Ripped Off!!

[Rik E Boy]

The West Indies are a pale (ho ho) imitation of the product that you used to terrorise Australian cricketers not all that long ago my brothers. A West Indies tour once meant excitement, brutal bowling, superlative fielding, and power hitting that kept the fans glued to the action, even though the boys from the Carribean were flogging the hapless (and at times not so hapless) Aussies in yet another series.

A West Indies tour nowadays means only self-delusion for our Australian cricketers and an exercise in insulting our collective intelligence from the brain-dead Australian media. Example. In the Courier Mail today, the headline, yes, headline states 'No Legends, No problem' referring to the victory in the first Test was achieved yesterday without Warne and McGrath taking a wicket.

FFS!! The more realistic comment of 'This side would struggle in the Pura Cup' was hidden somewhere near the 'Adult Services' column (not that I read that ha ha). The West Indies are currently rated 8th in the Test rankings and in my view they are overrated. I reckon Bangladesh or Holland would beat these blokes. Most of them don't even look like they want to be here so why are they??

As a cricket fan, I feel that this tour is the biggest rip off in sporting history. I haven't checked the programme for this year but if Adelaide gets a Windies test, do yourself a big favour and stay home. This tour will be bad all round. There will be no competitive cricket, we will witness the demise of the once great Lara, who no doubt will score 150 in the series when it is too late and we will be feed Taurus Excretia by the papers who will be telling us all that the Ashes disaster was just an abberation.

I first smelt the unpleasant odour of a rodent when the cricket was on yesterday afternoon and I turned off my TV set. Now I have been watching cricket since LillianThompson scared the pants and the bails off the Poms back in 1974/75 and I have NEVER turned off the TV when Test cricket was on, not even when New Zealand were playing.

So take my advice boyos and save your coin if the West Indies are due to play in a test at the Oval because the Windies blow.

regards,

REB

[stan]

Thats a fair call REB. Hopefully the Windies will put up a better display in hobart ( i think thats were the next test is). But its hard to see. As the they really have only fast men to offer. And it take more than just 4 quicks to win a test (unless they are 4 world class fast men). Anyway unless they can develop either some backbone or variation, then this may be a long summer for the boys from the carabien.

[spell_check]

At first I thought they came here to give this series a real good shake. But of course as the test wore on, it appears we will be heading for a repeat whitewash a la 2000-01. That is if our weather (and Hobart) is fine and not like it is now.

[godoubleblues]

and it makes us look better than we might actually be
the Windies will play some of our players back into some form (false sense of security)
Ponting will look like a great captain, making all the right decisions
Lee will look like the great white hope, again
Watson will look like a high class allrounder
Katich will look test class (although after the first innings I am not so sure )
Hayden will look like he hasnt lost it
Clark will still be the golden boy
etc, etc

all this series will do is cover up some of our deficiencies

bring back BOOF

and yeh REB, the third test against the Windies is in Adelaide starting about 25 Nov

[The_Bay_Boy]

REB.. i totally disagree!!!!!!

So are you saying that you enjoyed watching our team get beat back in the day when the windies were a top team????

If thats true... then in my opinion thats very Un-Australian!!!!!

And saying it's the biggest sporting rip off in history is a huge statement!!!!

Sorry mate..... but i can't get enough of The Australian's absolutely thumping a team.

One more thing... i thought it was great that the young blood in the team stepped up in the second innings. thats great to see. We need to look for players beyond Mcgrath and Warne.

[Rik E Boy]

Think about it Bay boy (LMAO, you've got courage calling yourself that mon ami), which tests have been the greatest in recent years, a couple in the last Ashes series, against India in India (not the most recent series in India, the one before), the one run loss against West Indies in Adelaide. Australia lost all of those matches but it was still great cricket. In fact, it is a coincidence that some of the greatest tests in recent times have resulted in narrow losses to the Aussies. Teams that have beaten us in such a manner have played 'out of their skins' to knock off the best side in the world (which I believe we are not anymore).

Of course I want to see Australia win but winning against this mob is like Centrals supporters getting excited about beating Glenelg by 20 goals and calling it great football. This series will be a hallow victory and this will be very handy for South Africa who must really like their chances this season.

As for 'greatest rip off'...maybe a little over the top but I get the feeling judging by your response that you are younger fan (could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time) who doesn't really remember just how good the West Indies were. Read some chapters in 'The Gloves of Irony' by Rod Marsh or 'Beyond 10,000' by Allan Border to get an insight into the respect the mighty West Indies gained from such legendary Australian cricketers, Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Allan Border and Rod Marsh.

