Tag Archives: Ashes 2013

The Ashes, 3rd Test, Day 1: Bucky, the Pup and DRS again

August 2, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Cricket fans in Australia awake this morning, some more bleary eyed than others, to the news that Australia posted a more than respectable 3/303 overnight on the first day of the 3rd test at Old Trafford. Having watched the first 3 and a bit hours of play, I bunkered down in bed with dulcet tones of the TMS team and was able to push through until the last hour of play on what was another quality day of test match cricket.

Here are my 5 keys to the first day's play:

  1. Well played Bucky: If my timeline in the preamble to the game means anything a number of fringe and former NSW players were appalled at the failure by the selectors to keep Phil Hughes in the team and were questioning the position of Rogers in the line up. Not that he would have been aware of them, but this was an innings that will take the pressure from the pundits off in droves but will also have not been a surprise to many. Indeed, anyone who has watched Victoria in the Shield competition will have seen many of those shots he played last night over and over again before and will know that that is the form he is consistently capable of. 20,000 first class runs at an average of 50 do not lie and that is why this bloke is in the team.
  2. Oh Captain my Captain: Has there been a captain of any Australian cricket team who has been forced to perform under pressure more, and succeeded, than the current captain? Allan Border in the mid to late 80s comes to mind in comparison to Michael Clarke in this context and he did it again last night. In at 2 for not many with the beast that is the English bowling attack stirring he came to the wicket and then batted out the day. This was another quality innings from a bloke who does not get enough plaudits, from me included, for his toughness.
  3. DRS … again: Can we all agree that the 3rd umpire made a mistake in the Khawaja decision and get on with it? That seems to be what happened doesn't it: human error despite the technology caused a wrong decision to remain in place. Umpires are human and no matter the quality of the technology mistakes will happen. It is an interesting side bar that without DRS all three decisions reviewed and upheld last night would have remained the same. What would we have had to discuss then? Well, human error wouldn't we?
  4. Come in spinner: This pitch is already taking considerable spin and it is only going to take more as the game goes on. Enter N Lyon: many have been looking for that moment when Lyon will have the opportunity to bowl Australia to victory and whilst it might be looking the metaphorical gift horse in the mouth at this early stage at does look like that opportunity may be upon us here.
  5. Wake up fans: Why is it that in seemingly every ground in the world “fans” of the game do not have the cricket savvy to know when not to move? Obviously if the bowler is bowling from the end you are sitting at and you are sitting anywhere upto 50 metres either side and above the sightscreen you plant your ass and don't move till the end of the over. How hard can that be? The members at Old Trafford got it wrong last night and probably cost Australia a wicket.

All in all it was Australia's day and it was a day that Australia and its fans desperately needed after the debacle at Lords. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves though: it is only the first day of five and Australia will need to be just as good tomorrow to keep this momentum going. Par score for Australia is now looking like 500 and with the Myth lurking in a situation seemingly taylor made for his cavalier approach and poor technique that target certainly looks obtainable.

Day two kicks off at 8pm Australian time, or in roughly 12 and a half hours for those not on the eastern seaboard of Australia.

The Ashes: Katich is not coming back … next topic please!

August 1, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

I have been reading a lot recently about a possible return of Simon Katich to the Australian set up, particularly given the issues that Australia have been having at the top of the order. I have exclaimed on this blog before and I will say it again here now: Katich is NOT coming back and it is time to get over it!

I remain firmly of the view that Michael Clarke has marked Katich's card “never to be selected again” and whilst Clarke is not a selector it would be idiocy to suggest that the selectors would put a player into the team that the captain did not wish to play with.

That really should be the end of the argument: regardless of form Katich is not going to be selected because Clarke does not want him there. I don't understand campaigns on social media and in print to bring Katich back for that reason alone. So lets consider a hypothetical scenario where Clarke decides that he wants Katich back in the team. The fact is that even in that scenario he could not come back to the Australian team for a very simple reason: on 12 June 2012 he retired from first class cricket in Australia.

