Good to see the Aussies make the Poms sweat for most of their win over Scotland today…gutted for Scotland, as their last few overs were the worst they have played throughout this tournament.. So close but no cigar sadly for the Scots.
It was a pretty sloppy effort by the Aussies particularly in the field. They would want to improve on that for the encounters against India etc
England flexed their muscles against the West Indies today and are looking pretty scary all of a sudden. Archer is a real point of difference for them and he stopped a promising West Indies batting performance in its tracks with one brilliant over.
Does anyone else think this super 8 concept is overkill? You could get the situation if the results go a particular way that the last few super 8 games may be irrelevant as the semi finalists could have been decided.
I reckon it would have been better just to play knockout games after the group stage ( i.e Quarter finals then semis)
Mikey i was thinking that with the super 8’s I reckon they could have just had two groups and everyone plays more games in the first round then the top 4 from each division goes through to cut throat for the later part of the tournament.
If the Aussies bat well they will have a good result shortly
Agree that system would be much better. Case in point is that if Australia beat Afghanistan and India beat Bangladesh in the next round of games, this will make the last 2 matches completely irrelevant because the semi finalists will have already been decided. Australia did what they had to do today against an opposition that had no real belief in themselves. Afghanistan could be a different proposition particularly on a turning pitch with the quality of their spinners. Mitch Marshes form is becoming a bit of a concern.
The England v South Africa game tonight is massive as the winner will be the first into the semi finals. England are certainly coming good at the right time and will be hard to beat
The WI self imploded in the field with dropped catches, and Shepherd coughing up 30 runs to Phil Salt in that Eng win. I think SA will challenge Eng when they meet, as SA batting line up hasn’t clicked yet and Rabada, Nortje and Jansen are a huge step up than that WI bowling line up.
Aust and India for me to gp through, it looks like Afghanistan have tapered off from their bright start to the comp.
Fantastic result for Afghanistan. Outplayed Australia in all 3 aspects of the game and wanted to win so much more. They are now in the box seat to qualify as they may only need to beat Bangladesh to make the semis. Even if Australia beat India it could come down to run rates.
It was a disasterous day for the Aussies, from strange team selection ( Agar for Starc was mystifying), choosing to bowl first when all the history of this ground pointed to batting and then a sloppy effort in the field.
The batting was abysmal apart from Maxwell and once Afghanistan got him, it was all over.
I detected a touch of arrogance in their play and they didnt like the way the opposition got in their faces. It almost seemed like they just rocked up expecting to cruise home and got a nasty shock when Afghanistan had other ideas.
Lazy effort by Aust…kudos to Afghanistan for the win, fully deserved. I reckon if Cummins had of been captain, folk would of butchered him for batting first, but since it’s a WA boy in Marsh, no doubt it was the Victirian’s fault…anyway dumb decision to bowl first, whoever’s decision it was. Agreed mikeh, Aust reeked of arrogance in this match…you reap what you sow I guess.
I think they have inflated opinions of their ability in this format. Don’t forget Scotland scored 180 a week ago against their bowlers and they only just scraped home. Apart from the win against England they have just been beating up minnow teams. Many of the players are living on their past reputations. A number of them were sitting on the bench for their IPL teams. The only players who have played consistently through this tournament are Warner (ironically), Starc (still can’t believe he was dropped today) Cummins and Zampa. They will play better against India but I doubt it will be enough to beat them and squeeze into the semi finals
TBH Australia have never been a great 20/20 team apart from that one unexpected title in Dubai but thats fine as long as they continue to be competitive in tests and ODIs..
Time now for a total refresh looking towards the next T20 world cup with Fraser -McGurk, Bartlett, Johnson, Matt Short, Sangha, Hardie etc to get more opportunities in White ball cricket
I think you are right Mikey - unless we do something amazing against India this will be the end of a generation of T20 cricketers and a chance to bring in a whole new batch with a view towards the 2026 championship in India
I havent watched 1 second of this tournament and I do have amazon prime but yesterdays result didnt surprise me one iota.
a) How on earth is Agar in the team for starters he cant even get a game for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL???
b) Are we serious in playing Wade as the wicketkeeper/batsman ahead of Josh Inglis?!?!
Good to see you sticking to your guns BH, kudos to you mate, always good to make a stand, irrespective of its importance or not.
You didn’t miss much BH, Aust now reliant upon Bangladesh to win , but by no more than 60 odd runs or with 7 odd overs to spare v Afghanistan. Aust looked cooked, well as cooked as they looked since the Scotland game.
