Official Cricket 12/13 Thread

[dan_smee]

Great game.

Who likes this T20 shit anyway?

[Axver]

Draw! Faf du Plessis, what a fucking outstanding knock! Unbelieveable composure.

[Vlad n U 2]

Wow, what a save.

[Axver]

Du Plessis better fucking be man of the match, that was phenomenal.

[dan_smee]

Originally Posted by Axver

Du Plessis better fucking be man of the match, that was phenomenal.

He was, but he can't be.

Clarke just scored his 4th double ton of the year, and kept Aus in witha chance getting Kallis in the first innings. He also saved Aus second innings with a timely 38.

Faf will be the unluckiest bridesmaid in living memory

[dan_smee]

Good call though on a draw with 2 wickets in hand!

[Axver]

Cricinfo says du Plessis is man of the match. And of course he should be ahead of Clarke - sure, Clarke's first innings knock was special, but du Plessis's grit and courage changed the entire course of the game. Man of the match should go to the player with the biggest role in the final outcome, and you've got to say that du Plessis turned it from an Aussie victory into a draw.

[cobl04]

Wow what a finish. Congratulations to the South Africans, showing why they're world #1 - I don't think there's any other team in the world who could have done that, save maybe for us (read Clarke/Hussey). Hopefully Faf Du Plessis is remembered for that innings forever - he came in at 4pm yesterday and was not out, making a debut ton in the progress. Unbelievable, outstanding, every adjective you can think of.

Siddle was nearly pulling his beating heart out and bowling it at the end there (got that from fake Luke Darcy's twitter haha). Bowled 33 overs, 63.5 FOR THE MATCH, and bowled the final over when he looked like Dean Jones in Madras.

Didn't at all like the way Lyon was bowling at the death there.

Originally Posted by Axver

Nah, nothing to do with his personality, I just find him to not be that great a bowler ... obviously he's living in the shadow of some killer Aussie pacemen, but he's just not on their level. Competent, capable, determined, but not dazzlingly brilliant. Vanilla, really.

Originally Posted by dan_smee

He is a toiler in the Merv hughes mould. Doesn't do a huge amount with the ball to take his wickets, and if you look at him next to a Dale Steyn you wonder how he is taking them, but Steyn isn't. I've learned not to worry about it with Sids anymore, he will take wickets so you just have to admire his character

Ah okay, that's fair. Still, he has 120 wickets at 29.76 - that's pretty great in this day and age.

But yes, he doesn't do a great deal with it. He is a toiler. But to me, I just love his character and determination, and I always feel like a wicket is not too far away with him. He's also a partnership breaker.

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by dan_smee

Good call though on a draw with 2 wickets in hand!

yes good pick!

[Vlad n U 2]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Siddle was nearly pulling his beating heart out and bowling it at the end there (got that from fake Luke Darcy's twitter haha).

Love the way he goes about it. /Luke Darcy

[Axver]

Originally Posted by dan_smee

Good call though on a draw with 2 wickets in hand!

Haha, yeah, I was going to post that we both did a good job nailing the outcome!

Originally Posted by cobl04

Didn't at all like the way Lyon was bowling at the death there.

Agreed. It's like he thought that rushing through the deliveries without really thinking about it would lead to wickets because "zomg more balls means more chances of wickets right guys?!" He didn't look a chance of dismissing du Plessis, and he was only a little more threatening to the tail-enders.

[cobl04]

He was looking really good I thought until about the last half hour, when he was totally innocuous.

[dan_smee]

Originally Posted by Axver

Cricinfo says du Plessis is man of the match. And of course he should be ahead of Clarke - sure, Clarke's first innings knock was special, but du Plessis's grit and courage changed the entire course of the game. Man of the match should go to the player with the biggest role in the final outcome, and you've got to say that du Plessis turned it from an Aussie victory into a draw.

Victim of timing. Clarke's innings turned a certain Aussie defeat into a draw.

The rest of that batting card is woeful (save for Warner and hussey, but Hussey doesn't score his without Clarke at the other end because Wade and the Aussie tail weren't performing - boom boom from Pattinson aside). Take Clarke's 230 out and the total is 320, but much less in real terms without him occupying the crease - more like 250. Saffers would have cruised to a win.

[cobl04]

I don't know about all that. I think you're not giving Hussey much credit there. It's a bit much to say "take out Clarke's double century"...

[cobl04]

Faf was man of the match in the end. I guess he can just du what he Plessis.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by cobl04

Faf was man of the match in the end. I guess he can just du what he Plessis.

... oh god.

[cobl04]

Ponting calls time.

[Axver]

Only three or four years too late. His legacy will probably be "a sensational batsman who just didn't know when to stop".

[cobl04]

I disagree, again, although you take out the Indian series and he'd had a pretty lean trot.

[Axver]

I really don't know why he's kept going this year in the first place. He should've stepped aside long ago but you can tell the man has no idea what to do outside cricket. Star in more Swisse ads I guess!

And I was bummed a couple of hours ago to discover the Perth Test begins tomorrow rather than today.