In a test match, the bowling always has the option of returning to a restricting field if the attacking goes wrong. You can do that in an ODI as well, but not as effectively - if you don’t get those wickets, all you’ve done is given them a run rate boost and helped their batters settle. The wickets aren’t guaranteed.
Under the circumstances Australia required a record chase to get over 300 from that position. And, except for a no-ball from Archer they wouldn’t have got the runs. So the usual methods were adequate there about 99% of the time.
However, Shane Warne as captain in limited over games often adopted your style of thinking. He was a particularly aggressive captain and would often place catching fielders, or run saving fielders when other captains would not think to do it. He won 10 of 11 ODIs where he captained Australia and led the Rajasthan Royals to the first IPL title when they were considered to have the worst squad in the competition.
There was a few International games today, but I’m watching the SA/England T20. SA have got to 158/4 with 2 overs left, but it sort of doesn’t feel enough = 10/over gets them to 178. England have a lot of batting!
Saffers look to be in a good position now. England need a big partnership.
They do appear have got themselves in a position where Stokes can win the game from an unlikely position - rookie move!
The first Windies Blackcaps T20 was madness. Ferguson got five wickets, Pollard smashed the other bowlers to all ends of the ground, one of the NZ batsmen dislocated his kneecap smashing a six, got taped up by the physio and smashed another six the very next ball. Crazy stuff.
Another set of 3 games today. India have got off to a decent start chasing 389 against Aus, and then later there’s another NZ/WI game, and then Eng/SA later. You wait ages for a cricket game…
Stumps Day 2 2nd Test Australia vs India @ MCG
Australia won toss and batted.
All out on Day 1 for 195 in 73 overs with Labuschagne 48, Bumrah 4-56
In reply India 5-277 in 93 with Rahane 104no
Last ball of the day before rain intervened a brute of a short ball from Starc got big on Rahane, lobbed off the bat’s shoulder into the offside and with a running dive Head from point got both hands to the ball but spilled it on impact.
A reasonable description of the day’s play with India well on top in testing batting circumstances but the locals earning but not taking their chances.
Been unlike previous Melbourne Tests in most of my memory in being a pitch that bowlers enjoyed their work.
There was life, bounce and turn on the first day, and it was still plenty of carry through to the keeper for all bowlers.
Apparently it was left with 11mm grass at the toss and looked, well furry. That’s about 12mm more grass and life than there usually is.
Not easy to bat on, but not dangerous and a pretty fair contest.
Those batters who played with hard hands in front of their pads generally perished, those who played old school with soft hands and the ball under their eyes generally prospered.
Today India played and missed a bit, which is just the gods of cricket balancing the books compared to Adelaide’s 1st Test where the Indian batsman regularly nicked off rather than miss and were rolled for a flabbergasting 36, to the joy of every junior cricket team in the world except India and even the venerable Sunil Gavaskar struggled to withhold a smile at the now lifted burden of being involved in India’s lowest Test innings (42 v England, Lords 1974).
Australia’s bowling line up (Starc, Cummins, Heazlewood and Lyon with support from newbie Green) is arguably the best in the world. The Indian bowlers aren’t far behind them and their debutant Mohammed Siraj looks a very handy addition. Apparently he was playing in the Hyderabad parks with a tennis ball until he was 21 and just four years later has an IPL contract and a spot in the best team in the world. Both batting line-ups are fragile.
The tourists have done the hard work and will be looking to bat most of tomorrow and push the 82 lead above 200. But they have a long batting tail and losing their last 5 for bugger all wouldn’t be much above expectations
If the ducks lined up and India were set 250 to win on the last day I’d back the Aussies but I don’t think they are batting well enough to line up the bloody ducks.
A good Test to follow on whatever media you can access.
Great summary, thanks. Quite the turnaround from the first Test. Don’t fancy England’s chances against either side.
If you ever get the chance to watch Australia’s bowling in that innings, watch every ball from the 8th over to the 12th over when India lose five wickets for four runs out of their top order including two of the best in the world (Kholi and Pujarah). A highlights package doesn’t do the bowling justice.
There’s barely a false shot, barely a play and miss, on a day three pitch without demons, with even bounce, negligible seam or swing (but just enough). And yet India lose their #3, 4, 5 & 6 like rabbits in a spot light.
It was mesmerising pace bowling of the absolute highest order.
I’ve been watching the SA/SL Test over the past couple of days, because that’s on during the day. Unfortunately, SL are now a man down with de Silva injured and out of the series, and with SA 193/1 (although still 200 runs behind), you have to think that if SA can get lead then SL will struggle.
