Tag Archives: test-match

Friday musing is back – Test Cricket, Big Bash, Asian Cup & more

Chris Barwin HillsHappy New Year!

Well it is all about the cricket at this time of the year and my first observation relates to the standard of pitches that have been produced for the series against India. For as well as Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have played, there has been a lot of runs and not many wickets.

A lot of the Australian wickets have gone in the chase for quick runs. I wonder if the Indian authorities warned their Australian counterparts about preparing wickets to suit Mitchell Johnson. Johnson has struggled on these pitches with only one session in Brisbane where has been truly dangerous. It is hard to be too critical when there has been two results from the first three tests, with Australia batting India out of the Melbourne test to ensure they won the series.

However, I am sure if these pitches had been presented to the English last year there is no way we could have won 5-0. Nathan Lyon will be the number one bowler for the series and who would have predicted that at the start? I think in many ways for as well as the Indians have played, their fielding and catching has been sub-standard and you can’t keep dropping catches and win matches.

I hark back to one of those ill fated series in the 1980s against the West Indies when the Aussies dropped at least 30 catches. When you are playing one of the best teams in the world you have to limit their scoring not let them off the hook.

Continuing the cricket theme I have a comment about the Phil Hughes tributes. When does it all get too much?  I understand the test team has been truly rocked by what happened and it is quite unparalleled in cricket, however, I think we are getting very close to putting a lid on the tributes. His family have been decidedly absent from the public eye and I now think it is time for the players pay their respects in private.

Finally on the cricket, I have watched a little of the Big Bash and it is great to sit down and watch a bit of sport at night time and see a result. I am sure Channel 10 are rapt they have the rights. My accolade goes out to Brad Hogg playing for the Perth Scorchers. At 43 years of age he came on the other night and landed his spinners perfectly and essentially set up the win for Perth. Amazing!

The Asian Cup starts tonight and I must say my enthusiasm has yet to be piqued. Perhaps once it gets going I will be more interested, but at this stage the jury is out.

Continuing the World Game theme, I went to the Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory game last week in Geelong and while the result was not so good and it was still very hot, the crowd and the atmosphere were very good. I think of the AFL venues, Kardinia Park lends itself to soccer because it has narrow wings. The Victory have two more games at the venue in the next two years and my guess is the experiment will be continued or even expanded.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – cricket, Nathan Lyon, Shane Warne, Michael Clarke…

Chris Barwin HillsWhen Nathan Lyon bowled Australia to victory in Adelaide last weekend with a twelve wicket haul it got me thinking about Shane Warne’s record against the Indians. Warne who is Australia’s best ever spinner only had one five wicket haul in an innings against the Indians (6/125) and no ten wicket hauls for the match. In addition, his bowling average against the Indians was 47.19 which is way over his career average of 25.41. His average was probably not assisted by his first test results against a rampaging Ravi Shastri, but even when his career developed he didn’t get good results against the Indians. Maybe Lyon deserves more credit for his bowling than he is currently afforded.

Another thing to come out of the Adelaide test was the vulnerability of Michael Clarke to injury. First he injures his back swaying out of lyonthe way of a bouncer and then he does his hamstring when jogging to pick up a ball. Both pretty innocuous incidents that would occur several times in a game. If I was him I would be concerned sneezing! In some ways he has been lucky to last into his thirties given how injury prone he has been throughout his career. The sporting world is littered with talented sports men and women who have had their careers abbreviated due to injury.

Have a great weekend!

Friday musing – EPL, Champions League, Cricket, AFL……

Chris Barwin HillsWell we’re back to Fridays after two consecutive Thursday Musings.

The big interest this week was the state of the EPL. With two games still to go everything is still up for grabs. No team has sewn up the title, no team has been definitely relegated and while the Gunners looked to have solidified fourth position, the last Champions League position has also yet to be decided. That is what you want in a competition. Hopefully everything is still up for grabs on the last day of competition when they all play at the same time.

It must also be said that with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid both qualifying for the Champions League final and Valencia and Sevilla vying for a position in the final of the Europa League, that Spanish soccer is in a lot better shape than the Spanish economy!

