Australia v West Indies test series

First topic message reminder :

This series promises to be very one-sided, offering the Aussies plenty of opportunities to boost both their batting and bowling averages.

After day 1, Australia in an enormously strong position, having rattled along at almost five an over and only lost three wickets. Windies briefly threatened to compete when they had Australia at 121 - 3 with Steve Smith out cheaply, but after that it was downhill all the way. Voges already has his highest test score, and Shaun Marsh is likely to better his previous highest score when play resumes.

From what I saw today

Pattinson is quick - Lyon was getting lovely drift - Hazlewood looked average. Siddle is Siddle

For the Windies batting wise

Brathwiate looked like he didn't fancy a dig in. Chindraka sucks. Bravo was comfortable but randomly decided to block out with 25 overs to go. Samuels is past it, Blackwood is a big talent with application issues and playing Denesh Ramdin and Jason holder at 6/7 is just waving the white flag

Hope you're enjoying your time in Australia, Olly.

Despite the one-sided nature of this series you should enjoy the vibe of Melbourne. It's a great place.
Maybe even catch up with Alfie for a quick net practice somewhere in the 'burbs and then some coffee and cake afterwards.

A bit nippy there today. Boiling hot there last week though. We almost give up!

If Olly is still here on 10th January I'd welcome a guest appearance for my side ! Could use a competent opening batsman...

KP_fan wrote:This test match is going down the same road as the first one......600ish for Aus.....bowl out WI for 200ish in both innings..and win by an inning and 200 runs ...another garbage game in the making  

And even that dismal scenario may be over-generous towards the Windies. We seem now to be missing even the occasional good session from them.

alfie wrote:If Olly is still here on 10th January I'd welcome a guest appearance for my side !   Could use a competent opening batsman...

Unfortunately I am neither in Australia on 10th January nor a competent opening batsman

Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:If Olly is still here on 10th January I'd welcome a guest appearance for my side !   Could use a competent opening batsman...

Unfortunately I am neither in Australia on 10th January nor a competent opening batsman

Could have sworn I remember you making fifty odd last season as an opener ...not suggesting that ws a fluke are you ?

Like the dog , I trust you are enjoying your stay here...

At the risk of promoting another quick collapse , I am pleased to see West Indies producing some fight this morning.

C Braithwaite putting higher ranked batsmen to shame...Only 400 behind now

Fifty for Bravo as West Indies continue to resist on day three...

Has been slow to the point of agonizing but he's looking a bit more his natural self as his innings progresses : at least he can't be accused of throwing in the towel - or away his wicket.
Roach seems to like batting with him.

Follow on seems less likely now so the match looks headed for at least four days , which will please the treasurers

Roach gone now as Pattinson manges to keep his foot behind the line for once...

Going to trail by a lot but you'd think Smith will want to give his bowlers a bit of a rest - it is quite warm out there today.

So more chances for Aus batsmen to fatten their bloated averages

alfie wrote:

Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:If Olly is still here on 10th January I'd welcome a guest appearance for my side !   Could use a competent opening batsman...

Unfortunately I am neither in Australia on 10th January nor a competent opening batsman

Could have sworn I remember you making fifty odd last season as an opener ...not suggesting that ws a fluke are you ?

Like the dog , I trust you are enjoying your stay here...

Opening I'm not so good, more a middle order player. If I open I'll generally need a bit of luck, cos I play with hard hands so might edge one.

Very much enjoying my stay here - it's a great city! Weather's a bit temperamental tho

Weather is indeed temperamental , Olly. Can go from hot and sunny to hailstones in a heartbeat.
But I think you can look forward to plenty of sunshine for the rest of your stay.

So, Windies, managing a bit of fight - though they are still going to get crushed.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:So, Windies, managing a bit of fight - though they are still going to get crushed.

