Other Sports: Page 6 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Other Sports

Cill

Play hockey at a reasonably high level back home. Play a bit of football too when I can.

Then aside from following those two I'm big into American Football. Prefer College ball to the NFL but watch both, Tennis and golf.

Burnwinter

invisibleman18 wrote:
Oh well, I'm sure things will turn around for the Aussies before too long. You've got some pretty exciting looking bowlers coming through. Just the batting is in real disarray at the moment. Reckon this summer (if not this test just completed) is surely the end for Ponting.

Spent the post Christmas period with no internet and nothing but the beach and the Boxing Day Test to watch. It was a pretty pathetic second innings collapse, but it was Ponting and Hussey who pulled us out and gave us a target to work with.

Pattinson and Hilfenhaus bowled really well, as did Zoheer, Sharma and Yadav. Pattinson was a live wire, but I'm glad he was taking wickets consistently. Siddle was decent. Pretty excited about the series, I didn't realise I was a fair weather cricket fan but it seems I'm more interested when we're getting results.

Still can't see Michael Clarke as the man to lead a new Australian cricket dynasty though. He just isn't good enough a bat.

Rohit

I was sure we were going to win this series but now i am not too sure. We still have a team which like most Indian teams in the past is extremely weak mentally away from home. This is the best chance we have of beating Australia in Australia and we couldn't have started in a worse manner. I had no hope from our bowlers but their performance was extremely encouraging, so if somehow our much famed batting lineup can find some form, i will feel a lot more confident again about our chances.

Really looking forward to tomorrow and 5 days of rising early and spoiled sleep.

I also agree that Michael Clarke, batting apart, is just not the man to lead a country like Australia. He simply doesn't look like an Australian, doesn't have the swagger that men like Alan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh had. He doesn't embody or reflect any of those Australian qualities that John Arlott had in mind when he defined the word 'Australianism'.

Burnwinter

India 4/59 on day 1 after opting to bat. Not looking good!

I just picked up tickets to day 3 of the WACA test in a couple of weeks. Could be there to see an Australian series wrap at this rate 😉

I can tell you right now that if Clarke could bat like Ponting, Waugh, Taylor or Border he'd be a suitable captain. He's a good bat but it feels as if he doesn't deliver when called upon.

Rohit

What a awful 1st innings display. I don't want to take anything away from the Australian quicks though as they bowled immaculately. There is a lot of juice in this wicket and if we bowl well we can restrict them. A lot of cricket still to be played.

Burnwinter

2/22 already. Warner and Marsh getting us started on yet another bad day at the office.

I had a running bet with a mate about what Australia's stumps score would be. I said Australia 3/50, he said Australia 5/90. Looking like Australia 5/50 at this point! :o

Rohit

I love waking up and watching a test match being played in Australia. I don't think pitches anywhere in the world provide such an even contest between bat and bowl. England and South Africa do come close, but in England a lot has to do with conditions than the pitch per se and in both those countries it is either a great batting pitch or a pitch impossible to bat on.

This wicket is fantastic, a batsman applies himself and he can fight it out and if a bowler bowls in the right areas there is definitely something there for him, brilliant test match pitch that makes it a fascinating viewing experience.

I am trying to somehow work on the World Cup in 2015, i'd love it if i can get such a break.

Burnwinter

Agreed Rohit. The slightly less flat-track wickets down here often make for great entertainment.

Liked these remarks on the Cricinfo live commentary (from someone called "Hosford"):

Yes it's great that the bowlers are getting a fairer go now, but you have to wonder if Twenty20 has ruined Test batting forever. Coz it just looks this is all caused by curators preparing pitches with A LITTLE BIT for the bowlers. Just you know, 80-90% as flat as they used to be, leaving just enough grass and moisture to avoid the kind of borefests we've had in recent years. Then BAM, no batsman has a clue.

Burnwinter

Clarke's chance to stand tall and prove me wrong now.

Bet he doesn't.

Rohit

I saw Clarke score a hundred on his Test match debut in India and it was a brilliant innings. He is extremely talented but something went wrong after the breakup with his girlfriend, at least that's what i had read. A bit of dressing room politics and power struggle may not have helped too. I don't think he is captaincy material but there is still a good batsman in there somewhere.