If you would rather watch 300 run floggings against a team with about three batsmen, maybe you should stick to 20/20 or even that universal junk food of sport, Basketball.

regards,

REB

[The_Bay_Boy]

Rik E Boy

yeah the centrals glenelg example is very true i suppose (unfortunetly i see that happen far to often).

Well i'm in my mid 20's so i guess i am a younger fan. but i do still recognise how good the windies once were. i have watched great windies games... and seen them beat australia on many occasion....and it has been great cricket... but i doesn't matter how great the cricket is.

if we lose , we lose and it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Watching the aussies thump a team make me proud to be an aussie. And we are still the best in the world.

REB, i can't say that your wrong... because i don't think you are wrong. We both obviously support australia... But we just support them in different ways i guess. You like the contest..... i like the flogging

[Booney]

What puzzles me about the Windies outfits is,since say 82/83 when I first can remember watching cricket,they have not been able to produce 1 bloke who can bowl fast(not many accurate either! apologies walsh,ambrose),and hold his bat.When will they give their batsmen some back up down in the lower order?,our tail,(Warne,Lee,McGrath and co.) regularly contribute 60 - 80 runs between them,now,the Windies still think they have the attack to bowl sides out for farg all and then have 2 or 3 guys make all their runs.They no longer have Lloyd,Gomes,Richards or Walsh and Ambrose to pull them out the shite.

Sadly,this summer will be a flogging for the Windies,they will all be looking forward to heading home,for the Aussies it means a easy build up and some centre wicket practice for when the South Efricans arrive.

[Rik E Boy]

Since the 84/85, I would nominate only one fast bowler who could actually bat and that was Malcolm Marshall who had a test high score of 92..90-something anyway.

regards,

REB

[stan]

The gap in world cricket is always quite large. England and Australia sit up there as probably the best two. Then look at the teams that come next, they'll probably cop a hiding from either team.

[The_Bay_Boy]

stan,

i'm not sure if there is that much of a gap behind england and australia. I certainly rate india on home sole and even south africa at home. The test for south africa will come this summer to see if they can perform away. We'll find out soon.

[spell_check]

REB, at least we aren't playing Zimbabwe:

This comes from cricinfo.com.au, and it was New Zealand playing two test against them in August, then a triangular ODI series involving India as well.

Here is a selection of matches:


Test # 1759
New Zealand in Zimbabwe, 2005-06, 1st Test
Zimbabwe v New Zealand
Harare Sports Club
7,8 August 2005 (5-day match)

Result: New Zealand won by an innings and 294 runs
Series: New Zealand leads the 2-Test series 1-0

Toss: Zimbabwe
Umpires: MR Benson (Eng) and DB Hair (Aus)
TV Umpire: KC Barbour
Match Referee: BC Broad (Eng)
Test Debut: NR Ferreira (Zim).
Man of the Match: DL Vettori

Close of Play:

Day 1: New Zealand 452/9 (Bond 41*, Martin 4*; 89 overs)
New Zealand 1st innings R B 4 6
JAH Marshall c Taibu b Mahwire 5 20 1 0
L Vincent c Carlisle b Mahwire 13 25 3 0
HJH Marshall lbw b Mpofu 20 25 2 0
*SP Fleming c Carlisle b Mpofu 73 132 12 0
NJ Astle c Taylor b Streak 23 42 4 0
SB Styris run out (Masakadza) 7 9 1 0
+BB McCullum c Cremer b Mahwire 111 112 15 1
DL Vettori b Streak 127 98 20 2
JEC Franklin b Cremer 13 32 1 0
SE Bond not out 41 38 3 3
CS Martin not out 4 6 0 0
Extras (b 1, lb 7, w 2, nb 5) 15
Total (9 wickets declared, 89 overs) 452

FoW: 1-21 (Vincent, 7.2 ov), 2-24 (JAH Marshall, 7.4 ov),
3-63 (HJH Marshall, 15.4 ov), 4-104 (Astle, 28.6 ov),
5-113 (Styris, 32.1 ov), 6-233 (Fleming, 54.1 ov),
7-309 (McCullum, 66.3 ov), 8-369 (Franklin, 77.5 ov),
9-432 (Vettori, 86.4 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Streak 23.4 5 102 2
Mahwire 26 4 115 3 (2nb, 2w)
Mpofu 16.2 1 100 2 (2nb)
Cremer 22 0 113 1 (1nb)
Taylor 1 0 14 0

