It isn't that important
It's only one day cricket anyway
Cricket isn't a real sport
Don't lose sleep over it, it was always on the cards
You can't win 'em all
They'll bounce back
And all that.
If any of you bastards out there so much as think about saying any of the above, my homicidal tendencies will appear. Consider yourselves warned.
Now I'm off to watch Neighbours and cry into my vegemite toast.
14 thoughts on this post:
Sack Nielsen.
Please can't we have just a leetle blood-letting? We've been so patient for sooooooo long.
lou
Come on...who would have seriously thought that Oz had it in them to win the WC this time?
btw, is it the end of the road for cam white? Aus should look to guys like Finch and Ferguson to sore their batting from hereon..
Man to Man, India were a better team even though they played with only 10. I don't consider Munaf Patel a player. He is some kind of scare crow to mislead opponents. He gives them false sense of security. Otherwise India were a better team in spite of 'Suicidal' tendencies shown by a few.
I wouldn't like to advice what Australia should do. None of us Indians are qualified to do that. They still have a far superior infrastructure.
But 2 people have perhaps played their last world cup match. Ponting and Lee. We always admired them with some envy.
Feel really bad for you Sid.
I kind of fancied an Aus-SA game but the preference for one between India-Pak steadily grew.
And I will confess I supported India yesterday...I was just too eager to see some new champions.
Do you think Ricky will retire now? I mean, at least not immediately?
Finally my exams are all over and I'm active in blogging!
After yesterday's match - Yours is the first blog I'm visiting...Feel flattered? Well Just wanted to see your reactions...
Do feel bad for the Aussies....including their fans...I mean you guys aren't used to losing...(except in the last 12 months or so) but it was good to see the team take it all. Feel for Punter. Imagine if he gets the boot? Who'll replace him? Pup? then Australia will be in dire straights!
Tough luck mate.....maybe England losing today will make your day today!
Do I feel flattered, Chris? Uh, no, because you've clearly only come here to gloat.
I can't comment more, yet.
Sid...Man of the Match should have gone to Shaun Tait...for helping India win. Honestly, when you look at the batting of the two teams, we were far superior (thanks to Punter, Haddin and D. Huss) and India were average. But thanks to Shaun Tait's stupendous bowling and 2 extra overs (remember...India won with 14 balls to spare...), he is responsible!
I was livid with him. The thing is, at the start of the tournament, my partner n I spoke about how risky Tait was especially in matches against the big teams...I think personally that he is over-rated. So what if he is fast? You need line and length to match the speed as well. I wish he hadn't recovered before the WC...maybe Siddle would have got a spot instead and even if he hadn't taken many wickets, I reckon he would have been more economical than bloody Tait.
The problem with the Australian cricket team at the moment is not one, single problem; the whole set-up is whack: the composition of the team itself (selection); deployment of players (chiefly captaincy); performance (individual players and coaching staff).
For instance, there's nothing necessarily wrong with having crazy-ass bowlers like Tait and Johnson in your team, but if you do, you necessarily need either a red-hot batting line-up that racks up a good number of runs (which we usually do not these days) or complement them with a really miserly bowler or two to dry up the runs in order to put pressure on the other team to score.
I know our bowlers get a lot of flack, but I've always found our batting more lacking. 300 used to be a par score for Australia; nowadays, we struggle to get above 250. And against the better international teams, that means that our bowlers are consistently bowling to a subpar score. And in addition, they are virtually always expected to contribute with the bat. It's a sad state of affairs, that the finest compliment an Australian bowler seems to get these days is that he's so 'handy with the bat'. How about we start selecting batsmen who are handy with the bat?! And bowlers who are handy with the ball?!
I'm not happy that we lost. I'm never happy when we lose. But if this loss brings about some much needed whole-sale change, then perhaps this was the loss we needed to have.
well said betti..
Psych Babler,
Australian batting better than India ? That is some revelation !
Indians made 3 50s and an unbeaten 30+ under pressure. Australia had one century, one 50 and one 30+.
If you were worried about Shaun Tait, he at least got Sachin Tendulkar's wicket. We had 3 main bowlers [Zaheer, Ashwin, Bhajji], a few part-timers one of whom played full time role and then Munaf Patel.
