Past Tournaments

[Burgey]

This is on the CA website. A nice reminder of just how good Ponting was:

https://www.cricket.com.au/video/ri...outs-1998-south-africa-new-zealand/2019-05-21

Ridiculous fieldsman. As good as there's ever been, anywhere. That third run out is about 20 years ahead of its time. Amazing.

 

[Top_Cat]

Geez I just finished watching the WC semi.

Bevan was such a clutch player. Made a massive 65 and got a direct hit run out for the second time in the tournament.

Reiffel dropped two important catches.

The whole semi couldn't have been scripted better. Right from ball one the game ebbed and flowed, momentum shifting from one team to another, back forth like a pendulumpendulum a grandfather clock. Tick, SA is on top, tock Australia are cruising.

Warne was such a clutch player. Just totally mentally dominated South Africa. Just a totally brutal competitor.

I still feel my gut twist and turn on every ball of that match.

What a final. What a cup. Probably the best there ever was or will be.

Harsh calling Reiffel's second one a drop, personally. He was a really good outfielder and it was travelling, did well to lay hands on it.

Match was epic, though.

 

[stephen]

Harsh calling Reiffel's second one a drop, personally. He was a really good outfielder and it was travelling, did well to lay hands on it.

Match was epic, though.

It bounced out of the palm of his hands. It would have been a good catch, but one that you would expect him to take.

 

[Burgey]

If Lehmann had a bit more common sense (I know) he could have virtually walked the ball in at the non strikers and run Donald out.

 

[vcs]

Some day, Stephen will stop talking about the '99 WC semi. Today is not that day.

 

[mr_mister]

It's the GOAT cricket match tbh

 

[stephen]

Some day, Stephen will stop talking about the '99 WC semi. Today is not that day.

Would you prefer me to talk about the 2003 WC final? It sure was nice watching Ponting and Martyn smack around the Indian bowling attack only to watch Tendulkar get out for a duck and India crumble under the expectations of a billion rabid fans.

Or perhaps I should talk a bit more about the glory that was the 2007 campaign. You know the one where the minnows all got eliminated early and we got to see the might of Bangladesh proceed to the super sixes round?

I watched them all you know. It's just that it's been 20 years since we actually had a good WC final. A good one being one that is a nail biting, anxiety inducing, heart pumping balls to the wall back and forth seven hour thrill ride between two teams who were fighting not just for the World Cup, but to be considered the true champions of the era. There haven't really been any like that since 1999.

Call me old fashioned, but it was those slow burning, buttock clenching gladiatorial battles that got me loving one day cricket. The modern 400 run snoozeathons by comparison are about as exciting as the ipad games that my two year old plays. Sure, it's still a game but there's no challenge left in it. The batsmen these days block a ball for four and edge it for six. They've taken ODI cricket and turned it into stick cricket.

 

[mr_mister]

Since I assume by WC final you just mean world cup KO game (since the actual proper '99 final was pretty crap) I'd say NZ/SA in 2015 was quite exciting

 

[vcs]

I was just joking, mate. I like your posts.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Since I assume by WC final you just mean world cup KO game (since the actual proper '99 final was pretty crap) I'd say NZ/SA in 2015 was quite exciting

Yeah, I dont think the 2015 SF is that far behind the 99 match in terms of drama or quality. Incredible game.

 

[smash84]

Some day, Stephen will stop talking about the '99 WC semi. Today is not that day.

tbf, i don't think you can talk enough about that game. It was just that good.

 

[Dendarii]

Yeah, I dont think the 2015 SF is that far behind the 99 match in terms of drama or quality. Incredible game.

I have to agree with that. And speaking as someone whose team was on the wrong side of both those results, the quality of those two games softens the blow a little (not much though).

 

[stephen]

You're right in that the SA/NZ game was pretty awesome too. Probably the best modern final.

I mean it was obvious who was going to win from the start - the perennial over achievers vs the chokers was always going to go one way, especially when they had the better side, but it was an entertaining match nonetheless.

But if there was a ground in the world that I could pick two matches to show to someone just how good cricket can be I'd pick Edgbaston. The 1999 WC semi final at Edgbaston was the best ODI inn history and then the Ashes test played there 6 years later was the turning point in the greatest test series in history. Unsurprisingly Warne was the hero/villain at the centre of both, amid off field drama usually reserved for a Kardashian.

The other common element between these matches is that both were low scoring affairs. Low scoring games breathe better. The tension becomes more palpable and every run and every dot ball is celebrated. For the same reason that The Matrix is a classic while Transformers is rubbish - Ther Matrix has less action but the action has meaning. You need the moments for the story to breathe to give the action power.

Long live the low scoring epic.

 

[mr_mister]

Using Matrix as your example for subtle drama low on action. Love it

 

[stephen]

I just saw an interview with McGrath who said the only two times he was nervous in his career was when he batted with Warne when he was in the 90s and bowling to Lance Klusener in that 1999 WC final.

 

[stephen]

Watching highlights from the 2015 WC final. I had forgotten Maxwell bowling out Guptill.

Australia's team is so much worse this time around than 4 years ago. Clarke, Johnson, Faulkner and Hazlewood are all gone. We've replaced them with Cummins, a bad third seamer, Khawaja and Marsh. Every one of them is a downgrade with the exception of Cummins.

 

[stephen]

Oh and Haddin has been replaced with Carey.

 

[h_hurricane]

It's just that it's been 20 years since we actually had a good WC final.

Haven't you watched the 2011 WC final ? The only competitive WC final in the last 20 years. At the half way stage and quite a few overs into the second half, SL were favorites to win that.

 

[OverratedSanity]

It was perfectly well balanced when Dhoni came in.

 

[h_hurricane]

It was perfectly well balanced when Dhoni came in.

Absolutely. Gambhir and Kohli made it even stevens once India were pushed back by Sachin-Sehwag dismissals. In some ways, 2011 WC final was similar to 1996 final.