Australia's post Twenty20 sour grapes
Ricky Ponting has listed the many reasons why Australia failed at the Twenty20 World Cup (thanks to stumps for the link). After a cursory mention of Yuvraj Singh's batting, he goes on to lament lack of middle-order match practice, injury, lack of recovery time and too much travelling. I guess its better than the 2005 Ashes where he laid the blame, well, pretty much on Jason Gillespie.
Even worse is a piece in The Australian, ominously titled Cricket will rue dawn of Twenty20. I'm ordinarily a fan of Gideon Haigh's work but the sour grapes he and the Australian cricketers display are palpable. You get the feeling the ICC won't be adopting Gilchrist as the spokesman for Twenty20 after his ringing endorsement of the new format:
"Er, yeah, yeah. It's um ... well. The more I play it, I am starting to, not so much like it as a player, but love watching it."This is what you would expect from a vice-captain whose captain Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying:
"I don't think I really like playing Twenty20 international cricket."But the truly enlightening quote comes from Andrew Symonds who cuts right to the heart of the Australian attitude, describing Twenty20 as...
"a frustrating game because you can be beaten by the lesser sides"There you have it. Australia dislike Twenty20, not because it's frivolent, sells out the game or corrupts the classic traditions of an ancient art. They dislike Twenty20 because they might get beaten.
I came out of Gideon Haigh's article with a greater appreciation for Twenty20. The most disturbing feature of modern Australian cricket is the all-too-often predictability. The prospect of going into a game not having a clue how it'll end up is a pretty strong selling point for the Twenty20 format. When it comes down to it, the Australian cricketers don't like Twenty20 not because it's bad for cricket but because it's bad for their egos. Speaking as a passionate and patriotic Aussie fan, I say a little enforced humility can only do them the world of good.
| Posted by JC on Thu 27 Sep |  34 comments |
Yuvraj Singh puts Australia to the sword in 16 run victory
The inaugural Twenty20 World Cup will feature an all subcontinent final after Pakistan dispatched New Zealand and a pumped India defeated Australia by 16 runs. Batting first, India began slowly, picking off singles and building an innings. Brett Lee bowled with speed and aggression, knowing a good performance here could help him push another million Bollywood singles. However, two early wickets merely served to bring in Mr Six Sixes himself.
I had high expectations from Yuvraj Singh and he didn't disappoint. After taking one ball to get his eye in, he pulled a Mitchell Johnson short ball for six. Next over, he hit Brett Lee high into the mid-wicket crowd for a 119 metre six, the biggest of the tournament. He brought up his 50 (off just 20 balls), totally demolishing a Stuart Clark slower ball. Finally, Singh fell for 70 off 30 balls, skying Michael Clarke to mid-wicket. Bowling Clarke with Singh in full flight was a gutsy decision from Gilchrist - if Singh had stayed in, India would've likely have passed 200.
Robin Uthappa hit the first two balls of a Mitchell Johnson over for six. I thought he might try to emulate Singh but Andrew Symonds spoiled the party on the next delivery, spectacularly throwing down his stumps from mid-wicket. India finished with 5 for 188 with Australia needing 9.5 runs per over to win.
Gilchrist and Hayden struggled early, thanks largely due to some belligerent bowling from Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. He beat the bat regularly, clean bowled Adam Gilchrist and gave the batsmen death-stares Andre Nel would be proud of. Sreesanth's first 3 overs yielded 1 for 6, extraordinary figures in Twenty20. Finally, Hayden found his range and hit Sharma out of the ground (curiously, it didn't break Singh's 119 metre record). Hodge and Hayden began to accelerate the run-rate until Hodge knocked a juicy legside short ball straight to short fine leg.
From this point, the match seesawed either way. Hayden's 50 came off 40 balls - not as spectacular as Singh but an invaluable anchor for Australia. The match began to turn Australia’s way as Hayden and Symonds built a useful partnership - the run-rate required fell to 9 runs per over. However, Sreesanth came back in and knocked Hayden's off stump out of the ground, finishing with figures of 2 for 12. Symonds and Hussey rattled 22 runs off 2 overs until Pathan bowled Symonds in the 16th over.
Harbhajan Singh in the 17th over proved a match turner. With Australia needing 30 off the last 3 overs, he bowled Michael Clarke and conceded only 3 runs. Australia were unable to polish off the 27 runs required in the last 12 balls and finished a feeble 16 runs short.
All in all, the match was a cracker despite the result. Before tonight, I was ambivalent about Australia's upcoming tour of India, a fairly meaningless 7 match one day series (would it kill them to play a few Tests?). Now I find myself working out time differences and wondering if Channel 9 will be providing coverage. One thing's for sure - retailers of Indian flags and blue & yellow face paint better start stockpiling supplies.
| Posted by JC on Sun 23 Sep | 36 comments |
Yuvraj Singh carts Stuart Broad for six sixes
Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, here's an opportunity to wake ourselves from the snooze-fest that was Australia vs Sri Lanka (and I'm not talking about late hours - the game aired at 6:30pm). Witness Yuvraj Singh hit an extraordinary six consecutive sixes against Stuart "di Caprio" Broad:
I'd almost feel sorry for Broad if he weren't English!
| Posted by JC on Fri 21 Sep | 23 comments |
Australia smash Sri Lanka with 10 wickets and 9.4 overs to spare
A pattern is emerging from Australia's Twenty20 record. They approach an international game ill-prepared and disinterested, consequently suffering a shock loss. Stung, they play the next several games with a vengeance, smashing all opposition. But complacency creeps back in, leading to an upset defeat and the cycle begins again.