Man to Man... Munaf Patel vs Tait went like Mpofu vs McGrath !
India just batted better, much better mate. If not for the sudden death wish shown by Gambhir, it would have been a no contest !
We still have to support the blokes 100% now.
India essentially won it off those two overs between Binag & Tait which released the pressure valve, which we usually kept in tact. The trio pace attack would risk this tactic given they were there too take wickets, but without our front line spinner (Krejza tried his best) it was going to be tough in their backyard. Not this time, we fell short but we certainly weren't outplayed or outgunned. The knockout is the price though!
If anything, this opportunity to win another World Cup title slipping by will force Cricket Australia and the the independent bullies at the NSP to make the changes that they have stalled.
I am not talking about the usual crap everyone goes on about as an excuse, Squad Selection, as we were severely affected by injuries and a reliance on key players with knowledge this campaign.
I'm referring to Cricket Australia becoming a cricket organisation again and not being a marketing machine only interested in bottom line.
State Level needs that competitive edge again, that hunger built in from inception to drive players to reach the elite level. Stuart Clark wrote an excellent article articulating many of these thoughts I have had. Hopefully, the change will come.
I am not at all worried about the future, we have some fantastic young cricketers who also have ambition:
Peter Siddle, Cal Ferguson, Tim Paine, Aaron Finch, Trent Copeland, Phil Hughes & Steve Smith (both sent into duty a bit too soon), Luke Butterworth, Mitch Marsh....just a few.
Throw in the guys in their late twenties, merge it with a stronger State setup and Cricket Australia actually facilitating the game in Australia again and listening what supporters opinions.
It's all good, change is in inevitable but I am damn proud of the boys regardless. Especially Punter, yeah, his lack of input with the bat has affected us badly, but he's a champ, a fighter and he's inspired me personally with his lack of fear and ability.
People say, "It's cause he had Warne & McGrath", piss off!
He contributed valuably and had to know how to execute his players skills in the heat of the moment. He's a champ!
I do hope he does give up the Captaincy and perhaps this is the perfect time to hang up the Green & Gold gear and just focus on representing the Baggy Green?
When his finger heals it will bring back some confidence and with limited pressure it will help him. He won't make the next World Cup so rather move away from limited overs cricket (like Steve Waugh did) and focus where he can and maybe elder players will join him. He can also have some fun with Tassie in his final years too.
Sent you an Email Kirby. 2015 will present another opportunity, the build up starts now. Come on Aussie, come on!
Oh yeah, there's also the Rugby World Cup title to grab later this year for the Wallabies
OK, guys - I am back. The sulking is finally over. Before anything else, I have to say well done to India. They now face Pakistan in the semi-finals so good luck with that.
Govind is right to be pleased with his team - India did play better on the day and deserved the win. I will also be sorry that it will most likely be Lee and Ponting's last WC. Ponting was fairly disappointing this time but Lee was something, huh? Damn fine players both.
@Tracer - no, I was never convinced (except in a rare golden moment) that Australia would win the cup but I did think they would make the semis. I'm very disappointed, but there were major issues evident and I guess I should have seen an early exit coming.
Ian, Betti and Lou are right in that the whole Cricket Australia setup is dodgy and needs a complete overhaul. It's something we've been waiting for for so long. My problem with Ian's comment: "If anything, this opportunity to win another World Cup title slipping by will force Cricket Australia and the the independent bullies at the NSP to make the changes that they have stalled." is this - isn't this something we all said after the Ashes defeat??
When will we finally get that bloodletting??
Psych and Sunny - thanks for the comments. Sunny, I can't believe SA are out as well. I really had the Saffas pegged to win this year. You can be happy that Pakistan are still kicking on, but now they have to get past India as well.
Psych, just one thing ... you have a partner? You didn't think I was going to let that go by, did you?
I had some moments when Tait was annoying me as well, throughout the tournament I mean. He was, as ever, notorious for his no-balls but would get annoyed for being picked up for them. He was giving a ref lip in one of the matches (Canada, I think?) for picking it up. Why? It's his doing! I've always liked Tait, but there seems to be a different side to him when things aren't going his way.
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