Rest of the World

by msp83 Wed 12 Jul 2023, 12:54 pm

First topic message reminder :

KP_fan wrote:
msp83 wrote:So India is getting back on the field tonight, kicking off their WTC campaign. Rohit has already confirmed Jaiswal will open, and Gill drop down to 3. When all the talk of Yashasvi taking over from Pujara at 3 was going on, I felt he should open, particularly since the team views Gill as the eventual successor to Virat Kohli at 4. Going forward, I see a top 4 of Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran/Devdutt Padikkal/Rohan Kunnummal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Eswaran has been hard done by......Jaiswal was jumped over him
Mayank Agarwal should not be ruled out...he has batted very well in FC and has a decent test match showing also.

And don't forget the favorite boy of seniors and BCCI in KL Rahul...as soon as he is fit he will walk back into the 11

Its been tough on Easwaran. Think Mayank and KL might find it difficult to now fight their way back in. Particularly if Yashasvi has a good start to his career. KL might still make a comeback when Rohit leaves, but I hope Easwaran, Rohan and even Padikkal will make better cases for themselves.
As for Yashasvi jumping over Abhimanyu, though its tough on the latter, think is the right call. Jaiswal scored hundreds on his Ranji, Duleep and Irani trophy debuts. He's versatile and has shown adaptability as indicated by his IPL success. And, its not much noted these days, but he's a handy parttimer with the ball, he very much was for the U-19s, hope he'll get a few chances right away to work on that secondary skill of his...

by king_carlos Tue 03 Sep 2024, 11:07 am

That feels like a significant exaggeration there, KPf!

Mehidy Hasan is a really good spin bowler and their seamers are exciting, but Shakib isn't the bowler he once was I don't think. Then on India's side, they've got the best spinner in the world in Ashwin, the best spin bowling all-rounder in Jadeja, the recently lethal Kuldeep and the very useful option of Axar. If Bumrah and Shami are both absent, as rumoured, that does close the seam bowling gap. Even then, I think Siraj is the best seamer on either side. India are a very well set side for home cricket. Their spin bowling and the batting depth those spinners add is such a luxury.

It will be fantastic to see Rishabh return to the Test game though. He's one of my favourite players to watch. Beyond the style, his record is also excellent for a keeper when you take into account the pitches he's had at home and some very good away knocks. I really hope we are yet to see his best in Test cricket.

A word for Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque though. They've quietly built really good Test records in a period where their opportunities to do so can be intermittent. Mushfiqur has had a long Indian summer to cap a very good career.

I think Bangladesh are set to be more competitive than many would give them credit for. Particularly England and Australia, who's records of not playing Bangladesh enough are pathetic and embarrassing. To say that they are equal in spin bowling is a massive stretch though!

by Duty281 Tue 03 Sep 2024, 11:37 am

Yeah, it's a very good win for Bangladesh, but I'm not going to say they'll give India a challenge. Bangladesh simply don't have the batting to compete with India, and while they can come up with some exciting moments with pace on the ball, I'm not sure their spin will trouble India massively unless it's huge turning pitches. Don't forget, Bangladesh were 26/6 in this one!

Pakistan...christ. This is as bad as it's ever been for them. England in a month, and if they roll out these roads then England will pile up a mountain of runs so high you won't be able to see over the top of it.

Next non-England test is NZ's test v Afghanistan in India in six days time. An intriguing matchup, before NZ play two in Sri Lanka.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 03 Sep 2024, 12:56 pm

Duty281 wrote:Yeah, it's a very good win for Bangladesh, but I'm not going to say they'll give India a challenge. Bangladesh simply don't have the batting to compete with India, and while they can come up with some exciting moments with pace on the ball, I'm not sure their spin will trouble India massively unless it's huge turning pitches. Don't forget, Bangladesh were 26/6 in this one!

Pakistan...christ. This is as bad as it's ever been for them. England in a month, and if they roll out these roads then England will pile up a mountain of runs so high you won't be able to see over the top of it.

Next non-England test is NZ's test v Afghanistan in India in six days time. An intriguing matchup, before NZ play two in Sri Lanka.

Do wonder if we will see them change their wicket preparation - surely better for Pakistan to turn it into a bit of a lottery and prepare some proper turning bunsens, even though their spin department is hardly awash with talent...that has to be their best path to victory at the moment. As you say, England will just batter big totals against their medium pacers if they prepare roads again.

Is the Afghan/NZ test on TV anywhere?

by KP_fan Tue 03 Sep 2024, 1:26 pm

Good to hear your views KC & Duty.
It's hard to objectively assess your "own team" for the risk of being too fearful of defeat and too critical or taking an exaggerated view of their strength.

Bumrah I think will play as will Siraj...but the BD pace attack is not mediocre like last time when they toured and Ind made grassy pitches.

