World Test C'ship Final.

[Donny]

World Test Championship Final.

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

More: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/austral ... 2023-04-19

[Donny]

2023 Tour of the UK

World Test Championship Final: Wednesday June 7-Sunday June 11, The Oval

First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

[Donny]

With Stokes blatantly 'ordering' the Pommy curators to produce wickets best suited to England's style of play, who decides what sort of deck will be prepared for the Test Championship Final ?

[lazzadesilva]

I reckon the ICC will have a big say in this. Hopefully it is good for cricket

[Donny]

How so, Lazza ?

[lazzadesilva]

How so, Lazza ?

I meant that the ICC will ensure a fair wicket that doesn’t cater for the obvious strengths of either team, ie: green top, dusty wicket conducive to spin etc. A wicket bereft of a curator’s ability to make it suit one team over the other and thereby giving them an unfair advantage.

[piedys]

World Test Championship Final and Ashes squad:

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

More: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/austral ... 2023-04-19

FAIL, as usual.

How does Harris get picked again? Why not Handscombe instead?
I'd rather add Neser to the squad anyhoo...

[Donny]

"India has recalled Ajinkya Rahane to their squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia, with the veteran batter a chance to play his first international in 16 months.

Rahane was the stand-out name in India's 15-player squad named on Tuesday for the June 7 decider against Australia at The Oval."

CA.

[K]

...
FAIL, as usual.

How does Harris get picked again?
...

Are ya happy with Warner's selection?

Seems like Oz aren't taking the WTC Final seriously enough... It's not just an Ashes warm-up. (NZ used their England Test series as a WTC Final warm-up! They gave all players in their squad a run. And still won it easily! )

[K]

9/Fairfax are getting geared up for the Ashes...

Video of Jofra Archer destroying Flat-Track Bully Steve Smith's defective technique in the 2019 Ashes:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 5d40f.html .


Sheesh, FTB is hopeless against the short ball.

The first delivery in the video (where FTB gets hit on the left elbow) is barely above stump height. (Look at the slo-mo replay in the video at 0:28 on.) FTB just flinches down into it.

The second delivery in the video is the famous one where FTB's defective ducking technique got him virtually KOed. (Tendulkar made a video demo'ing how it was defective. Dunno why! The live commentary, by Atherton or someone, made it clear enough how it was defective. No real need for a video by Sachin.) Shoulda been a harmless delivery.


The headline of the video says "brutal deliveries"... Bollocks!! They're only brutal to flat-track bullies with defective techniques. Look at Archer's Test record now. Very mediocre. When you see FTB destroyed by that on a flat pitch, imagine how he'd go against Holding, Marshall, Garner & Roberts on pitches fair to bowlers. They'd have totally destroyed him.

[Donny]

"Steve Smith believes the upcoming county stint England fans were aghast to see him sign will provide the ideal platform for his attempt to replicate his 2019 Ashes run-spree.

Smith has touched down in the United Kingdom to spend the coming weeks playing for Sussex and refining his technique against the moving Dukes ball, with his sights set on helping Australia claim their maiden World Test Championship title and his first Ashes series win abroad.

Australians turning out in the County Championship in Ashes years is nothing new, yet the rolling out of the red carpet for a man who averaged 111 in his last Test series in England left some locals questioning why they were giving a leg-up not reciprocated to their own cricketers down under."

CA.

[K]

...
Sheesh, FTB is hopeless against the short ball.

The first delivery in the video (where FTB gets hit on the left elbow) is barely above stump height. (Look at the slo-mo replay in the video at 0:28 on.) FTB just flinches down into it.
...

The headline of the video says "brutal deliveries"... Bollocks!! They're only brutal to flat-track bullies with defective techniques. Look at Archer's Test record now. Very mediocre. When you see FTB destroyed by that on a flat pitch, imagine how he'd go against Holding, Marshall, Garner & Roberts on pitches fair to bowlers. They'd have totally destroyed him.

Jofra Archer Test career

13 Matches, 434.5 Overs, 42 Wickets, Average 31.04, Economy 2.99, SR 62.1

(The Age)

[Donny]

"The ECB confirmed injury-plagued quick Jofra Archer would miss the entire northern summer."

CA.

[Donny]

"Marcus Harris and Michael Neser are keeping themselves sharp to spearhead Australia's World Test Championship final bid if required, with both in-form players signing off from their county spells with striking hundreds.

Opener Harris achieved the notable feat of being the first Gloucestershire player since fellow Aussie Cameron Bancroft six years ago to carry his bat through a completed first-class innings, as he bowed out on Sunday with an unbeaten 122 in a losing cause against Durham."

CA.

[Pies4shaw]

"Steve Smith believes the upcoming county stint England fans were aghast to see him sign will provide the ideal platform for his attempt to replicate his 2019 Ashes run-spree.

Smith has touched down in the United Kingdom to spend the coming weeks playing for Sussex and refining his technique against the moving Dukes ball, with his sights set on helping Australia claim their maiden World Test Championship title and his first Ashes series win abroad.

Australians turning out in the County Championship in Ashes years is nothing new, yet the rolling out of the red carpet for a man who averaged 111 in his last Test series in England left some locals questioning why they were giving a leg-up not reciprocated to their own cricketers down under."

CA.

It's just incredible to think that Bradsmith could ever have averaged 111 in a Test series against anyone, ever, given his defective technique. But it's even more gob-smacking that a bowler who so thoroughly "destroyed his defective technique" did not dismiss him once as he was named player of the series and made 774 - but just 92, 211, 82, 80 and 23 in the 5 innings he played in Tests in which Archer bowled.

Just to emphasize Archer's complete dominance of Bradsmith, I searched in StatsGuru and have prepared a list of every time Archer has dismissed Bradsmith in Tests. Here's the list:

Bowler dismissed by JC Archer (ENG)
Ordered by start date (ascending)

List of dismissals
No records available to match this query

Really, how can it be that Archer has never dismissed Smith in a Test? What a travesty.

What's even more startling is that Archer took more than half of all his Tests wickets, ever, in that one series (22 of 42) at an average of 20.27 and a strike rate of a wicket every 42.5 balls bowled but somehow Smith faced 770 balls in the Tests in which Archer bowled without Archer dismissing him once. Archer did keep him well under control, though - Smith made just 488 runs at the paltry average of 97.6 in those 3 Tests.

And, over his entire Test career, Smith has made just 94* from 164 balls faced from Archer. Slim pickings, indeed.

He is every bit Archer's bunnny as Cullinan was Warne's.

Ultimately, though, Smith and Archer do break even on the most important statistic - Smith has never dismissed Archer, either.