***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

[tooextracool]

anyone else notice how hayden and trescothick have the exact same field set against them, packed with the same number of slips and the same silly mid off(or whatever that position's called)?
it might be in australia's interest to use that sort of field position against pietersen, considering that he hit quite a few drives in the air yesterday.

 

[shaka]

Hayden often hits it to mid off and gets a run, so the move to place a silly mid off works wonders and slows the number of easy singles taken by him.. NZ did not think about putting the mid off closer in so as to cause a possible run out.

 

[vic_orthdox]

That silly mid off for Hayden is very smart because he often drives balls that most others would simply defend, that are coming through at almost hip height, and therefore take longer to get to the ground. This brings into play guys like the silly mid-off and short cover. Smart captaincy.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Pietersen should bat ahead of collingwood who is a finisher but not before flintoff

There's no way England should be so concrete in their plans - the 4/5/6 should vary dependent on situation - at 6/2 there was more chance of Collingwood surviving than Flintoff or Pietersen, even if that didn't prove to be the case. At 206/2, however, obviously you'd want KP.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Why? Just about everyone else has struggled to pick him. I think that's one of his greatest weapons, in fact - everyone thinks he sucks.................until they face him.

That used to be one of my great weapons.

 

[Top_Cat]

Well so far he's taken 5-61 off 16 overs against England in this series, England should be doing far better than that against him.

Why? When was the last time the English top-order faced a left-arm wristie at all, let alone a decent one?

it might be in australia's interest to use that sort of field position against pietersen, considering that he hit quite a few drives in the air yesterday.

Geez, would YOU stand that close? I know it's more of a 'make him nervous' rather than a catching position but you'd be hard-pressed to find volunteers!

Seriously, I think that position is more for players who 'poke' at the ball and Pieterson doesn't strike me as that sort. Maybe some short stuff followed by a yorker (because he's so tall) might do the job? He's hitting the ball so well right now, it's hard to pick a style of bowling which is going to consistently trouble him. He's in such form, he's getting himself out more than good bowling.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Why? When was the last time the English top-order faced a left-arm wristie at all, let alone a decent one?



Geez, would YOU stand that close? I know it's more of a 'make him nervous' rather than a catching position but you'd be hard-pressed to find volunteers!

Seriously, I think that position is more for players who 'poke' at the ball and Pieterson doesn't strike me as that sort. Maybe some short stuff followed by a yorker (because he's so tall) might do the job? He's hitting the ball so well right now, it's hard to pick a style of bowling which is going to consistently trouble him right now. He's in such form, he's getting himself out more than good bowling.

Last summer - Dave Mohammad... and before that, probably Mike Bevan in the mid/late 90s.

 

[King_Ponting]

Last summer - Dave Mohammad... and before that, probably Mike Bevan in the mid/late 90s.

i wouldnt exactly say he's decent

 

[luckyeddie]

If he'd needed to have played 'proper cricket' for 69 balls then 1 run every 2 balls would be fine. But all the top quality bowlers were off 1/3 of the way through his innings. Gillespie (who was somewhat lucky to get away with 1-36 off 9), Watson, Symonds and Hogg were all there to be scored off, somewhat worrying that England were so useless against Hogg again.

In response to those that say England didn't bat that badly, look at who top scored for England...

During WC 2003, DD coined the phrase "Brad Hogg, GLA" (it stands for 'Greatest Living Australian'), but you weren't around them.

I rate him immensely, but take the mickey out of him to an extent that even I feel sorry for him on occasions.

As for how Solanki batted against the various bowlers, I'm inclined to agree with TEC (noooooooooooo!!!!!) and suggest that you didn't see much of the game. Suggest you study the 'Player v Player' stats.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Congrats Australia, decent score on a slow wicket and some excellent new ball bowling from Lee and Pidge; Australia come to the party eh. Just as Aus losing to Eng and Bang and Somerset wouldn't have a bearing on the Ashes, I think this result won't do, either. Having said that, worrying signs for the openers, Marcus again nibbling outside off and Andy looks susceptible to the in-swinger; don't expect either to be pulling up trees this summer, so a lot rests on the middle order. We've shown that as a team we can fail at the top and still post a good total, so I'm not too concerned.

Just out of interest, has any opener in world cricket had a sustained period of success against Pidge? If so how did they play him and can Marcus learn from it I wonder.

Lee's first ball had me saying "what a beautiful delivery", he's improved since I last saw him. What are the odds on a Test place this summer? Or will Kaspa hit his straps too, these Aussies are finding their feet now. I reckoned 1-3 before a ball was bowled, haven't seen much to consider a reversal of that thought.

 

[Neil Pickup]

i wouldnt exactly say he's decent

I never said he was - those two are the only other ones we've faced in recent memory, IIRC.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Just out of interest, has any opener in world cricket had a sustained period of success against Pidge? If so how did they play him and can Marcus learn from it I wonder.

It's hard to find any batsman who has had a sustained period of success against McGrath, really. Lara and Tendulkar both had their moments on top, but mostly Tendulkar and McGrath hit a stalemate where McGrath didn't get him out that often (it's actually Gillespie who has got on top of Tendulkar), but Tendulkar didn't smash him around either. Lara and McGrath is a bit different, where each had periods of dominance. Lara put McGrath to the sword in 1999, then a year later McGrath absolutely dominated him. In 2003 Lara got on top again, but McGrath was bowling poorly then by his standards, probably due to his injury.