India will play 3 seamers if they make grassy pitches so how will they fit in Kuldeep? I do not see.
Ashwin has been declining in bowling, reflexes with the bat and general fitness.
Jadeja's batting is still very good but bowling wise I'd say he's down to 80% from his peak.

I am sure India will not produce spin Crumblers...but if they do make the pitches like they did vs Eng i.e slow spin.....BD will have 3 spinners and batting both better than Eng .
We did see that Eng stretched India. The scoreline of 4-1 is not reflective of how Ind could have slipped to 3-2 or even 2-3.

Ind's conundrum starts with whether to make a grassy 3 seamer pitch or spinning 3 spinner pitch ( like the ones vs Eng)

by KP_fan Tue 03 Sep 2024, 1:58 pm

For those who are interested in art/ science of curators leaving grass on pitch in subcontinent ...you may like reading the following articles on the length of grass. In summary:
In IPL & test match pitches curated to not assist seamers grass length = 2mm
( further keeping such a pitch dry will assist spin and they might shave it down to 1 mm to enhance spin support...juts the barest grass to hold soil together))

Normal recommended by BCCI for Ranji games is a "good"grass cover = 4mm so Ind can produce seamers and give their batters acclimatization to some seam friendliness.
Rarely would a visiting team get a 4mm grass cover pitch.

Kolkata test vs BD in 2019 was designed to be "atleast" 6mm grass cover..they considered 8mm but thought it might be too much and this was the "grassiest" pitch ever made on records.
BD lasted 30 overs in first inning & 40 in the second and lost by an inning and 45 runs

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2019/Nov/17/first-day-night-test-grass-at-eden-gardens-hints-at-another-short-affair-2063324.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/eden-gardens-pink-ball-test-india-vs-bangladesh-kolkata-6126324/

by king_carlos Tue 03 Sep 2024, 2:01 pm

I'd read that Bumrah wouldn't be back. If Bumrah plays then India are favourites by a mile. They've then got the most dangerous seamer in cricket. Plus Siraj, who I'd rate as better than the Bangladeshi seamers regardless of their improvement in that area. Then they have 3 spin options who are better than Mehidy - Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep. I really rate Mehedy too, but the Indian spin quality is ludicrous.

I'd agree that Ashwin's batting has declined. Which you'd expect at his age. He's always been better with the bat at home though and I don't think he's much of a weakness at 8. I wouldn't expect someone like Shardul to score many more runs in Indian condtions.

It is often forgotten when spinners can bowl into their late thirties that their eyes can still be going. Brad Hogg played his early F-C career as a batter but ended up a proper number 11. I honestly think Adil Rashid's eyes are painted on at this point too. 100% walks into England's white ball side still but the days of him adding depth as a number 9 are gone. He's a proper 10 or 11. If a batter with as good an eye as Aaron Finch can look blind at the end of his career, then useful number 8s are understandably going to struggle!

I'd expect them to produce spinning decks and back their strength. Not only are Ashwin, Kuldeep and Jadeja a lethal trio when it spins, I think Bumrah is the best seamer in the world at getting purchase on those surfaces, whilst Siraj also suits bowling cutters.

by king_carlos Tue 03 Sep 2024, 2:41 pm

KP_fan wrote:For those who are interested in art/ science of curators leaving grass on pitch in subcontinent ...you may like reading the following articles on the length of grass. In summary:
In IPL & test match pitches curated to not assist seamers grass length = 2mm
( further keeping such a pitch dry will assist spin and they might shave it down to 1 mm to enhance spin support...juts the barest grass to hold soil together))

Normal recommended by BCCI for Ranji games is a "good"grass cover = 4mm so Ind can produce seamers and give their batters acclimatization to some seam friendliness.
Rarely would a visiting team get a 4mm grass cover pitch.

Kolkata test vs BD in 2019 was designed to be "atleast" 6mm grass cover..they considered 8mm but thought it might be too much and this was the "grassiest" pitch ever made on records.
BD lasted 30 overs in first inning & 40 in the second and lost by an inning and 45 runs

https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/cricket/2019/Nov/17/first-day-night-test-grass-at-eden-gardens-hints-at-another-short-affair-2063324.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/eden-gardens-pink-ball-test-india-vs-bangladesh-kolkata-6126324/

That's a really interesting read, cheers KPf.

Curation is definitely an art as well as a science. Mistakes in curation do happen even to generally good curators. I often think it's been downplayed just how much control that curators, hence the hosting board, has over pitches though. We like to think of "natural conditions" in each country for pitches. In reality, they are all doctored in one way or another. We are just more used to certain types of doctoring in certain countries!

