Current Issues in Australian Cricket – an Aussies view

Australian Cricket has a worldwide following and for years they have been at the top of the pecking order.  Countries have wanted to be like cricket Australia and players have dreamed of either player for or playing against the Australian cricket team. This blog, Australian Cricket Info, desires to keep cricket fans and fans of Australian Cricket up to date with relevant and topical information regarding the Australian Cricket Team, its results and the issues it and Cricket Australia face. You’ll also find a few light hearted jokes in the Jokes sections.

Please stop in, drop us a comment, share your opinion and have a good time.  I warn you up front though, that the articles are the opinions of the author and whilst they will make every effort to have up to date and correct information they may at times get it wrong.  In those instances, make sure to drop us a comment.

Interesting Articles to start with:

- How to slow a game down in 10 easy steps
- Ricky Ponting: a return to aggressive tactics
- Australian cricket: The Age of Fighting

Current Australian Cricket Games and Issues:

• 2nd Test: Australia vs New Zealand, Adelaide, 2008: Review
• South Africa’s tour of Australia Preview: The Grounds
• South Africa tour of Australia Preview: The Players

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Cricket technique: playing the short ball

Cricket technique: playing the short ball

There comes a time in every batsmens career when the size and the strength of the bowlers gets to a point where the short ball becomes a common delivery to face.

For a lot of younger and seemingly talented batters this can be a very scary period. For a long time batsmen can dominate bowlers, however, now the tide starts to turn.

So, how do we face the short ball effectively?
1. Keep your eyes open and on the ball and don’t turn your head unless you are ducking and well under it.
2. Move your feet so your body weight is over your back foot.
– a lot of coaches say to move back and across so that your back foot is outside the line of off. My advice is simpler, move so that your weight is over the back foot and you are able to move your shoulders freely. This generally means a slight movement away from the body with the back foot.
3. Don’t collapse through your back leg. This means you stay tall with your head over your back foot and your weight distributed so you can easily pivot.

More technically we talk about have straight lines from your back foot up to your head. This ensures you can keep your eye on the ball and that you are able to move effectively to play the right shot.

The final point is to conquer fear. It will always be scary to play a good quick short ball. If you can conquer that fear and relax you will be much more capable of playing the ball effectively.

Aussies unbeaten summer

So far this summer we have seen some great cricket and some very poor cricket. We’ve seen Gayle in smashing form and Punter looking at his worst and then his best.

For me. The highlight of the season has been the Australian teams ability to find ways to win. It is something we have seen sporadically over the last few years.

It is for this reason that I ask… Us our new look team turning the corner and maturing into a world class unit?

South Africa make history with 2-0 series lead

South African Cricket will be celebrating for the next month after having won the second test giving the touring side an unassailable lead in the three test series against Australia.  In the last days play, the South African’s never looked like getting the low run chase jitters that often plague teams and why should they having chased down 5 second innings totals of less then 200 this year.

The Australian bowlers, never looked close to taking a wicket and the team was definately without any luck.  Brett Lee bowling McKenzie with a no ball and Matthew Hayden dropping a rare catch in at first slip.

The only real reflection I have of this game is that, whilst Australia has come back to the pack, South Africa has definately bridged the gap.  Batsmen like, Duminy, Smith, De Villiers and bowlers such as Steyn and Ntini will be world champions for the next 5 or so years.  Whilst Australia, have Hussey, Ponting, Clarke in the batting department and bowlers such as Johnson.

Stay tuned for more discussion about the teams and there performances over the last couple of tests, plus a bonus Ashes selection article outlining my thoughts for this years tour of England.

Second Test: Aus vs South Africa – Day 3 review

2^nd Test Australia vs South Africa:  Game ripped out of Aussies hands.

 

A disappointing third day has seen the dominance Australia worked hard to place on the South African Cricket team ripped from them with a brilliant batting display by JP Duminy and Dale Steyn.  The last four wickets put on more then 200 runs to take South Africa from 6-198 at stumps on day 2 to a first innings lead.  A task that not even the South African Coach thought would be possible at the end of Day 2.

