

Hmm, we're not talking about that though. In terms of getting a bit of a dressing down from the captain, it's the guy wasting starts that I'd concentrate on first.

Yeah I just read Page 3 properly and realised my point was irrelevant; ignore me.

 

[benchmark00]

Yeah I just read Page 3 properly and realised my point was irrelevant; ignore me.

Way ahead of you.

PS. No tonguez in the WC forum.

 

[Nate]

Mate... first you make-up your mind, on one hand you are saying we are likely to struggle against the Zimbabwean spinners then on the other hand you are saying we will make it into the semis..!!

It kind of just doesn't add up, if we are so bad that we are gonna struggle against Zimbabwean spinners then obviously there is no way we are beating New Zealand, Sri Lanka or Pakistan either.

Also as I said a while ago, I really don't expect the ball to turn much in India apart from maybe at Delhi; most wickets in India are gonna be flat and true and its only in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where we could expect big turn.

You're turning this into a joke. You do realise it's possible to win this game (and others) while struggling against the spinners? Whether it's Swann, Botha, Ajmal, Yardy, van der Merwe... we generally sturggle, it's a well-known fact. If the pitches are turning square, or not at all, there's not a lot of difference.

You said you disagreed with my post in the Australia Discussion thread. I don't understand how you disagree with it if you didn't read it properly, or maybe you're just reading what you want to hear. I suggested that we'll struggle all the way through the tournament, before (finally) departing in the semis.

Far out, just bring on the cricket.

 

[Nate]

Far out, just bring on the cricket.

Infract that man!

 

[benchmark00]

Way ahead of you.

PS. No tonguez in the WC forum.

Unless you're posting vidz of me tonguin' your missus ftr.