|
|
||||||||||
|
 |
Now that’s how to hold an ODI series. None of this 7 match, 3 weeks rubbish we’ve had over the last year or so. Five matches spread over 10 days with a fair bit of hostility throughout. The better team won, and the better players mostly dominated; but we did learn a few things though. Things we learnt The way to get the best out of Scott(y) Styris is to drop him for a bit. 10 days of storming around the place being really, really angry was the longer version of The Oval balcony 2008. Great stuff. Mitchell Johnson is actually quite mad. Time sitting around waiting to get paid by the ICL obviously does wonders for the batting. The best cover drives of the series came from Bond, and Tuffey is now dangerously close to be called a genuine all-rounder. The ability of Hauritz to get wickets with bad deliveries is now officially more than just a fluke. Doug Bollinger isn’t actually that good when put under a bit of pressure.
Cameron White is now a very good ODI player. We preferred the 2007 version though. The “XXX is a wanker” chant isn’t quite the same without the sound of empty beer cans on advertising hoardings. Lara Bingle isn’t just a dizz; she’s a complete fruit loop Things we knew New Zealand aren’t very good when setting a target. In fact, they are rubbish. We have known this for years; and now even Ponting’s worked that one out too. No-one has really worked out how and when to take the Batting PowerPlay yet. Ponting is still the best inside the circle fieldsman in the world. No-one finds new and exciting ways to get injured better than Jacob Oram. The Duckworth-Lewis system punishes teams that lose wickets early. Most people knew that, although it appears this came as a bit of a surprise to Vettori. The gap between NZ domestic cricket and playing against Australia is rather large. More evidence than usual of that this time around; Ingram, Stewart, Broome, Mason being the obvious ones. The more you bait the likes of Johnson and Watson, the better they play. The Knight Riders got a bargain with Bond. And look, he’s available early too. As far as ODI series go, it’s hard to beat Trevor – Barry. Things we didn’t find out What, exactly, is Franklin considered to be at the moment?
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
©2006 Epoch Media. Sportsfreak is an Epoch Media site. |