Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Just one for Day 4. 10pts P.Jaques 2nd Inns Runs Over 41.5 5/6 Blue Square Phil Jaques ended day 3 8*. I expect him to knuckle down and get a few runs on the board on day 4. Australia are still 56 behind so it's important that Jaques and Hayden do nothing wreckless until that deficit is wiped out at least. This pitch is turning but it's not doing a great deal for the seamers and Phil Jaques should be full of confidence despite his 1st innings duck. He's yet to miss out since returning to the test side earlier this summer and I think he'll nurdle his way past 41 here.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Just one for Day 4. 10pts P.Jaques 2nd Inns Runs Over 41.5 5/6 Blue Square Phil Jaques ended day 3 8*. I expect him to knuckle down and get a few runs on the board on day 4. Australia are still 56 behind so it's important that Jaques and Hayden do nothing wreckless until that deficit is wiped out at least. This pitch is turning but it's not doing a great deal for the seamers and Phil Jaques should be full of confidence despite his 1st innings duck. He's yet to miss out since returning to the test side earlier this summer and I think he'll nurdle his way past 41 here.

A perfectly timed innings from Jaques :ok

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests That half a run he scored to clinch it was good news, Kev! I think Punter will give this a go. 70 first hour and ten (10.00am start) then set them 290 or so. He would think Perth was a winning track for Aus and Adelaide draw so could go west 1-1 and look to 2-1 series. As a worst case Syd scenario. The equaling 16 will motivate.

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Another 100 in 90 mins would be make the equation better. More declarable.

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests 24/1. Strange lack of oomph this morning, though Kumble was bowling (negatively) well. Then a 'nothing' declaration. :eyes Poor Sunday crowd as well. Stay-aways must have anticipated the lack of gauntlet throwing down. Seems to be the modern way.... lack of challenging declarations.

[RussP]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

A few I like before the off in Sydney, 10pts M.Hayden to beat R.Dravid 4/6 Stan James Matthew Hayden looked his normal imperious self at Melbourne. He averages 53 here at Sydney too so I'd expect him to be similar in this game. Dravid was awful in Melbourne. Slow, scratchy and a patch of his normal self. He scored at less than 20% strike rate. The Aussie bowlers looked to have Dravid under wraps and with Hayden scoring freely, with India's best seamer potentially out I think he'll outscore Dravid. 10pts S.Ganguly's Performance Pts 91&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Sourav Ganguly looked in decent touch at Melbourne. He hit 43 and 40 and took a catch too. On this pitch he should go equally well with the bat and could well cover this in one innings. If Zaheer Khan doesn't play then he may have more overs to bowl than normal and can break partnerships with his gentle medium pace. He'll also be fielding around the bat so could take a catch or two. It's with the bat where Sourav will do most of his scoring though and in 2 knocks I think he'll get to 91. 5pts A.Kumble Top India Bowler 6/4 Stan James Spinners are becoming less and less of an impact at Sydney but given Kumble's dominance in Melbourne, I'm not sure we'll be able to say that about him here. His main danger in the bowling ranks, Zaheer Khan could be ruled out which would mean India will rely heavily on their captain to take wickets. Harbhajan never took a wicket in Melbourne so it's hard to see him playing a real part so Kumble looks the sensible call to take most Aussie wickets 1st time round here.

:clap:clap:clap

Another went tits up. Luckily all the Aussies fell to Kumble so he got a tie out of that innings. India have looked good with the bat so far in this innings. 10pts India 1st Inns Runs Over 415.5 5/6 Bet365 India closed day 2 on 216/3 with Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar the unbeaten men. Sachin absolutely loves batting at the SCG and averaged 249 coming in here. Ganguly looked in impressive form in his spell at the crease and make his 21 in no time. After these two there's still plenty of batting to come in the form of Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and even Anil Kumble and Harbhajan are no mugs with the bat. We are looking at 200 runs to bring this bet in so 1 decent partnership should see them there and with the quality of players to come that looks likely. One drawback here could be the new ball which is due in 18 overs time but the pitch still looks good and the outfield is getting quicker and I think India will go past 415 runs in this innings.

