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The fourth and final instalment looks at some great West Indian players, most of whom would have been superstars in the ODI format. I…
In light of the recent Ashes series result, a number of people responsible for aspects of England’s performance resigned their positions. These included coaches…
This is Part 3 in the series about a team full of exciting players who never had a chance to play ODI cricket. I’ve…
Cricket Australia has not had a good run with its choice of CEOs in recent times. Remember James Sutherland, who probably stayed on a…
I recently submitted an article about my best Australian XII who never played an ODI. At the time I wrote that, I realised it…
Right about now, we should have been enjoying the start of a short white-ball series between Australia and New Zealand. I was particularly looking…
That nebulous rabble that is the Australian media had a lovely time this summer. An underwhelming England squad gave them plenty of stories both…
This article was prompted by a Roar reader – so many thanks to DTM for this idea. The Ashes are over and in the…
In the days leading up to the first Ashes Test, I made some predictions that I thought I’d revisit. In hindsight, more than a…
It’s been 1200 days since Australia last played Test cricket overseas against an Asian opponent. That was a two-Test series against Pakistan in the…
Pat Cummins knocked over Ollie Robinson to claim the last wicket of the fifth Ashes Test, completing a 4–0 series win and putting a…
The Sydney Test is in the record books and it was a real stop-start affair, which was frustrating for everyone. In between rain delays…
Now that the Ashes have been retained, a lot of interest for the series seems to be focused who will be selected in the…
There are two truths that are self-evident: the sun will rise in the east and set in the west, and England Test cricket is…
Prior to the appointment of Pat Cummins as Australia’s Test captain, I read all manner of reasons why this would be a disastrous move.…
'The selectors will have a conundrum if Josh Hazlewood is fit for the Sydney Test'. This was a comment I read from one of…
The media has got this series completely wrong. There appears to have been an assumption made by the media some weeks ago, especially the…
I’ve no idea why, but the Esther Phillips song from the 1970s 'What a Difference a Day Makes' came into my head the other…
The Adelaide Test is done and dusted and this has to go into the record books as something unique. I don’t think there’s ever…
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the expression “cricket’s a funny game”. The first Test fits that narrative nicely. One…
yeah, fair call, but it’d be nice to know what Madge or which ever rocket scientist came up with this plan were thinking, before dismissing it out of hand
Five captains not better than one: Tigers fall for illusion of shared leadership model
I found this a really challenging read AMD, mostly because I’m not a huge fan of stats except to settle arguments at pubs. That said I have a question.
Apart from generating lots of work for certain types of people, what benefit to either baseball or cricket has there been with the advent of all these stats driven models? I’m not talking about settling arguments over who was better Bradman or Trumper, but more about the here and now?
For example, I watched many of Joe Roots innings over the past 15 – 18 months and could tell he was in rare form. I didn’t need too many stats to tell me that and presumably, neither did his team mates or opposition. Ditto with Boland, etc.
I’m no way denigrating stats, they have their place in any sport, but unless there’s an immediate/quick benefit from their collection, they seem to be more for general interest or for people with a sports betting account.
Of sabermetrics and sacred cows: The future of cricket statistics
Soon….. ish??
Another blow for Australia's white ball teams with Mitch Marsh injured, Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar out with COVID
he may well do, but like indigestion, Finch has little control over when his form is going to fix itself.
Another Finch failure heaps pressure on skipper as Sri Lanka ace thrilling run-chase
and if Australia beats Pakistan in the Tests…….?
Another blow for Australia's white ball teams with Mitch Marsh injured, Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar out with COVID
I think people get overly excited about one good/bad innings or one good/bad bowling spell these days Matt.
In this format especially, it doesn’t take much for guys to have a shocker with the ball, even though they’re actually bowling well.
Another Finch failure heaps pressure on skipper as Sri Lanka ace thrilling run-chase
hi Dwanye, I’m not sure the bowling has got better so much as the overall package has improved.
