Semi Finals

[Matt79]

This semi may end up as Mcgrath's last game in Aus colours.

A tactic that RSA could use to unsettle Mcgrath is to "line up and provide him with a guard of honour" like Eng gave Lara the other day.

This would force Mcgrath to face the issue that this may indeed be his last game...and perhaps get in the way of his performance today.

Knowing that the test in Sydney this year was his last Test ever for Australia and his last game for Australia in Australia didn't really seem to affect his performance much, and the hype (re: McGrath personally) around that was an order of magnitude bigger than what he's facing over there.

 

[Athlai]

Hayden to score another century, Kallis to score a half century that takes 70 balls, and perhaps the best one of the lot. McGrath to take 4 wickets for under 40 runs.

 

[silentstriker]

What's to say the tests themselves weren't flawed?

Because they were done by multiple people at multiple times? And the tests are relatively simple (to measure the degree of bending) and unless there is a huge conspiracy theory at the Univ. of WA, I think someone would have found the flaw by now.

I think bowling actions should be something that is better off being judged by humans than computers

You must be the only person who wants less accurate methods.


He was cleared by the ICC after biomechanical analysis at the University of Western Australia and at the University of Hong Kong in 1996. They concluded that his action created the 'optical illusion of throwing'.

I guess both of the universities have 'flawed' methods, and those crazy scientists have no idea what they're talking about, but guys sitting on their ass watching on TV have all the answers and can judge precisely how much an arm bends from a tv camera.

 

[JBH001]

Top win for SL. The last 10 pages of this thread is why I like Murali tbh. What a champ.

Gun post there pasag. Really encapsulated it for me.

And Fiery...man, what an absolute and utter crybaby.

 

[Fiery]

Humans are prone to error. Just look at the umpiring in that semi. If you'll never change your opinion then why bother debating this with you? You seem to have a very narrow minded approach.

OK you're probably right so I'm done with arguing it (although I would prefer to think of it as strong-opinioned rather than "narrow-minded" ).

 

[Athlai]

OK you're probably right so I'm done with arguing it (although I would prefer to think of it as strong-opinioned rather than "narrow-minded" ).

How certain are you that the winner of tonights match will go to win the final?

 

[Fiery]

Because they were done by multiple people at multiple times? And the tests are relatively simple (to measure the degree of bending) and unless there is a huge conspiracy theory at the Univ. of WA, I think someone would have found the flaw by now.



You must be the only person who wants less accurate methods.

Sorry, I've finished arguing it

 

[Fiery]

How certain are you that the winner of tonights match will go to win the final?

I'm very rarely certain about the result of sports matches. If I was I'd give up my day job and make my fortune in sports betting. If I was doing that as a career (or even a betting man) I would put my money on Australia to win the final though

 

[Athlai]

I'm very rarely certain about the result of sports matches. If I was I'd give up my day job and make my fortune in sports betting. If I was doing that as a career (or even a betting man) I would put my money on Australia to win the final though

I'd love an avatar challenge with you, if Sri Lanka beat Australia (or South Africa) then you have Murali as your image for a month.

 

[Sir Redman]

I always thought NZ's chances were overrated in this tournament; probably because of their performance in Chappell-Hadlee. They did well to get to the semis which was further than I thought they would go but really they are pretty short of individual talent compared to teams like Sri Lanka or Australia. SL have about half a dozen players who could be called greats or near greats compared to perhaps a couple for NZ.

Why is it that whenever NZ lose a big game people always come up with this decade old tripe that NZ players are not very talented? Why is a team that has Fleming, Fulton, Taylor, McMillan, Oram and McCullum in its top 7 batsmen considered lacking in talent? What exactly is it that makes, for example, Tharanga, an extremely talented young player but someone like Peter Fulton is only an honest batsman with limited strokes? Talent is something completely unquantifiable at the top level, the only occasion where you can say that x is "more talented" than y is in the rare cases like Lara, Tendulkar and Ponting.

People confuse talent with the ability to play attractive shots. They are not necessarily the same thing.

 

[andyc]

Hayden to fail tonight. Gilchrist to pass 50 though.

My head says Australia should win this, but I'm still freaking nervous. Am planning on getting up fairly early (3-4 am) and watching the 2nd innings. Anyone know when (Sydney time) the innings break is?

 

[Fiery]

I'd love an avatar challenge with you, if Sri Lanka beat Australia (or South Africa) then you have Murali as your image for a month.

OK, I'll do it

 

[Athlai]

OK, I'll do it

Excellent. And if they beat Sri Lanka?

 

[pasag]

Hayden to fail tonight. Gilchrist to pass 50 though.

I was thinking something similar. Hayden will try and blitz Pollock and Ntini like last time and he'll get out cheaply. (Hope not though)

 

[Matt79]

^^^ I've already made that bet actually. I've got Graham Smith for two months if the Saffies get up and Murali for a month if SL do. Styris will, obviously, not be seen as my avatar any time soon...

 

[Fiery]

You have to have Shane Watson in yours

 

[Athlai]

^^^ I've already made that bet actually. I've got Graham Smith for two months if the Saffies get up and Murali for a month if SL do. Styris will, obviously, not be seen as my avatar any time soon...

Fiery though appears to be a Murali-hater.
And thats a lot of Smith...

 

[Athlai]

You have to have Shane Watson in yours

Argh... Watson. An original blonde bombshell.

 

[Matt79]

You have to have Shane Watson in yours

But I LIKE Watson. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, and offer up a wager with Watson as your avatar as the stakes?

 

[Matt79]

Fiery though appears to be a Murali-hater.
And thats a lot of Smith...

It was a piece of bravado to demonstrate how little I thought of South Africa's chances. Hope its not going to bite me tonight is all... And I nominated Murali because I'm planning a "eyes bulging" mid-delivery freeze frame kinda thing...