I was somewhat bemused to hear that the Australian Cricket team had gone back to the top of the world Test rankings. While they did well against England in Australia and beat South Africa away, the two previous series they went down to England 3-0 and lost to India 4-0, both away. You have got to question a table or a rankings system in which you can turn things around so quickly or does beating the rankings leader on their home turf carry that much weight? It does confirm that bowlers win test matches and with Australia’s fast bowling stocks looking healthy going into the future, perhaps we are in for another period of success.

The recently completed horse racing “championships” in Sydney also require some comment. They have tried to emulate the Melbourne Spring Carnival by drastically increasing the prize money. Well judging from afar, I think the standard of horse racing was right up there, however, the crowds must have been a disappointment to the administrators. Yes, they had problems with the weather, but I am sure they would have gotten similar crowds without the increase in prize money. The big advantages the Melbourne Spring Carnival has over Sydney is first the tradition and secondly, the timing. The Spring Carnival does not have to compete with the football codes.

In the AFL all the games look quite straightforward this week, but rest assured there will be a couple of upsets and it is a matter of trying to pick which ones. I think Essendon will be vulnerable to the Western Bulldogs and I think Richmond will put in an improved performance against Geelong. That being said I am picking the favourites.

Friday musing – cricket, AFL, Sydney Swans……..

Chris Barwin HillsWell I have been concentrating on the cricket in Sth Africa recently and this week is no exception. My observations and reiteration of a few maxims from the last test and the series are as follows:

1) You don’t insert the opposition;
2) You don’t enforce the follow-on;
3) Bowlers win matches, batsmen save them;
4) David Warner says some absolutely stupid things, but he seems to thrive on the pressure he draws  to himself and away from his team mates. A rare breed of sportsman;
5) I don’t think you can underestimate the influence of Shane Warne’s presence in Capetown. Clarke finally produces an innings of some magnitude and the team turns around the disappointment from the previous week;
6) Test cricket is a test of mind and body and Morkel certainly tested Clarke’s body, but his mind  won the contest;
7) The Sth African batsmen could teach our boys a thing or two about a solid defence;
8) Batting first in modern cricket seems to be too much of an advantage. Clearly Capetown was  prepared in the hope that Sth Africa would win the toss again.

On a different tack, the AFL flagged this week that the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in Sydney  would be phased out. Given that Sydney has netted two very big names in Tippett & Franklin in the last two years it is no surprise, but is it fair. It is not my idea, but I agree, that the COLA should be there for the 1st or 2nd year players and rookies, but not for those who are on decent contracts, say greater than $150,000 per annum. Taking it one step further, why wouldn’t the same group of players in other states also be entitled to a COLA. Say you get a rookie from WA coming over to Victoria on basic payments, they are going to struggle financially and will need to get a job to supplement their payments because they do not have the fall back position of living with their parents.

Food for thought.

Have a good weekend!

Friday musing – Test cricket, Jason Day, Marley Williams……..

Chris Barwin HillsWell Australia well and truly got a touch up in the 2nd Test in Port Elizabeth. Losing ten wickets for about 90 runs when the openers have put on 120 is just not good enough, no matter how good the opposition bowling is. Again there has been discussions about the Decision Review System with players being given out on very flimsy evidence and I remain of the view that the decisions should revert
to the central umpires unless they call for a review.

I would also like to make a comment about the umpires allowing the extra thirty minutes of play at the end of Day 4.  Having granted the South African’s the extra thirty minutes, I think the umpires were under extra pressure to see that it was justified.  Ryan Harris was given out LBW by umpire Dharmasena, when that umpire had hardly made decision all test and it was such a marginal decision that the commentators thought on first view that it was too high, but the ball tracker showed it just clipping the stumps so he was on his way.  They had no say in Rogers poor decision to take a run, but then Lyon was given out when he snicked the ball into his pads.  Two LBW decisions that could have gone either way going against the side who didn’t want the extra thirty mins justifies the umpires decision to allow the extra time.

I don’t know if it made any difference as I didn’t hear if the forecast rain arrived the next day.  Either way the South Africans deserved to win and whomever wins the toss in Cape Town will probably take the series.

Well another great performance by Jason Day to take the World Matchplay Championship and go to No 4 in the world.  He could have wrapped it up a lot earlier, but he got there in the end despite the Frenchman executing tww of the best saves you will see in a long time.  It is my prediction that he will win a major this year, more than likely one of the US tournaments.

