The Prindiville End

3rd ODI, Australia vs West Indies

2010-02-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

It's quick poll time! Given the state of the West Indian team at present, and Chris Gayle's new status as Bollinger's Bunny, do you feel that the Windies are:

a) Slightly Screwed
b) Moderately Screwed
c) Screwed
d) Utterly Screwed
e) Curl-into-a-fetal-position-and-cry Screwed

in today's upcoming 3rd ODI? Discuss in comments.

That is one brutal looking bowling line up all of a sudden, Bollinger, Harris, McKay, Johnson and Hauritz. (I didn't think I'd be saying that about an Australian team for several years!) The Windies are facing the prospect of a tenth loss on the trot, coming not only against teams like Australia and India, but also Bangladesh and Pakistan.

They say Nash will get a start again; he was reliable in the tests but didn't exactly cover himself in glory. The West Indies will definitely be looking to him to help anchor the middle order, which lately has been more of a briefly delayed top order for the West Indies. Roach is still there, and the Sydney wicket promises to be a cruel and unusual experience for the batsmen once more, I can't wait to see what Roach can come up with.

Update:
Holy crap, four change, including no Marsh.

Update 2:
9 wides in 11 overs, this is just silly.

That was mindblowing

2010-02-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

That was a mind-blowing match to watch, my fingernails are gone. More later, but for now, wow.

Tait, 160.7km/h ... wow, just wow.

Update: If Pakistan had fielded like that for the rest of the summer, we would have lost AT LEAST one of the tests, one or two or the ODIs. That was electrifying fielding, I was amazed. Kamran Akmal was just legendary. Keep Shoaib Malik as Captain, he had this side jumping. Great confidence, great intent.

As good a response as can be expected, I suppose

2010-02-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

WACA wants stiffer fines for pitch invasion

Try to get the legislation changed to allow a $10,000 fine to make sure louts can't simply pool together with their mates to beat the fine, admission of fault for the security breach, full (sounding at least) apologies to the Pakistani team and the player in question, and contrition.

If we can see the fines actually increase, an actual security review and that fool get pinned down with the assault charge and to see some time in the jail, I'd say it was a good step to making sure this never happens again.

Not in a million years...

2010-02-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

... could have imagined such a twist to the final game of the series.

My hats off to you, Boom Boom Afridi, you have a creative genius and a flair for the dramatic unmatched by a thousand authors.

As a practical note, though, if you must ball-tamper, at least try and ball-tamper with a little bit of discretion. You know, like the English do. You know, try to drop the ball and then "oops, I tripped over the damn ball and drove my cleats through it". The whitest gora in the history of Europe would not get clear of BITING the ball in front of cameras. And when it comes from someone who already has a name for himself for moonwalking across pitches in England with cleats... well...

On other news, I'm happy to hear on the radio that that streaker will be facing assault charges in front of the local magistrate. Serves the bastard right.

What you missed if you only watched the Perth Match on TV: Yobbos

2010-01-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

So I was at the Day-Duskish 4th ODI, and noticed a few things.

Greatest feat observed today:
The people in Block 9 created a 'snake' out of the plastic booze cups that stretched for almost the length of the seating block itself, I'd say about 20 metres before the Fun Police came along.

Most shameful failure observed today:
There was a streaker, who failed on several fronts: a) he was not nude, but wearing boxers, b) dropped the flag he was carrying, and c) he tripped over his own feet before he even reached the middle rope. Steaking fail.

Quirkiness & other things:
There was a man waving a giant blow-up finger thingie in an Australian flag pattern, and had attached the Kenyan flag to it.

The entire middle deck of the Prindiville Stand joined in with a rousing rendition of pop song 'You are a wanker', in honour of the aforementioned Fun Police.

Drunken man not far from where I was sitting screaming out about his love for Hauritz's kneecaps.

Okay, now, about the cricket...

Australia's return to form via One-Day Internationals continues. Yes, I know what you're saying; 'But Nathan, it's just the Windies and Pakistan'. Yes well, we also got India in India and England in England and the Champions League. Not bad for a broken-down, has-been, glory-is-gone, aura-faded team.

Our batting was so-so but it sufficed. Grafting through the middle and then giving them the full broadside in the last ten overs is working well. Asif was bowling well, Kamran Akmal made a great catch, all in all the bowling attack was of a good standard. The fielding ... well, the return throws to the stumps had a 50/50 chance of coming within 5 metres of the target, and there were some keystone cops moments of turning around in circles looking for where the ball had gone. Better than some of Pakistan's fielding displays of late, however.

