Troy Cooley warns England will lose the Ashes
Well, the former England bowling coach and prodigal son is back in Australia and making the kinds of noises we want to hear as Troy Cooley warns England that Australia will reclaim the Ashes this summer. He also praised the English bowlers:
"They (England) have got some nasty fasties. They've got bounce and things like that."Cricket has a rich history with a diverse lexicon of unique jargon and terminology - googly, corridor of uncertainty, cow's corner, etc. However, I don't know if the term "nasty fastie" will be adopted as common cricket vocabulary any time soon (although I wouldn't be surprised to find a new cricket blog www.nastyfasties.com popping up any day now). The phrase I'd like to hear more about is "things like that". As well as coaching our bowlers, I'm hoping Cooley will provide for our batsmen the inside scoop on the English bowlers and how to counteract them. Let's hope he has more to offer than a mere "things like that".
| Posted by JC on Tue 9 May |  4 comments |
How much is too much ??
Read Bob Simpsons view on overdose of cricket in Sportsmag sportstar. Quote "I was fascinated to read a couple of weeks ago a statement by Paul Marsh, the CEO of the Australian Cricketers Association, calling for a reduction in matches and hinting that strike action would be considered if there wasn't a reduction. Shortly after this, Tim May, the former CEO of the Australian Players Association and now the world-wide boss of the Players Association, raised the possibility of strike action in a bid to prove to the ICC that players are being pushed beyond their mental and physical limits by a cramped schedule that is about to become even more torturous.
It was a strange statement to make in the light of the Australian players now starting a four-month holiday break. I found May's rhetoric amazing, particularly when considering that so many internationals are happy to skip off to England and pick up the easy money on offer. Surely, if the Players Association is worried about burnout they should be concerned about this extra cricket. But no, that would be depriving the players of making more money. The national associations don't like this and can't do anything about it for it would be a restraint of trade.
How much cricket then do the Australian lads play? In 2005 Australia played 15 Tests ? 66 days in total ? and 29 ODIs, in all 95 days of internationals. There was also the odd match or two of first class cricket. So far in 2006, they have played six Tests, of which five went for five days and one went for three days, making it 28 days in all. They have played 19 ODIs by the end of the Bangladesh tour. Doesn't sound too bad to me. In 12 months of cricket between 1964 and 1965, I played 64 matches comprising Tests and first class fixtures.
Of course we were virtually unfit amateurs, or so many would like to think we were. Funny though that I never felt I was being pushed beyond my mental and physical limits. I just loved it all. Incidentally, in this period, I scored more runs in Tests than anyone had done before and also bowled about 600 overs." Unquote
Rgds,mmp
Posted by Unsui on 2006-05-09 00:38:56
Read Bob Simpsons view on overdose of cricket in Sportsmag sportstar. Quote "I was fascinated to read a couple of weeks ago a statement by Paul Marsh, the CEO of the Australian Cricketers Association, calling for a reduction in matches and hinting that strike action would be considered if there wasn't a reduction. Shortly after this, Tim May, the former CEO of the Australian Players Association and now the world-wide boss of the Players Association, raised the possibility of strike action in a bid to prove to the ICC that players are being pushed beyond their mental and physical limits by a cramped schedule that is about to become even more torturous.
It was a strange statement to make in the light of the Australian players now starting a four-month holiday break. I found May's rhetoric amazing, particularly when considering that so many internationals are happy to skip off to England and pick up the easy money on offer. Surely, if the Players Association is worried about burnout they should be concerned about this extra cricket. But no, that would be depriving the players of making more money. The national associations don't like this and can't do anything about it for it would be a restraint of trade.
How much cricket then do the Australian lads play? In 2005 Australia played 15 Tests ? 66 days in total ? and 29 ODIs, in all 95 days of internationals. There was also the odd match or two of first class cricket. So far in 2006, they have played six Tests, of which five went for five days and one went for three days, making it 28 days in all. They have played 19 ODIs by the end of the Bangladesh tour. Doesn't sound too bad to me. In 12 months of cricket between 1964 and 1965, I played 64 matches comprising Tests and first class fixtures.
Of course we were virtually unfit amateurs, or so many would like to think we were. Funny though that I never felt I was being pushed beyond my mental and physical limits. I just loved it all. Incidentally, in this period, I scored more runs in Tests than anyone had done before and also bowled about 600 overs." Unquote
Rgds,mmp
Posted by Unsui on 2006-05-09 00:38:56
Bravo Bobby. I knew there was a reason they had you at the helm for so long. At last, a commentary from someone with some common sense. Maybe if today's bunch of cricketers don't want to keep playing at this rate, they need to be replaced with players who will... (It just struck me, as I was writing this, that my proposed method sounds strikingly similar to Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's way of dealing with striking workers in the 80s.) OK, well maybe I'm not in favour of hard-nose action against striking players but certainly the demands of less work and more pay need to be reasonable, like they are in any other profession. when was the last time we had a four-month vacation!
Posted by TA on 2006-05-09 21:05:25
Posted by TA on 2006-05-09 21:05:25
Actually, I beg to differ (although I fail to see what this discussion has to do with Troy Cooley). I'm not saying pay the players more and give them longer vacations. I just think the powers that be should manage the schedules so the players are peaking at the right time. Surely there are studies and figures on what is the optimum period between matches to keep a player at full operational efficiency. And surely leaving a long tour of South Africa, flying for a day to Bangladesh then playing a Test match a day later is not conducive to optimal playing standards from the players. Don't coddle them, just manage them.
Posted by JC on 2006-05-10 05:22:05
Posted by JC on 2006-05-10 05:22:05
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