Australia are currently in the middle of the rampage stage, crushing Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in what essentially was a World Cup quarter final. By the time I started watching coverage at the 10 over mark, the match was over. Sri Lanka were 7 for 41 with Stuart Clark taking 4 for 20, the best ever Twenty20 bowling figures for an Australian. The remaining overs had Sri Lanka nurdling the ball around like the middle section of a 50 over match, the dull period that Twenty20 was meant to eliminate. Sri Lanka barely dragged themselves to triple figures, all out for 101.
Adam Gilchrist and Matt Hayden cruised at nearly twice the required run rate, polishing off the runs in 62 balls. Even Malinga, the only cricketer who spends more time on his hair than Nathan Bracken, was unable to make a dent in the run-rate. The only negative for Australia was Shane Watson pulling a hamstring. I don't think there's a form of the game short enough for Watson to get through an entire match uninjured.
So Australia progress to the semi-final, once again in white-hot form. According to their Twenty20 cycle, they'll take the semi-final in a canter. However, their form slump should coincide with the final so they may have timed their run a little early.
| Posted by JC on Thu 20 Sep | 6 comments |
Australia lose match to Pakistan and Ponting to injury
Australia once again teeter on the brink of elimination after being defeated by Pakistan by 6 wickets. Australia's innings began well, rattling along at 10 runs per over for the first 7 overs despite losing early wickets. However, the wickets continued to fall and the innings ground to a halt halfway through. It took some precise hitting from Hussey to post a reasonable total of 7 for 164.
It was the first time I'd witnessed Sohail Tanvir and I have to say I like the cut of his gib. He has a bizarre bowling action reminiscent of New Zealand bowler Ewen Chatfield (if my childhood memories serve correctly). However, his snappy action tends to hurry the batsmen and he dispatched Hayden and Gilchrist in his first two overs, later outwitting Hussey with a slower ball.
Pakistan also lost early wickets but Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik put on a 119 run partnership and got them comfortably home (with 5 balls to spare). It was a slick performance from Pakistan while Australia lacked inspiration. Losing Ponting to injury so he couldn't take the field during Pakistan's innings didn't help their chances either. Disappointingly, Adam Gilchrist threw out some post-defeat disclaimers about how Australia don't care about Twenty20:
"Er, yeh, yeh. It's um... well. The more I play it, I am starting to, not so much like it as a player, but love watching it."Inspiring stuff. He then goes onto clarify where Twenty20 lies in their list of priorities:
"[That we haven't hit the stumps when fielding] probably shows we have not put in the time. We could have cut our break short by a month and come here peaking, but to be honest, at the time when we made those decisions we didn't see it as a priority leading into a big run of cricket."Thursday's game against Sri Lanka will decide whether Australia have any chance of making the semi-finals. Let's hope they can muster up some interest in time.
| Posted by JC on Wed 19 Sep | 14 comments |
Australia crush Bangladesh by 9 wickets
There's nothing more dangerous than an Australian cricket team with wounded pride (just compare the 2007 Ashes to the 2005 Ashes). So I'm not sure the other teams at the World Cup will be thanking Zimbabwe for beating Australia in the first game - it's put a fire in Ricky Ponting's belly that could spell trouble for the rest of the tournament.
If Bangladesh were hoping for a repeat of their Cardiff upset, it was not to be as Australia defeated Bangladesh by 9 wickets with 6 overs to spare. The Bangladesh innings never got started, stifled by passive batting and canny short-of-a-length bowling. Brett Lee took the first ever Twenty20 international hattrick and Stuart Clark was one tailend wicket away from a hattrick of his own. Bangladesh's total of 8 for 123 was never going to threaten.
Matt Hayden blistered 73 off 48 balls and is in devastating form - even Adam Gilchrist stands in his shadow at the moment (although his 43 off 28 balls was not too shabby either). The match ended half an hour early which is good for us Aussies staying up past midnight. Next we play Pakistan on Tuesday night which should be more competitive. Although I wouldn't worry too much about the Pakistan bowlers hitting the stumps if the following footage is anything to go by.
| Posted by JC on Mon 17 Sep | 8 comments |
Australia cruise over England with 8 wicket victory
The most relieved man in South Africa must be Australian coach Tim Nielsen. The guy just took over from John Buchanan who has possibly the most successful coaching record in cricket history (can someone look that up?) For his first game as coach, his team turns up underdone, underprepared and defeated by uber-minnows Zimbabwe. This is a team so bad they voluntarily withdrew themselves from Test cricket. After the upset, the Zimbabwe newspaper The Herald sledged Australia, noting that "now it’s clear why Howard and Downer blocked those boys from Down Under from coming up North. Both men had a presentiment of defeat, and as events would have it, one well founded too." (be warned, the full Herald article is pretty dodgy but it is a Mugabe sanctioned paper). And Australia stood on the brink of getting knocked out of the first round of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup alongside Kenya, Scotland and the West Indies. Not the best kick off to Tim's international coaching career.