Read that date again: 13 months ago the man some believe to be a saviour to the Australian cricket team ceased to be a first class cricketer in the Australian system. Yes he played in the BBL in season 2012/13 but he did not play any other top level cricket. I concede that he has been in excellent form in the county cricket competition but the question must be asked: Has Australian cricket fallen so far that a soon to be 38 year old who is a part time cricketer at best and who does not play in the first class competition in Australia is the only answer?

More to the point: do we really want someone who has clearly shown he has no interest in being involved in the Australian set up (why else would he be playing in England first class cricket but not in the Australian version) back in the team?

Don't get me wrong: I rate Simon Katich as a cricket and I firmly believe he should never have been dropped from the Australian team. I would go so far as to say that I would love to have him in the team right now. However, these are the facts:

  1. The captain of the Australian cricket team does not want him in the team; AND
  2. The man himself has shown, overtly, that he does not want to be a part of the Australian set up.

Given those facts, surely it is time for pundits and fans alike to cease beating the dead horse that is the ongoing campaign for Katich's return and focus on supporting the players that actually do want to be involved in the Australian setup?

The only thing worse than this focus on a return from Katich is the yearly campaign for a return from Shane Warne but it is becoming a close run thing … and that is really saying something is it not?

The Ashes, 3rd test: expectation management for Australian fans

August 1, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

I, like many Australian fans, was seduced by the Australian team's fighting effort in Trent Bridge into thinking that Australia was an even money chance at Lords to win and was proven woefully incorrect. I think we can all agree that the performance at Trent Bridge was an illusion that glossed over the current deficiencies in this team which had been sharply pushed into the open in India and then had the metaphorical bandaid ripped off at Lords.

 

So what now for fans of the Australian cricket team as the count down to the 3rd test swiftens pace? I would love to be sitting on my lounge hopeful of win for the baggy greens but I am also a realist and thus think it is important to set myself some expectations for this test match that I suspect are equally applicable to most Australian fans.

 

Here are my 5 expectations from the Australian team for this test match (assuming selections are as I think they will be):

 

  1. Australia will fight hard: As sad as it is to say, during some of the tough moments of Lords test match, particularly with the bat, Australia seemed to simply “give in” in the face of pressure. I am sure that Darren Lehmann has “spoken” long and hard to his charges about this during the 10 days since Lords and I expect to see Australia play with renewed vigour and tenaciousness that will translate into fighting England all the way.
  2. A draw is as good as a win: I know that is counter-intuitive and smacks of England in the 90s thinking but it is time to face that fact that Australian cricket is in a re-building phase and for a while going into every game expecting, as a fan, to win can not be the norm. This is not the team of early to mid 2000s and, frankly, our opponents have all caught up!
  3. An Australian batsman will score a hundred: It may well be a Michael Clarke special but I hope it is someone other than the captain that steps up and scores a hundred for Australia in this test match and I expect one of them will. The hundred drought for Australia's batsmen other than the captain extend far into distant memory and with the 10 day break being spent to work on form and technique and a hard pitch in Old Trafford it is really now or never and I expect a batsman, yet to be named, to step up.
  4. Australia is going to have bad sessions: With the recognition that this is a team in transition comes the obvious follow on effect that Australia is probably going to lose more sessions than it wins in test matches. A bad session must not be met with the lamenteous hand wringing that has been in the past by pundits and fans alike: they are a fact of life at the moment.
  5. Shane Watson will have a big game: Not many of the people I follow on Twitter or speak to around cricket fandom have much of a wrap on Shane Watson. So much so that my recent Twitter sabbatical basically came off the back of the ridiciulous amount of negativity surrounding him. To me it is simple: Australia plays well when Watto is playing well and off the back of a 10 day spell I expect him to have a massive game for Australia with the bat and the ball at Old Trafford.

This is going to be a tough test for the Australians: coming back from a devastating loss always is. England have the pitch they want and a cockahoop and they deserve to be. I would love nothing more than an Australian win don't get me wrong BUT If the Australian team meets my expectations set out above I will be a happy fan.

 

 

The Ashes: 3rd Test … my Australian XI

August 1, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

The third test at Old Trafford is nearly upon us which means more sleepless nights, more water cooler talk about the parlous start of Australian cricket and team speculation. I have been a strong advocate for NOT making too many changes to the Australian team and I stand by that position. That being the case: here is my selection for the 3rd Test and why.

