A very satisfying win to wrap up the series. Great to see an England team playing professionally and with passion. Wish we could bottle it and give the football team an injection.
That’s the big question. I’m cautiously optimistic, despite the odd shocker we’ve developed some good habits since the 2009 Ashes heist. We’re now unbeaten in 15 series across all forms of the game. Even at our last peak of 2003-2005 we were generally poor at limited over cricket. Strauss is making all the right noises about not getting carried away.
The other test series to finish saw India deadlocked with South Africa at 1-1. It’s been a much better series for the neutral to follow, with the result in the balance up to the final day. VVS Laxman lived up to his nickname to win another game, Tendulkar made a century against Steyn’s 90 mph swingers, and Kallis made two centuries in a match, the second with a rib injury.
Sure, I understand where you are coming from, I just tend to think his contribution has been undervalued. I don’t think the seamers would have got the same results without his support.
I’m sure Australia will rebuild, but it is going to take some time. There is still the core of a decent team there. Hope Harris can come back from his latest injury.
During commentary today Ian Chappell said that England have easily the best bowling attack in world cricket. Their top 3 are full of runs, Bell will move up the order and allow the next batsman to slot in at 6, thanks to Collingwood’s sensible retirement. Good keeper/batsman. Terrific fielding side. What more do you need?
I was amazed to see Tendulkar’s 14 in 2 and a half hours in South Africa. What a yawn.
Well, he was trying to save the match, and did his job. The pitch was getting tricky, Tendulkar bowled Boucher with a long-hop that didn’t get above shin height. No time to be a show-pony.
Was about to say something similar. Besides which he scored a sumptious 146 in the first knock and a brilliant 111* in the 1st Test. Just shows that he can bat to the occasion and the conditions.
I’m looking forward to him coming back over this summer. I was at The Oval last time for the Indian second innings (they were batting time to set a target from memory) and we all thought that it would be his last Test innings in England - got a standing ovation from pavilion to wicket and wicket to pavilion once he got out. I think he only made 1 or something like that. This time, you would think, will definitely be the last - I imagine he’s going to get similar treatment from the crowds.
I hope he does, I can hardly believe he is close to retirement now. I know he started young but I clearly recall the hoo-ha about his impending greatness from when he was 16-17. Tempus fugit indeed.
I hope his good form continues into the summer - It’ll be a great challenge for the English bowlers to try and undo him.
Batsmen seem to be going on for longer these days. I thought it was because there are few genuine fast bowlers around, but Tendulkar has shown that at approaching 38 he still has the reflexes and technique to deal with a quick and swinging ball. He had a real duel with Steyn in the 1st innings.
Looking forward to the India series, it should be a good match-up.
It’s probably got something to do with the top players actually being able to treat cricket like a sport nowadays - what with fitness regimes mandated by their national associations, the frowning upon of people who go out and get drunk after a day’s play and the more structured nature of practice.
Now that there is more money in the game, the players can be as professional as baseball’s major leaguers - where it is not unheard of for players to play into their 40s (though they’re still the exception rather than the rule).
This is fun read for any England fans. 10 reasons Poms Won’t win ashes. It couldn’t have been more wrong on every count if it had been written as an after-the-event parody.
[pedantry]Lillee[/pedantry] And Thommo credited him with getting into line and playing straight. Forty-odd years earlier, Wilfred Rhodes was on tour in the WI and encountered Learie Constantine on his home turf. Rhodes was a good enough batsman to have opened regularly with Jack Hobbs and once put on 323 for the first wicket with him, but he was 52 and admitted that Constantine was “a bit quick for me at my age, Ah’m thinkin’, and a bit quick for most of you young ‘uns an’ all”. But George Gunn, at 50, managed an OK series as opener.
Makes me wonder what Cowdrey had done to upset his fellow selectors.
Yes, there have always been a few exceptions. Gooch went on to 42, Stewart and Imran Khan to 39, but I think there are more old players around these days, at least compared to the last few decades anyway.
Smith batted quite well yesterday until he started swiping horribly at everything towards the end. Wonder if he was trying to inflate his IPL auction price?
“Makes me wonder what Cowdrey had done to upset his fellow selectors.”
Makes me wonder why he answered the phone!
In 1963 at Lords v West Indies he went out prepared to bat left handed because his right wrist had been broken and in plaster. Boys Own Manual stuff was MCC.
Back to the question
When the big money started flowing player careers extended significantly.
It also happened that Australia has a very handy bunch of players at that time. So they hung around probably 2-3 seasons longer than they would have in past times when the rewards were not as great. So very high calibre players like Darren Lehman, James Brayshaw, Jimmy Maher, Stuart Law, Brad Hodge et al got few opportunities. You might remember that Mike Hussey had scored 15,000 runs in first class before his Test debut. You had the same effect with India who had virtually the same batting line-up for a decade.
So, IMHO, the grade-first class-Test progression got constricted for most of a decade,
to the point you have now where, the best young players are still playing grade cricket. Unless you are an insider, you simply don’t know who the next tier of prospects are. Then when the performance at the top fails (as it cyclically will do) all manner of opportunities open up for greenhorns. You get blow-ins like Mike Beer playing Test cricket after just 5 games and a dozen first class wickets.
Australia won the u19 World Cup in 2010, but only one of that squad is regularly playing at first class level. Play the best against the best, then pick the best of them for the Test team.
Scheduling has a lot to do with it. There were times not that long ago when the Sydney grade sides had current Test players out on the park.
Now Test players rarely play Shield, which denies them the opportunity to iron out any technical bugs and get back in form whilst simultaneously denying the next tier the opportunity to hone their skills against the best.
Old news. Cricketers have been doing this for years, and the article said the men had already had their innings. Ian Botham once remarked on the virtues of a big phat spliff after a day of high-intensity effort, never mind a few beers.
It is interesting - this almost ties back up with the discussion up thread about how players last a bit longer nowadays on average because they have the money paid to them to take the game more seriously than was the case before.
I don’t have a problem with this - the game was effectively over on the night the players went out and they were not going to play any further part in the game because they had already batted and were not likely to need to field again. There needs to be some slack given to pro cricketers; a monk like existence is not good for them. Witness the case of Marcus Trescothick, who stated that he basically lost it because he had nothing to do on tour but stare at the walls and contemplate his last dismissal.
That said, I think the players do have a responsibility to themselves to ensure that they don’t go overboard/are seen to be going overboard. Clarke and Hughes haven’t here in my opinion - they don’t appear to have been getting hammered and the game was not in the balance - but there is still the point that they are getting paid a good amount of money to take the game seriously and they should probably be a bit careful that they are seen to be doing so. As I said, I don’t have an issue - just be more careful - go out somewhere much more quiet or have a couple of beers in the hotel.
On a separate note, helluva knock by Watson in the first ODI. Seems England could do with some work on this element of the game. They might have only lost in the last over but a 6 wicket defeat is still a bit of a dicking.
Sounds like the press trying to drum up controversy over nothing much. There is a big difference between a beer or two and a drinking binge of pedalo proportions.
