Moving ball problems

[12th Man]

Same story once again ! If the ball swings Sri Lanka can't bat. Highly paid coaches,assistant coaches,batting coaches etc have not been able to rectify this. Jayasuriya is hopeless when the ball moves he simply hasn't the technique. The new wicket keeper showed just how inexperienced he is when it comes to batting in test matches and the lower middle order seemed to be in too much of a hurry.

Look at what the Kiwis are doing now. Just waiting for the loose ball and occupying the crease. Also Fleming at 4 to spare him the vagaries of the pitch and the new ball ? Fleming also plays Murali well !

People are saying that it looks like a test match where the captain who wins the toss, loses the match in the first session. I still feel the NZ now have to decide when to declare and then if they don't get a gigantic total have to face Murali on the 4th innings.

A good comparison of Warne and Murali ?

[Andy Mellon]

I don't think it was just due to the moving ball though 12th Man. There were some stupid dismissals in there from players who should no better at a time that they shouldn't have been flinging the bat at the ball. Jayawardene and Tharanga, for example.

Apparently, this morning Sri Lanka were favourites for the series. I couldn't believe it! For sub-continental teams, NZ is the most difficult tour they can play in. In fact, for batting in general, New Zealand is probably the toughest place to play - look how low most of the Kiwi batsmens first class averages are!

Its a tough tour to play with proper acclimitisation. Sri Lanka haven't had enough time out there, they have an inexperienced team and they are now relying on Murali taking wickets on a pitch where the Kiwis had Nathan Astle bowling ahead of Dan Vettori because its so green.

Pretty naive from the Sri Lankans overall I would say.

[Wanderer]

Don't be so hard on the boys 12th man .... Most SC teams struggle when they tour the southern hemisphere it seems.

Patience may be a virtue they lack? If the top order can see off the new ball bowlers, batting does get easier. No use throwing the bat at everything...

South Africa has one player that can play spin fairly well, Jacques Kallis. The rest get by by sweeping and pulling off a length if provided. Reason? We don't prepare spinners pitches, because there is this strange belief by the powers-that-be that we don't have "attacking" spinners. Hogwash! So, what happens when we tour the SC? Guys like Murali, Harbhajan and Kaneria spins them like a record

So, here's the solution from a colleague of mine. Amongst the 4 to 8 test playing venues each SC country have, they should have at least ONE pitch, where they deliberately prepare it so it has pace and bounce.

Maybe that will teach them some patience with the new ball...at least...

[Maranello]

I agree with your comments in general Andy, just a small clarification:

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

For sub-continental teams, NZ is the most difficult tour they can play in.

Not for all subcontinental teams though. We generally do very well in New Zealand; of all the Test Match tours Pakistan has made to NZL over the years, we have won six, drawn three and lost only one - winning 8 Test matches, and losing just 4 (link). The way to beat the Kiwis is through sheer pace and swing - that's why Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib and even Sami do so well against them.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Amongst the 4 to 8 test playing venues each SC country have, they should have at least ONE pitch, where they deliberately prepare it so it has pace and bounce.

In general, Mohali has almost as much pace and grass on the first couple of days as Headingley in early summer. Peshawar is another venue which generally helps the seamers, and Lahore does so occasionally. So "pace" is less of an issue, bounce is - there are hardly any first class venues, let alone test grounds, which have hard, bouncy tracks.

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Maranello

I agree with your comments in general Andy, just a small clarification:... of all the Test Match tours Pakistan has made to NZL over the years, we have won six, drawn three and lost only one - winning 8 Test matches, and losing just 4

Yes. Good point and one which I forgot. I was thinking mainly of the recent Indian tour; of which NZ are still seeing the after effects, and the recent, regular Sri Lanka tours.

Pakistan are the sub-continental team who get seam bowling consistantly 'right' - hence they can do pretty well in NZ.

[outswing]

yeah our weaknesses against the ball that swings is obvious for all to see, i mean, when they toured england, Hoggard had the number of most of the top order it seemed.

I suppose that practice makes perferct, but apart from Vaas, there doesnt appear to be a bowler in our team who could swing it on a regular basis.

I dont think that it is a case of us finding it hard to play tests on the Southern Hemisphere, more so than it is a case that we find it hard to play test away from home, although we did alright in England, i would like to see that on a more regular basis.

[12th Man]

They are doing it again ! Giving fielding practice to the Kiwi slips. What the HELL is going on ?!!!!

[Django]

Originally Posted by 12th Man

They are doing it again ! Giving fielding practice to the Kiwi slips. What the HELL is going on ?!!!!

As the title of this thread says - SL are having real problems with swing. The batsmen appear to be throwing their bats at everything! Combination of good bowling by the Kiwis and poor batting by the SL batsmen.

[Wanderer]

If not for that Fleming/Cumming partnership, the kiwi's would have been the ones staring down the barrel. Another test that will end in 3 days. Not on.

Hopefully we'll see a "sporting" pitch next week at the Basin.