True , Corporal. It is good to see them offering some resistance - at least they have a chance now to push the game into , maybe , even a fifth day

No guarantees , mind

A garbage game...comes to an end...epitomized by the sorry stat....Aus lost only 6 wickets to WI's 20...and yet won by nearly 200 runs.

Such inequality in one team's ability to pick wickets forms the worst type of test matches

Almost a fifth day but not quite. Is West Indies cricket in such a pitiful state that we view that as progress?

Anyway, pleased to see my man Lyon get player of the match. Seven wickets in this Test, 182 in all and still counting. Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

''Lyono did what he has done for us all summer - he has got wickets at crucial times and he has bowled beautifully.'' - Steve Smith. Leaving aside the Lyono nickname , the only thing I would question there is ''all summer''.  That type of contribution from him goes back a lot further.

Talk now of Australia playing another frontline spinner in tandem with Lyon in the final Test at Sydney.

Unsurprisingly, Smith declared overnight, and unsurprisingly, the West Indies batsmen couldn't even carry the match into a fifth and final day.

Holder made 68 and Ramdin 59, but the other batsmen failed to convert starts. Kraigg was out for 31, Chandrika for 37, Lil Bravo for 21, Samuels for 19, Blackwood for 20, and Carlos for two.

Mitch Marsh, who can't score any runs because of how crap the WIndies bowling is, took a four-fer as Australia win by 177 runs.

Always talk of Australia playing a second spinner at Sydney/Adelaide...but it never happens.
Unless West Indies find a way to take more than 3 Australian wickets it doesn't matter who they pick to bowl ...

At least a couple of West Indies batsmen put up a fight in this game : but they are still nowhere near competitive.
Only chance of a semblance of a contest in Sydney is for them to bat first and somehow put 350 or so up...perhaps Australia might be a little less free and easy batting second.

Well done to Lyon Deserved MoTM getting results on that boring strip. As guildford says , he has been doing a fine job for a while now - in an understated sort of way. Think even the press has ceased pining for a New Warne by now.

guildfordbat wrote:Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Has anyone doubted him on here?

If so it was surely a long time ago.

LondonTiger wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Has anyone doubted him on here?

If so it was surely a long time ago.

Yes, that's why I mentioned it. The most extreme was the thread ''For Australia's sake, drop nathan lyon'' put up in October 2014.

Was about to pop onto this thread to give a shout out to your man Lyon guildford, but see you've beaten me to it Yep, a fine performer, steady and consistent, in the best possible sense of the words, who turns into a matchwinner when conditions are favourable, and will at the very least offer plenty of control and the odd wicket when they aren't. I would argue in the top three spinners in world cricket at the moment, alongside Ashwin and Yasir Shah.

Having just looked up his stats, I'm somewhat surprised to see he's actually played 51 Test matches already, which shows just how much Test cricket some nations play. Also, he's very nearly the same age as me (about a month older to be precise, though he looks a fair bit older than that), which is a mighty fine age!

As for the current series, WI put up a better fight this match with the batting, but that's probably more testament to the flatness of the pitch than anything else, and as KPF points out they managed a mere 6 Australian wickets across both innings.

Agree their best chance is to bat first in Sydney and hope Brathwhaite, Bravo and the lower order can put together some sort of score. We've seen in the past that this Australian team is very good when batting first and getting runs on the board (when they're not getting rolled over for 60 ) but that they're not so good batting second. Even in the Ashes whitewash, the one Test where England batted first (Melbourne?) England didn't score that many but still got a first innings lead (which they promptly squandered). Of course I don't think WI's bowling is up to much at the moment, but it's still their best chance.

On the subject of 'full members' not doing their privileged status justice, anyone noticed that Afghanistan are currently doing pretty well against Zimbabwe. Another side who have hardly justified their privilege over the last few years... Sorry to bang on, but Mike's not here to do it and someone has to shout out for the Associates

guildfordbat wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Has anyone doubted him on here?

If so it was surely a long time ago.