Zimbabwe 1st innings R B 4 6
NR Ferreira c McCullum b Franklin 5 9 0 0
BRM Taylor run out (Styris) 10 36 0 0
DD Ebrahim lbw b Franklin 0 1 0 0
H Masakadza lbw b Franklin 0 2 0 0
CB Wishart b Bond 0 5 0 0
SV Carlisle not out 20 66 2 0
*+T Taibu lbw b Martin 5 34 1 0
HH Streak c McCullum b Martin 0 1 0 0
NB Mahwire lbw b Martin 4 10 1 0
AG Cremer c Martin b Vettori 1 13 0 0
CB Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 7 0 0
Extras (lb 6, w 1, nb 7) 14
Total (all out, 29.4 overs) 59

FoW: 1-9 (Ferreira, 3.3 ov), 2-9 (Ebrahim, 3.4 ov),
3-10 (Masakadza, 3.5 ov), 4-11 (Wishart, 4.5 ov),
5-28 (Taylor, 11.4 ov), 6-46 (Taibu, 20.5 ov),
7-46 (Streak, 20.6 ov), 8-51 (Mahwire, 24.3 ov),
9-53 (Cremer, 27.4 ov), 10-59 (Mpofu, 29.4 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Bond 5 1 11 1
Franklin 5 0 11 3 (4nb)
Martin 10 1 21 3 (2nb, 1w)
Styris 7 4 9 0
Vettori 2.4 2 1 2

Zimbabwe 2nd innings (following on) R B 4 6
NR Ferreira c Fleming b Franklin 16 90 2 0
BRM Taylor c Vettori b Franklin 0 8 0 0
DD Ebrahim b Martin 8 24 1 0
H Masakadza c & b Vettori 42 79 7 0
CB Wishart c Fleming b Bond 5 20 1 0
SV Carlisle c Fleming b Bond 0 4 0 0
*+T Taibu c Fleming b Martin 4 22 0 0
HH Streak lbw b Vettori 3 23 0 0
NB Mahwire not out 4 19 1 0
AG Cremer c JAH Marshall b Vettori 3 9 0 0
CB Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 7 0 0
Extras (lb 8, nb 6) 14
Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 99

FoW: 1-5 (Taylor, 3.1 ov), 2-14 (Ebrahim, 12.3 ov),
3-53 (Ferreira, 28.2 ov), 4-76 (Wishart, 34.6 ov),
5-80 (Carlisle, 36.4 ov), 6-84 (Masakadza, 37.3 ov),
7-90 (Streak, 43.5 ov), 8-90 (Taibu, 44.3 ov),
9-99 (Cremer, 47.4 ov), 10-99 (Mpofu, 49.5 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Bond 11 8 10 2
Franklin 10 2 19 2 (2nb)
Styris 2 0 3 0
Martin 8 5 16 2 (2nb)
Vettori 13.5 4 28 4 (2nb)
Astle 5 0 15 0


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 1

BB McCullum 100 off 94 balls in 123 mins, 14x4, 1x6
DL Vettori 100 off 82 balls in 107 mins, 15x4, 2x6
ODI # 2272
Videocon Triangular Series, 2005-06, 1st Match
Zimbabwe v New Zealand
Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
24 August 2005 (50-over match)

Result: New Zealand won by 192 runs
Points: New Zealand 6, Zimbabwe 0

Toss: Zimbabwe
Umpires: KC Barbour and IL Howell (SA)
TV Umpire: ID Robinson
Match Referee: RS Mahanama (SL)
ODI Debut: AJ Ireland (Zim).
Man of the Match: L Vincent


New Zealand innings (44 overs maximum) R M B 4 6
L Vincent c Utseya b Blignaut 172 168 120 16 9
*SP Fleming c Streak b Ireland 93 121 87 8 4
CD McMillan c Mahwire b Blignaut 47 38 26 7 1
CL Cairns c Masakadza b Ireland 14 22 11 1 0
+BB McCullum not out 51 21 22 7 2
JDP Oram c Taylor b Mahwire 0 4 1 0 0
AR Adams not out 0 5 0 0 0
Extras (b 1, lb 8, w 8, nb 3) 20
Total (5 wickets, 44 overs) 397

DNB: HJH Marshall, SB Styris, KD Mills, SE Bond.