 

Siddle, who impressed the cricketing world with his fast, dangerous and accurate spells on day 2 could only be described as pedestrian and lack luster by the end of day 3.  However, Johnson could not get the break through either.  The Australian pace attack, hindered by the loss of Lee, seemed to lose their attacking instincts and relied on defensive bowling from the outset of the day.  It seemed from the strategies employed on the field that the Australian’s were just biding time till the new ball and not focusing taking wickets.  A strategy that most definitely worked against them, because by the time the new ball was able to be taken the South African Batsmen had their eye in and were able to wave of the challenge without even a second thought.  What’s worse is the pedestrian spells by Johnson and Siddle with new ball did not even worry Steyn or Duminy. 

 

However, Duminy’s batting display is not to be discounted.  The Australians were at a completed loss of how to bowl to him and it was obvious to see that this completely through off the bowlers radars.  The only exception to this was Hauritz, who bowled an extremely tight line and was difficult for the batsmen to get away all day.  The only issue for Hauritz was that there was no bowler putting their hands up at the other end and aiding in continuing to build the pressure. 

 

Day 4 brings about a massive challenge for the Australian batting line up.  They desperately need to get away to a good start and Hayden and Hussey have most definitely been struggling with the bat lately.  If Australia wants to win this game – which should be there goal – they will need to score at a strong rate to put the game back on the South African’s on day 5.  The only issue for the Aussies is that Brett Lee will not be back for the game (and will probably be out for 6 weeks), leaving the Australians a bowler short for the second innings.  This gives Ricky Ponting an interesting declaration decision (if the batting line up get to that point), does he trust Siddle, Johnson and Hauritz backed up with Clarke, Hussey and another injured player in Symmonds to take 10 wickets in an economical fashion? Or will he play the game out to a draw?

 

We will see very soon.

Cricket Review: South Africa wins first test.

South Africa has staged a record fourth innings run chase of 414 runs to win the first of three tests in Australia.  In a fantastic and at times brilliant display of batting South Africa demoralised the Australian cricket bowlers and posted what could only be called an emphatic win. 

Australia never looked capable of getting a wicket and when the luck didn’t go there way just after tea with a borderline missed run out and an inside edge that missed the stumps by less then 5cm, it was pretty obvious that South Africa was going to complete the run chase very comfortably.

It’s a pity the Johnsons best ever bowling figures will have been achieved in a losing test match but credit must go to Smith and De Villier’s who both posted centuries – Smith on day four to put them in a position to win and De Villier’s to bring them home.   Credit must also go to Duminy, who on his debut played a fantastic innings to ensure his team achieved the victory in the easiest possible manner.

It is time for Australia to ask serious questions of their bowling line up who struggled to get 20 wickets in India and in this test match only managed 14 wickets, 12 of which came from the hands of Johnson.   Lee, whilst bowling well, never looked like taking a wicket and Siddle was nothing special – if not at times pedestrian.  The answer to the spin in Krejza is hard to say that he didn’t bowl well – however, the selectors probably should’ve selected Watson as a fourth seemer and relied on Symmonds or Clarke for their slow bowling option in this test match.

Further questions need to be raised in relation to Hayden.  With an important tour of the England coming up mid year selectors and he need to decide now whether he is going to be there or else they need to blood a new opening batsmen in Rogers, North or Jacques (currently Injured).

Stay tuned for more discussion of bowling options and a review of the batting line up.

Cricket Technique: Batting – Forward Defensive

Cricket Technique: The Shots: Forward Defensive

 

The forward defensive is the most important shot in cricket and only comes in second to the leave for the most useful tool in batting.  The Forward defensive enables you to negotiate tough batting conditions, the start of your innings and also the new and swinging ball effectively.  Once mastered, the forward defensive becomes capable of scoring many a single and enabling an effective innings to be built.  How do we play the shot?

