Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Ashes: 3rd Test Player Ratings

August 6, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Here are my ratings for each of the Australian players involved in the 3rd test at Old Trafford which ended in a draw over night:

Shane Watson: 5 out of 10 Again made starts with the bat. Got a good ball in the first innings. Bowled with his usual tightness: there is none better in this current line up at locking up an end.

Chris Rogers: 7.5 out of 10 Brilliant knock in the first innings got Australia away to a flyer. Out in the second innings trying to force the issue. Is an obviously good team man and buzzed around the field.

Uzman Khawaja: 4 out 10 Got a woeful decision (which still would have been out if DRS was not in use) and was bowled around his legs by a Swann corker in the second. Needs time at the crease.

Michael Clarke: 9 out of 10 The Captain stood up when it mattered most for his team and scored another big hundred. Was tactically astute albeit could have used Nathan Lyon more for mine.

Steve Smith: 7.5 out of 10 The other half of Australia’s biggest partnership nearly 12 months and but for a brain fade would have scored his maiden hundred. Has secured his spot in the team.

David Warner: 4 out of 10 All at see in the first innings and gold medal winner for worst review in the test match and possibly the summer. Got runs in the second innings when under no pressure.

Brad Haddin: 7 out of 10 If Lords was one of his worst games with the gloves this was one of his best. Got vital runs in the first innings.

Peter Siddle: 7.5 out of 10 Yet again was excellent with the ball in this game bowling with aggression and purpose everytime he got the ball.

Mitchell Starc: 5.5 out of 10 A strong burst in the middle of the first innings aside bowled with line or length or seemingly a plan that could be identified. Needs to find a way to be consistent. His ability with the bat continues to grow.

Ryan Harris: 8 out of 10 Australia’s best with the ball and does not get the plaudits he deserves. Allows looked like getting a wicket and, indeed, the body language of the English suggested relief whenever he left the bowling crease.

Nathan Lyon: 3.5 out of 10 Queue all of the Lyon bashers out there again but can anyone convince me that he was well captained in this game? Bowled well in the afternoon of the second day and the morning of the fourth but the third day was disappointing. Not given enough time by Clarke after Pietersen went after him.

Poetry: It Couldn’t be Done by Edgar A Guest

August 6, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , Leave a comment

Another of my favourite poems here. I love the premise of not accepting being told “it can not be done”.

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

The Ashes: 3rd Test Day 5 … Rain, Ryno and the Urn

August 6, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Well the inevitable happened over night: it rained all but for 90 minutes of play on Day 5 of the 3rd test and a draw ended up being the result of a match that Australia, by any measure, dominated.

The 90 minute burst from Australia that saw 3 wickets fall and a dropped catch from the captain, served a significant purpose in the sense that Ryan Harris, if he needed to, solidified his standing as Australia’s premier bowler. His spell was 7 overs of pure joy for members of the fast bowlers cartel and fans alike and all eyes will now be on how his knee pulls up given that the 4th test commences in 3 days time.

So, that is that, the English retain the Urn as the best available result for Australia is that the series is drawn. Attention now turns to the Chester-le-Street ground in Durham for the 4th test starting on Friday.

The Ashes: 3rd Test, Day 5 … Keys to Victory

August 5, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

It all comes down to today for Australia: win the test and they are still in with a chance of winning back the Ashes. Draw or Lose this test then England have retained the Ashes.

Here are my keys to victory for Australia from tonight’s play:

1. Rain, rain go away … come back to visit another day!

Obviously Australia needs as much time as possible to bowl out England and that means that it needs blue skies throughout the day. Looking at the forecast, it certainly does not look like that will eventuate but we can only live in hope.

2. When will Australia declare?

The obvious move for Australia is to declare overnight and take all over possible to win the game. That said, if the weather radar is clear and I was the captain I would be tempted to bat for another 7 to 10 overs. That way the English opening batsmen have not had all morning to prepare and only get the advantage of the 10 minute hand over. If that was Australia’s strategy they would only lose the overs and two over for a change over.