Yes, that's why I mentioned it. The most extreme was the thread ''For Australia's sake, drop nathan lyon'' put up in October 2014.

Surprised, but that was when I had taken a break from the cricket board as there never seemed to be anyone on. This section has always been much quieter than the original 606. (mind most of that noise was Swamy)

LondonTiger wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Has anyone doubted him on here?

If so it was surely a long time ago.

Yes, that's why I mentioned it. The most extreme was the thread ''For Australia's sake, drop nathan lyon'' put up in October 2014.

Surprised, but that was when I had taken a break from the cricket board as there never seemed to be anyone on. This section has always been much quieter than the original 606. (mind most of that noise was Swamy)

There's less quantity than the original 606 but the quality is generally high. Could do with getting Mike Selig back though.

guildfordbat wrote:
Anyway, pleased to see my man Lyon get player of the match. Seven wickets in this Test, 182 in all and still counting. Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Never underestimate Guildford's razor sharp recall of relevant threads from the cricketing Middle Ages.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:
Anyway, pleased to see my man Lyon get player of the match. Seven wickets in this Test, 182 in all and still counting. Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Never underestimate Guildford's razor sharp recall of relevant threads from the cricketing Middle Ages.

''Maybe but he never knows where he's put the car keys.'' - Mrs Bat.

Corporal - let me be the first to wish you, Chichester and all who walk and talk these boards a very happy New Year.

Looking at that old thread, only one person slated Lyon - and that was a WUM with 36 total posts, half in that thread.

When people have had a "great" they become greedy and want it again. Lyon's only real crime has been that he is not Shane Warne.

LondonTiger wrote:Looking at that old thread, only one person slated Lyon - and that was a WUM with 36 total posts, half in that thread.

When people have had a "great" they become greedy and want it again. Lyon's only real crime has been that he is not Shane Warne.

Yes, that's why I said that thread was the most extreme. If you care to go through all the other threads, you'll come across further critics.

guildfordbat wrote:

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:
Anyway, pleased to see my man Lyon get player of the match. Seven wickets in this Test, 182 in all and still counting. Those who have severely doubted him on this forum seem remarkably quiet these days.

Never underestimate Guildford's razor sharp recall of relevant threads from the cricketing Middle Ages.

''Maybe but he never knows where he's put the car keys.'' - Mrs Bat.  

Corporal - let me be the first to wish you, Chichester and all who walk and talk these boards a very happy New Year.

Thanks, Guildford.  And I wish you, Chichester, and the many other excellent fellow posters a very happy New Year too!

It is already 2016 here but as it is also still in high twenties after a 39 day I am sitting quietly with glass in hand - and take the opportunity to wish you fellows a Happy New Year also..

The new year starts with the WICB ruling that everything is absolutely fine with cricket administration in the region! That means there is no hope for the West Indies in the future too....... Or there may be no future for the West Indies.......

Firstly, a very happy New Year to all and sundry!

Australia:
DA Warner, JA Burns, UT Khawaja, SPD Smith*, AC Voges, MR Marsh, PM Nevill†, SNJ O'Keefe, JL Pattinson, JR Hazlewood, NM Lyon

West Indies:
KC Brathwaite, SD Hope, DM Bravo, MN Samuels, J Blackwood, D Ramdin†, JO Holder*, CR Brathwaite, KAJ Roach, JE Taylor, JA Warrican


O'Keefe is in for the injured Siddle for Australia; whilst Shai Hope replaces the injured Chandrika for the Windies.

West Indies wins the toss and has elected to bat.

Not sunny at all today and plenty of overhead cloud cover. Rain is expected this evening with some heavy stuff on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... so slim chances of uninterrupted days.

Nonetheless, I still have a feeling there is going to be a result; wickets in clusters (for both sides)... that sort of thing.
Should be entertaining anyway!

West Indies lose Hope early. Seems to sum things up.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:West Indies lose Hope early.  Seems to sum things up.

