*Official* VB Series - Australia, India & Zimbabwe

[Salamuddin]

India have called up Amit Bhandari for the VB series. Interesting move.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

For those who don't know of him...

Amit Bhandari

 

[Jono]

Go Zimbabwe They're playing very well at the moment. 5/179 after 42 overs. Symonds and Clarke are still there... again.

 

[Tim]

Lol, it looks like Billy Bowden has gained a following in Australia..there is a section of the crowd dressed up like him & showing the crooked finger.

 

[Jono]

Symonds is gone, Australia are 6 down now and 230 is going to be very tough from here.

 

[Tim]

I haven't seen the whole game, but Zimbabwe really have been good in the field...the bowlers are diving about to try & save the runs & the fielders are putting pressure on the batsmen..great stuff.

Symonds is out, so 184/6...220 will be tough to get by the looks of it but are Zimbabwe in for a good day?

 

[Jono]

CLARKE IS OUT!!! 7 down and not even 200 up. Can Zimbabwe win this? Wow this is great stuff.

 

[Tim]

Ervine is a teriffic prospect for Zimbabwe, his bowling is very good now & his batting is improving all the time.

Clarke out, so Aus 192/7.

I'm really enjoying this from Zimbabwe, they're keeping it simple & gaining the rewards.

 

[FRAZ]

**Official Announcement from the Vice President of the AAAS: Masterblaster**

Just to clarify to FRAZ and any other Cricket Web forum member. The AAAS is a formidable and united society. We have already over 20 members and hopefully by 2005 we will have doubled the number of our International Members.

We here at the Ajit Agarkar Appreciation Society were founded not as a mock gesture or a negative gesture towards Ajit, we were founded because we are his number 1 support team and fan club. We always have and we always will be!

Ajit is the icon of Cricket Web, and the entire AAAS fully supports and loves Ajit Agarkar's performances. We will continue to support him throughout is bad days and bad performances, and we will continue to praise him and support him when he shines and produces wonderful performances like he did just recently.

Ajit Agarkar is a once in a lifetime cricketer, and the AAAS is simply a tribute and is simply the first and premier fan club of Mr. Ajit Agarkar.

It is incredibly easy to become a member of the AAAS. Simply modify your signature and include:

"Proud Member of the AAAS"

Its that easy!

The AAAS: "Uniting Ajit Agarkar Fans Worldwide"

Well I am really sorry, cuz it wasnt me there was a friend of mine who was sitting with me and juz watched what i was reading when he saw this AAAS thing he laughed and said it s some thing like , "You can do it bobby bouche" (waterboy) type of a phrase .
He was saying that once India had a very good bowler who was a natural swinger (Chetan Sharma) he was fired from the side cuz he was hit for a six of the last ball against Pakistan.Board didnt want to but media and fans rejected him. I mean seriously Indian fans are really really focused and crazy about the game and if they make a cricketer God and JUST one bad performance then he is humiliated. And as far as this cripple and handicap thing is concerned it was just like if an underdog is playing the spectators have ovewhelming feeling of sympathaticaly backing him up .I was saying that he is not handicap and he is an experienced bowler and though he has limited resources but still he gives 100% every time. I thought this society came into being juz after aussie indi test match.Well I am really really sorry , dont take me wrong please , can i become a member of AAAS.Plzzzzzzzzz

 

[masterblaster]

Yep sure, just modify your signature, so it includes:

Member of the AAAS

or

Member of the Ajit Agarkar Appreciation Society

and then you have joined the AAAS!

The AAAS is evergrowing and we would love to have as many members as possible!

 

[FRAZ]

I've become AAAS member . Who is president ,vice president etc etc.

 

[masterblaster]

President: marc71178
Vice President: Me (masterblaster)
Chairman: Neil Pickup

Off the top of my head, some other noteworthy members are:

Luckyeddie
Craig
Iamdavid
Vishnureddy
Krkode
Andre

and there are plenty more, but thats all I can think up of right now.

 

[Tim]

Well, 4/14...i'd say its all over now for Zimbabwe.

Brad Williams is bowling pretty well mind you...