FoW: 1-204 (Fleming, 27.5 ov), 2-325 (McMillan, 37.6 ov),
3-334 (Vincent, 39.2 ov), 4-380 (Cairns, 42.4 ov),
5-396 (Oram, 43.5 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Streak 9 0 61 0 (1w)
Mahwire 7 0 78 1
Blignaut 9 0 96 2 (1nb, 2w)
Ireland 7 0 52 2 (3w)
Ewing 7 0 53 0 (1w)
Utseya 5 0 48 0 (2nb)

Zimbabwe innings (target: 398 runs from 44 overs) R M B 4 6
BRM Taylor c Styris b Cairns 36 57 47 5 0
SV Carlisle lbw b Oram 25 70 45 1 0
H Masakadza c McCullum b Adams 18 44 32 2 0
CB Wishart c McCullum b Cairns 3 7 8 0 0
CK Coventry c Mills b Adams 25 34 19 3 1
AM Blignaut c Oram b Vettori 1 5 4 0 0
*+T Taibu b Vettori 13 20 16 1 0
HH Streak b Mills 45 60 48 5 2
NB Mahwire c & b Vettori 3 21 18 0 0
GM Ewing run out (McCullum) 20 28 23 2 0
P Utseya not out 1 2 3 0 0
Extras (lb 5, w 4, nb 6) 15
Total (all out, 43 overs) 205

FoW: 1-62 (Taylor, 14.3 ov), 2-75 (Carlisle, 17.1 ov),
3-81 (Wishart, 18.5 ov), 4-111 (Masakadza, 23.4 ov),
5-112 (Blignaut, 24.2 ov), 6-123 (Coventry, 25.6 ov),
7-141 (Taibu, 30.1 ov), 8-165 (Mahwire, 36.2 ov),
9-203 (Streak, 41.6 ov), 10-205 (Ewing, 42.6 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Bond 5 2 15 0 (2w)
Mills 7 0 23 1
Cairns 9 1 74 2
Oram 9 0 37 1 (4nb, 2w)
Vettori 8 1 29 3 (1nb)
Adams 5 0 22 2 (1nb)

New Zealand full substitute: DL Vettori (SP Fleming,
Zimbabwe innings, 19.0 ov).

Zimbabwe full substitute: CK Coventry (AJ Ireland, Zimbabwe innings, 8.0 ov).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supersub - Each team can now designate a 12th man (Supersub) who will be able to bat or bowl. The change will be announced over the PA system and details of the change shown on the giant screen.

New Zealand innings
New Zealand 50 in 6.4 overs (Vincent 28*, Fleming 21*)
Vincent 50 in 40 balls, 7x4, 2x6
New Zealand 100 in 13.2 overs (Vincent 51*, Fleming 46*)
Fleming 50 in 49 balls, 5x4, 2x6
New Zealand 150 in 20.2 overs (Vincent 77*, Fleming 65*)
Vincent 100 in 81 balls, 11x4, 4x6
New Zealand 200 in 27.3 overs (Vincent 102*, Fleming 89*)
New Zealand 250 in 33.1 overs (Vincent 128*, McMillan 18*)
Vincent 150 in 109 balls, 14x4, 8x6
New Zealand 300 in 36.1 overs (Vincent 159*, McMillan 37*)
McCullum 50 in 21 balls, 7x4, 2x6

Zimbabwe innings
Zimbabwe innings: 1x5 ball over (18th over)
Zimbabwe 50 in 12.3 overs (Taylor 32*, Carlisle 15*)
Zimbabwe 100 in 20.5 overs (Masakadza 10*, Coventry 16*)
Zimbabwe 200 in 41 overs (Streak 44*, Ewing 18*)
ODI # 2274
Videocon Triangular Series, 2005-06, 3rd Match
Zimbabwe v India
Harare Sports Club
29 August 2005 (50-over match)

Result: India won by 161 runs
Points: India 6, Zimbabwe 0

Toss: Zimbabwe
Umpires: KC Barbour and IL Howell (SA)
TV Umpire: RB Tiffin
Match Referee: RS Mahanama (SL)
Man of the Match: IK Pathan


India innings (50 overs maximum) R B 4 6
*SC Ganguly c Ewing b Ireland 20 28 3 0
Y Venugopal Rao c Taibu b Streak 0 3 0 0
M Kaif c & b Ewing 65 122 7 0
R Dravid b Utseya 14 30 1 0
Yuvraj Singh not out 53 71 3 1
+MS Dhoni c Mahwire b Ireland 56 46 2 4
AB Agarkar c Streak b Ireland 0 1 0 0
Jai P Yadav not out 0 0 0 0
Extras (lb 6, w 11, nb 1) 18
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs) 226

DNB: IK Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, A Nehra.