It’s nice to see Dean Elgar back in the runs (he’s 90* at the moment, off 120). He didn’t do particularly well against England last winter (with the highlight a top scored 88 out of 223 in a game England won), but he’s been part of my assumed SA team for a long time and he’s a good batsman to watch.
@penultima_thule, I’ve been looking for that India innings around the place, but I can’t find anywhere that has the whole thing that’s available in the UK. Anyone have any suggestions?
Preliminary searches have failed to find any full coverage.
Plan B might take a little while to impliment. Maybe the BCCI have a tight leash on content.
The link below is just the usual fare of the five wickets. Just doesn’t have the context because if these had occurred in one session (30 overs, 2 hours) it would have lead the cricket world headlines as a brilliant bowling performance.
India lost Pujara, Agarwal, Rahane and Kohli in 16 deliveries
https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/cricket/australia/aussies-take-5-for-4!792700
Australia v India 2nd Test stumps Day 3
Aust in second innings 6-133 lead by 2
India folded meekly in the morning session losing 5-49, much as per expectations.
Then India, a bowler down with Yadav tweaking a hammy, simply strangled the locals top order who lacked application in erasing the deficit.
We’re shot ducks and naught to blame but ourselves.
Warner likely to return for 3rd Test. Burns will make way for him. There is no word Pucovski is available for selection. Pressure is also on Travis Head and Steve Smith is in a bit of a hole. That there in no First Class cricket being played now is a totally foreseeable smeg-up.
So, not only did Elgar not get his hundred (he chipped one back to the bowler on 95), but Du Plessis got himself out on 199 (chipping a simple catch to mid on). That’s now his highest Test score, but he should have got that double ton! I suppose he can console himself with the 225 run lead he’s helped his team get to, and now SL have it all to do just to make SA bat again.
I happened to watch both live, and both were heartbreaking. Apparently, Elgar never had a score before in between 90 and 100; i.e. he always had managed to get his century when within reach. These simultaneous test matches have been great watches, especially when I’ve basically had nothing else to do during these past few days.
The camera shots of the SA dressing room when Du Plessis got out… damn
So I’ve been saving up my cricket questions, so I hope that you cricket experts will indulge me. These are all very random:
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In T20 matches, the conventional wisdom seems to be to save your best fast bowler’s final over for the 19th over. Why wouldn’t it be the final over? I know that this isn’t always the case, but most of the time, that seems to be the strategy.
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I’ve noticed that almost all of the time, the outgoing and incoming batsmen don’t even acknowledge each other when they cross. Sure, the outgoing one is likely upset at being out, but it would seem to me that he might be able to provide some guidance with respect to the bowlers , pitch, etc. The other batsman does usually have a chat with the new one, but there might still be some useful information from the one that was out. This certainly isn’t a rule, as they do seem to speak occasionally. But most of the time, they look like 2 strangers walking past each other on the street.
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I’ll often see the next batsman in the order still sitting on the bench with the rest of the team. Shouldn’t he be warming up somehow, like maybe with a reserve bowler, somewhere? In test matches especially, I assume that it’s because he doesn’t know if he will be batting in 5 minutes or 1 hour, or even the next day. But in the short forms of the game, I would think that going in cold would be riskier.
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In short form games, balls are often whacked into the stands hitting surfaces that are likely not natural for cricket balls. Sometimes they hit metals stands, concrete, etc. How often are balls replaced due to damage? I know that spare balls with similar usage are kept ready, but it doesn’t seem like balls are replaced very often. In baseball, a pitched ball even grazing the dirt one time is replaced. Obviously cricket balls are far more durable than baseballs, but how much more?
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How does ticketing for test matches work? Sometimes the 5th or even the 4th day are not needed. Are there different prices for each day, and are refunds given for days of no play (including due to weather)? What about if only a few overs are needed on a day?
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Why don’t spin bowlers try to sneak a fast one in once in a while?
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What is the batsman doing when he scrapes his spikes in the area in front of the stumps. It seems like they are trying to create lines. Is it for better traction?
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I must admit that I’ve never seen or heard about this, but what would happen if a bowled ball just nicked the stumps and dislodged a bail, but the bail lands right back onto the stumps into the grooves? Is that still out?
Can’t figure out the bloody multi-quote.
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No idea. Haven’t watched much T20 cricket. Been in the cricketing desert of the USA for donkeys years
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It’s courtesy to get off the field without undue delay. They do however sometimes chat very briefly.
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Not knowing if you are going in in 3 minutes, 30 minutes or tomorrow makes this pointless.