I lot of discussion this week about Collingwood FC player, Marley Williams and whether he should be playing football given he has been convicted.  Given the hysteria surrounding Andrew Lovett and Stephen Milne who weren’t or haven’t been found guilty perhaps the discussion has been rather muted, but I think he should be able to play until he is sentenced.  He is a young player who needs the distraction of preparing and playing football, if he gets a custodial sentence he is out of the game anyway, but if
he gets a suspended sentence, then he has missed games that he probably didn’t have to.  Any working person in the same position would have the expectation that they could work up until they were sentenced.

It would seem that the wheels of ASADA are now turning and hopefully the conclusion to the Essendon FC supplement scandal is not as drawn out as has been suggested.  As stated last week I don’t think I am alone in saying that it has gone on for too long already.

Have a good weekend!

Friday musing – Test cricket, golf, Karrie Webb, Essendon FC……

Chris Barwin HillsI was intrigued to hear the South African captain, Graham Smith’s comments after his side was beaten last week. He tried to play down the impact of Mitchell Johnson and point to the pitch and then allege that Steyn and Morkel were sick. Well he was the one who chose to insert the opposition and rely on his much touted bowling line up. I think the issue here is, he made a mistake sending Australia in to bat. Like enforcing the follow-on, asking the opposition to bat is a very risky proposition.

Australia are in a reasonable position over night in the second Test with South Africa at 5/214, but A.B. De Villiers is still there and he is pretty close to the best batsman in the world at the moment. If the Aussies can get him out early on the second day with the new ball, it will put Australia in a good position to push for another victory.

Getting on to Ladies Golf, how amazing is Karrie Webb. She starts the last day of the Open five strokes off the pace and gets up and wins it. She doesn’t get the accolades the men do, but she would have to be close to the most successful Australian golfer of all time.

I remarked last week that I was disappointed the Essendon supplements scandal reared its head again and Caroline Wilson has continued the onslaught this week. First with Alistair Clarkson and today it is a story about the AFL’s handling of the issue. Is there still that much interest in this story? I think the horse has just about been flogged to death. Obviously as an Essendon supporter, I just want it over with, but since the AFL handed down it’s penalties last year, I get the impression that most other sports fans have also had enough. Clarkson spoke about it hijacking the season last year, well stop talking about it this year then!

Have a great weekend.

Friday musing – NFL, Super Bowl, NBA, Essendon FC, cricket……

Chris Barwin HillsNot being a big American sports fan I have not seen a lot of sport in my two and a half weeks in Hawaii, but I was there for the Super Bowl. My daughter and I went to a bar on Maui and watched the game from just before half time. While being seated by the manager I enquired as to whom I should be supporting and I was assured I should be on the Seahawks. The bar seemed to be evenly divided between the Denver fans, who were very quiet and the Seattle fans who were a little more excited with plenty of Sea-Hawk chants. I enjoyed the game, however, the advertisements and the entertainment seemed to go for a lot longer than the actual playing time. My daughter also enjoyed the game and the advertisements! I think the game was an endorsement for the maxim that a good defence will usually defeat a good offence.

My other sporting observation from my time in Hawaii was the saturation coverage of basketball. It did not seem to matter what time of the day it was, if you went into a bar or restaurant and they had sport on the television, it was usually the NBA or college basketball and that included the time leading up to the Super Bowl.

Since being back in Australia I have been disappointed to see the Essendon supplements saga rear its head again. I guess it is not going to go away until such time as ASADA have closed their file. This could go on for years!

A good start to the Test series in South Africa, but I am starting to get a little concerned about Michael Clarke’s ongoing form lapse. Having scored 100’s in the first two Ashes tests he has not passed fifty since. I have been happy with the continued good form of Steve Smith, who in the same period has made three centuries. With Shane Watson missing from the line-up I hope we won’t be found to be a bowler short.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Friday musing – ashes cricket, Mitchell Johnson, Jacques Kallis……

Chris Barwin HillsAt this time of the year cricket is the most dominant sport with tennis just kicking off with a build up to the Aussie Open.

The Poms have finally won a toss and sent Australia in to bat. I remember the old ABC cricket books used to have a section devoted to captains who invited the opposition to bat. It is not all that unusual these days, with Michael Clark getting away with it in the Melbourne test. I went along on the first two days and up until the second session on day three, the Poms held the whip hand. From there Australia wrapped up the match over the next three sessions, a big surprise. The prevailing philosophy is still to win the toss and bat and I think that Alistair Cook should have done so in Sydney, but time will tell.

