Monthly Archives: March 2014

Cricket: Sheffield Shield and the Pink Ball experiment

March 3, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Cricket Australia’s experiment of day/night first class cricket kicks off today in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane amid much fan fare and with the ultimate goal of holding a day/night test match in 2015/16.

The minutae of how day/night fight class will work includes:

  • The use of pink kookaburra balls.
  • Black sightscreens will be used.
  • Clothing will still be white.
  • Play will commence (Brisbane time) at 1:30pm with the usual game conditions to apply: 2 hour sessions, 40 minutes for lunch and 20 minutes for tea.
  • Play is scheduled to finish at 8:30pm with a possible extra 30 minutes available to finish the allotment of overs.

When I originally heard of day/night first class cricket I confess my first thoughts were significantly negative.  I saw it as solely a money grab but I now see the following benefits:

  • It makes cricket at a first class level more accessible to those who work, allowing those fans to attend a game they otherwise wouldn’t have.
  • Cricket, at test match level, could, if this trial is successful, be played in prime time which opens the game (again at test level) to a broader audience.
  • If cricket in the long form of the game does not innovate it will die a withering death: the crowds in the first and second test matches in South Africa are indicative of said indicative of said withering death.

It goes without saying that traditionalists, of which I am one, are not going to be massively enamoured with this change straight out of the gate. Equally, if Cricket Australia listens to feedback received and also refrains from making the day/night first class games too much like T20 games I believe this can be a move for the betterment of the game.

If I had to be negative about this trial, the thing I am disappointed in is the timing of the games. A Monday kick off to these fixtures means they will end on Thursday. If the ideology behind the day/night games was to get more fans in the gates then surely at least one day of the games had to be on the weekend.

I, for one, would love to attend the game at the Gabba and I work some 5 minutes from the ground but I am unlikely to attend because at the end of my working day (which is most often at around the start of the 3rd session) all I want to do is go home. A night of cricket on Friday / Saturday would have seen me there with bells on.

All in all today presents an opening of a door into, possibly, the future of first class cricket in Australia. It is also the penultimate round in the Sheffield Shield with a number of teams still chasing a spot in the finals. It will be exciting to see what happens!

Australians in South Africa 2014: 3rd Test Day 2 … Rain, rain go away

March 3, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

The second day of the third test match was drowned out from the middle of the second session with Australia in a dominant position at 7/494.

Before the rain came it was the Michael Clarke show as the captain of Australia went on to his 27th test match century.  Clarke has commented over night that this may well be the best hundred of his career but only if Australia win.

The fact is though: if this is not Michael Clarke’s best hundred then it is certainly his most courageous.  After surviving the day 1 onslaught from the South African bowlers and the agony of 24 balls on 99, getting to three figures must have been massively satisfying for him.  Now 161 not out overnight, he has the chance of pressing on to 200 at the start of day 3.

In the shadows of Michael Clarke’s epic innings was the batting of Steve Smith.  His 84 here was replete with some spectacular shots, none more so than depositing Morne Morkel back over his head for 6.  From a career in test cricket that seemed resigned to be a footnote in the anals of cricket history, Smith has become in less than 12 months a key member of this Australian team.

Looking forward to day 3, I would be astonised if Michael Clarke did not declare overnight.  He is nothing if not an aggressive captain and if Australia is to have any chance of getting 20 wickets one has to think Australia has to have South Africa 7 or 8 wickets down by stumps today.

What will not help Australia’s drive for victory is the pitch.  I have had many readers try to convince me that the pitch will break up and suit Australia’s spinner.  If that was correct before the rain, it stirkes me that the rain will have freshened up the pitch which will only make it less likely to break up over the remainder of the test match.

The weather may also have a part to play in the course of play on day 3.  The South African Weather Service predicts a mostly fine day for day 3 with a 30% chance of rain.  If that rain does arrive, every minute lost will reduce the probability of an Australian victory.

I will repeat what I said at lunch on Day 1 on twitter: this game will be a draw.  A freshened pitch with some rain around does not bode well for a result.  If there is to be a winner there is only one team it could be: Australia.

Play will be extended by an hour each day to make up for day 2’s lost time so the first ball will bowled at 5:30pm Brisbane time.

Australia in South Africa 2014: 3rd Test Day 1 … Warner’s Wonder and the Captain’s Courage

March 2, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Everything went Australia’s way on the first day of the third test at Newlands overnight: right from the minute Australia won the toss and batted they had the advantage in the game.

David Warner, much maligned by many during the week including me, finally did what many want from him: he let his bat do the talking. This was another innings of quality from Warner that mixed outright aggression at the start with graft to get to his hundred when the South Africans lifted their performance. Now if only he could stop doing all the things that fail to endear him to fans of the game he could be a world beater!

The loss of Dale Steyn with a hamstring strain is a massive one for the South Africans who, as happened in Port Elizabeth, find themselves a bowler down. Morne Morkel was excellent for the Proteas on what was a tough day at the office otherwise for them.

The highlight for me, despite the Warner hundred, was the innings of Michael Clarke: it has been a long time since a fast bowler has attacked a batsman as overtly as Morne Morkel attacked Clarke early in his innings and whilst he looked equal parts ungainly and lacking in technique he deflected the blows Morkel struck, got through the tough period and the thrived. Out of form going into this fixture it was almost as though the speed of Morkel energised Clarke and it now looks like there is little to stop another hundred for him on Day 2.

A final note: I see no other result in this game other than a draw. The pitch is flat. Scratch that: the pitch is very flat. It does no favours to cricket and its fans when wickets like this are trotted out in such important fixtures.

Play commences at around 6:30pm tonight Brisbane time.

Australia in South Africa 2014: Teams for the 3rd Test

March 1, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The toss has been won by Australia and it is batting at Newlands. Both teams have made two changes.

Australia:
Warner, C Rogers, A Doolan, M Clarke, S Smith, S Watson, B Haddin, M Johnson, J Pattinson, R Harris, N Lyon

South Africa:
G Smith, A Petersen, D Elgar, H Amla, AB de Villiers, F du Plessis, JP Duminy, V Philander, K Abbott, D Steyn, M Morkel

Pattinson in for Siddle the big surprise in all of this. I do not think Siddle is in form, now has been a for a while, but selecting a player who has not bowled a red ball in anger since August 2013 must be a risk.