***Official*** Super Series

[tooextracool]

Murali and Harmison were **********.......They should have tried to defend and give Vettori the strike at the end....They could have mustered another 20-30 runs for the last couple of wickets if they had half a brain....particularly murali ...brainless attempt of an innings...especially when a much better batsmen is at the other end !!

and anybody whos seen either murali or harmison bat will tell you that if they tried to be defensive they'd survive for even fewer balls than what they actually did. neither of them have any form of defense whatsoever and id rather they swung a bat or played the marillier sweep, as long as they get some runs on the board.

 

[tooextracool]

What relevance does the fact that it is a 6 day match have?

the fact that had the players been capable of batting 6 days(or even 5) it would have been turning square on the last 2 days?

 

[tooextracool]

I can't see the World XI getting anywhere near the 355 needed.

i cant see it happening unless we see a lara special. i was hoping he got to play more of the spinners yesterday evening, just so that he could play himself in. im not particularly surprised to see smith fail, but the only positive right now for the World XI is that the 2 best batsmen in the world today are at the crease, and thats the only hope they have. boucher is a real waste of space though, and not only does the side not have a batsman keeper they dont really have a quality keeper either.

 

[dinu23]

i think boucher's keeping is right up there. his batting is the problem

 

[open365]

i really can't fathom boucher in the test side.

the only reason i think they might have had is that they saw him a the slightly better keeper and thought they wouldn't need a keeper batsman because of all the batting class they have.

even so,sanga acctually plays with murali,and look at boucher today.

 

[greg]

the fact that had the players been capable of batting 6 days(or even 5) it would have been turning square on the last 2 days?

So you're admitting that picking two spinner was pretty pointless?

 

[tooextracool]

So you're admitting that picking two spinner was pretty pointless?

and where exactly do you get that from?
it may not be turning square now but it is already turning enough to assist any half decent spin bowler, let alone 2 of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket. if the match did go on till day 5 and day 6(which i think most people would have expected given the usual SCG conditions and the quality of batsmen on either side), the spin bowlers would have been turning it a mile, and having pollock in those conditions over vettori would have been an absolute joke, not like it isnt right now

 

[BoyBrumby]

i really can't fathom boucher in the test side.

the only reason i think they might have had is that they saw him a the slightly better keeper and thought they wouldn't need a keeper batsman because of all the batting class they have.

even so,sanga acctually plays with murali,and look at boucher today.

Boucher was pretty awful keeping to Murali today. The stumping chance he missed was a real howler; luckily Katich didn't punish him. He's one of those selections that everyone could see was wrong when it was made: Sangakarra averages the best part of 20 more & (as you say) has infinitely more experience of keeping to the great man.

Nice to see Fred back to his best, bowled a fuller length than he did on day one & there was a teeny bit of reverse for him. I think the ball he got Punter with was reverse swing.

Fat Gray looked v ordinary against McGrath, although in his defence I guess it was pretty dull out there.

 

[greg]

and where exactly do you get that from?
it may not be turning square now but it is already turning enough to assist any half decent spin bowler, let alone 2 of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket. if the match did go on till day 5 and day 6(which i think most people would have expected given the usual SCG conditions and the quality of batsmen on either side), the spin bowlers would have been turning it a mile, and having pollock in those conditions over vettori would have been an absolute joke, not like it isnt right now

It's the end of day 3. I certainly didn't think day 6 would ever be required. Did you? I would just point out that pace bowlers have taken 12 of the 20 Australian wickets, spinners 6.

To claim that Vettori is one of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket is pushing it a bit. Even if i was born on the same day as him.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Fat Gray looked v ordinary against McGrath, although in his defence I guess it was pretty dull out there.

I'm sure the witness would have said to the umpires after each ball that he was struggling to pick the ball up (obviously he wasn't batting long enough for this to have an effect), then insist afterwards that he was in no way appealing for the light.

 

[tooextracool]

It's the end of day 3. I certainly didn't think day 6 would ever be required. Did you?.

no but i thought day 5 would at least. not like it matters of course because the ball is turning significantly already

I would just point out that pace bowlers have taken 12 of the 20 Australian wickets, spinners 6.

largely because they had to bowl 1st in conditions that didnt help them much on the first day. hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when you consider that warne and macgill took 8 wickets between them in the 2nd innings of the game, id think theres plenty in the wicket for the spinners.

To claim that Vettori is one of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket is pushing it a bit. Even if i was born on the same day as him.

i was referring to warne.