As mikeh & PH rightly say, time to freshen up this Aust T20 side…out with Warner, Marsh, Stoinis, Maxwell, Wade & David batting wise…time to say goodbye to the big 3…invest in the likes of F-McGurk, Short, Davies, Connolly, Sangha, Hardie, Webster, Bartlett and Johnson…give more air time to Ellis and Inglis and hope Jhye & Lance can stay fit, plus hope a few diamonds can be unearthed before 2026 T20 WC, like Dixon et al from the Aust U/19’s.
But then again it is only hit n giggle cricket, so not overly important TBH in the grand scheme of things.
End of a miserable campaign for Australia. Paid the price for picking players on reputation rather than recent T20 performance. Would have been a travesty if they had snuck in on the basis of someone else losing. Still Australia can be content with their last 12 months with the WTC, 50 over world cup and the Ashes in the trophy cabinet but this is the time for generational change and we will have to put up with more moderate performances over the next few years due to the lack of succession planning.
Well done to Afghanistan and their inspirational captain. The only blight on their performance was that embarassing fake injury by one of their players to try and slow down the game when they were in front of the DRS rate and the rain was coming down. This was no doubt orchestrated by their English coach who has an advanced degree in invoking the spirit of cricket when it suits us.
Tragic result for Australia with the Taliban getting up. Been a tragic tournament all round with absolute shite wickets. Zimbabwe missing but Uganda and PNG somehow there and of course the expat loaded USA. Fkn stupid. Took the old boys on a farewell tour (thanks Davey (from Fraser McG), thanks Wadey (from Josh I), thanks Stoin (from Matt S) etc etc and paid the price, like NZ did. 12 dropped catches across the tournament for Australia. You’re not going to win too many comps with that sort of fielding.
International T20 is just full of banana skin moments. Fkn stupid concept. Leave it to franchise cricket. Like Michael Holding said when he was asked why don’t you commentate in the IPL - “Because I only commentate on cricket”
Love that Michael Holding comment Dazzler…so true.
Hopefully this Australian effort will be a precursor for some change personnel wise, both on and off the park…A few countries have a separate coach for T20 now…
Think SA will win the trophy, they need to, in order to shake that WC choking tag of theirs. India should beat Eng, especially since Aust did, and Aust are crap at T20.
Mikey agree the old “Rainstring” injury struck again
Either that or the sniper in the grandstand hit the target beautifully, and then he recovered sufficiently to bowl again
The next T20 world cup is in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. I have been putting some thought into what the Aussie team might look like for that tournament. Given that all but 1 player in this edition is over 30, I reckon there will be a lot of turnover.
What do you think of this team?
Head (C)
Matt Short
Fraser McGurk
Green
Hardie
Inglis
David
Cummins
Ellis
Zampa
Sangha.
Others : Johnson, Mc Dermott, Bartlett, Chris Green, Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Morris, Dhwarsius, Meredith
9 bowling options in that team
Obviously a lot can change in 2 years and other players may emerge
Thoughts?
[quote=“mikeh post=236267 userid=926”]The next T20 world cup is in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. I have been putting some thought into what the Aussie team might look like for that tournament. Given that all but 1 player in this edition is over 30, I reckon there will be a lot of turnover.
What do you think of this team?
Head (C)
Matt Short
Fraser McGurk
Green
Hardie
Inglis
David
Cummins
Ellis
Zampa
Sangha.
Others : Johnson, Mc Dermott, Bartlett, Chris Green, Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Morris, Dhwarsius, Meredith
9 bowling options in that team
Obviously a lot can change in 2 years and other players may emerge
Thoughts?
[/quote]
I like it.
You couldn’t find a spot for Hazelwood or Starc? It’ll be their turn to have a farewell tournament by then.
I like it.
You couldn’t find a spot for Hazelwood or Starc? It’ll be their turn to have a farewell tournament by then.
[/quote]
I think Starc said he will concentrate on red ball cricket after this tournament with his T20 stuff being limited to franchise cricket. Not sure how old Hazlewood will be in 2026 but if he is still fit and firing he would have to come into consideration for sure
This might seem controversial to some, but if Cummins plays, he needs to be captain. Why can’t he captain all three he is captain of his IPL team.
I reckon Heads captaincy record isn’t that flash and I don’t see him getting lots of opportunities in the coming 2 years to work on it.
WA should make Hardie captain of the scorchers this summer that will give him as much experience as anyone, and if i was Australian selector id be pushing for Matt Short, Fraser-McGuirk, Inglis, and Sanga to all have leadership roles in their BBL sides (You could probably add McDermott to that list too)