My favourite story around pitch curation was from an analyst friend who saw a conversation between a pretty famous cricket writer and a prominent groundsman turner curator in Australia. The conversation was around the Bunsen's that India were rolling out for a while. The journalist hated them, the groundsman couldn't give a toss. It went something like:

Groundsman: "What's the real difference between their bunsens and me producing bouncing wickets?"
Journalist: "Well bouncy wickets are just what Australia naturally produces"
Groundsman: "Only if we cut the grass short and leave it uncovered regularly so it bakes in the sun"
Journalist: "Huh?"
Groundsman: "If Indian pitches are left to be baked by the sun, they crumble. If Aussie pitches are baked in the sun, they turn to concrete and are bouncy. What's the difference?"
Journalist: "But Aussie pitches have always been bouncy"
Groundsman: "Only because we've always cut the grass short, so they get bouncy, so we win more"
Journalist: "So Australian pitches don't have to be like this"
Groundsman: "If grass can only be like this in Australia then how the f**k do you think we have an outfield? More pressingly, do you think this is a country without farming? I've got four nets outback curated like English wickets for the academy to train on. You just water it more mate."

It made me laugh a lot when first told it. Bottom line, if a groundsman has the resources then you can produce a certain type of wickets in most places. Wickets in England don't have to be green, Somerset proved that when they were fined for repeatedly producing bunsens. NZ wickets don't have to be seam friendly either, after decades of doing that they reverted to absolute roads. We've seen Indian Test wickets go from horrendous roads in the Noughties to absolute Bunsen's more recently. We've seen Ranji pitches get much more seam friendly to massively improve their seam bowlers. The ICC academy in the UAE is meant to have just about any pitch you want available to order.

Obviously, climate does influence where a pitch will go if not interfered with as much. Cricket pitches are by definition doctored though. The groundsman have so many means at their disposal to influence it. The amount of grass left is probably the biggest one as it holds the pitch together and keeps the sun off in the build up. Simply watering more or less it obviously is another. The use of rollers to settle or break up the top surface is key too. I've heard of county grounds drying pitches out when there's heavy rain in the build up to a game by putting heaters under the covers and couple of massive drum fans at one end to create a draft.

I find it an interesting topic as it's so central to cricket but information such as you've posted above is largely scarce. All the time we see experts with decades of experience as players, coaches and pundits offer a pitch report, then it be complete nonsense. TMS used to have a running joke amongst their comms team that they'd see whatever Sky said when Botham did his reports in the early days of Sky coverage, then they'd say the opposite for a laugh because it was complete guesswork.

Cricket is a sport almost uniquely dependent on the pitch and the ball. The two breaking down and changing over the course of play is absolutely key. Yet we seem to understand little about pitches and many of the cricket balls we use are rubbish. We've played white ball cricket with painted rather than dyed cricket balls for years even though we know that painting cricket balls doesn't really work. The pink ball had a pitiful amount of investment put into its development. It took decades for the Kookaburra to get some development put into it so that it got the reinforced seam which means there's actually any point bowling with it. The Dukes now needs changing basically every time it's hit into the stands, which is increasingly often in the modern game. It's such a silly sport.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 03 Sep 2024, 3:09 pm

What is the likely Indian top 6 going to be?

by king_carlos Tue 03 Sep 2024, 3:18 pm

Olly, rumours I've seen are Sarfaraz keeping his place as SKY is injured. Padikkal expected to be the spare batter who just misses out.

1.Jaiswal 2.Rohit (c) 3.Gill 4.Virat 5.Sarfaraz 6.Pant (wk)

Almost certainly followed by Jadeja and Ashwin at 7 and 8. With the balance then depending on the pitch as KPf says. I think Kuldeep has been too good recently for them to not produce spinning wickets to accommodate the third spinner.

by Duty281 Tue 03 Sep 2024, 4:13 pm

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Yeah, it's a very good win for Bangladesh, but I'm not going to say they'll give India a challenge. Bangladesh simply don't have the batting to compete with India, and while they can come up with some exciting moments with pace on the ball, I'm not sure their spin will trouble India massively unless it's huge turning pitches. Don't forget, Bangladesh were 26/6 in this one!

Pakistan...christ. This is as bad as it's ever been for them. England in a month, and if they roll out these roads then England will pile up a mountain of runs so high you won't be able to see over the top of it.

Next non-England test is NZ's test v Afghanistan in India in six days time. An intriguing matchup, before NZ play two in Sri Lanka.

Do wonder if we will see them change their wicket preparation - surely better for Pakistan to turn it into a bit of a lottery and prepare some proper turning bunsens, even though their spin department is hardly awash with talent...that has to be their best path to victory at the moment. As you say, England will just batter big totals against their medium pacers if they prepare roads again.

Is the Afghan/NZ test on TV anywhere?

Not that I'm aware of, unfortunately.