Pakistan is improving slowly in this regard.

I should mention at this point that I apparently have a psychic gestalt with Nathan Hauritz. A little ways into the 48th over, with Hauritz in the mid-20s and time running out, I lean over the Missus and suggest "Hey, two and a bit overs left, if Hauritz really tried, he could get his half-century!" in a completely sarcastic tone. Hauritz, however, being the earnest lad he is, took me at face value, hit the next two balls for six each and had that fifty with an over and a half to spare. As his obvious source of inspiration, I would like to take some credit for this 50.

Also, Ryan Harris does not exist; he was killed in a lab experiment months ago. A lab experiment that created the "Ryan Harris" Mk 2 prototype you see today. He is in fact, not really human, but a result of a fusion of science and a deal with Satan that Ricky Ponting of the Crusader Infidels (also known by the moniker of 'the Australian Cricket Team') carried out.

Yes, that's right, Ryan Harris is one part cyborg and three parts demon. The proof is in the pudding, and in the picture you can see here. Look at those forearms and that twisted smile and tell me they come from someone who is not on loan from the Hell.

And finally, as much as I love Asif, the time to play five minutes of Pakistani Techno music to welcome him out would have been when he opened the bowling, not when he is the last man walking out to the crease with the team over 130 runs short. It just sounds like mockery when you do it like that.

Best Moment From 3rd ODI

2010-01-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

The 48th Over, Umar Gul copping three consecutive no balls, one of them not even his fault and seeing his over go for 23 runs in the worst over of butchery I can personally recall. Crazy stuff.

And coming back from that to be on a hattrick with his next over.

That match was won in those last five or so overs. Brutal batting; glad I caught it on the telly.

Bangladesh

2010-01-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

Shakib Al Hasan: "Losing hurts, but there is no use hanging on to it [emotion]. We want to keep improving and learning from our mistakes. Look, the first generation of cricketers had an average of 15 to 20, the next had 25 to 30, this lot is pushing 35 and the next generation will go over 40."

Now that's the sort of statement I like to hear from Bangladesh; no despair, no insane optimism, just pointing to the trend and keeping their heads up high. Some of the most dangerous test teams today had records not dissimilar from Bangladesh in their day. Cricket is all about the long-view, and it's important we remember that with the Bangladeshis.

Daryl Harper & Tony Hill

2010-01-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

Dear England,

If you didn't want a New Zealander and an Australian to try scuppering your series and hand victory to a set of South Africans, you should have treated your Dominions better, now shouldn't you have?

This is what you get for Bodyline and surrendering Singapore, as far as I'm concerned.

Kindest Regards,
Nathan

Ways not to stay competitive in a Test Match with Australia

2010-01-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

28.6 Bollinger to Mohammad Yousuf, 2 runs, OUT, run out! full length delivery, driven along the ground through mid-off, Yousuf wants a third, Butt says no but the captain keeps coming, he's halfway down the pitch before he finally concedes the necessity to retreat, the throw comes in from Johnson at deep mid-off all the way to the keeper's end, Haddin removes the bails with Yousuf well short
Mohammad Yousuf run out 7 (24b 0x4 0x6) SR: 29.16

33.3 Hauritz to Umar Akmal, OUT, run out! pushed to mid-off, the batsmen set off for a single, before Butt stops in his tracks, Akmal is already half-way down before he has to retreat, the throw from Siddle comes into Haddin and Akmal is just short, as the television replay confirms Umar Akmal run out 8 (13b 2x4 0x6) SR: 61.53

You're 500 runs down and you want to start playing a game of risky rushed singles? The captain as well? Are you all crazy?

A day without rain for Australia, seeing Ponting get our first double-tonne since Gillespie in '06 (funny he just pops that out, randomly, JUST AS THE PRESSURE IS ON, I smell a conspiracy) and Clarke reach a new high score, to be followed by a top-order collapse from Pakistani. And Peter Siddle, for nabbing two in an over and prompting the collapse, may have just gone a long way to saving his place in the team, especially in light of last match's batting heroics.

Ps. Hi Sid

Dear Blog

2010-01-14T23:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog,

Terribly sorry I have not updated you, I am quite remiss. I blame my holidays, but alas, they are over now, so I will try and churn out some stuff on this very weird series with Pakistan very soon!

Regards,
The Author

PS. Sid, I'm not doing my best to ignore you, your site just keeps causing my browser to crash!

