Re: The Cricket Thread
 

WTF? Steve Smith test captain?

:rofl:

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Good choice; has always been groomed to take over from Clarke and now he's cemented his place in the team. Has a lot of enthusiasm and gets on well with the other guys - what's your problem?

I found it strange to see Amla the introvert captaining SA recently. :rofl:

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Steve Smith is journeyman cricketer who has hit a bit of form. Nothing wrong with that as these kind of guys are part and parcel of cricket, but he's not a test captain. All the captains before him were superstar players who had a big future ahead of them. I don't see that with Smith. On the other hand there's not much other choice for Australia at the moment

I'm surprised at Amla being made captain too - mainly because he said on more than one occasion that he didn't want it, but he is one of the best batsmen in the world - in the top 3

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Your opinion. 'Journeymen' don't average 60 over their last 14 tests - 'a bit of form' - rubbish. Do any Saffers average 60 over their last 14 tests?

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

I think Amla is one of the best but 7th in the top 10 averages of current players believe it or not:

Haque, Bangladesh 63.05
Sangakkara, SL 58.76
Younis Khan, Pak 53.49
Chanderpaul, WI 53.10
Mathews, SL 52.65
Du Plessis, SA 52.58
Amla, SA 51.32
de Villiers, SA 51.02
Root, England (not Root England):rofl: 50.94
Clarke, Australia 50.59

That's career averages. (Anticipates '3 saffers in top 10; response, not good enough to beat us last series) ;)

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Faff is a silly name anyway.

I don't have a problem with them giving Smith a run at captain. He's done it at other levels and by all accounts does a good job.

If there was a better candidate then run with it but right now, and looking forward, Smith is the best candidate available.

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Fair enough, I got that one wrong. I was a bit out of date. I do apologise

One thing I do find a bit odd is that you are prepared to accept the official ICC rankings for test batman as gospel but not those for test teams :confused:

Funny that

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Waaarnniieeee

SHANE Warne hasn’t held back when discussing Mitchell Starc this morning, slamming the Aussie paceman for his lack of presence.
“His body language has to be tougher. He just looks a bit nonchalant. A bit hunched shoulders. He just looks a bit soft,” said Warne during Channel 9’s commentary.
“He has to really stick his chest out and really follow through and give good strong body language.
“... in his follow through, he’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve bowled a ball I’ll just go back and bowl again.’
“There’s no real presence with Starc. He needs to let the batsmen know he’s here.
“I’d like to see him really own the batsmen and let them know he’s around. He doesn’t have to say anything, it’s just in his presence and his body language.”

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Given the size of Warne in days gone by you couldn't miss his presence. :lol:

But he has a point, Starc does look a bit ... meh ...

Smith is a decent forward-thinking choice for skipper for mine, better than giving it to Haddin ... now if the slips could learn to catch ...

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Yeah Starc needs a bit of that "Grade A P....." in him. It goes along way.

Are we dropping catches? I haven't got the telly on.

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

A bit of mongrel helps when you're a fast bowler for sure ... Just the one drop, dodgy technique. And a catch behind off the grill given out ... DRS can be useful sometimes ...

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Is that a chat up line?

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Warnie would get away with it.

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

Since when are actual batting averages rankings the same sense as subjective test rankings? :confused: (teaching granny how to suck eggs mode) They take the number of runs scored and divide by the number of times out and that gives the actual average for a batsman. I gave you the top 10 batsmen in order of averages. Interestingly the guy who is #1 recently made his debut and has played 12 tests; as said, Smith in his last 14 tests has a similar average.

As I've pointed out before, SA are #1 and they play barely more than half the test matches Australia, England and India do. You also seem to have a greater propensity for avoiding the top test nations but then again playing SA isn't a cash cow like playing other nations so it's understandable.

Re: The Cricket Thread
 

One way of looking at it is that weaker teams need to play each other more often to try and rise in the rankings. :p