In terms of openers, the best examples I can think of are Virender Sehwag and... Michael Vaughan. Sehwag generally attacked McGrath and tried to hit him off his line, and was the only Indian to have a good series with the bat last year, and McGrath got him out a couple of times, but generally lost the battle. Vaughan of course had a great series against McGrath after Glenn targetted him, but he's not an opener any more. Aside from those guys, McGrath usually thrashes openers.

Lee's first ball had me saying "what a beautiful delivery", he's improved since I last saw him. What are the odds on a Test place this summer? Or will Kaspa hit his straps too, these Aussies are finding their feet now. I reckoned 1-3 before a ball was bowled, haven't seen much to consider a reversal of that thought.

As I've been saying for a while, Lee is a much better bowler than he was when he last played tests. He should get a run from here if he keeps bowling line that in the remanining 7 ODIs Australia have.

 

[vic_orthdox]

A net bowler asked Pieterson on the morning before his 91 "How many are you going to make today, mate?". His reply?

"How long is a piece of string?"

Gold!

 

[tooextracool]

Hayden often hits it to mid off and gets a run, so the move to place a silly mid off works wonders and slows the number of easy singles taken by him.. NZ did not think about putting the mid off closer in so as to cause a possible run out.

thats a good point, and its probably there for trescothick, because he tends to just drop the ball down and take a quick single early on in his innings.

 

[tooextracool]

Geez, would YOU stand that close? I know it's more of a 'make him nervous' rather than a catching position but you'd be hard-pressed to find volunteers!

Seriously, I think that position is more for players who 'poke' at the ball and Pieterson doesn't strike me as that sort. Maybe some short stuff followed by a yorker (because he's so tall) might do the job? He's hitting the ball so well right now, it's hard to pick a style of bowling which is going to consistently trouble him. He's in such form, he's getting himself out more than good bowling.

umm, the silly mid off is about as far away from pietersen, as the bowler is when he finished his run up. so if he's in grave danger, then i'd say so is the bowler. nonetheless its quite possible to move mid off a lot squarer, if thats a much 'safer' option.

 

[tooextracool]

Just out of interest, has any opener in world cricket had a sustained period of success against Pidge? If so how did they play him and can Marcus learn from it I wonder.

theres not a player in the world, who's had consistent success against mcgrath when the ball is moving swinging and seaming. the best way to play mcgrath in such a case is to either have the technique to survive the new ball and then hope that the conditions get better to bat on, or as i've advocated in the past, come down the track and hit him for a couple of 4s first up.

 

[aussie]

What does everyone think the Australian team will be for the match against Bangladesh on Saturday night?

Kasprowicz in to give McGrath a rest
Clarke is still in doubt for the game, maybe Martyn to rest and Hussey or Watson to go up the order?
Haddin in for Gilchrist, but I'm sure Gilchrist will want another innings.

Or will Australia go full strength trying to get another win on the board.

Maybe?

Hayden
Gilchrist
Ponting
Katich
Symonds
Hussey
Watson
Hogg
Lee
Gillespie
Kasprowicz

its an idea but for me i would want to see a full strenght aussie side tomoro when i go to the ground.

 

[aussie]

i've been wondering the exact same thing. its amazing really, ATM it really looks like all you have to do it pitch it up to him and get it to straighten and he wont last long.
as it stands i cant see him scoring a run this summer unless he makes serious serious improvements in a very short period of time, and i really doubt it has anything to do with form, given that he just came off a fairly big score against bangladesh. its not a small chink in his armour either, he seems incapable of playing straight.
as far as tresco is concerned, well i think the last 2 games have confirmed everything i needed to know about him. he quite clearly hasnt made any sort of changes to his game and his still by and large the same FTB that he was in the last ashes series. he didnt play a single ball convincingly yesterday, nether did strauss for that matter, and you really wonder if your openers cant see out the new ball in an ODI game, how in the hell are they going to score runs in a test match?
personally i think we've found our place for pietersen in the ashes side, drop tresco, bump vaughan up and get pietersen in the side. and i'd hope butcher is fit and in form, because i'd think we'd be making frantic calls for him by the time we reach the 3rd test. rob key wouldnt be a bad bet either.

Well its very obvious the weakness Strauss has showed againts deliveries coming back into him and he definately would have to make adjustment very quickly or esle he will have a poor test series, but i dont know if the selectors will be so quick to drop him during the test series, since remembering how they persisted with Tresco in the caribbean last year gives me the impression they might do the same with Strauss since he has been excellent since making his test debut last year.

 

[aussie]

as far as lee's bowling is concerned, yes it was brilliant, and he managed to maintain his accuracy for pretty much the entire game. if he bowls like this more often in test matches he'd be a fine bowler.

Well tec he has been bowling like that in ODI's since the VB series, thats why i have been saying since then that the way he is bowling in ODI's is good enough to make him a successful test match bowler right now

 

[Anil]

Well, fortunately we don't see RIchard in official threads.

Pity really as all his One Day theories are being blown out the water in this series (as they are in any series)

so then doesn't it follow that he will refuse to acknowledge that just as he does in every series?