The bowlers now know where to prevent these guys from scoring as well as knowing how to get them out with field placings so they’re making Kohli & Smith work far harder for their runs as well as increasing their chances by bolwing on good areas more often. We saw the same thing in the Ashes with Root.
Will concussion hasten the decline and fall of S.P.D.Smith?
a really good comparison.
I’m keen to see Maxwell have a go at the captaincy. With his experience I’d have thought he’d be a pretty fair captain, at least in T20’s.
Another Finch failure heaps pressure on skipper as Sri Lanka ace thrilling run-chase
Why? If the batsmen aren’t playing shots and the fielding team is trying to take wickets, there’s nothing absurd about that at all.
Absurd Shield finish as Bulls crowd the bat for a whole 15 overs, even get paceman to bowl offies
Some interesting questions Mike. Clearly Smith is not as productive as he was a few seasons ago, though why that’s the case can only be speculation for us. I’m guessing only Smith, medical staff and those close to him can really know why that’s the case. Certainly it would be wrong for us to dismiss your thought that head knocks have had a part to play. At the least, from personal experience, it can dent confidence.
What I find interesting is that Kohli & Williamson have also gone through output declines for various reasons at about the same time. I realise Williamson is most likely due to injury but is it a coincidence the 3 best bats in the game have all dropped output?
Maybe it’s simply old age catching up with them.
Will concussion hasten the decline and fall of S.P.D.Smith?
And this was considered absurd because?
Absurd Shield finish as Bulls crowd the bat for a whole 15 overs, even get paceman to bowl offies
Why not. George Bailey is a great example of playing in a winning team even though you’re actual contributions with the bat are negligible.
If it’s good enough for the Chairman of Selectors, it’s good enough for Finch.
Another Finch failure heaps pressure on skipper as Sri Lanka ace thrilling run-chase
It’s easy to suggest Langer would be a perfect fit, but would he? The English criclet scene is vastly different from ours for a start? Right now they have no director of cricket, so who would be Langer’s boss and would he be able to work with that person? Who would Langer have as his support staff? Would Langer have the same level of control over selections etc that Silverwood did? If guys didn’t tow the Langer line, would he have the authority to leave them out, eg Broad?
The other factor that can’t be ignored is the increased level of international cricket the Poms play. That would be a seriously increased workload on a bloke who probably doesn’t need that right now. Best leave him to have a good spell with his family for a few months. There’ll be plenty of good coaching jobs available in the next 12 or 18 months
'It'd be awesome to see!' Gilchrist endorses 'perfect fit' JL to coach the old enemy in ultimate revenge
so that tackle warrants a grade 3 dangerous contact charge? I presume all hits in the head will be grade 2 or higher, given these are far more dangerous to a player’s long term health than this tackle.
WATCH: Fuimaono hit with massive ban for ugly 'hip-drop' tackle... that Brandy tried to defend
spot on. If the halves gel, there’s every chance they could get on a roll and perhaps make the finals but I’m wary about suggesting the halves will work well together.
I hope they do because, as a Dragons supporter, I need a Qld team to dislike 😊
NRL 2022 ladder prediction: 12-11
Christo and I have have a small side wager going on which team finishes further up the ladder, the Broncos or my Dragons. I reckon he’s being a tad ambitious, think the Broncs will finish higher than 10th.
No argument about Dufty’s attacking skills, he’s one of the best half dozen fullbacks in the NRL IMO. I guess we’ll see how Barrett plans to cover for the mistakes Dufty will make, unless he magically improves.
NRL 2022 ladder prediction: 12-11
In among all thee numbers was one comment that must have Sharks fans worried;
“they finished 2-9 against the teams which made last year’s finals. They were as middle of the road as a median strip.”
That’s been their issue for a couple of years at least. Granted they’ve made the finals but in reality, they’ve been making up the numbers because they’ve had exactly the same issues previously – beating the really good sides.