I've been waiting for Pakistan to change their wicket preparation for a while! I thought they'd do it after the three tests against Aus, then I thought they'd definitely do after England's visit in 2022....but, no, still waiting.

by KP_fan Tue 03 Sep 2024, 9:02 pm

king_carlos wrote:Olly, rumours I've seen are Sarfaraz keeping his place as SKY is injured. Padikkal expected to be the spare batter who just misses out.

1.Jaiswal 2.Rohit (c) 3.Gill 4.Virat 5.Sarfaraz 6.Pant (wk)

Almost certainly followed by Jadeja and Ashwin at 7 and 8. With the balance then depending on the pitch as KPf says. I think Kuldeep has been too good recently for them to not produce spinning wickets to accommodate the third spinner.

Those indeed should be the top-6, Jadeja-7 for sure...and if it's a seaming pitch Bumrah & Siraj+3rd seamer
then the question is who plays as the 2nd spinner? Ashwin I would say 90% and 10% chance it will be kuldeep
Those in bold are the only 2 variables and that too if its a grassy pitch.....if it's a slow turner then both Kuldeep & Ashwin play

India is doing a massive scouting for who their 6 seamers will be for Aus including travelling reserves, as there are bound to be break-downs
Bumrah, Siraj , Shami are the obvious top-3
Akashdeep, Harshit Rana, Khaleel, Tushar Deshpande, Vijyakumar Vyashak, Vidyut Kverappa, Nitin Saini, Mayank Yadav are all being played in Duleep Trophy & will be closely monitored when Ranji season starts

by KP_fan Tue 03 Sep 2024, 9:26 pm

king_carlos wrote:

That's a really interesting read, cheers KPf.

Curation is definitely an art as well as a science. Mistakes in curation do happen even to generally good curators. I often think it's been downplayed just how much control that curators, hence the hosting board, has over pitches though. We like to think of "natural conditions" in each country for pitches. In reality, they are all doctored in one way or another. We are just more used to certain types of doctoring in certain countries!

My favourite story around pitch curation was from an analyst friend who saw a conversation between a pretty famous cricket writer and a prominent groundsman turner curator in Australia. The conversation was around the Bunsen's that India were rolling out for a while. The journalist hated them, the groundsman couldn't give a toss. It went something like:

Groundsman: "What's the real difference between their bunsens and me producing bouncing wickets?"
Journalist: "Well bouncy wickets are just what Australia naturally produces"
Groundsman: "Only if we cut the grass short and leave it uncovered regularly so it bakes in the sun"
Journalist: "Huh?"
Groundsman: "If Indian pitches are left to be baked by the sun, they crumble. If Aussie pitches are baked in the sun, they turn to concrete and are bouncy. What's the difference?"
Journalist: "But Aussie pitches have always been bouncy"
Groundsman: "Only because we've always cut the grass short, so they get bouncy, so we win more"
Journalist: "So Australian pitches don't have to be like this"
Groundsman: "If grass can only be like this in Australia then how the f**k do you think we have an outfield? More pressingly, do you think this is a country without farming? I've got four nets outback curated like English wickets for the academy to train on. You just water it more mate."

It made me laugh a lot when first told it. Bottom line, if a groundsman has the resources then you can produce a certain type of wickets in most places. Wickets in England don't have to be green, Somerset proved that when they were fined for repeatedly producing bunsens. NZ wickets don't have to be seam friendly either, after decades of doing that they reverted to absolute roads. We've seen Indian Test wickets go from horrendous roads in the Noughties to absolute Bunsen's more recently. We've seen Ranji pitches get much more seam friendly to massively improve their seam bowlers. The ICC academy in the UAE is meant to have just about any pitch you want available to order.

Obviously, climate does influence where a pitch will go if not interfered with as much. Cricket pitches are by definition doctored though. The groundsman have so many means at their disposal to influence it. The amount of grass left is probably the biggest one as it holds the pitch together and keeps the sun off in the build up. Simply watering more or less it obviously is another. The use of rollers to settle or break up the top surface is key too. I've heard of county grounds drying pitches out when there's heavy rain in the build up to a game by putting heaters under the covers and couple of massive drum fans at one end to create a draft.

I find it an interesting topic as it's so central to cricket but information such as you've posted above is largely scarce. All the time we see experts with decades of experience as players, coaches and pundits offer a pitch report, then it be complete nonsense. TMS used to have a running joke amongst their comms team that they'd see whatever Sky said when Botham did his reports in the early days of Sky coverage, then they'd say the opposite for a laugh because it was complete guesswork.

Cricket is a sport almost uniquely dependent on the pitch and the ball. The two breaking down and changing over the course of play is absolutely key. Yet we seem to understand little about pitches and many of the cricket balls we use are rubbish. We've played white ball cricket with painted rather than dyed cricket balls for years even though we know that painting cricket balls doesn't really work. The pink ball had a pitiful amount of investment put into its development. It took decades for the Kookaburra to get some development put into it so that it got the reinforced seam which means there's actually any point bowling with it. The Dukes now needs changing basically every time it's hit into the stands, which is increasingly often in the modern game. It's such a silly sport.