Thanks for including me in your worst of '09 ):

India vs Sri Lanka

2009-12-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Suffice to say, India has now rather definitively proved that Sri Lanka has no business sitting in the # 2 position on the ICC Test Rankings.

Decent performance in the first match, but two follow-ons in the succeeding matches? Time for some serious self-reflection for Sri Lanka.

Chris Gayle

2009-12-03T16:51:00.001-08:00

It's safe to say that Chris Gayle now knows exactly who Bollinger is.

Too much slogging, Gayle, not enough batting; who do you think you are, Sehwag?

Sreesanth the Bloody

2009-11-30T00:16:00.000-08:00

Another belated post-weekend post, about another follow-on-inducing massacre.

Sreesanth came out with accumulated figures of 33 Ov, 8 M, 122 R, 6 W, 2nb. But more importantly, he tore the Sri Lankan top-order to pieces in the first innings, getting a five-for, four of them against notable danger-men, including Sangakkara. Not as present in the second innings, but that was largely because the second innings belonged to the spinners (and surprisingly, Sehwag).

I have to admit, I was really surprised to see the Sri Lankans come apart at the seams like this. They seemed to have everything together at Motera, their only problem was hyper-cautiousness, especially in their captain, and a penchant for preferring batting records to victory. To go from Motera to this is quite a puzzler.

And remind me not to doubt Kanpur groundsmen.

India 642
Sri Lanka 229 & 269

West Indies: Where to start...

2009-11-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm late to get on the topic but, busy weekend.

Well, that was rather cruel and unusual. The pitch was lively enough for both sides, and on the third day you could see these terrifying longitudinal cracks in the pitch, like giant San Andreas fault lines. The lack of Jerome Taylor beyond a nine-over contribution no doubt hurt as well. But even those factors can't excuse a three-day slaughter.

From what I could tell, the West Indies were simply in a ODI mindset. As thrilling as the opening overs of the West Indies innings were, it wasn't test cricket and it wasn't being mindful of the pitch or the opposition. With fifteen wickets falling on one day, they were certainly dismissed in an ODI fashion, and in doing so deprived me of my sunday afternoon viewing.

Chanderpaul probably stands out as the biggest disappointment. Effectively the anchorman of the West Indies order, the calypso reply to Dravid, in the last outing with the Australians he batted an average of like five hours per innings. A score of 2 & 2 makes it nearly impossible for the WI batting order to make the necessary chase. Add into that the fact that Gayle and Chanderpaul racked up 3 of 4 referrals, all on exceptionally plumb decisions...

All in all, the Windies had two shining points, Adrian Barath's century performance, and Kemar Roach's bowling. Both of these look like players who will go places if given the chance.

On the downside, the rest of their bowling was ho-hum, their star bowler couldn't bowl, their top order was brittle, their middle order was brittle, their lower order was brittle, their discipline with the referrals was lax and they simply couldn't perform on a lively pitch.

Australia 480/8d
West Indies 228 & 187 (f/o)

Well don't I look like a twit?

2009-11-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

Here I was saying wilderness and draw draw draw when Sreesanth was cavorting about the pitch claiming wicket after wicket.

Guess that proves how much of a pessimist I am. Of course, I don't imagine that there were too many people, after that greek-tragedy-we-know-as-Motera who were expecting a follow-on after seeing the Indians amass over 600 runs. But still.

Either way, impressive as hell!

West Indies Bowling

2009-11-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Well, good start for the West Indies bowlers, Roach's outswingers and Taylor's inswingers confounding and picking up the wicket of Watson for a duck.

Had a nice run spurt but it's looking like they've just pinned us down again... last three overs for one run.

Update 1:
Oh bloody hell, Punter.

And this is why Australia has to bat all the way down to 10th man.

2nd Test at Kanpur

2009-11-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, a disclaimer first: I'm short on sleep and between coffees!

So, what will we have today, a pitch that could double as the taxiway of Kanpur International Terminal that looks like they picked it up from the salt-flats and sprinkled yellow food dye on it, or a pitch that might even have a little green, a bit of a root system, maybe some cracks on the fourth and fifth day. Something that won't inspire the bowler's to take the cherry and instead of bowling it, try and use its seams to slit their wrists.

