Cricket: More Than a Game

Mixolyde wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:

The India/Australia match-up should be the big one.

Who are the favorites in the other three?

Pakistan should beat the West Indies, but both teams are bizarrely inconsistent. South Africa seems to be going from strength to strength and New Zealand has had most of its stronger players sidelined with injury so SA should win that. England hasn't been convincing so far and Sri Lanka has looked good so SL should win that one. I'm also tipping India over Australia at the moment, the Aussies are always the team to beat, but other than a lower-middle order collapse they looked pretty complete against the Windies today.

But cricket is a funny old game, any team can find form on the day and the other can wobble unexpectedly.

It is not inconceivable that the Windies put the cue in the rack last night to face Pakistan rather than Australia.

Not that I think we are any great shakes and to be feared, but the Windies have beaten a top 5 side only 3 times in their last 40 attempts and if you need someone to have an off day then I would pick Pakistan to be the ones to do that.

We're done - half the team is out of form. Our captain has lost the plot and turned into a reactive fool who shouldn't be skipper of the Newport 3rds. Putting a slip in place the ball after an edge is actually drawing attention to your failure Punter. Cam White hasn't made a score in 6 months. I still have no idea what role Steve Smith is supposed to be playing other than running around the field like a headless schoolkid.

Then again - the prospect of tipping India out of their home World Cup in the quarters is exciting. Who would be the first to be burned in effigy should that happen do you think? My pick would be Dhoni Kebab.

Bruce wrote:

Putting a slip in place the ball after an edge is actually drawing attention to your failure Punter.

Could I get a translation of that into American English? This language is fascinating.

A slip is a fielding position. Long story short, it's the guy who stands behind the batsman next to the wicket keeper. You can have up to, but I've never seen, four slips. Usually the maximum is 3.

This fielders job is to catch the ball of the batsman goes for a shot and nicks the ball with the edge of the bat, any contact with a bat or glove means the batsman can be caught out.

If the bowler is bowling the right line (direction) and length (distance from batsman at which the ball bounces or 'pitches') a captain should be aiming at an edge and catch in the slips so one should be in place.

I'm not sure of the exact incident Bruce is referring to, but if a pace bowler is bowling as he should, then not having at least one slip in place is very poor captaincy.

*edit*

I thought that CricInfo had a beginners section, but it seems not. This seems like a decent introductory resource. But really the best way to learn is watch with good commentary.

The American equivalent would, I guess, be 'shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted'. Inducing a batsman to play a shot and having the ball move away and give a chance for the slip fielder to catch it is a comparative rarity, and hence it is inexcusable for either a bowler to bowl in such a way that he gets the player to snick a ball if there are no slips in place, or inexcusable in this case for his captain to tell him to bowl that way.

Oh, and 'Punter' is a nickname given to Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

And you can have more slips than 4

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Nine_slips.jpg/250px-Nine_slips.jpg)

O.O

The entire field in the slip cordon? That must be for a real tailender if they aren't worried about successful shots.

Dennis Lillee was bowling, so it must be the 1970's or early 80's. Given the Rothman's advert, I presume it was against England, who were largely sh*te during that period.

Useful link to some fielding info for our American chum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket...

davet010 wrote:

Inducing a batsman to play a shot and having the ball move away and give a chance for the slip fielder to catch it is a comparative rarity, and hence it is inexcusable for either a bowler to bowl in such a way that he gets the player to snick a ball if there are no slips in place, or inexcusable in this case for his captain to tell him to bowl that way.

Common wisdom is that you've got to be a pretty good bat to 'snick off' (Trans: hit the ball with the edge of the bat to the wicketkeeper). It means that you're playing down the line of the ball and generally, that there has been some movement by the ball, either in the air or off the pitch. Its not so rare at the international level because it is more common to have batsmen who play with a straight bat along the line of the ball, but when you're playing at my level, its tough to get the batsman to play that way. More often its a flat-batted slog sweep over cow corner.

But in terms of deliveries, I really do love my outswinger, pitching just back of a length and shaping away from the right hander. Its tough to get it right, but when you do, and you've drawn them into the shot... Love it.

I think that field was maintained for 2 deliveries and was just for a promotional shot for Greg Chappell's about to be published book.