Fortunately, Australia qualified for the next round after an emphatic 8 wicket win over England. As if impending humiliation wasn't motivation enough, Kevin Pietersen handed a generous sidedish of extra impetus with some pre-game sledging. I can just imagine his English teammates muttering through clenched teeth "Shut up Kevin!" as he mouthed off about humiliating Australia and sending them packing. As it turned out, England's performance was as insipid as Australia's against Zimbabwe. Admittedly, all England had to do to qualify was turn up and not get thrashed. They achieved that goal... barely.
England's innings began slowly until Pietersen and Collingwood ramped things up midway through the innings. Coincidentally, this was the same time I started watching the coverage, sparking fears that the JC curse banished at the World Cup might be returning. Fortunately Nathan Bracken came on and clean bowled Pietersen with his first delivery. Man of the match Bracken had a great game - his wickets at the death stifled any chance of England posting a competitive total. Gotta say though, am less of a fan than ever of his metrosexual hairstyle.
So England limped to 135 all out. The only bright point was Flintoff's return to form, well aided by a succession of half volleys from the Australian bowlers. Hayden and Gilchrist cruised through Australia's opening overs, rattling along at 10 runs per over (although Stuart Broad nearly trapped Gilly with an inswinger on the first ball of the innings - must've been the squash ball that saved him). Gilchrist and Ponting fell along the way but their wickets were mere hiccups on the way to a comfortable 8 wicket victory. Surprisingly, much of the crowd starting leaving halfway through the innings. There was only 10 overs to go (in fact, 5 overs - Australia finished with 31 balls to spare). Just how short an attention span do cricket audiences have these days?! Soon they'll be trimming the format to Ten10 cricket.
Not having watched England play since the Ashes, I was surprised to see a number of new faces. Stuart Broad looks to have been plucked from junior high school - he makes Leonardo di Caprio look like Ernst Borgnine. As for Australia, they were disciplined, professional and ruthless. It was the kind of performance you would have expected from them against Zimbabwe two days ago. Still, I shouldn't complain - I've been suffering cricket malaise since the World Cup (hence the long breaks between blog posts). There's nothing like an Aussie defeat to reignite some passion in the relationship.
| Posted by JC on Sat 15 Sep | 4 comments |
Australia lose to Zimbabwe in Twenty20 opener
Australians love muttering Twenty20 doesn't matter - it's all just a bit of hit and giggle. Those mutterings are now loud protests as Zimbabwe defeated Australia by 5 wickets in their first match at the Twenty20 World Cup.
Forget that Twenty20 is fluff cricket. Put aside the fact that Australia hadn't played since April (and were probably still suffering hangover effects from World Cup celebrations). Ignore that the match was rain disrupted (nearly saving Australia which would've been a tragedy for Zimbabwean cricket). Never mind that our bristling bowling attack were outperformed by Zimbabwe's dibbly dobblers. This is a big embarrassment for Australia - rivalling our loss to Bangladesh in 2005.
Ricky Ponting's lame comments after the match say it all. "We've got to start respecting the game a bit more" is one of those forehead slappers ("ya think, Ricky?!"). More troubling was his "The top order was diabolical during the warm-ups too. And I guess that's where we lost it." No, Ricky, you lost it on the field with inferior batting and bowling.
It wasn't just a case of Australia playing badly. Zimbabwe played out of their skins. Their bowlers exploited the conditions, extracting movement off the pitch that troubled the Aussie batsmen. With the bat, Brendan Taylor held the innings together then got them over the line when 12 runs were needed in the last over.
Significantly, it's the 2 year anniversary since Australia lost the Ashes (well, we got 'em back but the pain still lingers). I can just imagine Robert Mugabe putting a hip out with all the air punching.
Although it's dreadfully unpatriotic, part of me wishes I'd put a few dollars on Zimbabwe. The bookies were paying 50-1 odds.
| Posted by JC on Thu 13 Sep | 22 comments |
Australia's new Twenty20 uniform
Whoops, the Twenty20 tournament starts in less than 2 weeks - that creeped up on me! And Australia are launching yet another uniform - with so many different versions of the game now, they're changing clothes more often than Princess Diana did. And at the risk of sounding like a purist with a stick up his butt, I don't like it. With the sleeveless design and the increasing trend away from the green and gold look, it comes across more like a training uniform.
Maybe it's Australia's way of saying they're not taking the Twenty20 tournament that seriously. After all, they enter every Twenty20 international uttering disclaimers about taking it lightly and just having fun - just in case they lose.
| Posted by JC on Tue 4 Sep | 10 comments |
