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Last night's session ended with Brendon McCullum a few runs short of the first Kiwi triple century in Test cricket. He made it by 2 and pulled two partners for a century apiece, Neesham's coming in his first Test match.

As Slartibartfast once said, almost entertainingly dull.

He got there after all, 302 in the end. Great knock as they say. I reckon McCullum looked like he might be a bit unwell too, quite a lot paler than usual.. so incredible effort for someone who's probably not feeling 100%

Yeah, 680 for 8 and declared is a massive innings in anyone's book.

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only American who understands and appreciates cricket.

Captain Ned wrote:

Yeah, 680 for 8 and declared is a massive innings in anyone's book.

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only American who understands and appreciates cricket.

Not a bad effort considering they were 5 for 94 still a couple of hundred behind. Dhoni's captaincy does need to be looked at as he was far too defensive for too long in that massive partnership. Contrast that with the carnage that Mitchell Johnson has wrecked in South Africa. Latest news is that one of the South Africans is out of the 2nd test with a case of mild concussion after wearing a ball to the side of his helmet in the first test (as well as a couple of stitches).

monts wrote:

Latest news is that one of the South Africans is out of the 2nd test with a case of mild concussion after wearing a ball to the side of his helmet in the first test (as well as a couple of stitches).

I've got a list of sporting objects I don't want to be hit by. The only one above a cricket ball is a lacrosse ball.

Captain Ned wrote:

monts wrote:

Latest news is that one of the South Africans is out of the 2nd test with a case of mild concussion after wearing a ball to the side of his helmet in the first test (as well as a couple of stitches).

I've got a list of sporting objects I don't want to be hit by. The only one above a cricket ball is a lacrosse ball.

Have never seen a lacrosse ball, but have been hit often by cricket balls. When hit in the upper leg you get some of the best bruises. Only time I've been hit in the head by one is when I top-edged a ball off my bat into my cheek bone. That hurt for days.

I swear I thought someone had hacked your accounts. I cant believe I'm seeing cricket discussed on these forums, let alone my team. McCullum's career high light probably, he used to be a real swing and bash player, lots of quick 50s but this is a pretty seasoned innings. To be honest I've been surprised that the Indian bowling has been so poor, I know the pitches are small but some of these run chases are pretty ridiculous.
I thought I was one of a handful of American cricket fans, I guess there are others.

monts wrote:

Captain Ned wrote:

Yeah, 680 for 8 and declared is a massive innings in anyone's book.

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only American who understands and appreciates cricket.

Dhoni's captaincy does need to be looked at as he was far too defensive for too long in that massive partnership. Contrast that with the carnage that Mitchell Johnson has wrecked in South Africa.

Dhoni's strength has always been his long lastingness though, I mean isn't his nick name the wall of India? I thought he looked pretty good he just ran out of batters at the opposite end. Once Jadega was out he didn't have much time left.

I've been surprised how competitive Australia have been, riding high from the Ashes. They've always been a side that played their best when they were confident. Seems like there's a lot more depth available for them, I thought South Africa was going to cream them.

CityEater wrote:

I've been surprised how competitive Australia have been, riding high from the Ashes.

About the only good thing that I can bring myself to say about the Australian cricket team - and bear in mind that I'm an Australian, born and bred, with only eight months in Auckland to point at as long-ish term out-of-my-homeland living - is that we are tenacious, and don't give up easily.

We're also graceless, gauche, tactless bores, who need to be taken down a peg or two and taught a lesson in humility. In my opinion, whilst we play solidly from the technical and "winning matches" point of view, we have a lot to learn in terms of treating others with respect.

Full credit to McCullum for a top result in anyone's language; here's hoping he continues in this form.

Near the end of the 4th day India tried some interesting fielding options. If my captain told me to go and play silly mid-on (or off, depending on the batsman), even with the batting helmet for protection I'd take the captain off the side of the field and tell him that he's bugnuts crazy.

Silly mid on and slips, the twitch cricket, positions. I've played em' both.

PenGun wrote:

Silly mid on and slips, the twitch cricket, positions. I've played em' both.

At least in the slips you've got a chance. Silly mid you're nothing but a target.

monts wrote:

Have never seen a lacrosse ball, but have been hit often by cricket balls.

About 2/3 the size of a cricket ball, made of extremely hard rubber and even denser than a cricket ball (if that's possible). My freshman college roomie played on the varsity lacrosse team and his back & sides were always covered in lacrosse-ball sized bruises. I'd idly toss the ball with him out in the quad on sunny days and even a simple toss hurt when I missed. Never wanted to feel a full-on strike, especially from the 6+ feet of a defenseman's stick. My roomie was a forward, so the sticks were about 3 feet long.

Captain Ned wrote:

PenGun wrote:

Silly mid on and slips, the twitch cricket, positions. I've played em' both.

At least in the slips you've got a chance. Silly mid you're nothing but a target.

A lot depends on who the batsman is when fielding in close. With some you're actually quite safe as they don't have the power to hit that hard, others its a different form of suicide. Slips fielding on the other hand requires good concentration and reflexes. You don't get chances all that often and you're expected to take every catch. I've played one and a half complete games since the last catch came my way.

monts wrote:

A lot depends on who the batsman is when fielding in close. With some you're actually quite safe as they don't have the power to hit that hard, others its a different form of suicide. Slips fielding on the other hand requires good concentration and reflexes. You don't get chances all that often and you're expected to take every catch. I've played one and a half complete games since the last catch came my way.

To me (and my baseball way of thinking, go figure as I'm resolutely American) slips are the shortstops of the world. You'll always be handed a crap sandwich and expected to pull a wicket out of it.

No one with a brain positions someone at silly mid in the top half of the batting order. That's not suicide, that's homicide. I can see where it works on a 8, 9, or 10 because they're in that point in the order for a reason. Still think silly mid should come with +4 plate armor.