3. The Captain’s Tactics

Michael Clarke will need to present his best tactical performance as a captain in this innings to win the game. He must be happy to use Nathan Lyon even during periods where he is being yet and must avoid the temptation to overuse Ryan Harris.

4. Come in Spinner

If Australia’s spinners (Lyon and Smith), take 6 wickets between them then Australia wins the game. This is Nathan Lyon’s chance to kill off all of the doubters who say he is not a test calibre bowler because he has not bowled Australia to victory as yet. There is no better opportunity than the present.

5. Get the unholy trinity and the rest will follow

The big wickets for Australia today are Cooke, Pietersen and Bell. If all three of those batters are removed for less than 20 apiece then it will be game on in Manchester.

Obviously, the weather presents a massive obstacle to Australia’s chances and a draw is the most likely result. If Australia is to win all of the foregoing keys to victory MUST come together for Australia.

Go the baggy greens!

I don’t drink: why is that so hard for some people?

August 5, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

I had an interesting experience yesterday afternoon, one which I will concede does not happen often, but one which has given me a moment of pause and more than a little irritation.

For new readers some background: I do not drink alcohol. I do not drink alcohol because I have a problem with alcohol. Aside from one slip nearly 2 years ago I have been sober for 28 months. I used to have a 2 drink “limit” but that imposition did not work so I gave up all together.

Now that background set onto the cause my irritation. Yesterday afternoon I caught up with some friends at a river side bar in beautiful Brisbane for a couple of afternoon beverages and a chat. A mate had been going through a rough time and wanted to catch up with everyone. As is my norm I got the first shout and ordered a large soda water. Back at the table a member of our group I had met for the first time only 10 minutes before posed the usual question I get at that point in proceedings: “Why are you on the waters mate?”. I have chosen an honesty is the best policy approach in the face of that question and replied: “Because I don’t drink”.

90% of people leave it, happily, at that but not my new “friend” who followed up with “Really, that seems strange, you don’t drink at all? Why not?” with a quizzical, almost shocked, expression on his face. Again, following my honesty policy, I answered “No I do not drink at all … I have a problem with alcohol.” Maybe I am wrong here but that really should have been the end of the discussion shouldn’t it? Unfortunately it was not and my new “friend” kept coming back to the topic to express his incredulousness at being in the presence of a mid thirties male who did not deign to drink alcohol. In the end even saying, as I did, “Most people leave it alone after I tell them I have a problem” did not lead to relief from the ongoing enquiry about the reasons why I don’t drink.

Now I concede that yesterday’s experience was a rarity for me. In about 90% of functions like the one I attended yesterday afternoon there is no issue at all from anyone about me deciding not to drink. That said, it really got me thinking: why is there such a stigma, in some quarters, against those who chose not to drink alcohol? I mean I choose not smoke cigarettes yet I do not get quizzed about that choice by my friends who smoke. Equally I have never taken drugs in my life but I have never been eviscerated by my friends who I know to have partaken in the odd pharmaceutical from time to time.

Has drinking alcohol become such the societal norm that those who decide not to drink in social settings deserve to become the focus of derision from those who do drink? That might sound like I am overreacting but that is how I felt yesterday when my personal choice became the one part of who I am that one person could not countenance. Maybe the new “friend” from yesterday would have preferred to have met the old me: drunken, forgetful, shout the bar me who would not have remembered anything about yesterday afternoon / last night this morning and who would have spent all day today worrying what I had said to whom? I am sure he would have liked that bloke better.

Here’s the rub of all of this for me: I do not push my not drinking alcohol on anyone I am with when I go out, indeed I go out of my way to have the first shout and stay in a shout despite drinking water, so why is it OK for others to push their drinking agenda on me? Maybe it is time to reassess my whole strategy around going out with people I do not know, either at all or well, because the way I was made to feel yesterday took me back to the dark days when I was tall, skinny, pimply faced kid standing on my own at school dances being laughed at and feeling awkward and I do not like that feeling!

Maybe there is a deal I can strike with the drinkers of the world: I won’t ask you not to drink around me and you don’t ask me to drink and we will live happily ever after. What do you think? Is that a goer or am I just dreaming? The more I think about it maybe I am just dreaming and that is pretty sad isn’t it?