Have you learned the names of the england players yet, Maxi?

Yes.

Morgan set things up nicely in the middle, also, having Shahzad at 11, some would almost consider him an all-rounder by a stretch :shock: Bresnan, Yardy, Woakes, Swann, Shahzad, that's a deep lower order.

Ripper of a match last night. From what the commentators were saying, it sounded like a batters pitch, yet neither side impressed me with the bat particularly. Great game to watch though.

:-k Maybe I should run for president of the ICC.

Looking for something to do after Bin Hammam boots you?

Taking over the FFA and reinstating the old NSL is high on the agenda, I feel for those on here such as ultragirl and anothermp who have been cruely treated by the FFA, and as demonstrated the failed world cup bid, football in Australia needs fixing.

Job not needed. Cricket's reputation has been battered enough...

I will bring in lie detectors to solve the match fixing problem.

And bribe the person conducting the results to cover up the corruption. Foolproof!

Mitchell Johnson is the worst bowler going around.

It literally angers me to watch him bowl...

That's very harsh, I think I'd say something more like, he's one of the most inconsistent bowlers going around.

But to an extent you're correct. When he's bad, he's one of the worst bowlers going around, but when he's good, pretty much the opposite.

His inconsistency is what makes him the worst out there. His 'good' bowling is still riddled with countless shit deliveries.

Mitch Johnson's problem is that with all his inconsistency, he is expected to lead the attack. He would be better used like Brett Lee was with Gillespie and McGrath in the attack. If he had good bowlers around him, his inconsistency wouldn't hurt the team as much. But Aus doesn't have that luxury, and I wouldn't pick him coz of it.

Wouldn't hurt if he started bowling quicker. When he first came in wasn't he hitting mid 140's to 150? In the recent ashes series he seemed to be sticking to 135-140kms/h. He doesn't bowl good enough line and length to only be a medium-fast bowler.

Pointing tried to hide him from that with Hilfenhaus and Siddle taking the new ball... he'd of fit perfectly into those teams 5-6 years ago but now australia are without a genuine spearhead so his inconsistencies are more highlighted... he's still too inconsistent and should only be selected based on conditions

Yup. Further enhancing the problem is the fact that he's not a young bloke anymore. Because the only way to fix his inconsistency is to completely re-do his action. But at 29 it's far too late for that. At best, I can see him doing alright if Copeland takes well to the side, because he's that McGrath like metronome bowler that Johnson needs as a foil.

Edited by Funky Munky: 15/1/2011 02:50:19 AM

Copeland
Pattinson
Johnson
Hazelwood

Hit the nail on the head right here. It's like watching Brett Lee ten years later. The difference is, Lee improved after his injuries when he had to re-assess his action and actually learned to swing the ball. I doubt that's ever going to happen to Johnson.

If australia could produce more of those consistent bowlers like McGrath we'd never be in this position.

Heh. That's like saying if we produce more batsman like Bradman, we'd not have any batting troubles. McGrath is an all time great of the game for a reason, he was incredibly talented. I doubt we'll see anyone recreate the consistency, over a long period of time, that he did. Stuart Clark tried, but then lost his pace.

Game 1 of the ODI series is on today. Thoughts?

One Day cricket is shit... we should have timeless tests and 8 ball overs

Play until a result.

After the luck Davies has had, he'll probably go on to make 100. :lol: (Survived a run out, stumping chance, dropped off a tough chance and caught off a no ball).

Edited by MidfieldMaestro: 16/1/2011 03:04:01 PM

Good to see the Aussies back in the winners circle. Simply brilliant innings from Watson.

just wow... stunning game... and look at it over 500 runs, 14 wickets in one day of cricket is pretty good, one day cricket isn't necessarily dead but when you over play it the good games become rarer... this series should only be 3-5, this game shows that ODI can be as good as the T20 form, if anything the win is more rewarding in this format when you consider Watson was cramping when you might not break sweat in T20

Watson's a champ. That was unbelievable.

Theres more chance of getting a contest in 50 over cricket. In Twenty20s some teams smash out or lose quick wickets and the match can be decided after a few quick events.

I wish T20s were never around. I get pretty sad watching ODIs. They used to be amazing and the idea that you could play a whole match in a day was great. Then they had to go and cut it to 75min innings. [-(

I think this upcoming WC could be the last. They may aswell publicise it as the last so ODIs can get a proper burial. South Africa 2003 was one of my fave sporting events ever and its sad I wont feel like that again for one day cricket.

One day cricket was such a big part of my upbringing. :cry:




Shane Watson has come from a all-rounder injury prone floater to a bonified opening batsman in all forms of the game. Good from him. I dont think I rated him til this summer.

Mathew's and Malinga's stand way back in the first ODI in November was better than this imo :p

+1, I rubbished Watson when he was an all rounder, but he has turned himself into an amazing opening batsmen.

I've always thought they should have kept T20 to club sides. The IPL, for example, is raking in the cash for the game. It is a bit of a joke to make it international though, really detracts from ODI's.