India will be taking to the 2nd Test the knowledge that their batters CAN all fire together, that their pace attack is decent and their spin attack is toothless. I know, I'm as bewildered as the rest of you.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will know that they by rights should have had that match, but essentially they hyper-cautioned themselves out of the match. Poor reading of the pitch, hyper-defensiveness and slow batting did them in. All the double and triple-centuries in the world can't win a match for you if you take too long. At least they can console themselves with another half-dozen milestones and records.

Big news of course it that Dhoni will be able to play and Prasad will not. Prasad may not have been the spitfire Welegedara was, but he was still a very big part of their attack and I suspect his absence will be sorely felt.

I'm not going to hazard a guess at a result to this mathc until I see how the pitch starts to play.

Update 1:
India will bat first. Pitch is said to be more bowler friendly (as if anything could be less friendly than Motera). Anyway, this is good news to be starting the day with.

Update 2:
Freesanth and Ojha???

Update 3:
This is starting to look ugly, with a sky-high run rate no less.

Update 4:
So will Dhoni be aiming for a score of 761?

Update 5:
Good lord, they're all out, where did that come from??

And we're back

2009-11-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

After a busy weekend, a little worse for wear from the company Christmas Party, and we're back again.

India and Sri Lanka batted themselves out to a dull and lifeless draw.
Sri Lanka proved they are too hyper-cautious to eke out wins.
Queensland vs West Indies, batted themselves out to a lifeless draw (curse that 4-day format!).

Seems the only actual victories allowed to take place these days are the Victorians over my Western Warriors! Sad times...

Well, 2nd Test at Kanpur starts tomorrow, and the 1st Test between Australia and West Indies in three days time. The first of these promises to be another close and hard fought match (to be inevitably be decided by if the pitch will allow a victory) and the second promises to be a rather one-sided and unpleasant (and don't just ask me; when Saint Lara the I say's they're in for a shellacking, that's a bad sign). Ah, Test Cricket, what we live for.

Of course, Chris Gayle is back, which is great for the Windies (and many well wishes to Gayle's mother Heazlyn Gilroy!) and should make them a more competitive side. Their baptism by fire in Australian conditions at Allan Border oval in Brisbane will have given them a heads up on how the pitches play here so playing the national team shouldn't throw up many shocks. But it will still be an uphill battle; let's make no mistake, they were trending very badly for a loss if there had been a fifth day's play. If I were to be a fool, I'd say 2-nil, Australia's way, in the series. And if I were to bet on the India v Sri Lanka series, I'd say 1-nil, India's way.

Also, Glenn McGrath took 3/18. I don't care what people say, to me the Human Metronome is the most terrifying bowler I can think of. :)

India vs Sri Lanka, Day 5 at Motera

2009-11-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka seems to have understimated how easy this pitch is to play on, allowing India to build up 190/2, giving India a very good chance of holding on for the draw. Barring no irregular deterioration, the match seems relatively safe and Sri Lanka may have thrown away their best chance to date of a win on Indian soil.

Neither team has racked up 8 wickets in a day so far on this pitch and with a 45-over old ball, I'm not expecting any big surprises. India should over-take the lead by early afternoon and even if Sri Lanka gets to bat again, there would be very little opportunity to chase it down.

Here's hoping the next pitch is a little more lively.

So far the big standouts of the match would have to be:
a) Dravid's new groove
b) Welegedara, great potential, will need to see what he does in the next two matches
c) the frustrating and inexplicable failure of Team India's spinners
d) Dhoni seeming to lose his nerve with field placement and bowling choices.

Update:
Mishra just got a life courtesy of Dilshaan, dropped catch in slip. Forgot to dry his hands before heading out?

Update 2:
Mishra getting the better of Murali's bowling, fifth sign of the apocalypse or sixth sign?

Why in the name of little green apples is Sangakkara setting defensive fields? You're not defending a total, you're trying to win a match! Can someone go over and poke him in the shoulder, see if he's awake?

Update 3:
Dilshaan get's an opportunity to put things right and holds the catch from Mishra. We should all be so lucky in getting second chances ):

Update 4:
A century for Gambhir! See, thats how you do it, Viru, by not playing it like a drunken sailor going after everything in your path.

Update 5:
Why would he charge a spinner when they're trying to bat out the match??? Gambhir, what were you thinking? Oh well, on comes Very Very Special Laxman and the innings continues.

Update 6:
Just saw the bet365 odds:
Draw 1.00
Sri Lanka 51.00
India 501.00

I sense a get rich quick scheme coming on!