:clap

Just one for Day 4. 10pts P.Jaques 2nd Inns Runs Over 41.5 5/6 Blue Square Phil Jaques ended day 3 8*. I expect him to knuckle down and get a few runs on the board on day 4. Australia are still 56 behind so it's important that Jaques and Hayden do nothing wreckless until that deficit is wiped out at least. This pitch is turning but it's not doing a great deal for the seamers and Phil Jaques should be full of confidence despite his 1st innings duck. He's yet to miss out since returning to the test side earlier this summer and I think he'll nurdle his way past 41 here.

:clap Excellent again Kev, even after a sticky start. Brilliant mate:ok

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests With the draw running so short I kept laying it so I picked up decent on Australia although India would have been better. This victory leaves a bad taste in the mouth though I feel, with its 2-facedness by Australia, their claims in the field & their general self-rightousness. They had all the crucial decisions in the match go their way: Ponting down the leg side in his 55, Symonds admitted he was out on 30 & scored 160-odd, Symonds again reprieved lbw on 0 & scored 61, Hussey down the leg side & scored 144* Obviously if they'd been given the complexion of the match would have changed, but India were chasing about 200-250 more than they should have been :\

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

With the draw running so short I kept laying it so I picked up decent on Australia although India would have been better. This victory leaves a bad taste in the mouth though I feel, with its 2-facedness by Australia, their claims in the field & their general self-rightousness. They had all the crucial decisions in the match go their way: Ponting down the leg side in his 55, Symonds admitted he was out on 30 & scored 160-odd, Symonds again reprieved lbw on 0 & scored 61, Hussey down the leg side & scored 144* Obviously if they'd been given the complexion of the match would have changed, but India were chasing about 200-250 more than they should have been :\

Yet no one mentions Tendulker in India's first innings when he was on 20, Michael Clarke had him plumb in front! Yet, goes onto to carry the innings (ala Symonds) and got 150* India crumbled as did the Poms @ Adelaide last year. Those whom play positive cricket, tend to get the rub of the green. Those whom bowl outside legstump and play for draws, get what they are given. :cow:clap:nana

[pete]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests This test is another classic example of umpiring decisions that go the way of Aus. All visiting teams that come here are on the wrong end of bad decisions and all you hear from the Aussies is you got to take the good with the bad. The point is that they put the umpires under the pump all the time with their constant appeals and sledging, Warnie was brilliant at it and the current crop of players have taken up where he left off, some of their appeals today were pathetic. This test was also a good example of how the game of cricket is going backwards when the powers to be appoint a 61 year old to officiate, the nick that Symonds gave when he was caught behind was heard by everyone viewing it but not him. Think its time the administrators of the game caught up with the time and appoint umpires who are competent and not senile OLD men and also use the technoligy that is available to them and take the pressure of the umpires.:spank

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Yet no one mentions Tendulker in India's first innings when he was on 20, Michael Clarke had him plumb in front! Yet, goes onto to carry the innings (ala Symonds) and got 150* India crumbled as did the Poms @ Adelaide last year. Those whom play positive cricket, tend to get the rub of the green. Those whom bowl outside legstump and play for draws, get what they are given. :cow:clap:nana

