***Official*** 3rd Test at the WACA

[greg]

I think the remaining advocates of the correctness of Giles being selected are going to be disappearing completely once this article gets a wider showing...

 

[greg]

It was so obviously a bunsen, Jayasuriya was very difficult to play on it and he hardly puts anything on the ball. Panesar benefitted hugely from Harmison rattling the Pakistan batsmen in one of the Tests, he also picked up some lucky/freak wickets as well in that same Test (a player overbalancing by millimetres past/on the line for no real reason and getting stumped, Inzi hitting the ball onto his foot and getting caught and so on). Danish Kaneira has been in a bad patch for a while now and he was played a lot better by England than Panesar was played by Pakistan.

Hang on a minute - just checked that scorecard to refresh my memory.

These were Montys figures: 5-3-3-0 (first innings) and 37-13-78-5 (second innings)
These were Muralis figures: 31-10-62-3 (first innings) and 30-10-70-8 (second innings)

What exactly are you complaining about here? Whatever the reason for England's defeat (basically they threw the game away when it was their's for the taking in the first innings) they certainly didn't lose because Monty took too long bowling Sri Lanka out on a 'bunsen'. More like the pace bowlers were ineffective and couldn't keep it tight at the other end whereas SL had the option of Jaysuriya to keep an end bottled up and give Murali the time to work his magic, on an older pitch.

Basically those figures tell the tale of a pitch that started out as a seamers paradise, and gradually deteriorated until it became hugely favourable for the spinners by the end. Not favorable for the spinners in the first two innings, pretty favorable for them in the latter two - but obviously more so in the last England innings compared to the last SLankan one.

 

[grecian]

Danish Kaneira has been in a bad patch for a while now and he was played a lot better by England than Panesar was played by Pakistan.

Yes, England well known for playing spin well

 

[dileep.vaka]

Can some one invite me 4 user competitions....
my id is spam@dileep.com

 

[TT Boy]

I think the remaining advocates of the correctness of Giles being selected are going to be disappearing completely once this article gets a wider showing...

Sounds like a true professional, eats in fast food outlets and drinks to forget.

 

[greg]

Sounds like a true professional, eats in fast food outlets and drinks to forget.

I have a feeling it might be a spoof though.

 

[superkingdave]

I have a feeling it might be a spoof though.

how come? BBC is carrying a few of the comments from the article (nasty phone call, dropped catch etc)

 

[marc71178]

I guess i can live with Symonds being picked for 1 test with the hope that Watson will return for the MCG test, but its total nonsense that Hodge has not been picked, by all reports he isn't all that injured and by the 3rd test he should be fine...

If he "isn't all that injured", he'd not be missing games through injury.

 

[Craig]

Ah well, another day and another former England captain (Mike Gatting) has come out and lampooned Steve Harmison's shocking effort so far and the rest of England's performance thus far.

Hey geniuses' tell us something we don't know and I'm pretty certain Harmison is aware of it and it isn't as though he is out there trying to bowl poorly on purpose and would dearly love to bowl a helluva a lot better. Fair enough he is the worst form of his career, I know it, you know it, Harmison and England know it, but having a dig every single friggin' time is hardly going to improve his confidence now isn't it?

You know unless you have something constructive to say then stop wasting valuable trees rambling on and stating the bloody obvious every man and his dog knows.

Rant over.

 

[Laurrz]

meh, might as well make a thread now

Vaughan has been ruled out of this match

http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/vaughan...5685545558.html

damn wouldn't of minded if he had played... because then he'd take out Cook who just hit a ton at the WACA today.. altho Clark isn't bowling

 

[Linda]

Having some ex-cricketer/respected coach saying that they were the "best young cricketer they have ever seen" seems to be the bare minimum required these days...

Sarwan, Clarke, Bell, Cook, Marsh... (I'm sure Jacques must be there as well)

Steve Waugh was playing against him though, rather than just looking on from the stands, if that counts for anything.

 

[howardj]

One thing with this Test match, is that the Curator is talking about producing an old-fashioned Perth pitch (where nicks used to go for six, and the 3rd man doubled as 2nd slip) as though as that is a good thing. To be frank, those old WACA pitches were so unrealistic that they made for pretty ordinary fare, in my view.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

One thing with this Test match, is that the Curator is talking about producing an old-fashioned Perth pitch (where nicks used to go for six, and the 3rd man doubled as 2nd slip) as though as that is a good thing. To be frank, those old WACA pitches were so unrealistic that they make for decent games of cricket, in my view.

It was a unique wicket though, and people loved the spectacle of it. I don't think it's a bad thing at all, except when it cracks up so much it's dangerous of course. It provides a stern test for overseas batsman and a change of pace. The variation in our pitches has always been one of the charms of Australian cricket.

 

[howardj]

edited my post - was trying to say that they made for ordinary fare.

 

[howardj]

It was a unique wicket though, and people loved the spectacle of it. I don't think it's a bad thing at all, except when it cracks up so much it's dangerous of course. It provides a stern test for overseas batsman and a change of pace. The variation in our pitches has always been one of the charms of Australian cricket.

Greg Blewett's dismissal in 1996/97 being the high point! Double-bounce yorker, from a half tracker.

 

[BoyBrumby]

One thing with this Test match, is that the Curator is talking about producing an old-fashioned Perth pitch (where nicks used to go for six, and the 3rd man doubled as 2nd slip) as though as that is a good thing. To be frank, those old WACA pitches were so unrealistic that they made for pretty ordinary fare, in my view.

There was a report in one of the papers over here (Guardian or Telegraph) that the soil from a riverbed that the pitches used to consist of was exhausted. I'll try to fish it out.

 

[howardj]

The variation in our pitches has always been one of the charms of Australian cricket.

Yeah I'd like to see some pace and some grass on the pitch (and most importantly some very good carry) this Thursday. I just hope it's not too over the top.

 

[howardj]

I honestly believe the biggest influence on pitches (definitely here in Australia, and I think overseas too) over the last five years, are the two Curators who lost their jobs because their Test match finished inside three days. I know that happened at the WACA and I remember another groundsman (may have been an overseas guy) who got the flick just around that time too. I just think groundsmen are so fearful of the game wrapping up early, that they go too far the other way and produce absolute roads that ensure at least a four day match.

 

[BoyBrumby]

There was a report in one of the papers over here (Guardian or Telegraph) that the soil from a riverbed that the pitches used to consist of was exhausted. I'll try to fish it out.

Link here

The problem, according to the groundsman, Cameron Sutherland, is that supplies of the special alluvial soil, found in a Western Australian river bed, with which the Waca's pitches were once constructed, have long since run out and the soil that was substituted was unable to match the clay content. "More like 60%," Sutherland reckons, "compared to 80% before."

The result is slow, moribund sandier pitches more characteristic of those found in the eastern states, a situation that has led to rumours that Australia could definitely include two spinners in their side on a ground that is not Warne's happiest, with 37 wickets in 11 Tests, and where Stuart MacGill has taken only six in two games. As if to reinforce the view, Western Australia's leading bowler there this season is an off-spinner, Aaron Heal. Spinners once left WA in droves to seek fame and fortune elsewhere.

 

[Dasa]

I wouldn't mind seeing another one of those nightmare pitches...it's a change from the usual, and I don't mind seeing ridiculously bowling-friendly pitches here and there.