Crucket

It stunk that the 3rd test with Pakistan ended the way it did. But better that than the end to the 3rd Aus-WI test: Roach given out caught off Bollinger, Roach appeals, replays suggest no hot spot, no noise and no deviation and yet the decision is upheld.

Surely when the three possible evidences of an edge are negative, that is proof that there was no edge. The Roach situation is precisely the type of situation that the referral system was intended to fix.

Ah well. Australia probably would have won anyway. Great to see the Windies fighting hard though, both in this test and the 2nd. Very interesting also to see the Aussies get ugly under pressure.

Bit of a slap on the wrist for Shane Watson for his sending off of Gayle, 15% of his match fee.  But the fact that you can so easily link to a video of him being a dick is probably punishment enough. For as long as the video remains available at least. I see the the video of Benn, Haddin and Johnson pushing and swearing has been pulled from Youtube. It’s a pity, as it was interesting viewing. Watching the video it is hard to see why Benn got punished so severely. We see Benn serve up a lot of cursing, a shaping to throw and a lot of pointing. But the only deliberate forceful contact between players was Johnson pushing Benn away right at the end of the whole farrago.

So Andy Moles is confident that we can take it to the Aussies in next week’s Chappell–Hadlee. As well he should, it is our turn:

04/05: drawn (1-1)
05/06: Australia (1-2)
06/07: New Zealand (3-0)
07/08: Australia (0-2)

And I reckon we can do it. Australia are a team on the slide. They’re being creamed by South Africa (222 all out in the 4th ODI). Their lineup is in upheavel (only 7 of the squad from the last Chappell–Hadlee remain in the current squad). Their fans are turning against them. And, y’know, my 3-year old gets a lot of Aussie DVDs out of the library – the Wiggles, Raggs, the Hooley Dooleys – and if they’re anything to go by, your typical Australian is childish and annoying and likes dressing up like a goofy animal… Ah, who am I kidding?

The Aussies will be all over us in the Chappell–Hadlee. We’ve slid at least as far the Aussies – I mean, we’d love to be as competitive with South Africa. And only 5 of our squad were in the last C–H series.

Still, it should be a great series to follow. There’ll be 5 whole matches. Australia will have a few weaknesses to exploit and we’ve got some players who we still haven’t had the opportunity to see perform under pressure.

Players to watch

Kyle Mills: Has had a very disappointing season in the test series, but remains very strong in ODIs. Has something like six times as much experience as Southee, the next most experienced strike bowler, so will be the pivot of our strike bowling team.
Martin Guptill: McCullum, Ryder and Taylor should be the most entertaining batsmen to watch, but Guptill’s performance will be interesting as he could be playing for a long-term position in the team.

Mitchell Johnson: Playing terribly against SA, but destroyed us in the tests last year. Which Mitchell is going to show up?
The new openers: Shaun Marsh and David Warner; they have a difference of 35 in their strike rate (in Warner’s favour) and abut 15 in their averages (in Marsh’s favour). I’m intrigued to see which approach better pays off.