Yes I found that interesting & rare, precise revelation by curators of grass lengths & then the way results unfolded almost makes this a case study if one wanted to publish on pitch curation.
In my understanding pitch behavior zeros down to 3 pre-game and 2 during game variables:

1- Soil Type: In subcontinent mostly black soil is used which is slow, low turner.
Ind also has Red soil in some centers which is sharp turn with bounce & also reverses more ( Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai have red soil).
Then there is whitish soil with high sand content in AbuDhabi, Sharjah, the natural soil there and Pakistanis also have & use this sandy variant in portions mixed with black soil when they want to flatten their pitches like in Faisalabad.
Aussie & SA soils are more compact, imparting pace & bounce.
Drop in pitches i would say is a variant of soil.

2- Grass: retains moisture on the top layer of soil and also precipitates dew when pitch is open on cool mornings 30 to 45 min before play The more the grass, the more retention of moisture, the greener the grass, the more it retains moisture and cooler the weather, more retained moisture in grass.
It's the retained moisture that assists seam bowling & such a pitch renders spinners mostly ineffective.

3- Watering: Required more in hotter & drier climates, When you shave off grass completely ( down to 1mm) as many subcontinent pitches are, in the heat they will crack & crumble soon, so to hold the pitch together they have to be watered heavily week to 10 days before the game. And then hope sun dries them.
But if its not as sunny as expected then you might get a damp pitch...which is a paradise for seamers & spinners.
(Ranchi pitch in T4 vs Eng was damp for the first hour & a half & debutant Akashdeep looked so threatening )

During the game
1- Rollers: are permitted between innings and start of days play. Light roller settles the pitch and heavy roller crumbles it.
so if you are going to declare on 4th or 5th morning, take the Heavy Roller, and crumble the pitch, just before putting the opposition in.

2-Bowlers Footmarks

by king_carlos Tue 03 Sep 2024, 10:31 pm

Whether they get Kuldeep in ahead of Ashwin in Oz will be an interesting question. Wrist spin in Australia is very useful and Kuldeep got a quality five-fer in his only Test there. That SCG pitch was dead with India getting 600-odd declared and Pujara batting for an eternity. Then Kuldeep took 5 for 99 to rip Australia out for 300. That was version one Kuldeep too when he was bowling slower. Ashwin's current batting may well struggle in Oz too.

There does currently seem to be a massive drop off after Bumrah, Shami and Siraj. That is a fantastic front line trio though. So a drop off is understandable. Interestingly, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav both had dire records in Australia. So whilst they've been losses overall, they weren't significant contributors to the two BGT wins down under.

Who do you fancy from the next in line, KPf? Akash seems highly rated. and next in line Kaverappa has a very good F-C record. Navdeep Saini has the pace and was in the India A side against the Lions over the winter. Mayank Yadav is very raw but again has the pace. Harshit Rana again seems to be getting looked at due to his pace. There's talent there it seems. Just untried.

The bowling line-up from that series sealing win on the last tour is such a glorious oddity of Test history. Mo Siraj. Washi Sundar. Shardul Thakur. Navdeep Saini. T Natarajan. And they won at the Gabba.

by VTR Wed 04 Sep 2024, 9:27 am

Interesting stuff on the pitches, enjoyed reading all of that. Should also be sent to all trolls that claim pitches were doctored to aid Jimmy Anderson's swing bowling, which is a whole other level of stupidity

by Duty281 Wed 04 Sep 2024, 1:46 pm

Scotland are playing Australia in a three match T20 series, starting in 15 minutes. It's on the BBC, if you're in the UK.

Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Cameron Green, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Riley Meredith.

Scotland: 1 George Munsey, 2 Ollie Hairs, 3 Brandon McMullen, 4 Richie Berrington (capt), 5 Matthew Cross (wk), 6 Michael Leask, 7 Mark Watt, 8 Jack Jarvis, 9 Charlie Cassell, 10 Jasper Davidson, 11 Brad Wheal.

Pretty strong team for Australia! This is directly leading up to their T20 series v England, starting next week, and consequently it's the same T20 squad, with the exception of Hazlewood who is injured for the Scotland games, but might return for England.

by Duty281 Wed 04 Sep 2024, 4:16 pm

Scotland have been somewhat brutalised.

They only made 154/9, and Australia scored 113/1 off the PowerPlay! Head is 73 off 22!

by **Pal Joey** Wed 04 Sep 2024, 11:40 pm

That was a bit brutal. I'm glad they're playing 3 matches in Edinburgh. A lot safer than Dhaka, Bangladesh. Surely? Smile

Australia should forge some stronger ties with Scotland. It would be great to see more Scottish cricketers out here in their off season.