Beat me to it , Corporal...

Still good to see , from a West Indies perspective , that Bravo & Braithwaite have stood firm so far , and produced some fine shots. They have really been the only top order bats to have looked the part in this series. Perhaps this time they might produce a platform that the later players can build on - and set up a proper contest ?

Weather permitting

Ha!

Off home today after going to the big bash in Melbourne last night...Luke Wright century guiding the stars home in front of 80,000! Much more entertaining than the boxing day test...

Windies least making a slightly better fist of it here

I go out for a run and return to see Bravo depart ...but at least the platform was built.

Then the dopey Samuels throws away his wicket with a stupid run out just as the rain starts
Must be his last game if they want to become a serious Test team , surely ?

Looking pretty gloomy at the SCG now...

Glad you enjoyed your visit to Melbourne , Olly ...have a safe trip home.

Kraigg topscores with 85, but not much else...at least the Windies pass 200.

I guess not being totally splattered on day one can produce some mild West Indies celebration.

West Indies' first innings will go into the third day. Just a shame day 2 comprised only 68 balls!

guildfordbat wrote:West Indies' first innings will go into the third day. Just a shame day 2 comprised only 68 balls!

And quite possibly the fourth , judging by the weather forecast...

Melbourne has much better weather

As many suspected, the Windies Player of the Match and, indeed, most influential performer of the series, was Mr Inclement Weather, whose performance at Sydney was the reason Australia didn't get a 3-0 series clean sweep. Sad days indeed for those of us who remember the great Windies Test teams of yesteryear.

PS: the way he was going, what chance Warner would have beaten Pranav's record by the end of Day 3 given fair weather on all five days?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-west-indies-2015-16/content/story/959157.html

Hmm. Understand Smith's thinking, though I think he is more than a tad disingenuous when talking about a "day 5 pitch" since to all intents and purposes it was a day 2 pitch, which are usually pretty sweet for batting on in Sydney. Also he doesn't mention that an Aus win would have put them back to number one in the rankings, as I'm sure that wasn't a consideration at all

Having said that, it is disappointing when a Test match peters out quite so much as this one, and maybe a provision could be made in the laws that when both captains agree there's no chance of a result on day 5 (as was clearly the case here without contrived declarations), the teams could play an unofficial ODI instead. Would make more sense from a spectator entertainment viewpoint, and isn't that how ODIs were brought into being in the first place?

Holder makes some decent points about wanting his team to get some confidence from passing 300, and for all that 370 in 70 overs wouldn't be easy, Aus would have found it easy to shut up shop if they'd lost wickets, so I can understand his decision too. Doesn't help that Roach and Taylor have been leaking runs throughout the tour (and indeed did on the last day here) either...

Mad for Chelsea wrote:http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-west-indies-2015-16/content/story/959157.html

Hmm. Understand Smith's thinking, though I think he is more than a tad disingenuous when talking about a "day 5 pitch" since to all intents and purposes it was a day 2 pitch, which are usually pretty sweet for batting on in Sydney. Also he doesn't mention that an Aus win would have put them back to number one in the rankings, as I'm sure that wasn't a consideration at all

Having said that, it is disappointing when a Test match peters out quite so much as this one, and maybe a provision could be made in the laws that when both captains agree there's no chance of a result on day 5 (as was clearly the case here without contrived declarations), the teams could play an unofficial ODI instead. Would make more sense from a spectator entertainment viewpoint, and isn't that how ODIs were brought into being in the first place?

Holder makes some decent points about wanting his team to get some confidence from passing 300, and for all that 370 in 70 overs wouldn't be easy, Aus would have found it easy to shut up shop if they'd lost wickets, so I can understand his decision too. Doesn't help that Roach and Taylor have been leaking runs throughout the tour (and indeed did on the last day here) either...

my issue with these "sporting declarations" on the last day is that they seem to be uncomfortably stacked in the chasing sides favour. Essentially Smith was saying "look mate give us a chance to chase 370, and if we can't we'll shut up shop. Its a fair deal".