 

Watson, Rogers, Khawaja, Hughes, Clarke (c), Smith, Haddin, Faulkner, Siddle, Harris, Lyon

 

James Faulkner comes in for the injured James Pattinson. That is a very rough call on Jackson Bird but I like the variety that comes from having a left arm swing bowler in the team. My perfect world preference would be Siddle not being in the team and Bird in in his place but selectors and fans alike seem to worship at the alter of Siddle so that is unlikely to happen any time soon.

 

Nathan Lyon comes in for Asthon Agar. I think even blind Freddie could see that Agar is a talent for the future. Blind Freddie could also see that the experiment that has been his inclusion has failed. Ignore the media hype and the one excellent innings: his job is with the ball and he had not yet gotten the job done. The English spinners took 11 of the 20 Australian wickets to fall at Lords whilst Agar could not take one. It is time to return Nathan Lyon to the team.

 

No place for Davey. Warner has returned to the squad from his African sojourn. I am sorry to the all the Warner fans out there but one good innings on a road in Pretoria against a semi-first class attack does not a return to form make. He will be on standby for Smith so his return to the team could be by default but on form I still remain to be convinced he is anything more than the myth I have long thought him to be.

The Ashes: England Squad named

July 28, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 1 Comment

England have named a squad of 14 players for the 3rd test of Old Trafford as follows:

Cook (c) Anderson Bairstow Bell Bresnan Broad Panesar Pietersen Prior Root Swann Taylor Tremlett Trott

Steven Finn has been left out and is replaced by Chris Tremlett. Kevin Pietersen looks like being given as much time as possible to prove his fitness.

Panesar’s inclusion is interesting and given that 11 of Australia’s 20 wickets were taken by spinners at Lords does anyone else think the pitch is going to be an fashioned “bunsen” at Old Trafford?

1 August can not come quickly enough!

The Ashes: Memo to Australian Selectors (and Fans) … keep calm and don’t do anything stupid!

July 27, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Australia’s touring XI at Hove had a very good day overnight scoring 5/354 off 92 overs. All of the batsmen were in the runs save for the man many thought most likely, though not including me, to be an inclusion for the next test, Matthew Wade, who scored an 8 ball duck.

At the top of the order, stand in captain Ed Cowan scored 66 and current number four in the test line up Phil Hughes scored 84. Steve Smith is presently not out on 98.

Of course, Phil Hughes’ innings coupled with the form of David Warner on his sojourn in Africa, has led for some to renew their vehement call for Shane Watson or Chris Rogers (or both) to be dropped in favour of a return by Warner or a move to the top of the order for Hughes.

I sincerely hope that the Australian selectors take a moment and think before doing anything so stupid! And here is why:

* I concede that Phil Hughes was the form opener in the Sheffield Shield competition last season, along with Chris Rogers, averaging over 50 runs per innings in the games he played. Are people forgetting that he is coming into the third test off the back of a performance that saw him reap 2 runs (in total) as well as wrongly use 2 reviews?

* Any runs against Sussex by the Australians need to be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to the form implications that may flow from them. Monty Panesar aside, the bowling attack of Jordan, Hatchett and Liddle is hardly a bowling line up that is likely to send shock waves through any first class cricket line up let alone a Australian touring XI. Jimmy Anderson these blokes are not.

* I have written about my thoughts on a return to the fold for David Warner on this blog and remain vehement in my view that he needs to undertake an apprenticeship in first class cricket and to wait his turn on form. One innings does not make a summer and, frankly, given the score that the South African’s have put up overnight it looks like the pitch that has been trotted out in Pretoria is an absolute road. Warner needs to stay in Africa.

Frankly: the main thing cricket in Australia and the cricketers that represent this country need right now is stability. Toying with the batting order and bringing back a player who presents as a toxic influence at worst or who remains out of form at best would be the antithesis of such stability and just a stupid decision!

I love that people are passionate about cricket and are desperate for Australia to succeed but I think we all need to take a deep breath. The Australian team for the 3rd test is probably already set, particularly so given Wade’s duck at Hove, and those who have been rested from this game will be there. That means those advocating the removal of Watson or Rogers (or both) are likely to be sorely disappointed come 1 August!