One of the highlights for me was KC's one-handed catch with coffee cup on the boundary. He didn't spill any froth!

His earlier one from Berrington wasn't too bad either. Loved the celebration... wearing the "Earth-Wind-Water-Fire" t-shirt.

by KP_fan Thu 05 Sep 2024, 6:19 am

Pal Joey wrote:That was a bit brutal. .

Jake Fraser McGurk unfortunately got a duck on debut.
He had set IPL on fire and I am looking forward to him getting going.
Him and Abhishek Sharma are the Z++ gen who dont mind if their role is limited to playing 10 to 12 balls as opener and smacking 40 runs.
No worry of get set build inning, whack from ball 1, connect 6 to 8 hits in 10 balls, job done.

by KP_fan Thu 05 Sep 2024, 7:51 am

Duleep Trophy used to be a premium tournament with 5 strong zonal sides.
Had lost it's relevance for the last few years due to crowded calendar & stars skipping it.

This time most stars have been asked to play in a 6 team format.....to prepare for BD and also to look for potential semaers that will travel to Aus.
The first 2 games under way & by the early look at scorecards, seamers having a good time.

by VTR Thu 05 Sep 2024, 8:10 am

See below, can't delete

by VTR Thu 05 Sep 2024, 8:11 am

I reserve judgement on IPL batting prodigies until they've played a few games where the boundaries are out more than 40 metres

by KP_fan Sat 07 Sep 2024, 6:54 pm

Much awaited McGurk flops in all 3 games and that too against Scotland.
Hope he gets a bit more run....his talent is obvious but international sport is about deliverance

by KP_fan Sat 07 Sep 2024, 7:01 pm

India will take no less than a 20 man squad to Aus and in their quest for trying out to list our top 6 to 7 seamers Akashdeep and Saini looked good in first round of a star studded Duleep Trophy.
Manav Suthar shone brightly as the spin bowling all-rounder. He did well vs Eng Lions also.
Sarafarz's 19 year old brother Musheer score a superb 100 in seaming conditions was by far thr best looking batter.
He is a Useful SLA also.

Like India I think Eng too are trying out all their strapping seamers to build a pool of 6 or 7 bowlers.
I didn't see Hull bowl, but did see him embarrassed dropping a dolly at mid on

by KP_fan Sun 08 Sep 2024, 7:47 pm

The Nz-Afg test will be the first at Greater Noida stadium on the outskirts of Delhi but technically in state of UP.
Outfield has bad drainage, it's been raining, the curator reportedly tried to prepare a barren pitch that would spin, heavily watered and rain + lack of drying equipment means it might come out under-prepared as it's unlikely to dry sufficiently.
When a pitch is excessively damp, it will spin and bounce off a length for spinners and seamers I think.

I hope it meets the cut for not being too dangerous for play. A worrying report

https://www.insidesport.in/cricket/afghanistan-awaits-strong-new-zealand-team-uncertain-weather-unfit-pitch-in-greater-noida/

by KP_fan Sun 08 Sep 2024, 7:53 pm

Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal

India declare their squad....all expected with Yash Dayal the left arm pacer in.
Ind tried Yash, arshdeep, Khaleel as left arm pace in Duleep trophy and Yash looked fastest and most impressive, although Saini was better than Yash.
Looks like Gautam is forcing a left armer into the squad and not too different from Eng's thinking

by Duty281 Mon 09 Sep 2024, 10:19 am

Looks like a day one wash out between Afghanistan and New Zealand, the first test between the two nations.

by KP_fan Tue 10 Sep 2024, 10:48 am

type of comments that are building up among Indian cricket lovers in Social Media Rest of the World - Page 19 1f447

#AFGvNZ

MASSIVE SHAME!

BCCI : Worlds richest board

- Allots a home ground to Afghanistan in Noida

- Arranges an international test match

- Invites New Zealand over

It starts raining a day before the match, and stops raining.

Hasnt rained for 2 days but no play has been possible because the drainage and facility in the ground are poorer than even an associate nation's ground.

Massive embarrassment for BCCI, you insulted 2 guest countries not just one.

Where does the billiona that BCCI makes go?

by Duty281 Tue 10 Sep 2024, 11:18 am

Two days and still not a ball bowled.

