Tait quitting Shield cricket?

[rod_rooster]

Yeah, we should compare everyone to one of the greatest of all time.

REB is merely giving an example of a bowler who used raw pace to frighten batsmen out but then discovered his body was unable to cope with his action. Lillee was able to remodel his action and develop new tricks to become one of the best bowlers of all time. Perhaps if Tait was willing to remodel his action he could play cricket for longer and develop new ways of getting batsmen out. No-one is suggesting he could end up an all time great if he did this but he will never know what he could have been if he just gives up and plays only mickey mouse hit and giggle cricket.

[smac]

One mans micky mouse is another mans goal.

Better off comparing him to Thommo aren't we?

[rod_rooster]

One mans micky mouse is another mans goal.

Better off comparing him to Thommo aren't we?

Why? Lillee was raw and quick but his body couldn't cope with his bowling action. To continue to play cricket and have a long and successful career Lillee had to modify his action which meant he lost some of his pace. He adapted to this by learning different ways of dismissing batsmen. I would say a perfect example of a bowlers action not allowing them to reach their potential and therefore them doing something about it.

If comparing actions and pace then obviously Thompson is the one to look at but that's not what we are talking about here.

[Rik E Boy]

Spot on rod. That was exactly what I was getting at. Richard Hadlee to a lesser degree would have been another example. There's more than just ability between Lillee and Tait, there is desire as well and this is why I can't respect Tait.

I love the game of Cricket and I have no natural ability in the game whatsoever. What I wouldn't give to have a hundreth of Tait's natural ability. So this naturaly gifted Cricketer comes out and says the sport I love is a boring waste of time when I had to bust my balls for twenty years to average 25 in local hard wicket cricket...it just makes me shake my head.

regards,

REB

[Booney]

What gets me in all of this is there is one thing Tait can do well,really well when on song.Bowl fast and straight. When not on song it is like a spray paint shop,everything gets covered.

In the modern owrld of cricket it is not out of the question ( more the norm ) to get paid extraordinary amounts of money to travel the world playing the game you love. In fact $1m+ is easily made by the top flight cricketers in Australia, but you do have to work for it. ( If you call playing cricket work )

Is there any other skill Shaun Tait has that can see him earn that sort of money and set himself up for life? The opportunity to live out most boys in Australias dream, open the bowling for the Australian Test team. I cant believe his attitude to all of this,thats what gets me the most.

25 REB?

[Push in the Back]

Seriously REB - cry me a river mate. What a load of crap. He is playing cricket and just because he can make some coin in IPL everyone bags him...I reckon it is a laugh. When he does something 'wrong' then get on here and post that self rightous, i read Ian Chappell sermons every night before bed, rubbish.

[dedja]

Seriously REB - cry me a river mate. What a load of crap. He is playing cricket and just because he can make some coin in IPL everyone bags him...I reckon it is a laugh. When he does something 'wrong' then get on here and post that self rightous, i read Ian Chappell sermons every night before bed, rubbish.

Chappelli no good?

Sh*t, I better chuck these out then ...

[Rik E Boy]

Seriously REB - cry me a river mate. What a load of crap. He is playing cricket and just because he can make some coin in IPL everyone bags him...I reckon it is a laugh. When he does something 'wrong' then get on here and post that self rightous, i read Ian Chappell sermons every night before bed, rubbish.

Geez sorry for having an opinion. I see you have one as well.

I bag him for not wanting to represent his state. Tait can cry me a river.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

What gets me in all of this is there is one thing Tait can do well,really well when on song.Bowl fast and straight. When not on song it is like a spray paint shop,everything gets covered.

In the modern owrld of cricket it is not out of the question ( more the norm ) to get paid extraordinary amounts of money to travel the world playing the game you love. In fact $1m+ is easily made by the top flight cricketers in Australia, but you do have to work for it. ( If you call playing cricket work )

Is there any other skill Shaun Tait has that can see him earn that sort of money and set himself up for life? The opportunity to live out most boys in Australias dream, open the bowling for the Australian Test team. I cant believe his attitude to all of this,thats what gets me the most.

25 REB?

OK, 13.

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

One mans micky mouse is another mans goal.

Better off comparing him to Thommo aren't we?

Why? Lillee was raw and quick but his body couldn't cope with his bowling action. To continue to play cricket and have a long and successful career Lillee had to modify his action which meant he lost some of his pace. He adapted to this by learning different ways of dismissing batsmen. I would say a perfect example of a bowlers action not allowing them to reach their potential and therefore them doing something about it.

If comparing actions and pace then obviously Thompson is the one to look at but that's not what we are talking about here.

Thommo is the right comparison because they are both bowlers who lack the control and finesse and relied on sheer pace to get wickets. Yes, Lillee pre injury was very quick but he was also an elite bowler like a Hadlee, imran, Marshall, etc where he could drop to 50% of top pace and still be a damaging wicket taker because of his ability to move the bowl in the air and off the seam.

I think taity is like Thommo in that he doesn't know where the ball is going half the time. Shaun Tait with remodelled action and at 70% of current pace = fodder. He'll become a good Shield Bowler but no longer a strike force in limited overs so now more IPL or Australian representation.

He's got to sling them in because that's his whole bag of tricks right there. If you had 5 years left in the game which path would you take? While he's getting the tick of approval from the cricket purists, he'll retire in 5 years with $2.0m (hypothetically) less in his bank account. for what? So he can say he played first class cricket?

You and REB are badly under-selling DK Lillee IMO. He was an one of the elites of all time who just happened to be very quick when he was younger. The comparison to Tait starts and ends there. to say Lillee mainly took wickets because he was fast is a bit of an insult i reckon.