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Happens occasionally. But a cricket ball is pretty durable. I’ve seen a ball go through a car windshield and then be retrieved and returned to play with no observable damage. I was in this game personally, unfortunately as the bowler. Later the ball was deposited on the roof of the building adjacent and not recovered. A ball used in the previous day’s match was used. This was a schools match, not very high level.
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Depends. Sometimes you pays your money and takes your chances. Mostly you don’t pay unless a ball is bowled.
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They do. It’s called a quicker one. A bowler sending it down at 45-50 mph will send one down at 60-65. Anything faster than that will require a change to the run-up and action.
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He’s making a mark so that he knows where he is standing relative to the line of the stumps. This is critical in knowing whether he needs to play a ball or can safely leave it.
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Bail bouncing and coming back to rest has happened in international matches. As has ball going between two stumps temporarily separating them by the 3” diameter of the ball and then springing back to the original position without disturbing the bails.
All good questions:
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Not sure that applies. For the final over(s) in a game that’s close you go with whichever bowler can bowl the type of delivery that best suits the variety of situations in the over and the bowlers with most control tend to be the medium pacers.
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In all my time as a batsmen going in, nothing of any value ever been imparted from the outgoing batsman. It was at best a justification as why they got out. The aim of batting is to play each ball on it’s merits and if you have a preconceived notion of conditions from the outgoing batsman you are more likely to join them soon in the sheds. Any number of bats at all levels absolutely lose their chewie when dismissed and are best totally ignored and left to themselves in the change rooms to vent for half an hour or so to minimise the collateral damage.
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Batsmen will have had a net or throwdowns before they bat, though usually before the start of the innings. There is a time limit for the incoming bat to make their way to the crease and they can be “timed out”, ideally they cross on the field. It is unusual for a batsman to need to swing for the bleachers first ball. It’s an anomaly that the openers may warm up for 10 mins or more before going out and then nudge and noodle about as they get their eye in while the tail enders might go out cold and start swinging.
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That’s life as a cricket ball. If the ball is knocked badly out of shape the bowling team can request a change but if it’s just badly scuffed up after hitting some concrete the umpires will snip off the loose bits of leather and the game continues.
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You buy tickets for a day’s play. As far as I can recall they are the same price. No play gives you a refund. If there is a stub end of a game to finish, then the ground is usually opened for free attendance or a coin donation to charity.
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They do. Almost all spinners will have a faster ball in their armoury. But more in park cricket stuff there is also nothing stopping a spinner bowling a flighted delivery then the next ball going back to a 20 pace run and letting it fly at 140kms. But they can’t change hands or which side of the wicket the run without advising the batsman. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was an Indian leg spinner but also could be the fastest of the Indian attack and was capable of bowling a genuine bumper, which must have been disconcerting to the batter and the wicketkeeper over the stumps. Bill O’Reilly bowled leg spin closer to medium pace and similarly England’s Derek Underwood though notionally slow left arm orthodox was closer to medium pace when the conditions merited.
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Marking their guard. Batsmen (should) need to know where the stumps are, though they are obviously behind them. Whether the delivery is likely to hit the stumps is the primary determiner of what shot is played. Most batsmen mark “centre” ie the line between the two central stumps or “leg”, or “two legs” or much less often “off”. You can request the umpire to check your different guard at any time. You can use a different guard for different bowlers or deliveries. If your team have left and right hand batters by the end of a couple of days there are a lot of scratches, if not a bloody great hole. Working out which one is yours can be problematic.
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Not unusual but it’s not out for a bowled decision. The wicket can be broken ie a bail displaced but if it doesn’t hit the ground the wicket is not down. In some likely apocryphal cases if the bails lodge between the stumps part way down the batsman is still not out.
This is partially inconsistent with a run out decision where the batter is out if they haven’t made their ground at the moment the wicket is broken. But if the bail falls back into the groove or doesn’t hit the ground the batter is not out.
Point 3 is an interesting one and I wonder if it might actually happen sooner rather than later - for 20-20, not Tests, as mentioned due to the variable time factor. I guess not all grounds will have suitable facilities (i.e. a net that is situated conveniently enough that the new batsman is in no danger of being timed out) but some certainly will. Football and rugby are 2 sports where replacements warming up throughout the game has become commonplace, as opposed to the old days when the whole squad warms up before kick-off, but then the subs literally sit on the bench until maybe a minute or two before being called upon when they might do some rudimentary stretches.
On point 5, I could be wrong but I was under the impression that tickets for day 5 of Test matches in England are never sold in advance, instead you just turn up on the day - and quite often, reduced prices will be available. Especially if there is little prospect of significant play taking place.