**Official**VB Series 2005 Australia,Pakistan,West Indies.

[tooextracool]

too bad the rain saved australia, i was really looking forward to a complete thrashing from the WI to show how much they miss bevan.

 

[Bookie]

There should be no minmum 20 overs required, instead there should be a rule which says "they were getting abosluted belted", which would award the Windies the win. Oh well, we'll see what happens in matches to come.

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

Stupid mother nature. She needs a kick in the ass.

 

[Tim]

Selecting Symonds in that Australian XI side was a huge blunder. He's really only come good in the past year & currently he's batting like a rabbit.
Surely the selectors of that side were being dis-respectful to previous players who batted in the middle-order for Australia.

I suppose they were itching to throw Shane Watson in there aswell.

 

[social]

Aus were awful and deserved to get beaten but can someone please explain how the DL system works and why were still using it. It makes absolutely no sense.

 

[marc71178]

It is far and away the fairest method of deciding rain-affected games.

Based on all previous ODIs, the number of overs and wicket's left gives a resource total, which is compared to the 100% of the opposition and sets a target.

 

[social]

It is far and away the fairest method of deciding rain-affected games.

Based on all previous ODIs, the number of overs and wicket's left gives a resource total, which is compared to the 100% of the opposition and sets a target.

Aus loses 2 early wickets chasings 5.2 per over.

Rain causes delay of 2.5 hours.

Aus then chasing 7 per over.

DL system has thrown up too many anomalies over the years.

 

[marc71178]

How is that an anomaly?

2 down after 5 overs chasing 260 is hard anyway.

D/L looks at what the team has left, and works out what they'd need to score to be ahead when their time runs out.

The 28 over target takes into account the fact that Australia knew they were batting for 23 more overs with 8 wickets in hand, so could pace their chase appropriately.

 

[Choora]

As opposed to Pakistan's spectacular bowling attack?!

All well and fair that West Indies isn't anywhere near superpower status, but come on, WI is at least as good as Pakistan.

Both have questionable bowling attacks, but let's watch the batting...

Gayle v Butt - at the very least they're tied.
Akmal v Browne - can't judge yet. Akmal must prove that innings wasn't a fluke first. If he does, he smokes Browne.
Hafeez/Hameed/Khan v Sarwan - Sarwan slightly.
Inzamam v Lara - Lara.
Youhana v Chanderpaul - about equal. Consider where most of Youhana's success has come.
Afridi v Powell - equal.
Razzaq v Bravo - Razzaq's too much more experienced to call this one.

Samuels slots in somewhere there, but he's not by any means the worst batsman either.

These kind of man to man comparison means nothing really. If you will compare Pak and India ODI side (by the same manner) then you will end up saying that India has a far , far superior side, which is not the case as far as ODI are concerned.

Pak's current bowling attack is crap , none of the bowlers have taken 100 wkts in ODI.Its not only inefficient but also inexperianced. I think WI might proceed to the final and Pak will take an early flight home.

 

[Choora]

And Pakistan without Inzamam is spectacular?

In test matches Pakistan without Inzi is crap (even with him they are lowsy though).

IN ODI i think Pak would do better if they are without Inzi, Younis Khan should take his place and should also be appointed captain, i honestly think he will do a good job as a batter and a much better job as a captain.

 

[Choora]

Is there anyone else (besides me) who also think that Lady luck simles quiet too often on Australia?

No point denying that they are champs, but i have seen them getting away from bad situation a lot of time.

 

[Mister Wright]

In test matches Pakistan without Inzi is crap (even with him they are lowsy though).

IN ODI i think Pak would do better if they are without Inzi, Younis Khan should take his place and should also be appointed captain, i honestly think he will do a good job as a batter and a much better job as a captain.

Inzamum has easily been their best batsman in the VB series so far. He has stabilised the middle order and scored at more than a run a ball. You don't drop the 2nd highest (IIRC) run scorer in the history of ODIs and your captain unless he is in a serious form slump and it is affecting the team.

 

[tooextracool]

These kind of man to man comparison means nothing really. If you will compare Pak and India ODI side (by the same manner) then you will end up saying that India has a far , far superior side, which is not the case as far as ODI are concerned.

its been said 1 million times, some people will just never learn. the man to man comparison doesnt take into account fielding, batting depth, bowling depth or well it only compares random people, which doesnt prove anything.
and personally i'll never get how anyone can put powell down as equal to afridi. if someone can even explain to me how powell merits selection in any side in the world i'll be surprised. at least afridi can be quite brilliant on his day, which is something i cant say about powell.

 

[Duncan]

Is there anyone else (besides me) who also think that Lady luck simles quiet too often on Australia?

No point denying that they are champs, but i have seen them getting away from bad situation a lot of time.

That is true, it seems whenever someone is going to finally beat them the rain and the umpires help them. To beat them is like beating all three. Not taking anything away from them though, they truly are the best and can make all the other teams look mediocre... and they have done it to all teams.

 

[Mister Wright]

Perhaps Clarke will return to open with Gilchrist out for the next 2 matches.

Gilchrist to miss next two matches of VB Series

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Sorry 'bout this, but.....

What does IIRC stand for?

 

[Sehwag309]

Sorry 'bout this, but.....

What does IIRC stand for?

IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY

 

[Mr Casson]

Perhaps Clarke will return to open with Gilchrist out for the next 2 matches.

Gilchrist to miss next two matches of VB Series

At least we'll have a larger bank of performances to judge him on as an opener.

I don't think Haddin has a chance in hell of usurping Clarke for the opening slot.

 

[Slow Love™]

In the end, the rain probably did save the Aussies, but it should also be remembered that before this, the rain had turned a fairly moderate target into a very demanding chase.

Having said this, I'm a big fan of the current Duckworth/Lewis method. When you think about it, a system that maintains the run-rate required for the previous entire total isn't fair at all, because the team batting second, as well as having the advantage of knowing exactly how much they need at any given moment, also has substantially less overs to have to maintain the run-rate. Perhaps there could be minor tunings here and there, but overall, I think it's a great system and I'd challenge anybody to come up with something fairer.

I actually thought that the new target was achievable on the resumption of play - obviously Collins' spell made things extremely hard, but it's not been that rare lately that Australia's been five down for a low total and pulled something special out of the bag.

 

[social]

How is that an anomaly?

2 down after 5 overs chasing 260 is hard anyway.

D/L looks at what the team has left, and works out what they'd need to score to be ahead when their time runs out.

The 28 over target takes into account the fact that Australia knew they were batting for 23 more overs with 8 wickets in hand, so could pace their chase appropriately.

Unfortunately it doesnt take into account the fact that batting conditions were infinitely more difficult after the stoppage, the Australians had to restart their innings (perhaps leading to a further blow-out in the run-rate), and the 2 wickets they had lost were significant batsmen.

Of course, the above is somewhat tempered by the fact that the greasy conditions would ultimately have placed the bowlers at a disadvantage and therefore evened the equation.

Ultimately, the DL would not have made any difference to the result as the Aus team was thoroughly outplayed but the "ask" appeared to me to be overly difficult.

In summary, I equate the DL system to the PWC rankings - a reasonable attempt but far from perfect.