Matt Renshaw has cracked a county deal with Kent.

Good news. Kent are coming up from Div 2 to play Div 1 so he should get good opposition as well. I wonder if he will left there rather than be selected from the Aus A tour. I certainly hope so given the A tour seems to be almost all one day games. 

There has been no timeframe given. His stay will include both white and red ball fixtures. Same as the As.

According to this article, http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25953977/matt-renshaw-signs-early-season-spell-kent it is only a short spell with two championship matches and their one day competition. He is to help cover Denly and Billings while they play in the IPL. So my initial thought this is good news is rather tempered. He will be playing fake cricket for most of the time and will be done well before the A tour. I feel like punching something.

Yes he will be done before the A tour. That is a good thing. Means he has the chance to add some more red ball runs to the ones he scored for Somerset last season and hopefully the mass of runs he scores in the remaining Shield matches. I have watched some of his BBL knocks and he is hitting the ball well.. albeit a white one.

There is a revived Oz Movie thread.. check it out. I have added a quiz.

No fucking chance.

I don't watch movies generally, know nothing about Australian movies and have nothing to contribute to the thread.

no worries.

I just want to say how  stupid it was of NZC and CA not to schedule a Chappell Hadlee this season heading into world cup squads.

Maybe Aus needed those SL tests just to restore confidence and what not. 

NZ does not need its first 3 test tour in ages to be Bangladesh, who without Shakib, appears to be gun-shy even in the ODI stuff.

Test matches are the best cricket can be, one dayers are bullshit, slightly better than T20. MORE TESTS ARE NEEDED AND LESS FAKE CRICKET. New Zealand should be being applauded for playing Bangladesh, as Australia did the right thing to play Sri Lanka. Hopefully we will play Bangladesh soon.

It would be good for cricket if the WC was abandoned, and T20 banned, unless that happens cricket will continue to be ruined.

Not for the players it wouldn't be. And the only nations left playing cricket would be Eng and Aus. Maybe India. Maybe. Noone else. They'd all be broke without ICC funds and India odi/t20 tours.

Look at what pays the bills for cricket countries, there aint no money in test cricket outside the Ashes and India matches. That's it. End of. 

Guess you just mean those few Ashes only test cricket fans that aint died of old age yet.

WHY IS EVERYTHING ABOUT MONEY?

Because without world cups, odi and t20, there is NO MONEY for anyone to play test cricket outside England and Australia.

That is why.

Test cricket is not a money maker. That means the groundsmen, the umpires, the players, the domestic coaches, the entire infrastructure has no money. It descends to amateurism and volunteering, and you take the game back to Pre-Packer levels.

I see the World Test Championship as a much needed injection for our purest format. Do you?  The ICc has to make a statement about the safe future of Test cricket by channelling a good  percentage of the proceeds from the WTC  into funding the weaker Test nations. I for one do not want our game returned to the pre-Packer days.

I do not care about this money bullshit I just want to see test cricket played at its best. Test cricket is the only true cricket at international level and that is being negatively effected by fake cricket, fake cricket needs to end for test cricket to be at its best and survive. There is talk of 4 day tests and other such bullshit. People need to grow up and get rid of this infantile obsession with instant gratification. 

Well, you reach into your pocket, find a few billion dollars, and you pay for it. Because the market won't. 

Fake cricket pays the bills for test cricket outside of the Ashes. This is the economic reality. It pays the bills for all cricket.

People need to grow up and appreciate the market forces at work and where the money comes from. And if you don't want money in cricket - send it back to the Pre-Packer era. Enjoy.

You really think those that want instant gratification are going to follow test cricket? Or did cricket grow up to make a product that the market wanted? Kerry Packer installed lights at Melbourne for a reason.

Because a media mogul like the next Packer with his World Series Cricket, the next ICL with t20 will swoop in and steal half the players by paying them pro-salaries if you leave test cricket amateur... and right now - pyjama cricket is paying the bills for the red ball game.

No. The test championship was set up as much to encourage interest in test cricket, as it was to make sure countries like Australia stopped cancelling tours on countries like Bangladesh. The points table encourages people playing tests including against the weak nations at home because of more table points. It encourages the Big 3 to look at winning the test championship as well as simply making money for themselves. This is important because Kerry Packer reckons when Hayden scored 380 vs ZImbabwe, he lost $4million broadcasting the cricket as there was low ratings. People didn't care to watch.