OK mate, you started this......ok maybe I did :lol There were bad decisions all over the place, as in a lot of tests, but the really important ones massively went against India. You yourself have just mentioned one, yet I've mentioned 4. An lbw is more contentious in fairness because the batsman has no input, but 3 of the 4 I've mentioned were blatant, blatant nicks. This is a piece from Cricbuzz, which is Indian, so obviously its onesided but it recalls decisions better than I can: Well there you go. That is all over for India. Right from the word go, they were up against a stiff Australian side but when they took the field, they had other opponents to face as well. On Day 1, Australia were 50 odd for 2 when Ponting was given not out by umpire Mark Benson. The Indians overcame that and had the Australians reeling at 134 for 6. Some time later, Symonds was adjudged not out by umpire Steve Bucknor, again a clear edge which only Bucknor was unaware of. Some more time later, the third umpire joined the party, a stumping appeal was turned down against Symonds with his foot on the line. He went onto score his career best score and with another decision going in favour of him, a stumping appeal not even referred to the third umpire by Bucknor. Then comes the Indian innings, Jaffer was bowled off a no ball but it went unnoticed. Then came the Aussie second innings, Hussey was caught behind but given not out. He was out lbw some time later but given not out. Then came the final innings. Rahul Dravid was given out caught behind when the ball was nowhere close to the bat, Ganguly was given out despite Clarke having grassed the catch twice and Dhoni and RP Singh were at the wrong end of marginal decisions. It might seem like a case of sour grapes but had so many decisons not gone against them then perhaps India would have ended up with a 200 run first innings lead. Decisions go wrong as to err is human but the consistency, obviousness and timing of the decisions was so much against India, that they cannot stop themselves from feeling unlucky. Australia retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they cannot lose this series anymore and they had won the last edition. All India can do is take this match as an inspiration for them to come back hard at Australia in the forthcoming games. The umpires were weak....Bucknor looks finished & Benson just looked incapable in a match this big (asking the captain whether a catch had carried rather than his other umpire ?? jeez !!) & Punter & co realised this & turned the screw. India were weak & worn down enough to eventually go under & even with all this theres no credit in that, but IMO for a team that has its own celebrated 'spirit of cricket' ethic, Australia have really bent that spirit this time but are too damn holier than thou to even consider theyve done something wrong. Its probably happened somewhere before, but what chance for the umpires when they give a bloke not out on 30, he scores 160 & then admits on tv he was out ?? Punter losing his rag to a reporter who questioned him claiming that catch when he pivoted the ball on the ground was just stupid, 'how dare you question my integrity, it definetly didnt touch the ground' he said....well, look at the replay Punter, & think of the game & not your flag...thats what the 'spirit of cricket' is all about Australia are too good to sink to this level of crap

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Here's Peter Roebuck in the SMH pulling no punches. His piece starts: INDIA have been dudded. No one with the slightest enthusiasm for cricket will take the least satisfaction from the victory secured by the local team in an SCG Test that entertained spectators, provided some excellent batting but left a sour taste in the mouth. It was a match that will have been relished only by rabid nationalists and others for whom victory and vengeance are the sole reasons for playing sport. Truth to tell, the last day was as bad as the first. It was a rotten contest that singularly failed to elevate the spirit. Until another shocking decision was made by a 61-year-old umpire, reliable in his time but past his prime, the fifth day of this unattractive contest was offering plenty of tension to put alongside the memorable hundreds contributed by capable batsmen on both sides. Thereafter they might as well have drawn stumps, as all interest had been removed. Once justice and fair play have been ejected there is no point in playing the game. 'Until another shocking decision' was Dravid, caught behind. Probably the worst as it came at the crunch and was inspired by Gilchrist whom one believed was one of the more decent types out there. He had the best view of anyone of how far the bat was tucked behind pad. -29 on the game mainly because of said Gilly getting nowhere near perf target. Hats off to Kumble for keeping fury at the whole thing under hat. Moving on to Perth. Harbajhan has been binned for 3 games but has 24 hours to appeal. Probably out, which will please Punter. Simon Taufel stands (don't know other scheduled ump). Watch out for him upholding LBWs for not playing a shot. He was eagle-eyed on this in England in the summer - to the benefit of Monty on 5 (?) occasions. Good thing in my book. Hogg may face diciplinary hearing on Monday ('offensive language'). Tait will come in for him regardless, I presume. Aus can again be backed with confidence in Perth, but 1.45 or whatever it is may not be the best way in.