Might get an ultra rare test abandoned without a ball being bowled which, according to Cricinfo, has only happened seven times, the last in 1998 involving NZ and India.

by VTR Fri 13 Sep 2024, 9:05 am

Afghanistan tie the one match series, which is a very creditable result for them. May or may not have been aided by a total of 0.0 overs being played over the 5 days

by Duty281 Fri 13 Sep 2024, 1:12 pm

I didn't miss a ball of that test, it was superb sport.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri 13 Sep 2024, 1:13 pm

Real shame that game didn't get going - would've been a good contest I think.

by KP_fan Tue 17 Sep 2024, 5:37 am

First test starts this Thu vs BD at Chennai
Red soil pitch returns in home test after a long time....is bouncier and turns more and offers more reverse to seamers
Looks like Ind will play 3 seamers+ashwin and Jadeja
Last time red soil pitches were used vs Eng at Chennai that Root's batting and Anderson's bowling won for Eng...
And at Mumbai in same series where Eng was seriously ahead until Pant's counterattack overcame them.

by KP_fan Wed 18 Sep 2024, 8:08 am

NZ & Lanka both have 4 spin options each as SL win an important toss.
It's NZ's pacer Rourke gong at 90mph removed the openers & injured Matthews

by KP_fan Wed 18 Sep 2024, 9:22 am

34.2 to DM de Silva, And he's got DDS with a ripper! My word, what a delivery. This was tossed up outside off, there was a bit of dip as DDS was lured into the drive, before it just spun right through the gate to clip the top of off. 106/4

If on D1 part times like Glen Phillips can do that, then its' bad news for NZ

by Duty281 Wed 18 Sep 2024, 9:49 am

I see Kamindu Mendis has got a bit higher up the order, now a 5, and is still making the scores for his team with the first fifty of the match. A pretty quick one, too.

Mathews is struggling, having already had to go off with a finger injury, but has now returned. 31 off 99, though!

by wisden Wed 18 Sep 2024, 11:37 am

Kamindu is on 94* now, he is ridiclously good, an amazing once in a generation talent, he will go on to be a great he is that good, his technqiue in both defence and attack, has all the shots, the temprament, could watch him bat all day long

by KP_fan Wed 18 Sep 2024, 12:13 pm

Kamindu gets another 100
averages 90 now with 3 out of 7 tests and 5 out of 11 innings in seaming English conditions

by Duty281 Wed 18 Sep 2024, 1:05 pm

302/7 at stumps, led again by the brilliant Kamindu Mendis, who got a good'un and fell for 114 just before the end. Amazing start to his test career. Four centuries in 11 innings, quickest SL player to four centuries, and all at a brisk SR too.

A very good day for O'Rourke, also. 3/54. Lots of pace and intensity about him. He's still quite raw, and his radar can be wonky, but he's a very exciting and very talented bowler who might lead the Kiwi attack in the near future. If they can get Jamieson back to fitness, which sadly doesn't look like happening any time soon, then that's a top quality duo to replace the old Boult-Southee partnership.

As for the game, it's going to be very steep for NZ to come back from here. Already seeing some sharp turn and variable bounce. Seen a few keep low for the quicks; seen a few explode off a length from the spinners.

by KP_fan Wed 18 Sep 2024, 2:47 pm

Afg had SA 36-7 at Sharjah...now they have recovered to 74-7
opening bowlers took all the wickets

by KP_fan Wed 18 Sep 2024, 8:45 pm

The SL -NZ test is a 6 day test with a "Rest Day" on 21st Sep.
It's been I think 3 decades since a test match with a Rest Day was played.

Those were grand old days when i was a teenager and when there were half a dozen fully contested FC games on tour, 5 tests with Rest Days and no limit on bouncers and a batman's scoring rate was reported in minutes played, not in balls faced.

The daddy era even before, that I did not see was that of uncovered pitches and no helmets.

by KP_fan Thu 19 Sep 2024, 5:35 am

Thick and green grass cover with underlying red soil has made Chennai a seaming and bouncy pitch that could well be somewhere in SA
3 seamers both sides have and not often does a side wins toss and bowls
BD has bowled well.

It's a tough challenge for India was always gona be tough for BD have good pace and good spin bowlers
Rohit was lucky in umpires call but didn't make it count.
Taksin aught to go a bit fuller

by Duty281 Thu 19 Sep 2024, 9:18 am

Interesting score, I see...India 145/6 v Bangladesh. Most of the wickets through pace.

SL didn't add much to the overnight score, getting bowled out for 305. NZ's reply has started solidly with 66/1.

by wisden Thu 19 Sep 2024, 9:50 am

NZ are flying 111-1 after 28 overs...williamson scoring at more than a run a ball! Latham has gone past 50

by VTR Thu 19 Sep 2024, 11:13 am

Ashwin and Jadeja leading the recovery. This is why India are pretty much unbeatable at home, the two world class spinners who would be in the team even if they batted like Chris Martin, regularly score vital runs from down the order

by Duty281 Thu 19 Sep 2024, 11:31 am

NZ 165/2. Williamson moving to another 50.

