World Cup Follow Up

Yep, well as predicted 'Punter' scored a ton BUT needed it to be 120 and you can't win in India if your spinners twenty overs collectively yield 1-83 ish....

Oh, well the rebuilding begins... keep learning your trade Steve O'Keefe!!

World Cup Cricket

Now we finally have the preliminary rounds done we focus on a slowly building Aussie team who have run into India too early and may not get the chance to go further!! I have been telling anyone who'd listen this last 2 days that 'Punter' Ponting would make a 100.... so far so good... now we need to restrict the Indians after an early onslaught by fighting back with a few middle order wickets... it can be done and won!! We'll see I guess...

Pakistan Defensive Fielding Loses 2nd Test

Can't resist a post about yesterdays Test Cricket from Sydney! Having enjoyed the contest on Day One [with the generous Geoff Smith] from the relative calm of the Members Area I was astonished at yesterdays capitulation by the Pakistan team.

Bowling on a greentop Day One they rolled us for 120 odd and we went into Day 5 with only an 80 run lead. The Pakistan skipper and brainstrust had obviously decided we'd hang in with only 2 wickets in hand and they went ultra-conservative in the field from ball one.

Trouble is they handed the initiative back and the 176 run lead was enough to cause them pressure headaches. While the skipper blamed his shot for caught and bowled the commentators in post match interviews [at least the ones I heard] dogged the question about the field placements, having sledged him mercilessly all morning!!

These days my year only settles don enough to really get into the Boxing Day and New Years Tests so it's been enjoyable to slow down and take it all in...

While on it... here's my Test XI despite the 'success' of the current crop

1. Phillip Hughes

2. Simon Katich

3. Ricky Ponting [until after next years Ashes Tests]

4. Michael Clarke

5. Marcus North

6. Shane Watson

7. Brad Haddin

8. Mitchell Johnson

9. Nathan Hauritz

10. Ben Hilfenhaus

11. Doug Bollinger

12. Steve Smith

Tour Extras:

Shaun Marsh

Moises Henriques

3 to be added

Cricket Debacle thanks to ICC Jellybacks

OS readers may be aware that the national sport in Australia is CRICKET currently played at the elite level in 20 overs per team [20Twenty] 50 overs per team [One Day Internationals] and Test Matches [played over 5 consecutive days]!!

This last week our current Test Match series against India degenerated into farce as the onfield events caused ridiculous comment, poor journalism, a threatened end of the tour by India and a stream of stupid responses, media angles and great footage of the Indians playing beach volleyball at Bondi after they were supposed to be in Canberra for their next tour match!!

So what happened?
1. India were the latest team coming to challenge the world champions
2. Some negativity existed after:
i. Andrew Symonds was racially taunted by crowds in India months ago in one day games
ii. Harbhajan Singh was noted as having a few things to say
iii. The Aussies reacted negatively to India's spirited celebration of their World 20Twenty win
3. Pre match meetings saw an agreement to 'take a players word' about close call catches
4. Umpires had recently come under fire as technology highlights an number of errors
5. India lost the first Test in Melbourne badly
6. A dig by Harbhajan about Aussie captain Ricky Ponting drew more media attention as he has claimed Pontings wicket a few times now
7. This did seem to provoke the Aussie skipper and his batting form suffered
8. Australia do play 'hard cricket' and are very competitive
9. The Umpires made a number of 'howler' mistakes in the Sydney Test
10. Harbhajan was the subject of a complaint to the Umpires by Ricky Ponting for an alledged racist slur and at game end received a 3 Test suspension from the match Referee Mike Proctor
10. The Aussies hung on conservatively with a good lead on Day 5 and declared pretty safe from a loss only to miraculously take a string of Indian wickets and win the match with about 8 minutes to spare
11. The Indians are upset as one journalist was 'put in his place' after questioning Pontings second innings catch claim when clearly he sportingly said "I didn't catch it" to one in the first innings
12. Then the cowardly ICC sacks umpire Steve Bucknor for the next match to so called 'take some of the heat and tension out of the situation etc etc

I read back over this post and thought about editing all this down because you've stopped reading if this is all news to you anyhow!! BUT here's my take:

A. Both teams had moments of superb competitiveness in response to the tough match
B. Both teams also stepped over the line
C. The Aussies celebration was appropriate for a 16 Test run of wins and depictions of an unwillingness or lack of awareness for shaking hands at the end is blatant sensationailsm... handshakes did happen
D. Harbharjan knew how Symonds regarded the "monkey" taunt despite it being a playful term in India and as such is culpable
E. Tit for tat people seem to be arguing reverse logic to condemn Brad Hogg
F. I believe the ICC has lost all credibility for treating Steve Bucknor the same way they left Daryl Haire and Ross Emerson hanging over the Murali* 'throwing' incidents'. n.b that asterix should always appear next to Murali's name because when he bowls the 'other one' delivery known as the Doosra he claerly throws the ball and rules were changed to make it legal. But that's for another day. Yes the Umps were not at their best but this is typical beaurocracy gone mad. It's not the first time Mike Proctor [the Match Referee] has been strung out either!!
G. I love how the same newspaper with journo's criticising the aussies and dissecting the incidents with former great sportspeople from all walks of life were happy enough to sell the celebratory moment photo as their way of promoting their photo selling service!! [Inside page in small print in the 9 January Daily Telegraph
H. Peter Roebuck you're an idiot!! You've clearly lost the plot in your one man campaign to redress a perceived imbalance of perspective on the part of the west when it comes to cricket, the sub continenent and power relationships. Sorry, but the petulent threat to suspend or cancel the tour are evidence of the immaturity of the Indian team in the face of tough examination!!

OK... I've vented my spleen... that'll do for now!!