Only the WTC final produces ICC funds, I doubt it will make all that much money with only 1 test match compared to World Cups and WT20. To get a real idea of the value, the BCCI values and prices a commercial sponsor at the same price per test, as per odi, as per t20. They get the same money for a t20 from commercial sponsorship, as they do a 5 day test...

The ICC doesn't need to make a statement. Its already released how much money each country is getting on the current rotation. 2 test matches aint going to compare to 2 WT20's and a world cup. But the money goes into the ICC fund, and the members will vote on redistribution in the next cycle.

All qualifying series remain bilatteral - CA, EWCB and BCCI etc still keep their money for themselves. And outside the Ashes or India playing, there isn't much money there.

Cricketers get paid massive contracts to play test cricket. If those have to be reduced a bit then that would not be a bad thing. 
I do not see why people think they need massive money, it is just selfishness while millions or perhaps billions around the world suffer with next to nothing. The vast majority of Australians, me included even though I am on quite a low wage, are incredibly rich compared to the majority of the world. Australian society is massively self indulgent and cricketers massive salaries is just a symptom of the sickness that pervades almost everything in Australia.

Kerry Packer would lose more than 4 million in evil gambling sessions. He was just a selfish rich pig, the world would be much better if people like him did not exist.

Only in England and Australia. Wake up. Who else you going to play in tests? THAT'S MY POINT!

You will have noone else to play against, because you do not know the first thing about how the global game is funded.

All you talk about is Australia this and Australia that. Well who is Australia going to play?

Kerry Packer knew he had the same problem, so he bought the West Indies and a World Team as well... cos you need someone to play against... And he knew he would have to keep buying further opposition cos that would get stale. And he gave the audiences what they wanted, night limited overs cricket...

This is funny seeing you want to ignore the global market demand for fake cricket and pay cricketers even less to pay for it just because you prefer test cricket. Everyone employed in cricket loses, everyone in a cricket related business, from selling hot dogs at the stadium to t-shirts  loses. The broadcasters lose. The hotel operators and restaurants and bars lose. The person denied watching the entertainment loses. Everyone bar a few test fans loses.

Your argument couldn't be more selfish. 

Unfortunately you missed the point that fake cricket pays the bills outside the Ashes for test cricket to exist... you would literally be cutting off your nose to spite your face. You have no idea what funds the non Big 3 - and trust me - the BCCI is well funded from IPL and ODI...

All the financial records of the ICC and Cricket Boards are publicly available. Go read them.

I do not care how the game is funded, but if it relies on fake cricket it is a broken model and it must be changed.

Well find a solution and a fix - that makes people want to watch test cricket over fake cricket...

Cos noone before you yet in the past 44 years - has an answer to changing what the cricket market demands and will watch and pay for. Noone. 

More people like limited overs cricket. More people have time to watch it. It gets better ratings and is worth more money. 

I chuckled when I read how rising quick Jhye Richardson keeps himself motivated during a game.. He scribbles messages on his shoes. 
https://www.cricket.com.au/news/unique-shoe-messages-jhye-richardson-kiss-ruthless-australia-india-odi-series/2019-02-16. Could the skilful right armer also be a KISS fan?

His BBL figures were bettered but some in the know are talking about Josh Philippe as their bolter for the WC. The kid is still inconsistent but his two knocks in the finals for the Sixers proved he has the temperament for the big time. I love his precociousness, the confidence with which he takes on good pace bowling and spin. His lofted drives off the spinners reminds me of a younger more brash Steve Smith. So people dont be surprised if Philippe's name is called out when they name the WC squad.  

Turns out there are practice matches between NZ and Aus in May in Brisbane. NZ will be without its IPL finals players.

This is someone I believe has a big future.
https://www.cricketnsw.com.au/news/mcdonalds-nsw-premier-cricket-devlin-malone-sydney-university-nic-bills-ed-cowan-blues/2019-02-18

They will clash next season. Finally on Oz soil.. first time in how long? Looking forward to it.