I've been very unimpressed with SL's bowlers. The spinners, especially, have struggled to hit the right lengths and they've been punished.

by king_carlos Thu 19 Sep 2024, 11:47 am

VTR wrote:Ashwin and Jadeja leading the recovery. This is why India are pretty much unbeatable at home, the two world class spinners who would be in the team even if they batted like Chris Martin, regularly score vital runs from down the order

Yep. Add in Axar being a very good bat in Indian conditions too when playing. The depth of their spin bowling all-rounders has been obscene. Jadeja alone has been the best all-rounder in Tests for a while since Shakib waned. He averages over 40 in home Tests having batted on s**t tips for a good portion of his career.

Then you throw in how good Ashwin is batting on turning wickets. He's showing a good hand on a more seam friendly offering here in fairness. 3 of his 5 Test centuries and 9 of 15 half centuries are in India though. With the other two tons in the Windies. One of them in a game where Kraig Brathwaite's off breaks took 3 wickets in the first innings. The other was a more seam heavy game than that, but still at Gros Islet, where it's generally a bit lower bouncing. His batting is far better suited to lower bounce in general, especially playing spin. Which is what suits his bowling too. There's a perfect meshing of the two there in home conditions.

Similar with Woakes really. His batting in England is far better than anywhere else. He's a really good front foot player of seam bowling. He's not great against spin. If there's any bounce at all, he can get bumped into oblivion as he can't really play the short ball. The conditions that suit his bowling so beautifully also suit his batting ideally.

Ashwin and Jadeja are the dream combo in Indian conditions though. Their stock balls spin it different ways. Ashwin is the best of all time against lefties. Jadeja favours bowling to RHBs. Ashwin flights it up a bit more, Jadeja likes to bowl into the wicket a bit more. Then they are ideal no 7s and 8s in home batting conditions.

by KP_fan Thu 19 Sep 2024, 12:30 pm

Because of the grass pitch has nothing in it for spinners & much less evident support for seamers now in last session.
Although I believe there is something still for seamers...just that BD are not hitting the right lengths and being consistent enuf.

Top class seamers like Anderson, Shami, Hazelwood would get more out of this pitch.

I have seen in the past attempts to make "sporting green" pitches in Mohali & Eden garden in apst , done dead after 2 sessions leading to 500+ type draws.

Hope this is not he case.
I think it will not be the case....Indian seamers will get more and by D4 & D5 pitch will dry and wear....according spin.

Ashwin made best of rest, relaxation and he played a lot as a batsmen in local leagues and clubs.....has hit the ground running.

Kohli is a walking wicket.
Jaiswal cracked a 50 in trying conditions. .....and since his return Pant has shown impetuosity in shot selection.

BD's over rate mighty poor...ends up as India's day

by wisden Thu 19 Sep 2024, 12:38 pm

Barely 80 overs bowled in a day is dismal! Fantastic 100 for Ashwin though, you feel they have already batted BD out of the game here....SL fighting back against NZ

by msp83 Thu 19 Sep 2024, 6:49 pm

Hi all!
So as the Indian test season gets under way, I am back too.
Could follow the SA WI, England SL and BD Pak series only in parts, couldn't really watch much, only followed on cricinfo/Cricbuz only.

by msp83 Thu 19 Sep 2024, 6:52 pm

An impressive start to the season in India. Not a very impressive start from India though. The batters were pretty poor, before Jadeja and Ashwin had to do yet another rescue act, something they did fabulously. Yashasvi Jaiswal played a good hand upfront, and Pant looked his usual self and had actually played Rana the best before getting out to a rather loose shot to the very impressive Mahmud.
Virat Kohli isn't giving wibes of any kind of reassurance. KL Rahul has had good test knocks across conditions. But his overall record is pathetic for someone who has played 50 test matches, and with the emergence of someone like Sarfaraz or Padikkal, shouldn't have been given an automatic return. An innings without intent, ending up with the softest of dismissals. For the team management's sake, hope he delivers soon. They aren't going to drop him, and all the pressure is going to be directed at Rohit and Gambhir, since KL knows he doesn't have to score to stay in the team.
Fabulous from Jadeja. Played to his strengths, played like a proper batter in line with his true emergence as a test all-rounder. Continues to be India's most consistent test batter of the last 4 years, along side Pant and Rohit.
A brilliant counterpunching innings from Ashwin. He has been reinventing his batting and his approach to batting, and has been scoring in the state level leagues at the top. As usual with him, an innings that stood out for artistic value, and today he made sure it lasted long enough.
India managing to turn the tables to end the day on a strong note. But the new ball will be available first thing, and it should bring wickets. Akash can slog a bit but Bumrah is more determined to fill the all-round role when playing abroad, or against England! Siraj can't bat, and with Jadeja being a bit of a poor resumer, so with an early separation of the 2, Bangladesh could still roll India over under 360.

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