Sure they might make the finals but with the squad they’ve got, I’d reckon Sharkies fans would be expecting more than one & done in the finals. How Fitzgibbon is going to lift these guys to be competitive against the Storm, Panthers, etc – I’ve no idea.
Nerd’s Eye View: Fitzgibbons needs to put bite back in Sharks' defence
You’re being very brave with these choices Christo. You obviously consider the Broncos to be better than both these teams, which is a serious stretch this year, IMO.
Not sure you got it right when you suggested Dufty was a solid fullback. A big part of the reason he’s lining up for the Doggies is because his defence and mistake rate at the Dragon’s was too high. Unless Barrett has a magic cure, I can see more of the same from him this season
NRL 2022 ladder prediction: 12-11
Gee I hope Alexander hasn’t put the kiss of death on the Dragons, naming them to be a team that makes the finals. It’s way too early in the pre-season to be making that sort of call.
Let us know what you think about round 17 or 18, Brandy.
NRL Trials: The refs strike back, a Dunster disaster and Sloan puts his hand up
Remember Ravi Ashwin running out Jos Butt;er a few years ago. The MCC came out with this comment which is still completely relevant in this situation
“It’s clear to us. If he’s out of his ground, he’s out,” their spokesman said. “If the batsman had not been out of his crease, there would have been no issue about the spirit of cricket. Obviously this is as small a margin as it gets but that makes no difference. If you’re out, you’re out. This is not a spirit of cricket issue, it’s a laws issue.”
Then this from Don Bradman about a different run out;
“The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered,” he wrote in his autobiography. “If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.”
Seems pretty clear to me.
The bigger concern is that anyone thinks this has something to do with the Spirit of the Game. They badly need to rethink what that term actually applies to.
Cricket rulemakers need to change ‘Mankad’ law as latest incident ignites debate yet again
Finch isn’t going anywhere. CA and the selectors will poll the players to see what they think and of course they’ll all back Finch.
Members of the squad will be overheard (by members of the press) discussing his continuing role as T20 captain in perpetuity, all the while Finch continues to lead the side to victories while making single figure scores.
Nick Hockley, in a moment of inspiration, will offer Finch the T20 captaincy role till after this year’s World Cup, explaining that the team is a period of transition and it will be good to have a guy at the top of the order losing his wicket early in the innings, which is a new cricket model the team wants to try.
Another Finch failure heaps pressure on skipper as Sri Lanka ace thrilling run-chase
of the 3 you’ve named. the only one IMO who is a chance is KL Rahul.
Bumrah won’t be considered, not because of injury, but workload. He like all fast bowlers these days needs to be carefully managed, which will likely mean being rested from time to time, especially as he gets older.
I’m still not sold on Pant as either a keeper or as a batsman. Granted he’s still young, but gee he blows hot and cold with his batting and he’s got a fair way to go to be considered a good Test gloveman. He’s also an excitable chap, which is perhaps not a great attribute for a Test skipper.
Rohit Sharma named India's Test captain
I’d like to see the selectors get braver later this year and choose Hunt for Sri Lanka. IMO he’s the most likely opening candidate we seem to have at present.
I’d also like to see Matt Kuhnemann get a tour too, thought that might be a step too for for Bailey and co.
Harris in the runs again as Vics fight back, Tremain tears through Tassie
I remember going to a Shield game back when I was a pup and watching a left hander make one of the best hundreds I’ve ever seen. Even a relative novice to cricket knew AB was going to be a champion – without any stats.
I take your point about specialisation in cricket, but that’s far more difficult to achieve than baseball, mostly because of different rules. I don’t know that any measure apart from the good old eyeball would tell me if a guy is ready to open the batting in a Test match, for example.
Still, as you say, it’s early days in keeping detailed stats so it’ll be interesting to see what impact this area has on the game. Thanks again for an interesting read.
Of sabermetrics and sacred cows: The future of cricket statistics