Australian Squad for First Test announced

2009-11-19T06:27:00.001-08:00

Batsmen

Ricky Ponting (capt)

Simon Katich

Michael Hussey

Michael Clarke

Marcus North

Brad Haddin (wk)

Bowlers

Mitchell Johnson

Nathan Hauritz

Peter Siddle

Ben Hilfenhaus

Shane Watson

Doug Bollinger

Only one change, Stuart Clark is out, Bollinger is in. Which is a bit of a shame for Clark, who has been putting respectable performances but let’s be honest, after what Bollinger turned in on the 6^th ODI they were obligated to give him his second Test Cap. Alas, Brett Lee is still out for the count with that elbow spur, but still having two proper quicks in the attack will be a treat.

Hopefully Haddin can get his head around batting again, because his last few performances that I can see have been uniformly uninspiring. The rest of the batting line-up should hold up though, with Ponting and Hussey back in form.

Dunno yet who is 12^th man but if I were to make stupid bets, I’d opt for Hilfenhaus or Siddle.

Sri Lanka 760/7d

2009-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Eep.

Something really needs to be done about this predilection for flat lifeless decks. Really, 760/7d? Bring back some life in the pitches, groundsmen!

Mahela Jayawardene's innings were extraordinary and he couldn't have asked for better support than Prasanna provided him with.

India can bat their way to safety on this, depending on what condition it is in tomorrow. But if there was any pitch you were going to try and bat your way to safety for a day and a half on, well, this is it. A win is impossible at this stage I think, but India can still try and rescue a draw.

Either way, there will be some hard and long discussions about the bowling before the next test.

A lot of Pluck, but not much behind it

2009-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

The West Indies are, yet again, staring up at a big hill to overcome if they are to make any progress in this series. Their warm-up match against Queensland is looking very dicey at the moment, as Nick Kruger rather methodically grinds through the weakened West Indies attack. (Edit: Although it looks like Roach is having a very good time with the ball and is keeping the run rate down low!) The loss of Chris Gayle is going to hurt them further, unfortunately.

Would should all feel a pang of sympathy, though, for the young Trinidadian batsman Adrian Barath who had the terrible misfortune of having been near a sports journalist before his first real crack at the radically different Australian pitch conditions, who got him to speak about his confidence and eagerness to take on Australia. A confidence which ended in 20 balls faced, 0 runs scored and being caught behind. Experience is the key though, and if he can adapt to Indian pitch conditions when he played for T&T in the Champions League, he can adapt to Australian conditions no doubt.

My earliest cricketing memories are of watching a test match between Australia and the West Indies during a big family reunion, and I've always had a soft spot for that island and palm-trees shield on crimson. Tumult and crisis tend to bring opportunity so hopefully this series will bind and blood this inexperienced outfit and form the start of a new West Indian resurgence.

Also, I'm going to be able to get along to the Third Test at the WACA, and it would be great to see some competitive cricket there!

Update:

Queensland 113 runs up with six wickets in hand at stump. This is going to be a tough tour for the Windies.

India vs Sri Lanka at Motera, Day 3 Review

2009-11-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

Jayawardene vs Dravid
Dilshaan vs Dhoni
Welegedara vs ... who?

Who in the Indian bowling attack was able to apply pressure, take wickets, restrict scoring?

Z Khan 30 - 4 - 93 - 2 - 3.10 (8nb, 2w)
I Sharma 28 - 0 - 108 - 2 - 3.85 (3nb, 1w)
Harbhajan Singh 39 - 3 - 151 - 1 - 3.87
A Mishra 43 - 6 - 152 - 0 - 3.53 (6nb)
Yuvraj Singh 13 - 1 - 49 - 0 - 3.76
SR Tendulkar 7 - 0 - 20 - 0 - 2.85

Very flat performances, and the number of no balls is sure to be causing lots of red faces in the Pavillion. India has caught its jumper on the thorn of the last batting partnership of Sri Lanka's line-up which is truly frustrating to see. The Sri Lankan's, by contrast have looked determined, dangerous and competent, a team on a mission. The Sri Lankan team have been consistent in the field and consistent with the bat.
So first test will go down as either a draw or a win for Sri Lanka, then spend the next four days finding out what happened to the bowling attack.

The Prindiville End

2009-11-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

Woo, starting on this whole blogging shtick, five years late, but better than never.

I plan to cover Australian cricket, a bit of Indian cricket (since they're a very interesting team, and some of the best showmen and entertainers in modern cricket) and the Western Warriors.

I hope people enjoy!