 

Step one: Footwork

You need to get your foot as close to the line of the ball as possible.  If the ball is pitching just out side of off and coming in to off, you need to step so you are in a position to have your pad just far enough inside the line of the ball so that there is no gap between the bat and the pad at the completion of the shot.

 

Step two: Body Weight

You need to get your head over the ball as much as possible.  That means holding your front shoulder side on and keeping your front elbow in control of the bat.  You will also need to bend your front knee so that your shoulder and head are moved towards the foot and your body weight is pushing through the ball.

 

Step three: The Shot

Make sure you lead in with the front elbow so it is pointing as high as you can get it.  You want to snap your wrists down into the ball but control the shot so that the bat comes to rest next to the pad.

 

Step Four: Ball contact

Hold the side on position as much as possible (for most techniques a bit of hip rotation is impossible to prevent), let the bat come to rest next to the pad and relax the hands so that the ball has a “dead bat” to bounce off.  This last step will enable you to drop the ball at your feet or if you get the line wrong and get an edge, the edge will drop short of the keeper or slips. 

 

Step Five: Advancing the shot

A good batsmen that has worked hard on the front foot defensive is able to time the shot so that the bat comes to rest next to the pad at just the right moment.  This gives them the ability to ‘push’ the ball into a gap for a quick single.  Batsmen like Hussey have become masters at this strategy.  Opening batsmen should work hard at developing this skill as it becomes incredibly important in tough times to be able to rotate the strike.

 

Coaching Cues:

1. Foot to the ball
2. Shoulder over the foot
   1. Head over the ball
   2. Weight through the front foot
3. Stay side on
4. Bat and pad close together
5. Soft hands

 

The most important reason for learning that front foot defensive is that it enables you to drive the ball a lot more easily.  As in reality the only major difference between the two shots is the drive has a follow through whereas the forward defensive is played with a dead bat.

 

When to play the forward defensive:

 

The Forward defensive is played when the ball is bowled on a good length and ‘just short of a good length’.  It is the shot of choice when you are enable to drive the ball and a the ball is not short enough to easily get onto the back foot.

 

If you have any specific questions or need some advice, please leave a comment.

Cricket Test: Day 3 Aus Vs SA – Game balanced

This cricket test match is shaping up to be an extremely exciting and traditional style test match.  It seems every time one team starts to get the edge, the other fights back.  The see-saw or rollercoaster hasn’t dissapointed with thrilling catches, tough knocks and long battles.  Day 3 finished with Australia have a 2nd innings lead of over 300.  However, a few quick wickets early on day 4 and a good batting display by South Africa will have Australia fighting to hold on to their lead.

Time will tell.  Make sure you take the time to grab a beer and sit in a nice cool room and watch the fourth day.  I’m sure its going to be when cracking day of cricket.

Cricket News: Johnson takes day 2 honours – Aus on top

The roller coaster ride at the WACa continues in the first Aus vs SA test.  South Africa like indestructible in their run chase at 1 for 100 odd and found themselves in a lot of trouble by stumps.  Mitchell Johnson bowled superbly to finish the day with 7 of the 8 wickets including 5 wickets in 20 balls. 

Smith will be dissapointed with his batsmen who seemed to make poor batting decisions late in the day.  Contrary to Smith, Ponting will be estactic with the fitness and concentration by the Australian team over a hot Perth day.

Cricket updates: South Africa let go a golden opportunity

The South African cricket team came to Australian shores to prove a point.  They are a champion team that can win any where and at any time.  Whilst they haven’t given up on proving their point, yesterday, a series of slightly problematic issues arose. 

After a brilliant start – losing the toss and claiming 3 for 17.  They let Australia fight their way back in with a wonderful 149 run partnership between Clarke and Katich.  However, they fought back late in the day to have Australia 9 wickets down.  My argument at the end of day one is that South Africa missed an opportunity to dismiss Australia for less then 300.

Simple captaincy decisions, like bowling Steyn into the wind all day and not adjusting the field from impulse and not calculated moves.  May have let Australia back into the game when they should never have been.