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Shame this excellent series has been soured by the controversy. I'm not quite sure how Mark Benson is near a test match as whenever I've seen him in county cricket he hasn't looked that good. We have better umpires than him. Credit to Australia for never giving up but they had the rub of the green by far.

Simon Taufel stands (don't know other scheduled ump). Watch out for him upholding LBWs for not playing a shot. He was eagle-eyed on this in England in the summer - to the benefit of Monty on 5 (?) occasions. Good thing in my book.

Simon Taufel isn't umpiring in the next test mate. He can't being Australian. It's Bucknor and Asad Rauf who are due to be the standing umpires in Perth.

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Asad Rauf ???? Oh dear God, hes not strong enough by miles

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests I will agree that Australia hang in there longer than anyone else, & get more results that way. Mentally in the end they were too strong, but does the means justify the end ?? They think theyre beyond reproach, yet all they do is set a crap example & react in disbelief when criticised....its called bullying :\ Its Australia against the world on Betfair, although in fairness theres a lot of Aussies hammering their own team on this one. The Indians are just being called whingers irrelevant to the fact that the rest of the world are on their side. The Aussie point is that after all that happened, India shouldnt have collapsed....7 minutes from victory, 3 shite decisions.....its not rocket science :\ Thats like saying that when Punter knew Gary Pratt was at cover he shouldnt have called...but he did....& look how he whinged

[kevshat]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Asad Rauf ???? Oh dear God' date=' hes not strong enough by miles[/quote'] What's worrying is there is a real lack of quality test match umpires at the minute. Taufel, Dar and Bowden would be the only 3 I think are anything like good enough to stand at this level.

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Thats proven by the fact I noticed Nigel Llong umpiring NZ v the Bangles....not knocking him but I didnt know he'd ever done tests ?? & dont even ask me who the fat dude at the other end was :lol

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests I luv how the "Spirit of Cricket" keeps getting brought up. The Aussies are the ones whom want to take the word of the fieldsman. therefore bringing back some dignity to the game, but no-one else is interested. Oh, how about the blatent time wasting by the Indian's in their fourth innings. Getting the batting crease swept was a particular favourite of mine and lets not forget the dud who brought out two left gloves - FFS! Ponting took a catch during the series then got up straight away and told everyone it hit the ground first - clearly the "Spirit of Cricket". The Aussies pants the Indians in the 1st Test and a shame that the 2nd was spoiled by some glaring umpiring mistakes. Can't wait for Perth...................

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Thats proven by the fact I noticed Nigel Llong umpiring NZ v the Bangles....not knocking him but I didnt know he'd ever done tests ?? & dont even ask me who the fat dude at the other end was :lol

The fat dude at the other end was Peter Parker of Australia I believe. But I didn't realize that he was on the international panel. The sooner they rid the place of the neutral umpires the better. :hope

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Ponting took a catch during the series then got up straight away and told everyone it hit the ground first - clearly the "Spirit of Cricket". Can't wait for Perth...................

Yes he did, earlier in the match then when the pressure was on the last day & he thought he might have screwed his declaration up he tried to claim that 'pad-catch' off Dhoni even though he pivoted the ball into the ground....yet Benson took his word on a catch to another player 15 minutes later !! This is why a lot of people are now questioning Gilchrists 'fairness' ethic, claiming he walks on most knowing that when he stands there on the important ones he'll get the benefit of the doubt. Personally I dont believe that as I've always felt Gilly seems decent as much as I can tell but this is the stuff that type of behaviour brings around. I cant say I hold Punter in the same regard, hes just too 2-faced. Look, we're not going to agree, its a background thing, & the only good thing is that we might now lose our 'whinging poms' tag :lol & be replaced by the Indians......but theres a lot of people dissillusioned with Australias antics in this match including an awful lot of your countrymen

