Cricket fred

[Galfon]

..Achieved, but Messrs.Schmitt & Rain interfere with progress.
Defeat & Weisswaschen avoidance accomplished however.

[canta_brian]

Says it all for this tour. The only proper period of rain comes to the aid of the shackle draggers.

[WaspInWales]

Cheating poms.

[Galfon]

but not cheaty enough..
only 35 adrift with 8 wickets left -Warner & Smith at the crease.
DW chasing his 2nd ton of the match which if achieved will take him clear of Gavaskar & Ponting as the only player to have done this feat on 4 occasions.

[Galfon]

Warner goes 14 short of ton.
Aus now lead by 14 with 6 wkts. left...need a blitz from somewhere.

[Galfon]

Never likely..draw it is.
Well done again to Smiff.
Skip Root proud of his team's effort, which reflects a response to failure and criticism which can go either way .
A chance to mix it a bit now for Sydney.

[WaspInWales]

It was all a bit meh in the end.

Absolutely nothing in the pitch and it was just a bit boring to watch...not even another Smith ton livened things up.

[Banquo]

Smith shaping up to be the number 2 GOAT

[Digby]

Smith shaping up to be the number 2 GOAT

How many tests did he play as a leg spinner? It's an amazing record as is, it's even better when he wasn't even a batsmen to begin with and took time out to remodel his technique and prove his worth in a new role

[Banquo]

Smith shaping up to be the number 2 GOAT

How many tests did he play as a leg spinner? It's an amazing record as is, it's even better when he wasn't even a batsmen to begin with and took time out to remodel his technique and prove his worth in a new role

It is. Also...and whisper it....Bradman never had to play India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka away......... but on the other hand played on uncovered and juicier pitches. Undisputedly the GOAT still, but Smith is currently closer than anyone.

[Digby]

Smith shaping up to be the number 2 GOAT

How many tests did he play as a leg spinner? It's an amazing record as is, it's even better when he wasn't even a batsmen to begin with and took time out to remodel his technique and prove his worth in a new role

It is. Also...and whisper it....Bradman never had to play India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka away......... but on the other hand played on uncovered and juicier pitches. Undisputedly the GOAT still, but Smith is currently closer than anyone.

I assume Smith has only played Pakistan away in England or the UAE, but it's a point well made, and one I didn't know about Bradman. Also agreed Bradman is without question the #1 with a record that's not simply better but in a different league to anyone else. I would like to see Smith score some serious runs in England against a good seam attack to cement his place, well I wouldn't, but in terms of proving his ability it's needed

[Banquo]

How many tests did he play as a leg spinner? It's an amazing record as is, it's even better when he wasn't even a batsmen to begin with and took time out to remodel his technique and prove his worth in a new role

It is. Also...and whisper it....Bradman never had to play India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka away......... but on the other hand played on uncovered and juicier pitches. Undisputedly the GOAT still, but Smith is currently closer than anyone.

I assume Smith has only played Pakistan away in England or the UAE, but it's a point well made, and one I didn't know about Bradman. Also agreed Bradman is without question the #1 with a record that's not simply better but in a different league to anyone else. I would like to see Smith score some serious runs in England against a good seam attack to cement his place, well I wouldn't, but in terms of proving his ability it's needed

He has played against Pakistan in both England and the UAE, with less than good results; he's actually done OK away to India, tho not the last series. He did score serious runs in England last time too....against a good seam attack.

Yes, the only question mark over Bradman is that he only really played away against England (who were generally strong, but sometimes weak in bowling, esp post war) and South Africa who were moderate; on the other hand, he played England (and SA) on uncovered wickets when we had a lot of excellent spin bowlers..........and that he average 95 in all f/c games, against generally very strong state sides in OZ. Smith has undoubtedly been batting in an era of easier runs (some weak opposition, no too many brilliant bowlers, easier/covered wickets.....only offset by DRS for spinners). He's made himself into a superb batsman, fair play.

