***Official*** West Indies in Australia

[luckyeddie]

you dont build up pressure by bowling a foot outside off stump and not making the batsmen play i can assure you. pace bowlers dont play test cricket by being defensive.

'Can' was the operative word.

 

[howardj]

Geez the Windies are ordinary. How can you have no heart, when you're playing for your Country? Eight wickets in 84 minutes, on a good pitch. Spineless.

 

[Nate]

Awesome really. Was thrilled with the cricket today, Lee was amazing, and Bracken was great. I really wanted Bracken to get 5-for and then of course he went for 14... but nothing could compare with Lee`s expression when he bowled Lawson. Nothing. Pure joy for him, and I wouldn`t have it any other way. Great to watch, poor Windies.

I think in overcast conditions Bracken will swing it mucho, and in normal conditions he will use great seam movement. In short, pick him. But of course, there is strong competition between him and MacGill. Shmeh.

Cheers for the comments, there`s nothing like seeing Bracken on a hat-trick in Test matches. Twice! Long may it continue!

 

[Nate]

Geez the Windies are ordinary. How can you have no heart, when you're playing for your Country? Eight wickets in 84 minutes, on a good pitch. Spineless.

For Gayle, maybe. But for the rest of them?

Did you turn the tv on before you started watching?

 

[howardj]

For Gayle, maybe. But for the rest of them?

Did you turn the tv on before you started watching?

Mate, it's Test cricket - these guys are the best players in their country. You don't lose eight wickets in 84 minutes, on a good pitch, if you apply yourself.

 

[Nate]

You didn`t answer the question.

The pitch had tinges of green, the sky was grey and Bracken and Lee were on fire. Some of the deliveries were unplayable, the number of times they played and missed Lee and got hit on the pads by Bracks. Incredible.

 

[howardj]

You didn`t answer the question.

The pitch had tinges of green, the sky was grey and Bracken and Lee were on fire. Some of the deliveries were unplayable, the number of times they played and missed Lee and got hit on the pads by Bracks. Incredible.

Equally, you didnt acknowledge my point about application. I mean - and you could see it in the first innings also when they scored a piddling 210 on a 'belter' - do you really think the Australians are that good? It's like in the ODI finals out here in Australia last summer, when Pakistan were 4/30 in both games - yes Australia are good, but as we saw in England, they are not that good.

I just think, with International cricket nowadays, you can get yourself into a fool's paradise. Half the time you're coming against rubbish teams, devoid of fight. Then, as evidenced in England, when you come up against a side that asks questions of you, you've forgotten what it's like to be questioned, and to be challenged. If Test players played with heart, eight wickets in 84 minutes is unlikely.

 

[andyc]

Geez the Windies are ordinary. How can you have no heart, when you're playing for your Country? Eight wickets in 84 minutes, on a good pitch. Spineless.

Well for one it's not their country they're playing for.

 

[luckyeddie]

Geez the Windies are ordinary. How can you have no heart, when you're playing for your Country? Eight wickets in 84 minutes, on a good pitch. Spineless.

I know that a couple of my West Indian buddies down de pub love playing dominoes, but I didn't realise that the selectors did.

 

[luckyeddie]

Well for one it's not their country they're playing for.

Bogus argument - that's always been the case.

 

[howardj]

Well for one it's not their country they're playing for.

Geez, there's one on every forum.

Yes, I know, it's their region - each island is an independent country.

 

[andyc]

Bogus argument - that's always been the case.

Yeah I know, I was just pointing it out...

 

[Josh]

Yes, the big debate now is who will replace Watson. I honestly have no ****ing idea. All I know is that it WON'T be Hodge

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I think it's a bit bizarre to dismiss Bracken's performance today as weather related. Conditions were decent for swing bowling, but nothing remarkable. Lee and McGrath swung the new ball, but largely Lee didn't after his opening spell, and Bracken wasn't exactly hooping it a mile either. He just bowled accurately, built pressure, and moved the ball enough. He also got Chanderpaul by moving one a fair amount off the wicket, as Lee did with Ramdin. Bracken swings it a lot more than that when it's genuinely swing-friendly conditions.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Yes, the big debate now is who will replace Watson. I honestly have no ****ing idea. All I know is that it WON'T be Hodge

Next test is in Hobart yes? If Watson is unfit, with Warne and Lee in good batting form I wouldn't be surprised if MacGill did and Australia went in with 5 bowlers.

If it's not MacGill, I guess the next most likely thing is that Langer comes back in and Hussey goes down to 6, or Hodge comes in for Hussey or Watson.

 

[Josh]

Next test is in Hobart yes? If Watson is unfit, with Warne and Lee in good batting form I wouldn't be surprised if MacGill did and Australia went in with 5 bowlers.

If it's not MacGill, I guess the next most likely thing is that Langer comes back in and Hussey goes down to 6, or Hodge comes in for Hussey or Watson.

Maybe.

The problem with Hobart is the temperature, which is not ideal for spin bowling. The cold fingers tend to grip the ball harder or somesuch, meaning a late release and innacuracy or dropping short (any more of this from MacGill's bowling would mean he might get 1 ball an over in the spot), so might not be best of conditions for 2 spinners.

HOWEVER, selectors love seeing NSW players in that team.

 

[social]

I think it's a bit bizarre to dismiss Bracken's performance today as weather related. Conditions were decent for swing bowling, but nothing remarkable. Lee and McGrath swung the new ball, but largely Lee didn't after his opening spell, and Bracken wasn't exactly hooping it a mile either. He just bowled accurately, built pressure, and moved the ball enough. He also got Chanderpaul by moving one a fair amount off the wicket, as Lee did with Ramdin. Bracken swings it a lot more than that when it's genuinely swing-friendly conditions.

Exactly right.

What we saw today was top quality bowling in reasonable batting conditions against a team with a long tail.

Unfortunately, some people find it hard to believe that Lee (finally) and Bracken can bowl high test quality spells and will use any excuse to discredit their performances.

 

[howardj]

Exactly right.

Unfortunately, some people find it hard to believe that Lee (finally) and Bracken can bowl high test quality spells and will use any excuse to discredit their performances.

Not really. I mean, as I said on Test eve, Lee is a player 'who everyone likes to see do well'. The only thing I question, or if you like the basis for reserving my judgment on this performance by all of the Australian team, is the quality of the opposition. It's no mystery why world class teams like Australia and England, have absolutely crunched the Windies in recent series (England 3-0; England 4-0; Australia 3-1) - the West Indies are ordinary. Like I said in the above post - it's their 1st Innings performance also. I mean, is making less than 350 (both innings combined) on a very good wicket, of Test standard? Are Australia that good?

 

[Jono]

Well Gayle does have a respectable record opening the bating, his unorthdox but so is Shewag. Your better off having a slogger opening then someone like Ganga, who one of worse batsmen to play Test Cricket lately.

In tests, Sehwag is so far from a slogger its not even funny. He's one of the best opening batsman right now, and plays fairly cricket shots to get those runs, he just plays more aggressively than other openers in the past. His technique is far superior to Gayle's.

Compare Sehwag's defence to Gayle's. I think you'll see there's a huge difference. Gayle shouldn't be a test opener in my opinion, and I understand your point is that he's the best option they've got which may be true. But to justify his selection by comparing him to Sehwag who is so far superior its ridiculous (once again... IN TESTS) is not a solid argument at all.

 

[howardj]

This article makes many of the same points - as it states, the performance was 'lily-livered':

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,17159439-23212,00.html