Cricket

3 match series against India has been and gone, exclusive to Fox.

What a shame. All because of a greedy organisation.

T20 and ODI are the only forms of cricket matches that I enjoy on TV and without Fox Iā€™ve got nowhere to catch them other than going to the match themselves. Only redeeming factor is BBL but thatā€™s also stained because of Fox.

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I do not like this at all.

Some interesting comments by Sam Duncan.

The novelty of the Big Bash does seem to be wearing offā€¦

Valid point about it no longer being a tournament and now being a ā€˜seasonā€™.

Previously I used to watch every game and knew all the teams pretty well. This year Iā€™m less interested in watching every game (thereā€™s just too many, and many have been just too low scoring)ā€¦ Iā€™m probably more inclined to just watch certain games featuring certain teams (much like during the footy season).

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Itā€™s kind of what I expected, but that better not be the batting order!

Playing openers at 3 and 4 ???

Paine ahead of Labuschagne???

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This is very true. Have barely watched it this year. The TV deal has also ruined it. Seven is sub par and the foxtel exclusives are alienating people and they canā€™t follow it. Thereā€™s no buzz for it. It is no longer the summer event. The coverage is pretty shit on seven. I would also attend at least one game each year. I wonā€™t be attending this season.

Got the impression from Hohns that the order will be something like:
Harris
Renshaw
Khawaja
Labuschagne
Head
Pucovski
Did say Burns could bat anywhere in top 6, so add him in for whoever (Iā€™d say he will bat 4 with Renshaw left out and Khawaja/Labuschagne moved up one).

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The domestic schedule is disjointed with the JLT one-day cup held weeks before any ODIs against overseas teams, and the Sheffield Shield season is split into two halves with a gap of more than two months between each half, and no matches are played during the test season. From later this year the domestic schedule must be reorganised, with Sheffield Shield taking priority so test players can get more red ball practice. JLT Cup should be held just before Australiaā€™s ODI series.

Or go back to having the 50 over match a day or two after the shield match rather than a tournament.

I am going to watch the Sydney Snitches play the HoBAT Salmon Eaters on Jan 23. Looking forward to it, but this is a once a year thing for me too. I donā€™t go to the test match these days as Iā€™m over sitting in the heat for 7 hours. At least the BBL is at night and the SCG almost always gets a seabreeze. Letā€™s just hope the tropical storms hold off for one night.

On the SCG seabreeze- I think that the Membersā€™ Stand is where it is (slightly square of the wicket) to capture both the NE and SE breezes. The optimal viewing positions are of course behind the bowlerā€™s arm, but you must forgo either the NE or SE breeze when sitting at the extreme ends of the ground.

I donā€™t think they can justify bringing Renshaw back in yet. Average of 19 this summer isnā€™t exactly encouraging.

I would say:
Harris
Khuwaja
Pucovski
Lubauschagne
Head
Burns
Paine
Cummings
Starc
Lyon
Hazzlewood

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I wouldnā€™t be rushing Pucovski into the side (they will) given his medical history. Selectors have clearly shown their contempt for Shield form, otherwise you wouldnā€™t have half this team.

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Oh I agree but I would take him over Renshaw at the moment.

Sorry, I was away for the first ODIs at the start of the summer. Whatā€™s the reason behind the change in start times (todayā€™s match starting 1:20pm local)? Obviously Fox has no news commitments but I would have thought they would have preferred and retained the 2:20 starts.

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Maybe to stop viewers from switching to the 6pm news on FTA when the innings break would otherwise be on.

And probably more family friendly finishing at 9pm instead of 10pm.

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The fixture for Australiaā€™s limited overs tour of India was announced during the week. All matches will be shown in Australia on Fox Cricket.

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No idea why there was the change but Shane Warne did mention it was odd today at the beginning of play.

Australia had its first win of 2019 in any form of cricket, beating India by 34 runs in the first ODI at the SCG tonight. Australiaā€™s win was set up by fifties by Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb and late hitting by Marcus Stoinis. India had a bad start to their innings, losing their first three wickets with only four runs on the board. Rohit Sharma (133) and MS Dhoni (51) rebuilt the teamā€™s run chase, but lost six more wickets (including a dubious LBW to Dhoni) in the later stages.

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No mention of Shaun Marsh at all! When considering he should be in that list of fifties scored by the Australian batsmen.

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Awful LBW decision to Dhoni. The outcome could have been different if that had been given correctly. Shaun Marsh was brilliant though. Good to see him back in some form.