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests In fairness the 2 gloves bit was as shocking as anything Australia were accused of, as was Sharma retreating to his crease after starting to walk after Kumble ushered him back. Yes there are double standards here & I'm not defending India here....but if you think Australia would have won if those umpiring decisions were equal is delusional at best. Anybody who likes cricket likes watching Australia, theyre the best....thats the whole shame of it

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

Yes he did, earlier in the match then when the pressure was on the last day & he thought he might have screwed his declaration up he tried to claim that 'pad-catch' off Dhoni even though he pivoted the ball into the ground....yet Benson took his word on a catch to another player 15 minutes later !! This is why a lot of people are now questioning Gilchrists 'fairness' ethic, claiming he walks on most knowing that when he stands there on the important ones he'll get the benefit of the doubt. Personally I dont believe that as I've always felt Gilly seems decent as much as I can tell but this is the stuff that type of behaviour brings around. I cant say I hold Punter in the same regard, hes just too 2-faced. Look, we're not going to agree, its a background thing, & the only good thing is that we might now lose our 'whinging poms' tag :lol & be replaced by the Indians......but theres a lot of people dissillusioned with Australias antics in this match including an awful lot of your countrymen

Before the series, it was agreed by both captains, that if there was a disputed catch, that the Umpire in charge would approach the fielding captain to make the call on the decision. So Benson and Ponting both did nothing wrong.

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests OK, I can accept that as I can see where that came in, but my point of trusting a bloke that claimed a 'catch' off the pads before pushing it into the turf is dubious at best. We best leave it at that, people are going to think I'm from Mumbai soon :$

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests First of all what a test match and congratulations to both teams and the Aussies for winning it. It kept me up most of the night for the last few days. However a few points. IMO I felt that in this test match the Aussies were fortuitious often. That is not there fault necessarily but no doubt some indeed a lot of the umpiring decisions went there way and although umpires make mistakes particularly ones like Benson who judges something in a second without thought and Bucknor who was past it years ago, some of these 'mistakes' were terrible and almost too bad to be mistakes, Symonds nick, Symonds stumping (how can you not even refer it?) Hussey lbw, Dravid decision and there were others even if they were not as bad. Tendulkar's lbw off Clarke possibly was out but at least there was some doubt (stride) some of the others I could not even see the doubt so India will be aggrieved and with some justification. The decisions had an enormous outcome on the game. Aus may not have got much past 220 if not for Symonds certainly not 300 and again second innings they would have been in trouble and Ind probably would have saved the game with Dravid. If it went against England in such circumstances I would be fuming. However it has happened now and India whilst feel aggrieved they also have themselves to blame in many areas for getting themselves into the position and not batting out 70 odd overs even on a slightly detoriating pitch. The other thing that showed through once again in this test match was Austarlia's immense confidence/arrogance/cockiness even. Now I think this is not always a good thing and imo has cost them badly in the past such as 05 Ashes, Bang ODI, Zim 20 20. However they have this amazing mentality and belief that they can win from almost anywhere and whats more they often do. One thing saying and believing it but they actually do it and credit to them for so. Quite possibly they are even loathed by some for this character within them and not just them but the whole commentators on Channel 9 (former Aus players mostly) who seem full of the confidence/arrogance/cockiness but one thing it does do is it makes them what they are which is winners and full credit once again for them doing so even though they definitely had things go their way in this one.

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Just another thing in this match is that H.Singh has been banned and is out of the rest of the series for his apparently racist comment to Symonds. Now obviously Singh is out of order for the comment if he said it and there is no catergoric proof as it is so hard to prove but i do not think this enchances Aus reputation either IMO. Just a bit rich to paint themesleves as the victims in all this I think. Symonds in particular I thought was wrong to come out and say he nicked his one in the first innings after that day. I just do not think that is going to achieve anything except cause more uproar and aggrievation, alomst provocation imo. Of course he nicked it, the whole world except for Steve knew that but its just adding to the mixing pot imo, I would of prefered him to keep quiet (werent players supposed not to speak about decisions during course of match?) This does not justify Singh's apparent comment but Symonds and the Aussies are not saints either.

