***Official*** VB Series 2006

[anthonysw]

Anyone unlucky enough to go to the 1-day game in Adelaide on 26th Jan
That is by far the most boring 1-day international game I have ever seen live.

Got my ticket to the first VB final in Adelaide so am hoping for a more exciting game.

 

[JASON]

Rotation policy??

To be honest SL has played its best possible team throughout the VB series, wheras the Aussies have rested selected players (some of whom were struggling a bit up until being rested ie Gilly/Punter under the pretext of Rotation Policy) while SA have struggled with several of their top players gone missing thru' injury.

In effect SL have managed to keep up with the other 2 (Aus, SA) because of this .

Unfortunately now its crunch time and even the replacements in the SA team are doing well (ie Van Der Waath) while the guys who were rested from the Aussie Team are coming back refreshed and in fine form !!

SL therefore will now be expected to revert to the pre VB expectations fom hereon IMO , ie Also ran 3rd from hereon.

I would be glad to be proven wrong , but I have a very ominous feeling this is becoming the reality as shown by their failure to nail the last game V SA and their very comprehensive defeats by Aussies in the last 2 games. The cramped schedule hasn't helped, but this is something they should expect when they come to Australia. (Try and return the favour to the Aussies when they next visit SL )

 

[Top_Cat]

Anyone unlucky enough to go to the 1-day game in Adelaide on 26th Jan
That is by far the most boring 1-day international game I have ever seen live.

Got my ticket to the first VB final in Adelaide so am hoping for a more exciting game.

Heh, you didn't tell me you were going, man. I was there! It was up there with the hottest game I've been to! The winner in that regard was Aus vs England in about 2002. At least the game on Thursday had a cool change; the one with England was 44 degrees C, was humid and at ground-level, the temperature was measured at 52 degrees C...........

 

[Linda]

Heh, you didn't tell me you were going, man. I was there! It was up there with the hottest game I've been to! The winner in that regard was Aus vs England in about 2002. At least the game on Thursday had a cool change; the one with England was 44 degrees C, was humid and at ground-level, the temperature was measured at 52 degrees C...........

Hahaha, meanwhile, Ive just been to the coldest cricket match Ive ever experianced... The sun was warm as always, but after that went my toes were blue, no joke. No wonder the pitch is a road over here, we've had an extreme lack of heat!

 

[Arjun]

I haven't seen van Der Wath in action, so what are your comments on him as a player? He's got interesting stats and has come as a replacement for Kallis.

As for Mubarak, there's definitely some conspiracy out there. He's been given several chances and luckily scored one over 50, but has done nothing out of the ordinary. In comparison, Vandort, who's definitely a better limited-overs batsman (at List-A level), was just given ONE innings and dropped after that, without recall. Something's fishy out there.....

 

[Hondo]

SL selectors and coach absolutely baffle me when it comes to picking their best Team for the game.

It would have made sense for most to play Ruchira Perera as the Super Sub or even in the Team over Fernando. They do the stupiddest thing to pick the guy who got smashed in Adelaide again - and not surprisingly he gives the Aussie run chase a rollicking start with a 20 run over . Absolutely apalling.

Dude Ruchira didn't play cause he's injured. I don't agree about Attapatu being dropped from the ODI. He is really is a good captain and there isn't anyone in the team at the moment that can captain at the moment. Clearly Vass has no idea of captaining. And I don't think Mahela should be given the Captaincy at all, he struggle with the burden of Vice Captaincy before. Need some one with a good cricketing brain and I think Sanga should be made Vice Captain I think he will be a good choice to take over from Attapattu when he's done.

Tomorrows game will be vital for Sri Lanka, and I think it's time to stop mucking around with top order. Attapattu is too god of a batsmen to come down 4th or 5th in the line up. He should go back to opening with Sanath and get rid of Mubarak. He's not an opening batsmen. If Sanath fires, Attapatu can play the supporting role and he can hang in there.

Maybe they should think about strengthening the middle order by keeping Kapugedara or even putting Tharanga in the middle. I don't know why they keep on insisting giving Mubarak a go. He has had too many chances now.

PS: Jason still waiting for your MSN details dude!

 

[Arjun]

Dilhara's a headache for coaches or team management. He's got a lot more pace than the others, who are just hittable medium-pacers, but he oversteps way too often. He's a hard trier, but in a bid to get an extra wicket, he'll only let loose a few meatballs. Rather than drop him because he's got smashed so often, the people in charge should work on his bowlign and iron out those flaws, especially the no-ball problem. None of the other pacers have the pace or power to unsettle a batting lineup.

 

[marc71178]

The middle of a Tournament is not the place to be working on someone's faults though.

 

[Jono]

If Fernando's problems haven't been ironed out yet, I can't see them fixing it in the middle of the VB Series. He's been around for ages and was touted as a very promising talent. Obviously didn't work out that way. If at that time he wasn't tought how to do the simple things right, I see no reason why he will suddenly be tought it now.

 

[chaminda_00]

Time to give up on Dilhara, unless he can solve his problems at A level. I hope Perera fit, cus i don't think Ganegama is up to it. I would just play Bandara and play Vandort or Thangana as super sub, cus 10 overs from Dilshan and Jayasuriya is better then any overs from Ganegama and Dilhara. My side for the next game would be:

S Jayasuriya
M Atapattu/M Vandort
K Sangakkara
M Jayawardene
R Arnold
T Dilshan
C Kapugedera
C Vaas
M Bandara/R Perera
N Kulasekara
M Muralithran

SuperSub: M Bandara/M Vandort/U Thangana

 

[Jono]

How many matches have SL played in a row now? The scheduling for this tournament is quite odd.

I agree with Graeme Smith as many do, the VB Series is far too long, particularly for the nation that has been around for a test series as well. Last year's was better, with each team playing each other 3 times rather than 4.

 

[Lostman]

i think opposing teams intentionally give mubarak a single of the last ball of the over..

 

[parttimer]

Jaya is now taking some big risks running in order to keep himself on strike

 

[parttimer]

Theres no doubt Mubarek has the shots, he just doens't like playing them.. oh here we go 2 fours in a row

 

[parttimer]

Jaya gets his 50 off 44 balls. Top stuff

 

[Lostman]

good captiancy by smith not to take 2nd PP at once.

 

[marc71178]

If Smith can take 3-25 into his 9th over, I guess Murali might have a say in the outcome today...

 

[Nate]

What a catch by Prince! And now Pollock strikes, Sri Lanka throwing this away with bad shots. Smith`s bowling certainly has improved of recent.

 

[Blaze]

If Smith can take 3-25 into his 9th over, I guess Murali might have a say in the outcome today...

I would take Smith's figures with a grain of salt. Just poor batting and a bit of good fielding.

 

[Nate]

If Smith can take 3-25 into his 9th over, I guess Murali might have a say in the outcome today...

All three wickets have been bad shots, and he hasnt gotten any turn really, just flighting it nicely. Jayawardene played across the line to a straight one, Mubarak was done by the angle from around-the-wicket and then there was a stunning catch.

And now a run-out!