The bowler has a lot to do with how hard slips has to work. The crafty ones, curvy ones, often get swings to almost miss, generating a lot of tips. Grabbing a line drive right off the bat, as silly mid on or off, hurts but is spectacular.

I am surprised to see this thread, we are discussing Dhoni's captaincy at TR ?

Jigar wrote:

I am surprised to see this thread, we are discussing Dhoni's captaincy at TR ?

Why not? It's a broad community here at TR.

Can someone in the know please post a vocabulary list with definitions, examples, and context so I can understand what the heck you're talking about?The only words that make sense are the articles and prepositions.

FireGryphon wrote:

Can someone in the know please post a vocabulary list with definitions, examples, and context so I can understand what the heck you're talking about?The only words that make sense are the articles and prepositions.

Ask Arthur Dent, and welcome to cricket (as opposed to Krikkit).

On a more serious side, the Wiki entries on cricket and its particular language will be quite helpful. It'll even show you a chart of fielding positions whereby you can see just how suicidal it is to field at silly mid-on. It's not something one grasps all in the first drink. I had the odd luck to spend a summer at YMCA camp with a more-demented than normal Aussie as my cabin counselor who taught us ersatz cricket using tennis balls and bats roughly hacked out of a 2x4. That was 1977 and I've been captivated ever since.

Oh, and I can't bowl for squat. Also, the purest form of the game (i.e. Test cricket) takes 5 days to complete a proper game.

monts wrote:

Jigar wrote:

I am surprised to see this thread, we are discussing Dhoni's captaincy at TR ?

Why not? It's a broad community here at TR.

Agreed, to be honest, its refreshing for me atleast. Anyway back to the topic, i see Indian team dropping the ball when it comes to international pitches, it has been a long standing complain and has not been rectified since decades.

Also fast pace bowling with swing has never ever been a strong point of Indian batting line up, i think Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman (All retired now leaving only Sehwag who was not selected) were the only few Indian cricketers who were technical enough to bat well on international pitches and yes their batting statistics show the same.

Captain Ned wrote:

FireGryphon wrote:

Can someone in the know please post a vocabulary list with definitions, examples, and context so I can understand what the heck you're talking about?The only words that make sense are the articles and prepositions.

Ask Arthur Dent, and welcome to cricket (as opposed to Krikkit).

On a more serious side, the Wiki entries on cricket and its particular language will be quite helpful. It'll even show you a chart of fielding positions whereby you can see just how suicidal it is to field at silly mid-on. It's not something one grasps all in the first drink.

Oh, and I can't bowl for squat.

If you want a quick look at what a good fielder at a that position looks like, here's a clip of Alex Doolan catching a blinder in the 1st test against South Africa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2b6gTZviY

Jigar wrote:

monts wrote:

Jigar wrote:

I am surprised to see this thread, we are discussing Dhoni's captaincy at TR ?

Why not? It's a broad community here at TR.

Agreed, to be honest, its refreshing for me atleast. Anyway back to the topic, i see Indian team dropping the ball when it comes to international pitches, it has been a long standing complain and has not been rectified since decades.

It has been a problem for not just the Indian side, all of the sides from the sub-continent have struggled on the bouncy pitches you find elsewhere. Just like we struggle when we head to the sub-continent as well. Just look at how long it took Australia to win a series in India.

monts wrote:

It has been a problem for not just the Indian side, all of the sides from the sub-continent have struggled on the bouncy pitches you find elsewhere. Just like we struggle when we head to the sub-continent as well. Just look at how long it took Australia to win a series in India.

Yap, Australia side hates Asian spinners, especially Srilanka's Muttiah Muralitharan - It use to be fun watching Shane Warne Vs. Muttiah Muralitharan.

Jigar wrote:

monts wrote:

It has been a problem for not just the Indian side, all of the sides from the sub-continent have struggled on the bouncy pitches you find elsewhere. Just like we struggle when we head to the sub-continent as well. Just look at how long it took Australia to win a series in India.

Yap, Australia side hates Asian spinners, especially Srilanka's Muttiah Muralitharan - It use to be fun watching Shane Warne Vs. Muttiah Muralitharan.

It was fun. Cricket needs to have venues or countries where spin bowling is important just like we need countries where pace bowling is important. Batsmen have had it far too easy of late. That's why I'm loving the devastation that Johnson is able wreck on batsmen, test cricket is all about being a test in all it's forms. They need to prove that they can handle the threat of injury and still score runs, as AB de Villers showed in the 1st test.

India's still got some strong batters and bowlers, Dhoni is fairly seasoned. They're in a similar position to the one Australia was in a year ago. Lots of inexperienced talent and a tough time deciding who to take on tour.

I've been in Aus for ten years, almost all the different national sides play poorly when they're not ridiculously confident going in. As they transition away from Clarke theres going to be a real cat fight for the captaincy. If Johnson can stay consistent he could be in with a good shot as well, how long has it been since Oz had a bowler captain?

New Zealand on the other hand tends to play best when they're put in an underdog position. They love the narrative of it, suffer terribly from chokes though (cough, America's cup, cough). I grew up in Wellington and the pitch McCullum scored the triple century on can probably be described best as small to medium sized. Great effort on any pitch though, thirteen hours at bat.

If you want to see how impossible it can be to try and field in cricket, have a look at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbmoqXUAR8k
I mean how do you defend against that.

I don't know if the batters have had it easier, its just the pace of batting has increased so much. Run chases just seem "doable" these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0QJhXD9gtQ

For those brave enough to play short leg. For those who don't get it, imagine a shortstop playing 10 feet away from the plate, and without a glove.

T20 semis tomorrow, will be watching through ESPN vids.