 

[open365]

why does everyone hate smith so much?

yes,i know he called micheal vaughan a queer but he's only young.

am i the only one that thinks bowlers should bowl slower balls more often?
the way harmie bowled hayden and clarke was fantastic,and the brett lee ball that did strauss all ends up.

 

[chalky]

Were the ABC commentators slagging off Harmisson & Flintoff during Australia's 2nd innings?

 

[greg]

no but i thought day 5 would at least. not like it matters of course because the ball is turning significantly already

largely because they had to bowl 1st in conditions that didnt help them much on the first day. hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when you consider that warne and macgill took 8 wickets between them in the 2nd innings of the game, id think theres plenty in the wicket for the spinners.

i was referring to warne.

Yeah well it's only my opinion and i don't think the way the game has panned out has in any way shown my opinion to be ridiculous. As far as the comments on this thread are concerned I benefit a bit from hindsight, but i can assure you that i held this opinion beforehand. The Australians have a weakness against quality pace and swing bowling - IMO the World XI handicapped themselves by leaving Harmison and Flintoff to carry this form of the attack. Seeing as the argument is about whether the world XI should have picked two spinners or not, the fact that Warne is a great spinner is irrelevant. If Warne was available to the World XI then my opinion would probably change. But this is about whether Pollock should have been picked ahead of Vettori.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Were the ABC commentators slagging off Harmisson & Flintoff during Australia's 2nd innings?

Bill Lawry was in raptures about his spell today, but he is ever-so-slightly prone to hyperbole. It was pretty special tho.

Is Lawry ABC, actually? Can only go by what Sky gives us.

 

[Scaly piscine]

why does everyone hate smith so much?

yes,i know he called micheal vaughan a queer but he's only young.

am i the only one that thinks bowlers should bowl slower balls more often?
the way harmie bowled hayden and clarke was fantastic,and the brett lee ball that did strauss all ends up.

What does his age have to do with it? He was still an adult and that sort of thing is just ridiculously childish. The guy plays to the cameras in the field, is a complete hypocrite and went out of his way to get an opposing captain banned - and that's just a few reasons why you could hate the Witness.

 

[tooextracool]

Yeah well it's only my opinion and i don't think the way the game has panned out has in any way shown my opinion to be ridiculous. As far as the comments on this thread are concerned I benefit a bit from hindsight, but i can assure you that i held this opinion beforehand. The Australians have a weakness against quality pace and swing bowling - IMO the World XI handicapped themselves by leaving Harmison and Flintoff to carry this form of the attack. Seeing as the argument is about whether the world XI should have picked two spinners or not, the fact that Warne is a great spinner is irrelevant. If Warne was available to the World XI then my opinion would probably change. But this is about whether Pollock should have been picked ahead of Vettori.

you pick players according to the conditions. pollock has failed miserably against australia in recent years and it was extremely unlikely that we would see any form of movement, seam or swing at sydney(and we really havent seen that much except a bit with the new ball). murali really looked out of touch for a large part of this test and when he looked in some sort of form, he bowled quite brilliantly. vettori hasnt bowled that well no, and hes been unfortunate too(with the gilchrist catch that was dropped) but i still think when you go into a test at sydney you pick 2 spin bowlers especially ahead of pollock. i do agree with you that they are 1 pace bowler short, which has more to do with the long held opinion that "kallis is an allrounder" when hes clearly not and cant be relied upon to be a first change bowler. i would however have dropped a batsman to do that.

 

[open365]

so lets say they droped Inzie.

what bowler would you replace him with?

 

[greg]

you pick players according to the conditions. pollock has failed miserably against australia in recent years and it was extremely unlikely that we would see any form of movement, seam or swing at sydney(and we really havent seen that much except a bit with the new ball). murali really looked out of touch for a large part of this test and when he looked in some sort of form, he bowled quite brilliantly. vettori hasnt bowled that well no, and hes been unfortunate too(with the gilchrist catch that was dropped) but i still think when you go into a test at sydney you pick 2 spin bowlers especially ahead of pollock. i do agree with you that they are 1 pace bowler short, which has more to do with the long held opinion that "kallis is an allrounder" when hes clearly not and cant be relied upon to be a first change bowler. i would however have dropped a batsman to do that.

I thought that before, but as was pointed out to me it's a bit of a myth that you "always play two spinners at Sydney". You pick 2 spinners if you have a five man attack. I agree the World XI should probably have gone in with such an attack, but that is by the by. Given that they only went in with 4 they should have picked Pollock. IMO.

 

[tooextracool]

so lets say they droped Inzie.

what bowler would you replace him with?

the only option from the squad is pollock really, and he adds a bit with the bat too.