After watching Australia’s two one-dayers against England, there is one disturbing thought to emerge : some ghosts of the Andrew Hilditch era may have returned to our selectors’ thinking. There at Lord’s was that perennial selection of 18 months ago, Steven Smith, while Mitchell Johnson waltzed straight back into the side at The Oval when Pat Cummins succumbed to [Read more]
Ashes within reach as England lose their mojo
March 28, 2012 by 1 Comment
by Brendan McArdle The first two days’ play of the Test match in Galle between Sri Lanka and England have proven two things : England are a hopelessly incompetent team in the sub continent, and their hold on the title of no.1 Test team is very tenuous. Never mind the fact that England have bounced [Read more]
From deserts the…
November 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Australia’s fantastic victory overnight had many of the ingredients of Edgbaston 2005, but thankfully a better result for the visitors. The Aussie cause seemed to be lost for most of the abbreviated day’s play, yet in the end a bit of old-fashioned spirit got us through. It’s a bit weird to have the stomach [Read more]
A Wasted Opportunity
November 11, 2011 by 25 Comments
What a total embarrassment for Australian cricket last night in Cape Town. The soft underbelly of modern-day Australian batting has again been exposed. In 2005 it was bad umpiring and a substitute fieldsman, in 2009 we apparently batted well except for a few sessions. Last summer we supposedly picked the wrong blokes from our bottomless [Read more]
First Test preview
November 8, 2011 by 7 Comments
The footy and racing are over and it’s time to turn attention to some real Test cricket coming back from South Africa. And what a mini-series it is in prospect, with the ramifications for both teams being huge. We were entitled to feel pretty happy with the performance under our new skipper in Sri Lanka, [Read more]
SA Tour Preview
October 20, 2011 by 7 Comments
There are some interesting things going on in the cricket world at the moment. What we thought may have been established trends a few months ago might not be so established after all : Australia is improving, England is faltering and Pakistan is performing in its usual enigmatic way. The good news for Australia is [Read more]
Clarke off to a good start
September 22, 2011 by 2 Comments
A lot of us have found it difficult to warm to Michael Clarke for a lot of reasons, but the achievements of he and his team in Sri Lanka can’t be ignored : they did exceptionally well. So well, in fact, that Australia is now back on track towards respectability. It’s easy to trivialise Australia’s [Read more]
Looking for a win for the improving Australians
September 15, 2011 by 3 Comments
It may not be the Ashes, it’s September in the footy season and cricket certainly doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of many sports fans’ minds. But the Third Test against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo on Friday is very important for the rehabilitation of Australian cricket after the problems of recent times. Michael [Read more]
Good signs in Galle. To be confirmed in Kandy?
September 6, 2011 by 5 Comments
The positive signs that were evident during the one-day series were on show again during last week’s morale-boosting Test win in Galle, and, despite the loss of Ricky Ponting, the Aussies will head into Thursday’s second Test in Kandy in buoyant spirits. Michael Clarke couldn’t have hoped for a better start to his permanent leadership campaign. His [Read more]
More headaches for the Australian selectors (whoever they are these days)
August 30, 2011 by 4 Comments
Here we are on the verge of another Test series and selection issues are probably clouding the thinking of Michael Clarke and other important decision-makers in the Australian set-up. Khawaja or Marsh, Siddle or Copeland, one or two spinners? How can we be so uncertain of our best XI when we’ve had nearly nine [Read more]
Exposed as a fraud
August 24, 2011 by 12 Comments
by Brendan McArdle It’s been a big week in Australian cricket. The much-awaited Argus report has been well received by most in the cricket community, and it was a hard-hitting document which, although two years late in its inception, should have beneficial effects for the future of our game provided the right people are put in [Read more]
A T20 match with relevance
August 10, 2011 by 3 Comments
by Brendan McArdle As a general rule the conservatives among us take a bit of convincing about the significance or otherwise of two T20 matches played immediately before a five match ODI series with three Test matches to follow. But without doubt the second of the Sri Lanka – Australia matches played on Monday was as exciting [Read more]
Australia-Sri Lanka preview
August 6, 2011 by 1 Comment
After all the negative talk about what’s happened in the recent past, all the controversy over selection, and all the speculation about the outcome of CA’s review, the Aussies are back into action from tonight in Sri Lanka. Two T20s precede a five match ODI series, and there’ll be a lot of players looking to [Read more]
Tired India bullied by England
August 3, 2011 by 7 Comments
by Brendan McArdle England’s second successive victory over India at Nottingham on Monday was another example of the impressive cricket it has been playing in recent times. It contained all the elements we have come to expect from the very good international teams of the past – potent bowling, resilient batting with depth, and [Read more]
England win determinedly at Lord’s
July 28, 2011 by 9 Comments
What a fitting finish to cricket’s 2000th Test match at Lord’s last Monday: a full house on a fifth day thanks to some innovative thinking from the MCC, a cosmopolitan and infectious atmosphere, and plenty of hard and meaningful Test cricket. It was a joy to behold for Australian cricket connoisseurs following the [Read more]
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