 

[V Reddy]

IMO it is a combination of both. I don't think the Indian batsman are getting as much credit as they should. The Aus bowling is only missing McGrath in this series especially as it is against India. I think the Indians have raised their standards too. For most of the series , i thought the Aussies bowled well but the Indian batsman were too good. I still rate the present the Australian bowling attack with Gillespie , Williams , Lee , Bichel and MacGill as no.2 after Pakistan and they have a great batting lineup. Don't forget they played on very flat tracks. The series after this should provide a more clearer picture.

I think today's match backs up my statement regarding Aus's bowling. They were up against avery good batting lineup in very good form. They bowled just like today the other day but the results are completely different.

 

[Tim]

uh oh..5/17, surely Zimbabwe need to send out their man for a crisis Heath Streak.

 

[Craig]

Well it has been some redicoulous batting by Zimbabwe. Maybe now we will see Zimbabwe's black cricketer selection policy doesnt work.

 

[Slow Love™]

I think today's match backs up my statement regarding Aus's bowling. They were up against avery good batting lineup in very good form. They bowled just like today the other day but the results are completely different.

You're right, and the Zimbabwe lineup is nothing compared to the Indian top and middle order (although it should be remembered that we did knock over India and beat them the other day).

There's one other difference though - the wicket. It seemed like there was a fair amount of grass on that pitch, and it was a little two-paced. I wouldn't mind seeing the Aussies play India on a pitch like that. During the recent one-day series in India, I noticed that a number of times, Australia played NZ on similar wickets, and India completely avoided them and stuck to the batsman's paradises.

I acknowledge that their batting over the test series has been very good, but I do think that the conditions have blunted bowling on the whole. Without doubt, this was always going to hurt the Aussies more than the Indians, and I think it played a part in how the series played out.

The great thing about the one-day series so far has been that sides are being bowled out again, and there's been a little more there for the bowlers. Thank god.

 

[Slow Love™]

Well it has been some redicoulous batting by Zimbabwe. Maybe now we will see Zimbabwe's black cricketer selection policy doesnt work.

I'm open to the possibility that some selections might be politically and/or racially motivated (note: this doesn't mean I'm convinced it's true, either), but how does tonight's batting performance prove anything either way?

Carlisle, Vermuelen and Flower are all white, and Taibu batted very well (and often does) in mounting a rescue effort with Streak.

IMO, one of Zimbabwe's major problems is that it's batting order doesn't seem well organized. Far too often, we find that players like Taibu, Streak and Blignaut outperform the top order, particularly in one day cricket. Surely, some of these players (particularly Streak) need to move up the order, because on a regular basis, they come out and look decent, only the game's for all intents and purposes (like tonight) already gone.

 

[Tim]

Some of those 'black' players have a fair amount of talent for their age, but obviously not as much as some of the other players other countries are producing.

Taibu for one gives 100% and he deserves every run he gets as far as im concerned...he has done it tough considering both his parents died & he uses his cricket money to pay for his brothers & sisters back home in Zimbabwe.

Im not so sure that Sibanda & Hondo will last that long if Zimbabwe find some other players...Matsikinyeri is a decent player & I think he can improve.

Streak just continues to show what a class act he is...his bowling was spot on & then his innings along with Taibu really did pull Zimbabwe out of what potentially could have been the lowest ODI score.

 

[V Reddy]

You're right, and the Zimbabwe lineup is nothing compared to the Indian top and middle order (although it should be remembered that we did knock over India and beat them the other day).

There's one other difference though - the wicket. It seemed like there was a fair amount of grass on that pitch, and it was a little two-paced. I wouldn't mind seeing the Aussies play India on a pitch like that. During the recent one-day series in India, I noticed that a number of times, Australia played NZ on similar wickets, and India completely avoided them and stuck to the batsman's paradises.

I acknowledge that their batting over the test series has been very good, but I do think that the conditions have blunted bowling on the whole. Without doubt, this was always going to hurt the Aussies more than the Indians, and I think it played a part in how the series played out.

The great thing about the one-day series so far has been that sides are being bowled out again, and there's been a little more there for the bowlers. Thank god.

The pitch helped bowlers yesterday under the lights. Tendulkar and Sehwag were beaten countless number of times. Yesterday was the best piece of bowling i have ever seen withought getting a wicket. It continued on for about 12 overs. But to the credit of the Indian batsman they put away the bad balls when they came their way while Zim didn't today. 270 was a good score on that pitch under lights.