[Push in the Back]

Seriously REB - cry me a river mate. What a load of crap. He is playing cricket and just because he can make some coin in IPL everyone bags him...I reckon it is a laugh. When he does something 'wrong' then get on here and post that self rightous, i read Ian Chappell sermons every night before bed, rubbish.

Geez sorry for having an opinion. I see you have one as well.

I bag him for not wanting to represent his state. Tait can cry me a river.

regards,

REB

Quote him saying he doesnt want to represent the State?? He mooted no 4 day cricket, last time i looked there were still 2 other competitions...

[Rik E Boy]

Seriously REB - cry me a river mate. What a load of crap. He is playing cricket and just because he can make some coin in IPL everyone bags him...I reckon it is a laugh. When he does something 'wrong' then get on here and post that self rightous, i read Ian Chappell sermons every night before bed, rubbish.

Geez sorry for having an opinion. I see you have one as well.

I bag him for not wanting to represent his state. Tait can cry me a river.

regards,

REB

Quote him saying he doesnt want to represent the State?? He mooted no 4 day cricket, last time i looked there were still 2 other competitions...

Picking and choosing when he wants to represent his state is exactly what I'm talking about PITB.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

You and REB are badly under-selling DK Lillee IMO. He was an one of the elites of all time who just happened to be very quick when he was younger. The comparison to Tait starts and ends there. to say Lillee mainly took wickets because he was fast is a bit of an insult i reckon.

Trust me hondo, even though there have been many different points of view in this thread - no one is underselling DK Lillee here.

regards,

REB

[Hondo]

If the 1600m is the most "pure" form of running, should we force Usain Bolt to prioritise that rather than the high-profile, lucrative, arguably flashy shorter form of running - the 100m sprint that he is best suited to?

I think we should get of Taity's back about this.

[ORDoubleBlues]

Yeah, we should compare everyone to one of the greatest of all time.

Think REB's pointing out that Lillee had to re-model his action to save his career - and back - after ongoing problems in the early and mid '70's

[RustyCage]

One mans micky mouse is another mans goal.

Better off comparing him to Thommo aren't we?

I think REB is comparing injuries v attutude rather than bowling style.

[rod_rooster]

Yeah, we should compare everyone to one of the greatest of all time.

Think REB's pointing out that Lillee had to re-model his action to save his career - and back - after ongoing problems in the early and mid '70's

One mans micky mouse is another mans goal.

Better off comparing him to Thommo aren't we?

I think REB is comparing injuries v attutude rather than bowling style.

Where were you guys two days ago when i was defending REB You are both on the money though

Claiming it is unfair to compare Tait to Lillee based on the fact that Lillee is an all time great is an interesting thing on it's own though. The same guy stating that says it is better to compare to Thommo. When Tait comes even close to taking 200 plus Test wickets feel free to bump this thread.

[Hondo]

the point is it was easier for Lillee to make the transition to a new action because he had 10,000 x more natural ability than either Thommo & Tait, and he was about 5 years (?) younger than Tait.

To think that Tait is going to take 18 months off, rehabilitate, re-model his action and return at age 28 in the mould of a Richard Hadlee is fantasy island stuff.

Thommo post 1979ish was nowhere near the same threat once his pace dropped off. Played spasmodically for Australia only.

For Tait, a 26 year old with the body of a 50 year old probably, it's now or never. If he doesn't make some money for himself in the next few years he may as well buy a fishing boat.

[wycbloods]

the point is it was easier for Lillee to make the transition to a new action because he had 10,000 x more natural ability than either Thommo & Tait, and he was about 5 years (?) younger than Tait.

To think that Tait is going to take 18 months off, rehabilitate, re-model his action and return at age 28 in the mould of a Richard Hadlee is fantasy island stuff.

Thommo post 1979ish was nowhere near the same threat once his pace dropped off. Played spasmodically for Australia only.

For Tait, a 26 year old with the body of a 50 year old probably, it's now or never. If he doesn't make some money for himself in the next few years he may as well buy a fishing boat.

Many Australian quicks haven't started their international careers until the age of 28 and have bowled through to the age of 34,35 or 36. That would give Tait 6-8 years even if he did take 18 months off to fix his action.

[Hondo]

Many Australian quicks haven't started their international careers until the age of 28 and have bowled through to the age of 34,35 or 36. That would give Tait 6-8 years even if he did take 18 months off to fix his action.

Name 1 that's remodelled their action at age 27 and played 7 years of test cricket after that. No way Tait will still be bowling at 36. He'll be lucky to play past 32 before his body falls apart.

Starting a test career at age 27 is not the same as going away to change the bowling action you've had since you were 6 probably. Dennis Lillee did it at age 21 and had no choice because he couldn't bowl at all. Shaun Tait can still bowl but he feels it needs to be in shorter bursts and, unlike Lillee, he has a very lucrative alternative out of which he can set himself up for life financially.

A re-modelled action and slower pace probably won't be as potent in limited overs cricket so who's he actually re-modelling his action for? He doesn't have a CA contract and they've basically told him he won't be picked for test cricket again. So who for? The answer is probably the SACA and the SA Cricket fans. So, if Test Cricket is out for him, should he have to sacrifice the income from limited overs international cricket so he can play for SA? That's if you take him at face value that if he plays more 4 day cricket he will keep getting injured.

It's easy for us to judge what he should or shouldn't do when we've got paying jobs and hopefully have our families provided for as best we can. If you had a job that you could only do for another 6 years, would you take 18 months off your work to re-educate/re-skill yourself and hope you were as good then as you are now? Could you go 18 months without an income? If you could earn $500,000 per year for the next 5 years would you take it or delay it 18 months and hope it works out?

If injuries had hampered the last 4 years of your sporting career would you look at some hard decisions and sacrifices to stay in the sport you love? Or at least would you consider different possibilities and possibly look at things more selfishly?