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The Cricket Thread

I mean it’s a ball so very much based on how the person using it handles it.
Main reason the ball swings a lot in England is due to conditions overhead which the Aussies have been pretty poor at handling for over 20 years now.
 
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I get that the Dukes ball in early season over here can be a bit too weighted in favour of the bowlers - I don’t think it’s a good thing when big standard 70mph seamers are taking five wicket hauls for example. But the kookaburra seems too far the other way. Only slight positive is the spinners seem to be doing better and being used a lot more than they normally would in April.
 
Carrotdude said:
I get that the Dukes ball in early season over here can be a bit too weighted in favour of the bowlers - I don’t think it’s a good thing when big standard 70mph seamers are taking five wicket hauls for example. But the kookaburra seems too far the other way. Only slight positive is the spinners seem to be doing better and being used a lot more than they normally would in April.
Click to expand...

The ball does a lot but it’s not impossible to play, reality is the red ball should be a universal design. Nevertheless I’m not subscribing to the idea it’s impossible to play against.
 
Not impossible I know but really does help the bowlers a lot. Completely agree though that it should be a universal design - I’m not sure how you stop that becoming a complete monopoly for one company though
 
The Kookaburra is not "just a ball" really, the seam is nowhere near as pronounced and it goes soft very quickly. So after 20 overs there's very little there to work with, it impacts on Australia home Test matches in the same way, they tend to get tedious after a short while. It's a poor piece of equipment. Most respected commentators (including your likes of Athers and Nasser) have long been of the view that Test cricket is at its best when the elements are *slightly* in favour of the bowling side and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Look at the 2005 Ashes for the obvious example where that applied, no huge totals, everyone who made a century properly had to work at it, technical flaws shown up and some superb bowling on show from both teams.

Meanwhile at Edgbaston, Warks are 662/3 at lunch. Ed Barnard can't be too happy to have got out for 1!
 
I agree with you on the ball but it is an Australian product. The championing of domestic product here is a million times more than the buy British trends we had thirty years ago.

They won’t stand for a foreign ball if an Australian one is available.
 
Deutsch Wolf said:
The Kookaburra is not "just a ball" really, the seam is nowhere near as pronounced and it goes soft very quickly. So after 20 overs there's very little there to work with, it impacts on Australia home Test matches in the same way, they tend to get tedious after a short while. It's a poor piece of equipment. Most respected commentators (including your likes of Athers and Nasser) have long been of the view that Test cricket is at its best when the elements are *slightly* in favour of the bowling side and I wholeheartedly agree with them. Look at the 2005 Ashes for the obvious example where that applied, no huge totals, everyone who made a century properly had to work at it, technical flaws shown up and some superb bowling on show from both teams.

Meanwhile at Edgbaston, Warks are 662/3 at lunch. Ed Barnard can't be too happy to have got out for 1!
Click to expand...
Still think Barnard can go to the top or again international recognition at least. Developing into the batsman/bowler I thought he would become as opposed to the bowler/batsman he was initially at Worcester.
He dad was bowler/bowler who gave it a bit of the long handle (with John Roberts) at the end of an innings, but a number five he was not.
 
England Watch, Week Two

Essex 530/7 dec & 257/4 dec vs Kent 413 & 164/7

J Cox 67 & 116*

M Parkinson 27-1-125-2 & 15-0-108-1

M Parkinson 4

Hampshire 367 & 179/4 vs Lancashire 484

L Dawson 86

K Jennings 172
J Bohannon 30

L Dawson 49-3-156-4

Nottinghamshire 399 & 151/7 vs Worcestershire 355

H Hameed 11 & 40
B Duckett 9 & 63
J Clarke 105 & 0

Somerset 285 & 351 vs Surrey 428 & 123/5

T Banton 1 & 11
J Rew 3 & 22
C Overton 0 & 52*
S Bashir 10* & 2

G Atkinson 19-5-57-3 & 22-7-60-1
J Overton 13-3-45-0 & 13-3-35-0
D Lawrence 7-0-35-0 & 28-2-76-3

O Pope 11 & 11
J Smith 51 & 45
B Foakes 57 & DNB
D Lawrence 6 & 53*
J Overton 35 & 3
G Atkinson 15 & 3*

C Overton 26-3-94-1 & 4-0-48-0
S Bashir 36-11-76-1 & DNB

Warwickshire 698/3 dec vs Durham 517 & 293/6

R Yates 191

M Potts 23-2-106-0
B Carse 19-0-128-0

A Lees 145 & 1
O Robinson 60 & 52

B Carse 12 & 4*
M Potts 44 & 149*

R Yates 42-6-137-4 & 32-1-121-3

Yorkshire 326 & 434/6 dec vs Gloucestershire 263 & 405/6

J Root 2 & 51
H Brook 26 & 68
M Fisher 20 & DNB

J Bracey 39 & 102

M Fisher 20-4-64-3 & 19-2-58-1
J Root 12-5-26-0 & 20-5-72-0
H Brook 1-0-5-0 & DNB

Leicestershire 338 & 86/1 vs Sussex 694/9 dec

T Haines 2-0-13-0 & 2-0-9-0
J Carson 16-5-40-1 & 5-1-15-1

T Haines 108
J Carson 38

Northamptonshire 552/6 dec vs Middlesex 553/2

J De Caires 39-1-165-1
 
No positive results.
Matt Potts scoring 149 no as nightwatchman and Rob Yates taking 7 wickets tells you everything you need to know about the piece of crap they are bowling with
 
For the record Potts has scored 20.7% of his entire career first class runs in this game
 
How about playing County Cricket in the height of summer Rob so that spinners get a chance to ply there trade on wickets more conducive to their craft?
 
Completely deluded.

This is like at work where you are asked to contribute to a project or asked your views on a reorganisation and given a deadline of COP Monday to submit. Hours are spent on it [normally in your own time at weekends and in evenings], only to be given the results or outcome first thing on Tuesday.

You realise that any input you had or opinion you gave was simply a box ticking exercise - this Kookaburra trial is just the same as the 'results', or more pertinently lack of them, means the decision was made before the start of the season.
 
I like how he says the weather has played a part. Maybe in that case Rob it'd be better not to have a ball which looks like a dog's been at it after an hour or so's play so you might still get results even when you inevitably lose time in early April to rain/light?
 
You'll always get 'freak' averages after a couple of games but the lists are already staggering this year.

You've already pointed out Potts numbers but there are others.

In CC Div 1: Bell-Drummond has two centuries in the first two games and averages 88. Great start you think and you look straight to the top of the averages board. You might not see him though as there are 12 above him! In April, with soft tracks and bowler friendly weather.

Take CC Division 2: Emilio Gay, a Northants batsman, has a career average of 30. This summer, in three innings, he has scored nearly 300 runs averaging 95*. His average is not even in the Top 10...

*one big innings admittedly but the point stands. Batsmen who don't score runs are literally scoring hundreds.
 
I get the point that medium pacers causing havoc is no good for anyone. But if the top bowlers can’t do anything on green surfaces and favourable overheads then surely this has tipped way too far the other way?
 
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