It's just not cricket.

Greg J · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:50 pm

It's a slaughter.

I guess Zimbabwe have to go through this stage to get any better, but seriously, is it entertainment?

Are they (the people who voted on their, and Bangladesh's entry into Test cricket) killing cricket?

Is the tri nation tournament against India and Zibabwe? Sh-eet. Might as well skip straight to the best of three finals between us and India.

commonwombat · commonwombat Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Location: sydney/s.africa

Bangladesh have definitely been rushed into Test cricket way before they deserved. Kenya, at least on ODI grounds, has far better claims.

Zimbabwe is a somewhat different case. When it was Rhodesia (before independence in 1980), they used to play in the Sth African domestic comp and a number of Rhodesians played Tests for S Afr.

They were first seen in intl cricket when they won the ICC trophy to qualify for 83 W.Cup. They beat Aussies in that W.Cup and nearly beat India and others. They were competitive in 87 Cup but weren't given Test statusuntil after 92 W.Cup.

Arguably they were held back TOO long and in mean time lost quality players, like Hick to England. They are Zimbabwe born players in S Afr who have chosen to take that route.

They have been reasonably competitive for much of their time in intl cricket but the political situation at home has seen a number of players leave the country. The loss of the Flowers, Goodwin, Johnson etc has ripped much competitiveness out of them.

They were a side that could compete against most sides in intl cricket but have been weakened beyond recognition. Politics at home would act against any real improvement over next 5 yrs, meanwhile what little quality left may have retired.

Donny · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 6:11 pm

Thanks for putting that into perspective, Wombat.

Donny · Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2003 8:51 pm

A couple of things to note, Greg.

The crowd certainly thought it was entertaining.

Langer, Ponting, Martyn and Lehmann only totalled 152 between them. People seem to forget little things like that when they rubbish teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Check the Australia v. Bangladesh Test statistics. How many wickets did the world's best bowler (McGrath) get against the world's worst team ?

Hayden didn't go out there and carve a ton before lunch. He took 210 balls and 308 minutes to bring up his first hundred and didn't hit a six till after his century came up.

He played a classic innings. Patient for 5 hours then he plundered when he'd broken their spirits.

And, in closing, Australia is considered to have the best opening batting combo in world cricket - and their figures back that up - and yet they only made 42 in this Test and the Zimbos made 61 against two of the most feared/respected fast bowlers in world cricket. Interesting.