Dave's shutting the stable door line is exactly what I am referring to. Mike Holding tells a story about asking for another slip or two after an edge went through a gap. Clive Lloyd said he wasn't shutting the gate after the horse had bolted, to which Mikey replied "I think there might be a few more horses in there, skipper."

It's also called ball chasing Mixo and it involves setting a field for what just happened rather than what you are trying to make happen. It means you are reacting to, rather than driving the course of the game.

There's now rumblings that Ponting is about to be sacked. He can't even shoot his age any more so I think that's is a good thing - apart from the fact that next in line is Michael "Lemming" Clarke.

I am hopeful that we have a new skipper, selection committee and board once the dust from the World Cup settles so we can get on with rebuilding the side and not just paper over the cracks again. The Sheffield Shield final showed a few young players with some quality that might be worth giving a go sooner rather than later.

Yeah, if Australia has some youngsters in the wings they need to get them in the squad. I think that SA in the current tournament shows the benefit of bringing in new players.

Good news for Mixolyde and any other Americans curious about cricket, but unable to watch regularly.

ESPN3 is showing ICC events from 2012 onwards.

15 overs in and this game is making me fall asleep. If the Windies aren't even going to try they should just quit.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

15 overs in and this game is making me fall asleep. If the Windies aren't even going to try they should just quit.

They're obviously not listening to you...

Looked like they were listening till Chanderpaul came in and they decided to hang around. Gods. 40 odd overs at just over 2 an over is a very poor advertisement for the game.

At least Pakistan isn't wasting time.

Yeah, an early finish will give them time to get to the bookies and place their next lot of bets.

That was such an ugly game. Woeful batting and Ajmal's action makes Phil 'The Power' Taylor look legit.

Please smash us India. I really need you to step up and put us to the sword. We need to hit rock bottom to have a chance at a proper clean out.

Looks like you guys may be stuck with the hamster for a while, at least as a player. A very timeous century.

Australia really are fielding the red-headed stepchildren of international cricket, aren't they?

Good innings by Punter, as much as it pains me to say it. Bowlers showed some mental fragility though, and they need real spinners.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Bowlers showed some mental fragility though, and they need Warne.

Fixed.

Brazen Hussey was our best spinner and for some reason they left him out of the side until last night.

I think we will still retain the #1 ranking even if India or SA win the whole thing though. Which is bollocks and an excuse to be trotted out that maybe things aren't so bad.

Blowing it.

What on Earth was that ?

Ugh! I'm speechless.

The Kiwis played well, but that game was ours for the taking until the 28th over.

Just watched the highlights.

Wow. What happened there? The first hole in the dike was Duminy's attempted cut, and the flood built from there. Couple of great catches from the Kiwis, though, and it looked like they varied their pace well.

I wonder how this will be taken at home in South Africa. A quarter finals loss is a big underachievement from them - AGAIN. Is there enough stoicism to deal with this?

Almost everyone I know here, apart from the truly delusional, thinks our 1/4s exit was about right based on our form. The most delusional are the young who can't remember earlier than 1989.

Surely India can't fail from here.

I'm oddly okay with the loss. I am disappointed, but I'm very interested to see how our team develops in the next 4 years. I hope we maintain the balance and generally relaxed attitude that did us so well.

No-one really gave us a chance during the competition due to the relative lack of experience of our team, people forget that.

Haakon7 wrote:

Just watched the highlights.

Wow. What happened there? The first hole in the dike was Duminy's attempted cut, and the flood built from there. Couple of great catches from the Kiwis, though, and it looked like they varied their pace well.

Yeah, we had a few soft dismissals before Duminy went out, but that was where we snapped. And credit to NZ, they were totally ruthless when we gave them an opening.

Bruce wrote:

I wonder how this will be taken at home in South Africa. A quarter finals loss is a big underachievement from them - AGAIN. Is there enough stoicism to deal with this?

The media seems to be trying to be stoic. The public comments on the bottom of stories are brutal. Nothing nastier than a disappointed South African sports fan.

*edit* I stand corrected. My ignorance was from the fact I don't read news rags.

Bruce wrote:

Surely India can't fail from here.

They need to get through Pakistan, but their chances are good.

Well, I'm going to be petty and console myself with the fact that both Australia and England haven't progressed further than us.

Yeah, unfortunate that we have to lose to a team containing Chuckeritheran*

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Well, I'm going to be petty and console myself with the fact that both Australia and England haven't progressed further than us.

Yeah, but you were a chance.