FoW: 1-3 (Venugopal Rao, 0.5 ov), 2-55 (Ganguly, 15.2 ov),
3-95 (Dravid, 25.6 ov), 4-121 (Kaif, 34.6 ov),
5-224 (Dhoni, 49.3 ov), 6-225 (Agarkar, 49.5 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Streak 10 1 32 1 (4w)
Mahwire 4 0 19 0
Ireland 10 0 54 3 (7w)
Blignaut 8 1 46 0
Utseya 10 0 44 1 (1nb)
Ewing 8 0 25 1

Zimbabwe innings (target: 227 runs from 50 overs) R B 4 6
BRM Taylor b Pathan 3 11 0 0
SV Carlisle lbw b Pathan 9 24 1 0
V Sibanda c & b Agarkar 7 15 1 0
H Masakadza lbw b Agarkar 0 2 0 0
*+T Taibu c Ganguly b Pathan 4 12 1 0
HH Streak not out 18 52 2 0
CK Coventry b Pathan 0 2 0 0
AM Blignaut lbw b Agarkar 0 4 0 0
GM Ewing b Pathan 0 4 0 0
NB Mahwire b Agarkar 4 4 1 0
P Utseya c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 11 18 2 0
Extras (w 8, nb 1) 9
Total (all out, 24.3 overs) 65

FoW: 1-7 (Taylor, 2.4 ov), 2-17 (Sibanda, 7.1 ov),
3-17 (Masakadza, 7.3 ov), 4-29 (Carlisle, 10.1 ov),
5-30 (Taibu, 12.1 ov), 6-30 (Coventry, 12.3 ov),
7-35 (Blignaut, 13.6 ov), 8-36 (Ewing, 14.5 ov),
9-43 (Mahwire, 17.4 ov), 10-65 (Utseya, 24.3 ov).

Bowling O M R W
Pathan 10 3 27 5 (3w)
Nehra 3 0 11 0 (4w)
Agarkar 9 2 18 4 (1nb, 1w)
Harbhajan Singh 2.3 0 9 1

India full substitute: SK Raina (unused).

Zimbabwe full substitute: V Sibanda (AJ Ireland, Zimbabwe innings, 1.0 ov).

[Dissident]

I disagree, REB. With most of it anyway.

Every team plays every other team both home and away in a 3 or 4 year period (I can't remember which). During this time, it's human nature that some teams are going to be better than others. There will be a good series, there will be a bad series but that's the way it always will be. As mentioned previously, no one wants to see Centrals beat the Bays by 20 goals, but if it happens, it happens.

Not every test in every series can be a cracker.

The West Indians don't have that bad a side. Their batting is quite good and just wont' come together. Gayle is great when on song (Just needs to move his feet sometimes), Sarwan has blossomed and will keep getting better, and no one can doubt Lara who is the my favourite non Aussie to watch, ever. Christ, they scored over 400 in the 4th innings to beat the Aussies last time we were there.

It's their bowling that has kept them down. They were blessed with so many great fast bowlers over the years that anything they have now would pale in comparison. Add to that, no quality spinner - which is a traditional WI issue (apart from the batters takin the ball).

The West Indians now are no where near the West Indians of the 80's. But, you're comparing them to a side that would be in the best handful EVER.

I'm tired, going to bed.
And the Kiwis aren't doing that great on Fox - it's boring me
[/b]

[Rik E Boy]

Ripped Off: Brian Lara. Rudi is the second worst umpire going around at the moment (after Bucknor).

regards,

REB

[MagicKiwi]

Yes REB and it seems the umpires have been getting it wrong with Lara consistently. Same thing happened last year and Lara's a walker.

[The_Bay_Boy]

Even though it was another thrashing by the aussie's, i did enjoy watching the partnership yesterday between Bravo and Ramdin i think??

It was good to see some of the windies taking charge of there innings and scoring some runs. it seems like the others aren't to bothered about making runs.