yeah that's legitimately insane to pick him over cummins or pattinson

Not going to trawl through stats to back it up but I feel like he always seems to do well against England. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Yeah you have to include Siddle, he gets KP out every time!

He's well suited to English conditions.

Pattinson tore a hammy in the shield final - selectors have said he is likely the first replacement if someone breaks down - Siddle is a proven entity and with Harris and Johnson best used in short spells he is the work horse that brings balance to an attack

Hazlewood has overtaken him though, surely? I can't see Siddle playing unless someone gets injured, maybe two people. And if Johnson or Starc breakdown he's not an ideal replacement, perhaps he's good cover for Hazlewood though as a steady sort of bowler.

Then if he isn't playing it is useless for him to be on the tour other than as a holiday for him to enjoy. It would be much better if a younger player such as Cummins or Pattinson was on the tour to get experience for future tours.

Ashes in just 2 weeks :

1st test in Cardiff, where the weather has generally been better, its mid-summer ffs

Aus 2.06

Eng 4.5

Draw 3.55

For the series, Aus are a v hot fav, at 1.40, (and sure, its best of 5 games), but, Eng have been v hard to beat at home, even thou the side is a work-in-progress.

With some conviction, have laid the 1.40, and have maximum bank laid Aus at 14.0, to win 5-0.

Am hoping Aus play with a less sledging type approach, for the good of the game etc, but, am prepared to be dissapointed.

Time for a dedicated thread - just putting it out there.

Writing one up right now.

really looking forward to this.

bundy5
temp-banned

10-team World Cup not up for debate

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/c...ry/892955.html

How is cricket supposed to grow if they're going to do this?


What idiot thought it was a good idea to let India go solo and sign a contract guaranteeing Star Sports the right to cover a minimum of 9 India games in 2019 and 2023 World Cups? Unlikely though it may be, what happens if India have a mega collapse in form and drop to 11th in the rankings? Would they still qualify?

What other idiot let Giles Clarke anywhere near this whole process? He's clearly a buffoon, with no vision for the growth of the global game.

And why are Cricket Australia apparently supporting this, albeit in silence? They have been the most consistently quality ODI team for twenty years, and don't look like slowing down any time soon. Are they scared of losing? Why wouldn't they want to let Associate teams join in and have a go?

Pretty disappointing stuff all round from ICC and the 'Big Three'.

I'm inclined to think that India just can't be bothered having to play these minnows in the lead-up games to the quarter finals.

India will never drop outside the 10 and even if they did, by some miracle, the powers at be at the ICC would give them some sort of special entry into the tournament.

Cricket Australia are supporting this IMO because they are in this "big three" and are getting a bigger slice of the revenue now.

Seems India really are getting serious about betting and corruption in the IPL — Rajasthan Royals and CSK both suspended for two years.

Not sure yet what that means for their players. Are they allowed to transfer, or will their contracts force them to stay with those franchises and therefore not play? They've got some really big names between them, including four international captains, Dhoni, McCullum, du Plessis and Steve Smith, plus the likes of Raina, Ashwin and probably some others I forgot. If they can move then it means fewer spots and therefore more competition between the big international names to secure their spots in the remaining six teams. Could be a salary-downer for all bar the very special talents like Gayle and AB, because their value diminishes due to the increased availability of other players of similar ability.

Also, only six teams will almost halve the size of the next two editions, if they keep the same format. I doubt the TV people will like that if they paid per season instead of per game, because it will slash their advertising revenues. A six team round robin home and away, with top four through to last four matches means only 34 games instead of 60. I wonder if they might switch to each team playing the others twice home and away, making it 64 games instead of the previous 60, so only slightly longer for the overall tournament.

But that does mean twenty games per team instead of fourteen, which would be much more physically demanding on the players when you take into account not only all the extra playing, and all the extra travelling, but the fact that there would be almost no rest days as you're either playing or on a plane. Maybe double header home games would be the answer, so for instance Delhi could play their two home games against RCB on consecutive days to reduce the travelling. But then there is a potential downside in the form of reduced interest, particularly in the second game if the first one is one-sided.

Also, does this mean that CSK and Royals are banned from this year's Champions League? CSK are in the main draw as runners-up, while Royals are in the qualifying round for finishing fourth.

So many implications beyond the "simple" banning, and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out and what happens for CLT20 this year and IPL 2016 and 2017.

I think a shorter IPL is a good thing. Always gets a bit stale towards the end

I wonder if the most likely outcome is the teams being reinstated on appeal and the people involved stay banned

Most likely there will be 2 new teams next edition, and CLT20 has been scrapped.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news...mediate-effect


And lol south africa

Bangladesh now a really good team at least at home

In for the lol NZ losing to Zimbabwe.

Lol terrible

Tbf though noone gives a ****, we're just ****ing around experimenting

I see you are getting your excuses ready for November.

Hat trick with first three deliveries. I enjoyed watching the batsman that isn't on strike more than anything.

All quality deliveries too.

Guptil and Latham break the record for highest successful ODI chase without a lost wicket, each getting centuries.

Everything must be ok then for NZ cricket now.