ironically i’ve caught a bit of the BBL and i must say i’ve loved it. the parochial nature of the teams seems to be a good thing, lots of people going to the games, some awesome athleticism and action. just think about it, 30,000 at the ground to see shield players go around….plus tv ratings have been great apparently. so as long as the full roster of shield games is not reduced, i think it’s a fun concept at that level of the game. ’til it goes all IPL on us….

I am pretty sure that visiting teams often get thumped in the first Test because they are underprepared. I hope the players still care about Test cricket. They say they do.

I have an idea. Perhaps the ICC Test championship table can be tweaked so that margin is taken into consideration. A bit like the rugby concept – if you lose by less than 7 points, you get a bonus point. Points for losing…

Anyway, while I have enjoyed Australia’s resurgance, the Indians have been extremely disappointing and I am over three day Tests.

perhaps the ICC should implement a fancy font for the word ‘Test’ in ‘Test Match’ or perhaps re-market that form of the game as “Tough Tests” or something. either way, it seems that we need something to assist the players in understanding the import of the contest. or perhaps take away their traditional caps, pick the player number such and such for such and such a country embroidery off their shirts, play tests over two evenings of 20 overs each team each night and stop pretending cricket isn’t only about money nowadays….

sorry if i appear a little grumpy. i often get a little this way when the summer test series is regrettably and forgettably one-sided.

i did enjoy cswomi7′s comment on that article re our friend in the gloves:

“He should learn a thing or two from Clarke who did all the work and didn’t gloat about it. Brad Haddin’s a mere shadow of Gilchrist. If trashtalking and intimidating an ageing Indian team will boost your self-esteem by all means run your mouth. Aint gonna make a difference to your dismal wicket keeping and poor batting skills.”

sadly, the indians do appear too old and lacking in bowling attack to compete this season. ho hum, when does the tennis start?

I agree with you that these days the aim is to get a great batsman and make a passable ‘keeper. That is all Gilly was even though he says in his book that he regarded himself as a keeper first and foremost. If you look at Marsh and Healy you will find their averages are in the low 30s even though they had some talent with the bat. Super stars like Grant Flower, Sangakkara and Gilchrist are products of the modern era.

You raise interesting points about junior cricket. I also wonder how much T20 is affecting some skills including wicket keeping and spin bowling.

Butterfingers, I guess they have those stats but not on Cricinfo.

Perth is an interesting question. If it is bouncy, Australia should win and they reckon it will be bouncy. Interesting to note that Australia has lost recently to India and South Africa but that was when Perth had been flattened. In most recent years, the WACA strip has returned to its glory days and Australia won its only match of the last Ashes series in Perth. It was so helpful to seamers that Johnson had his only good match in two years.

On Haddin, he has been big mouthing to the press about how weak India is. You would think that he is one person who should be shutting his mouth.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2011/content/current/story/548726.html

What’s the pitch like at Perth these days for Shield games – best indication as to what to expect for the upcoming Test?

i too know nothing of the states’ keepers. a reflection of the modern ‘keep a keeper for keeps’ philosophy i guess. going back a ways we would find out who was next in line when they were selected as back-up keeper (i don’t mean a long-stop of under 12′s flavour) for extended tours. we now only see an extended tour every four years so we’re left largely in the dark unless we follow the shield assidiuously. it would seem that the selectors only want to blood a new keeper when it’s patently obvious that the incumbent’s days are numbered. i could mount an argument, to wit, that time has come. haddin needs to at least be given the wake-up call of old, a good old dropping.

however, perhaps the issue is more to do with the lack of quality batsmen in the shield at present. ponting and hussey both owe their longevity to this same fact. if there was a glut of good’uns around then we could whack some gloves on a bunch of them and make a keeper. perhaps this should be marsh’s strategy to avoid what appears an inevitable execution of sorts, keep the pads on and offer to keep at practice sessions, just like under 12′s.

or maybe this is the answer to our fast bowling selection dilemmas. whack the pads on a fast bowler until he bowls then whack the pads on someone else. it worked for us on saturday mornings long ago….

it seems we could learn more than a few lessons from the kiddies and what they’re taught. anyway, enough rambling. onto perth where the indians will get slaughtered on the greentop being currently prepared to order….