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests That's about it, Woody. Aus are hugely positive at all times which makes them very watchable. Punter just has to have a rethink of how he can channel this without the excesses or gamesmanship on display SCG. Any one handed (particularly) catch that slams into the turf on landing is bloody obvious to the catcher. No good Punter taking an initiative in 'trust the fielder' when he personally bolloxes around when the pressure is on. I cringe at this sort of thing, as i did at Kumble (was it?) calling for shinguards from pavilion before the 6th ball of an over. And the Sharma glove business. Had he been timed out - you have 3 minutes from fall of wicket to be ready to face - imagine what a bloody rumpus that would have been! Think Ponting was wrong to go for 'closure' rather than a declaration and he put himself and team in a situation where they had to push the boundaries at every opportunity. Will be interesting to see how ICC respond to Bucknor for Perth. (Thx for correction info on my Taufel thinking, Kev).

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests

That's about it, Woody. Aus are hugely positive at all times which makes them very watchable. Punter just has to have a rethink of how he can channel this without the excesses or gamesmanship on display SCG. Any one handed (particularly) catch that slams into the turf on landing is bloody obvious to the catcher. No good Punter taking an initiative in 'trust the fielder' when he personally bolloxes around when the pressure is on. I cringe at this sort of thing, as i did at Kumble (was it?) calling for shinguards from pavilion before the 6th ball of an over. And the Sharma glove business. Had he been timed out - you have 3 minutes from fall of wicket to be ready to face - imagine what a bloody rumpus that would have been! Think Ponting was wrong to go for 'closure' rather than a declaration and he put himself and team in a situation where they had to push the boundaries at every opportunity. Will be interesting to see how ICC respond to Bucknor for Perth. (Thx for correction info on my Taufel thinking, Kev).

About Bucknor I have heard that the Indians gave him a mark of zero :lol on their captain's card that they were given at the end of the game which is used at various levels of the game even in local leagues here. I agree will be interesting to see what the ICC and the Indians do if Bucknor stands in Perth.

[Henry Jr]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Now that H.Singh has been banned for the rest of this Test Series, how do people see that effecting remaining matches in Perth (no much in my book) and Adelaide? Surely Jaffer must be on shakey ice with Sewag in the wings and Irfan Pathan would be a likey replacement for H.Singh.

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Now BCCI are half-threatening tour cancellation on 'monkey' and Harbajhan ban. This is very good on background. http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/peterlalor/index.php/theaustralian/comments/a_win_a_hangover_and_a_sense_of_dread/ (get on with the cricket)

[swooperman]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests Think there would have stood a decent chance of only 1 spinner at Perth anyway, but India are beginning to look threadbare. If Sehwag comes back in of course he & Tendulkar could operate as back up spinners, & Pathan would arguably strengthen the batting anyway. Think its close to an impasse though :unsure ignoring rights & wrongs I think a lot may depend on whether Brad Hogg has to face a hearing as well. Looking at it from Indias point of view, Harbhajan looks very much as though hes been banned on the word of Ponting & Symonds, irrespective of what the only witness, Tendulkar, had to say.....& with no other evidence. That might not be the case but thats certainly what it looks like at the moment, & if I was India I'd be upset at that as well. In their view both players arent upstanding in their integrity I can see them goinghome tbh, which I think will be disastrous for test cricket

[Pie-chucker]

Re: Cricket: India in Australia - 4 tests And so to Perth, after all the hand-wringing. The WACA was cast in stone pre-series as an Aus win and, with pitch reports, seems to be just that. Again, get rid of the draw from thinking. This leaves us with 1.40 and 10.00 on the exchanges, and similar certainty - only one winner - with the bookies. Can anyone make a case against?