Response to: Second Test: Murali Vijay plunders a century as Aussies wilt in the heat

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Forget the DRS - that is a debate for another time. The lack of DRS is no excuse for pathetic umpiring. The ICC really need to look at why countries are producing such poor umpires. The English umpire is quite a joke. His decisions have been consistently incorrect and against India. It took me back to the “good ole’ days” when we had totally biased home team umpires. I can understand the one-eyed Australian media and public being unable to be blunt about this but most of us know that the 1st test was spoiled by the umpiring and India lost a game that theirs for the taking.

What astounded me was to see the same English umpire back on the field today (for the second test)!!!! How do the ICC manage corrupt umpiring? There were 4 obvious decisions that were wrong in that game and not only were they all against India but they were critical decisions. 3 of India's top order batsmen were given out incorrectly and Australia's only batsmen was given a second go. I can excuse an umpire not giving an LBW when there is some doubt, but giving one when it isn't out, is inexcusable - I guess some of you arm-chair viewers will be unable to comprehend that concept.

I remember the good ole' days when the Aussie media used to slander the umpiring in the subcontinent, when the umpiring in Australia was so much worse (That's why most Aussie top-order-batmen were never given LBW here and most opponent batsmen were). It is not surprising that since umpiring became "professional" and statistics maintained on the quality of decisions, it is the sub-continental umpires who have proven best time and time again. Their pay-eligibility/scale should be dependent on the quality of their performance

A simple solution,  that will increase the pressure on cheating umpires is that, whenever a batsmen is given out, review the decision automatically and maintain a limit for the bowling side to review decisions that are not given out (as they do now).

Commenter

Cockeyed Observer

Date and time

December 17, 2014, 10:32PM

Response to: Boxing Day Test 2014: Ryan Harris back as Aussies relish Indians' whingeing

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Give an immature, naive country kid captaincy and it becomes quite noticeable when they stand up against the more worldly skippers like Dhoni. Skippers usually let the young guns do the dirty work - unfortunately in the Aussie case, the skipper is a young gun - does nothing for international respect. But then, Michael Clarke was no different.

Commenter

Cockeyed Observer

Date and time

December 26, 2014, 12:48AM

Did Cricket Australia’s strategy go horribly wrong

Anyone who has been watching the international cricket this summer would have noticed the difference in the Aussie pitches this year. They are far more bouncy than before. It is no coincidence that the world cup is here and that the final will be played at the MCG. The MCG pitch has been changed so much for this final that we had some of the commentators refer to it as a “slab of concrete”!!

Aussies have historically maintained a home team advantage by having bouncy pitches, arguably the worst in the world. However, with bounce, so comes danger. So we are used to seeing 3 and 4 day tests in Australia and think none of it. We also see sub-continental players breaking arms and fingers at the WACA and attribute it to brilliant, aggressive bowling.

Statistically the Aussie pitches are outliers and therefore arguably the worst in the world. Not to be confused with statements made by players about the “grounds being great”. The facilities for the players and spectators are great and the spectacle itself, is great. However, that is not a reflection of the pitch itself.

All nations adopt some form of strategy to gain home advantage. The Aussie strategy has proven to be much better than the others as it is a real challenge for a touring team to play on these wickets as proven time and time again by the 3 day tests played over here. However, the strategy does have an element of danger associated with it.On one hand, one could argue that Aussie batsmen are used to the bouncy wickets and therefore there is less danger to them, but on the other hand, it could be argued that, there are a whole lot more Aussie batsmen batting on them and therefore the chances of such an injury is greater.

The Phil Hughes tragedy could very well be the outcome of the CA strategy for the world cup. However, it might have provided the opportunity to make these outrageous pitches safer for other nations.

Safer pitches or more Aussie wins and an advantage in the world cup – I guess, knowing the Aussie psyche, it’s a no brainer.

Response to: Adelaide set to host emotional Test opener

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Haven’t we become one of the most self-pitying societies? If this had happened to any other country, we would be calling them wimps (the tough guys that we are) for not playing and making statements like "the best thing for them to get over this is to play the test". We are a bunch of totally self-centred, insular hypocrites.
In our typical arrogant manner, we think that the reason that other countries are empathising with us is because WE are such great people. Let me suggest that on the contrary, the reason they empathise is because THEY are considerate, great people. If something similar had happened to a sub-continental player with a few tests under their belt, we wouldn't even have known about it - I'm told that this has, in fact happened and yes, we didn't care a damn.
We need to take a real good look at ourselves! Maybe CA and the rest of us could learn a thing or two from the Indian team and the approach they are taking about this matter. If it had been the other way around, one can just imagine the arrogance and incentive crude behaviour we could expect from the Aussies,. Can't say we are renown for our diplomacy within the cricket world (or without for that matter!).

Commenter

Cockeyed Observer

Date and time

December 01, 2014, 11:21PM