Thankfully, the farce is over. Sure India will make the West Indies look like a better side later this year.......

SimonofSurrey wrote:As many suspected, the Windies Player of the Match and, indeed, most influential performer of the series, was Mr Inclement Weather,  
PS: the way he was going, what chance Warner would have beaten Pranav's record by the end of Day 3 given fair weather on all five days?

Actually, anyone following the series properly would know that it was already wrapped up 2-0 well before this last match, Simon.

kingraf wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-west-indies-2015-16/content/story/959157.html

Hmm. Understand Smith's thinking, though I think he is more than a tad disingenuous when talking about a "day 5 pitch" since to all intents and purposes it was a day 2 pitch, which are usually pretty sweet for batting on in Sydney. Also he doesn't mention that an Aus win would have put them back to number one in the rankings, as I'm sure that wasn't a consideration at all

Having said that, it is disappointing when a Test match peters out quite so much as this one, and maybe a provision could be made in the laws that when both captains agree there's no chance of a result on day 5 (as was clearly the case here without contrived declarations), the teams could play an unofficial ODI instead. Would make more sense from a spectator entertainment viewpoint, and isn't that how ODIs were brought into being in the first place?

Holder makes some decent points about wanting his team to get some confidence from passing 300, and for all that 370 in 70 overs wouldn't be easy, Aus would have found it easy to shut up shop if they'd lost wickets, so I can understand his decision too. Doesn't help that Roach and Taylor have been leaking runs throughout the tour (and indeed did on the last day here) either...

my issue with these "sporting declarations" on the last day is that they seem to be uncomfortably stacked in the chasing sides favour. Essentially Smith was saying "look mate give us a chance to chase 370, and if we can't we'll shut up shop. Its a fair deal".

Fair points MfC.
I think he meant day 5 for the West Indies.. probably a Day 3 pitch for Australia though.
The ODI scenario was considered however that would have interfered with players involved in the BB... and of course we had the Gayle scandal in the midst of all of this. You are right about Australia pioneering all the important advances in the game such as the first ODI in 1971 after a similar washout.

Yes raf, we all know SA and England do have a fear of positive cricket; let alone "sporting declarations". We have just seen yet another example of 2 teams too frightened to "take a risk with the off chance of procuring a win" as some more bolder people have suggested. Probably explains why Australia has the far superior winning record to both cricketing nations. I can understand if you haven't yet realised this of course.  

msp, why don't you stick with your 15 y.o. Mumbai dirt track bullies please? 30m boundaries against 12 year olds... really? A complete joke surely?
Everything seems to be a "farce" to you these days.

Baffling comments about the 2nd Test there. 258 off 190 balls isn't positive risk taking cricket?!

Yeah, he's a gutsy no nonsense Kiwi lad VTR. Removed that baffle for you.

I doubt he would agree with that! But seriously, both teams had a good go at winning that match

I can see why people would think England are pragmatic and boring, but this year that has changed. In fact a lot of fans now worry we are too far the other way with too many attacking players in the line up

It's good to have some attacking players. Cricket is a game of risk. The key is when to step on the peddle.

Bayliss probably gave Stokes the order to play his natural game and seize any opportunities. That he most certainly did ~ albeit against an ailing and struggling SA bowling outfit in that 1st inning.

On the other hand, you have Compton who plays at his own pace... hopefully he can score big too on the international scene.
It's a good balance really. Quite unique in a way.

Sorry if I was too hard up there. I didn't mean to be too mean. I was a bit on edge this morning.

No worries!

You are right about Bayliss, I think Alex Hales said they have been told to just play their natural game. Thought strangely Mr Hales has been unable to do that so far - it is only his second Test though!

I can see the point of view of it being a very attacking line-up, 4-8 all like to get on with it. At least its entertaining one way or another