Mitchell Johnson was again awarded the Man of the Match award and that makes it three out of four tests this series, but Chris Rogers & Nathan Lyon must have been very close as well with Brad Haddin again performing well. I understand Johnson has the best percentage of Man of the Match awards to tests played of any Australian test player. Not a bad achievement for a sometimes maligned figure in Australian cricket. I think in the past he has produced herculean performances dispersed with poor performances, but in this series he has been very consistent and does not seem to be spraying the ball around as much.

Speaking of Man of the Match awards, the news that Jacques Kallis was retiring did not come as a great surprise, but you would have thought he would have seen out the summer with Australia due to tour there next month. Kallis is certainly one of the best all-rounders of all time and compares favourably with Sir Garfield Sobers who is regarded as the benchmark for all-rounders. Kallis has the record for the most Man of the Match awards in test cricket with 23 from 166 matches. A true great of the game.

I always thought that Shane Watson had the attributes to be a very good all-rounder and at times he has shown us what he is capable of, but a fragile physique has mitigated against him. Test wise I think his bowling and catching ability are up there with Kallis, but unfortunately his batting falls a long way short.

Fingers crossed for the 5-0 whitewash of the series.

Have a good weekend and happy New Year!

Friday musing – cricket, the Ashes, soccer, Arsenal……..

Chris Barwin HillsWell what good timing for a Musing with the Aussies securing the Ashes on Tuesday! I thought Australia were a good chance in the series on the back of some pretty encouraging performances in England earlier in the year, but I did not think we would win the first three Tests in good style.

I mentioned last week about the toss playing a big part in teams winning and the last six results in Ashes test matches have seen the team winning the toss and batting coming out on top. You would think that the team batting second should have the best of the batting conditions, but England have not capitalised at all and have trailed in each of the first three tests. So much so that Australia have declared four of their six innings to date.

Mitchell Johnson seems to be most pundits pick for man of the series so far, but Warner, Haddin and Clarke are not far behind and when you factor in the performances of Siddle, Harris, Lyon and Smith, you can see why Australia are winning. That is not to down play the performances of Rogers and Watson who have also been solid contributors. Bailey has saved his spot because the team is winning and they can afford to give him time to settle. He certainly did his job on Monday morning.

I think the performance of Nathan Lyon needs a special mention. He has been much maligned and I have been guilty in that regard, however, you look at his scalps so far in the series and he has picked up crucial wickets. In the last test he got Cook in the first innings and Stokes in the second who were their teams highest scorers. He has earned his spot.

I can now go to the Boxing Day test and enjoy the cricket. Some would say it would be better to still have the series alive, but it is like being 10 goals up on Collingwood going into the last quarter just knowing you can enjoy the game.

Last week I lauded the Gunners for making the knockout phase of the Champions League for the 14th straight year and then they go out and lose to Manchester City 6-3. That is a tennis score isn’t it? Man City have been irrepressible at home this year and I suppose you could look on the positive side and say “well at least Arsenal got 3 goals”. I think the fixturing so close to the away game in Italy may have had an impact, but for the top team to concede 6 goals it is a bit of a worry.

Have a great weekend and a very Merry Christmas and we will muse up again in the New Year!

Friday musing – the Ashes, Champions League, Arsenal……..

Chris Barwin HillsWith the result of the test in Adelaide and the results of the other tests recently it became very obvious that winning the toss goes a long way to winning a test match. This has always been the case, but it does seem more so now with the way pitches are prepared. Captains have always been preferred to bat first, but usually the pitch offered a fair bit of assistance to the quicks, particularly in the first session. The side batting second usually had the better of the conditions so you could still set up a win batting second.

It all seems to have changed with the “drop-in” pitches as they don’t seem to offer as much bounce early nor spin later. There has been some suggestion that there be a toss for the first test of a series and then it be rotated after that, but I would not agree with that suggestion. I think the better idea is for a return to the old style of pitch preparation which gives both sides an even chance.

Good to see the Gunners make it through to their 14th Champions League knock out phase in a row. Interesting how Napoli miss out with 12 points and yet St Petersburg get in with 6.

Have a great weekend!