[Galfon]

Smith took a season out early on to work on his batting and wasn't picked as a bowler after that.He was ordinary in Aus 4-0 drubbing in India, did ok in the Ashes 2013 in Eng when he scored his first ton in the last test.
He really has not looked back since then- Chanderpaul and Kallis are 2 others who started as all-rounders before doing great things with the bat.
(Kallis a GOAT top 3 or 4 I say.)
Eng. only had Woolmer who made the move - useful on the front foot but got mullered by the savage pace attacks around in late 70's./ early 80's.
As a Wuss follower it was obviously Smith's season at New Road that put him on his way..

[Banquo]

Smith took a season out early on to work on his batting and wasn't picked as a bowler after that.He was ordinary in Aus 4-0 drubbing in India, did ok in the Ashes 2013 in Eng when he scored his first ton in the last test.
He really has not looked back since then- Chanderpaul and Kallis are 2 others who started as all-rounders before doing great things with the bat.
(Kallis a GOAT top 3 or 4 I say.)
Eng. only had Woolmer who made the move - useful on the front foot but got mullered by the savage pace attacks around in late 70's./ early 80's.
As a Wuss follower it was obviously Smith's season at New Road that put him on his way..

Had two happy summers working at New Road.

[Galfon]

Had two happy summers working at New Road.

lucky you - lovely ground, except in winter sometimes, when you need a canoe.
It would be happiest when Botham, Dilley and the Hickmeister were helping Neale's team win things..
Dolly was my first cricket hero ( don't mean Parton or the sheep ), followed by GM 1000 'before end o'may' Turner
Hick managed this too I recall.

[Banquo]

Had two happy summers working at New Road.

lucky you - lovely ground, except in winter sometimes, when you need a canoe.
It would be happiest when Botham, Dilley and the Hickmeister were helping Neale's team win things..
Dolly was my first cricket hero ( don't mean Parton or the sheep ), followed by GM 1000 'before end o'may' Turner
Hick managed this too I recall.

Met Dolly a couple of times- I was there late 70's early 80's. Duncan Fearnley and Tom Graveney were regulars at the bar; happy times.
Played rugby and cricket next door at kings as well.

[Galfon]

Dolly came to our club (N. Worcs league) for a fund-raising match around same time - very sociable, liked his ale I recall.
Imran, Curtis & Headley jnr. were at the other place in Wuss I think..

[Banquo]

Root ...silly boy. Gives it away after doing the hard work!

[Banquo]

...and aussies take full advantage. FFS

[Mellsblue]

FFS

This. Why on earth did we send out Bairstow?!?!?

[Banquo]

FFS

This. Why on earth did we send out Bairstow?!?!?

It was nuts.

[Digby]

Another 3 batsman make a start and are out in 20s or 30s, and Root fails to convert another 50. None of that is especially awful, it's just also not good enough at this level, and there aren't really that many other options so really we are simply not good enough.

[Mellsblue]

Another 3 batsman make a start and are out in 20s or 30s, and Root fails to convert another 50. None of that is especially awful, it's just also not good enough at this level, and there aren't really that many other options so really we are simply not good enough.

Sadly, this is a long and recurring theme in the history of English cricket. Still, it’s not all bad news, Malan has made another 50 leading to yet more shame heaped on Banquo (Ashes hyperbole clause invoked).

[Banquo]

Another 3 batsman make a start and are out in 20s or 30s, and Root fails to convert another 50. None of that is especially awful, it's just also not good enough at this level, and there aren't really that many other options so really we are simply not good enough.

Sadly, this is a long and recurring theme in the history of English cricket. Still, it’s not all bad news, Malan has made another 50 leading to yet more shame heaped on Banquo (Ashes hyperbole clause invoked).

On the other hand Stoneman and Vince have lived down to my expectations.....

[Timbo]

Steve Smith seems bang on course to be a genuine great batsman, but the whole 2nd after Bradman seems hugely presumptuous. For comparison, I think Ponting and Sangakarra had 60+ averages after they’d played around 110-115 tests. When it’s that high you don’t even have to do badly to see it fall away quite quickly. Ponting has 3-4 years where he was unstoppable, but a relative slow decline towards the end of his career and his numbers came back towards the pack.