I would back him to come good here only because it is his homeground. There is something about Australians doing well at their homegrounds, well, actually that could be true for most cricketers.

Burnwinter

Yeah, there was the Katich incident. After a victory Clarke wanted to head off to a media engagement without singing the team song in the dressing room.

Simon Katich took exception and ended up grabbing him by the throat, and rumour has it Clarke then worked to blackball him from the side over time.

There is a long-standing belief in Australia that the selectors favour players from New South Wales, it's particularly prevalent here in Western Australia. The likes of the Lee brothers etc.

There's also the problem that players who present well in the media get larger contracts and exposure they don't deserve. Used to be the one-day "stars" who weren't up to Test standard, like Simon O'Donnell. Clarke's far more gifted than O'Donnell ever was, but his pretty boy image and WAG issues haven't helped.

Burnwinter

Playing like we're chasing a modest one day total at the moment. Run rate 4.5. If Clarke and Ponting are in at stumps we're in a great position, if not, then it's about even.

Rohit

I remember a conversation with John Gloster, a physio, Australian by birth but now settled in India, in which he touched upon more media savvy players getting more than they deserved and found it slightly surprising.

I would have liked to think that Australia would be the last country embroiled in such pettiness and it was the sole preserve of the sub-continent nations.

Burnwinter

😆

Sorry, but you must have some serious cultural cringe going on there mate. Australia is an image-obsessed nation of hollow narcissists, not some kind of modern holdout of practical modesty.

Oh yeah and Sydney's our capital of hollow narcissism!

The main factors improving our cricket are:

wealth (so we have good academies and player development)
the Shield / Pura Cup system, where the states play to a reasonable standard compared to eg counties
a lack of obsession with and idolisation of batsmen (hello India 🙂 )
tactical nous and a relatively holistic approach to the sport (no longer such a big advantage)

However it's hard to believe that with the amounts of money that the sport is awash in in India, the game won't come to be dominated by the vastly more populous subcontinental nations in years to come.

Burnwinter

Stumps 3/116 with Clarke and Ponting both pushing a fifty. Good stuff.

Rohit

Thanks for the heads up Burnsy.

May be watching a team dominate a sport for as long as Australia did can cloud an outsider's judgement somewhat.

I have seen Shane Warne at close quarters and worked around him but it did not occur to me that the hollow narcissism you talk of would be a norm, not an exception 😉 , even though Warne indulging in it is understandable considering his stature.

As for the sub-continent teams, we have had some great players over the years and will continue to produce them but mentally we just lack something that made teams like Australia and West Indies dominate and intimidate opposition for so long.

Rohit

Poor day for India, sad 12 hours overall, Arsenal lose and India under perform yet again, bad start to the year.

There is 4 days of test cricket to go though and going by Australia's debacle against South Africa not so long ago and against New Zealand anything can happen, that's the beauty of Test cricket, tomorrow is a new day.

How i wish Arsenal could have another go at Fulham today, but that is for another part of this forum i guess.

Burnwinter

A common view over here is that Indian and Pakistani teams have been held up by by perceived issues of social class/caste within the playing group. You always hear that about the likes of Ganguly, Inzamam, etc. - that they didn't have a team mentality or expected special treatment for whatever reason.

I don't think our players are unusually egocentric or problem characters on the whole, but we definitely have had our fair share of guys whose personalities have caused a problem at different times. Our biggest issue has been accommodating obvious talents once some sort of conflict or issue has occurred, as happened with the Katich thing.

Warne was an arrogant man whose unshakeable confidence was a necessary part of his bowling, but not much good in a leadership sense.

Burnwinter

There is 4 days of test cricket to go though

We'll be lucky if it's more than one and a half at this rate 🙂

Timbob

Punter looks like he's getting back to something approaching world class again. Played a front foot cut shot earlier that was pure genius. Ball just wasn't there to be hit like that.

Personally I think Clarke is also an excellent batsman. Maybe not quite as prolific as he should be, but still very, very good. He seems to have reacted well to being made captain, too. That 150 he scored in S.Africa last month was sublime.

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