What a brilliant day of cricket awaits us at Trent Bridge tonight (Australian time). Here is the state of play for those who missed it overnight:
Australia need 137 runs.
England need 4 wickets.
There are 90 overs to be bowled in the day.
8pm tonight (Australian time) can not come quickly enough. This has been a wonderful display of test match cricket that may have a couple of twists and turns left in it yet.
Aside from the first hour of play on day 4 from Trent Bridge when I was otherwise engaged watching the Queensland Reds extend their wining streak against the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby to six games, I was able to watch the bulk of play over night and to say it was another pulsating day of test match cricket would be an understatement.
Here are some reflections on day 4:
Oh Eddie: not again!
I am on the record as being an unabashed fan of Ed Cowan. I am unsure as to whether it is just nerves or the new coach has suggested that he become more positive at the crease but he seems to be in a rush with the willow in his hands at the moment and again fell to an ill-disciplined and “unCowan” like dismissal. If Australia do not win this game then I suspect this my curtains for my favourite current player.
DRS plays are role: again
When DRS was introduced it was touted as a means to avoid “clangers” in umpiring decisions. It did that on day 4 when C Rogers was given out caught behind having, patently, not hit the ball. The umpire got it wrong, the batsman reviewed and the wrong was rectified. The decision to give Phil Hughes out was another line ball decision that went in England’s favour and we just need to get on with it and accept it.
That said, the use though of DRS Will continue to create angst for players and fans alike whilst the system remains flawed. I have written on this before but simply allowing only 2 challenges makes no sense in the context of the avoidance of “clangers” imperative for its introduction. The ICC must look at this sooner rather than later.
England one bowler short?
After going for 80 runs off 15 overs in the first innings, S Finn put in another uninspiring performance for England on day 4. He again seemed to bowl without rhythm and was generally a little bit too short and the Australian batsmen looked largely at ease when he was bowling. I can’t see him being retained for the second test regardless of the result tomorrow.
Chris Rogers = quality
I know he was dismissed softly (I tweeted as much) but innings of Chris Rogers did nothing but enhance his reputation. In only his second test match but having the benefit of nearly 20,000 first class runs behind him he looked confident and assured in his method and stroke play. I know he is 36 but I am wondering how long he can go on because I quite like seeing him at the top of the order!
Win, lose or draw: a moment of pause for the Poms?
I wrote in my preview suggesting that Australia could still win this series that the English were smug and expected to win this series. Australia has shown enough fight in this test match for some of the smugness to have worn off one suggests. Indeed, some indications from the field in the last session of the day were of a team frustrated, particularly given some of the sniping between players that was obvious when some mistakes were made in the field.
Well the rankings for the finals in Super Rugby have now been finalised and the first week of the finals will see the following games being played:
Brumbies v Cheetahs, Canberra Stadium (Sunday night)
Crusaders v Reds, Christchurch (Saturday night)
Both present as cracking contests. Look out for my preview on pinkrugby.com later in the week.
It was the first and last round of Super Rugby for Australian teams this weekend and based on the performances I have seen from the two Australian teams in this round I have to say that I hold real fears that neither of them will get past the first week of the finals.
I watched the Reds take on the Waratahs live and have watched the reply of the Brumbies game against the Force this morning. Now I concede that neither team was at full strength but equally neither team looked anything like the cohesive and in form units that had taken the field in the week before the break in play enforced by the British and Irish Lions tour.
The fact is that before this weekend, and excluding Lions tour trial fixtures, the last time the Reds and Brumbies played in the Super Rugby competition was 42 days and 36 days ago respectively. Both teams had significant representation in the Wallabies squad for the Lions series and thus have been without their core of players for the bulk of that period and, indeed, remain without them.
I have no clue what training the teams did whilst the 5/6 weeks break between Super Rugby fixtures took place but it is impossible to countenance that all the teams did during this period was train. Further, no matter “game like” training is it can be no substitute for match play.
I, for one, can not think of a more disjointed preparation for a finals campaign than that which has been expected of the Reds and Brumbies. The difficulty with such a campaign imposed on those franchises is all the more galling given that the New Zealand and South African teams that are playing in the finals will have had three games together following their international breaks of three weeks to tune up for the finals.
Don’t get me wrong here: I understand how important the quadrennial tours of the Lions are to the coffers of SANZAR and the host nation. These tours are needed to boost the finances of the governing bodies dealing with declining fan numbers and participation. That said, the length of time that the Australian franchises have had to wait to return to Super Rugby play and, more particularly, the lack of time given for the teams participating in the finals to get time back together on the field is nothing short of an abomination and, in my opinion, totally inequitable.
Hopefully playing together this week will assist the Reds and Brumbies in the preparation for next week. Frankly though, if both teams put in a similarly disjointed and, suddenly, out of form performances as they did this week then there is a real prospect that we could be seeing a New Zealand and a South African semi-final in week two of the finals.
Just a short post today: I am astonished by the vitriol that is coming out of so called cricket fans today surrounding the failure of Stuart Broad to walk at Trent Bridge yesterday. Let’s be honest: it was the wrong call by the umpire but does that make is Broad’s fault?
The fact of the matter is that when we, as young men and women, are taught to play the game of cricket we are taught to respect the umpire’s decision as a default. Has anyone stopped to think about whether or not we are taught to walk if the umpire is wrong?
Why is it that when players get to the top of the game the rules seem to change? I played cricket from the age of 6 through to the age of 19 constantly at club, school and representative level and then made the odd comeback in the my twenties. Never once did any one of my coaches tell me that if the umpire made a mistake I had to walk. In fact I reckon some of my coaches would have been filthy if I had have walked.
I remember vividly one day playing at Ivor Marsden 3 field in Ipswich against Marburg Cricket Club. A left arm swing bowler induced me to edge behind and I was given not out. I did not walk and when I came off some 35 runs later my coach did not rip into me about not walking. He did not even ask me. It is apposite to note that the opposition that day did have a few words with me on the field that day and I gave a bit back and then after play we sat around having a chat and a drink. That is what cricket is about isn’t it? The umpire makes a call, there is a bit of banter and then we move on?
It is counter intuitive: at every level but for the top we are taught that the spirit of the game is to respect the umpires decision and yet we lambast players for not doing that very thing when they do not walk.
Whether or not Stuart Broad is a walker is NOT the point. Going all the way back to W G Grace some of our most lionised players were non-walkers and, frankly, nor should they be. Players must do nothing more than respect the umpires decision. If the umpire gets it wrong the focus must be on the umpire and on ways that mistakes can be minimised without moving away from the central canon that was drummed into us as kids: “the umpire is always right!”
It is the last round of Super Rugby before the finals this week and the final six has already been decided BUT who will play who in the finals? Here is my preview first published on pinkrugby.com http://pinkrugby.com/2013/super-rugby-predictions-2013-rd-20
Can’t wait for this final round!
Shumpty Speaks 