Which I’m not a fan of - at the moment it has meant leaving two weeks between home games for the Stars, when they really should be fitting in two matches per team per week, one home and one away.
Weeknight matches aren’t ideal, especially if they start them at 7:40, which means very late finishes. But they are better than dragging the season out and having long gaps between matches. If they need to be later for TV, put more Brisbane/Adelaide games in those slots - but have them at 6:40-7:10 local time.
Actually think they’re trying to make it 8 games somehow. Not sure if it would be 1 home and 1 away though exclusively.
Hurricanes went from Jan 4 to Jan 29 between home games, ridiculous.
Australia ended its home summer on a high, beating Sri Lanka by 366 runs in the second and final test in Canberra. It is the home side’s first series win since the Ashes of 2017-18. Australia took all ten Sri Lankan wickets inside two sessions today. Mitchell Starc returned to form with five wickets in each Sri Lankan innings, his 11th five-wicket haul in tests and his 2nd 10-wicket haul, and deservedly was named player of the match.
BBL- I agree it’s overstayed its welcome. It’s the cricketing version of fast food- best enjoyed in small doses (though, at least, too much BBL won’t have you looking for the conveniences). It has been reared as a prized cash cow by Cricket Australia and so a lengthening, rather than a truncating, of the season seems likely as alluded to. Personally, I would be satiated with a month long BBL, Christmas Day to Jan 26.
Sri Lanka are probably above only Zimbabwe at the moment and so a victory against them on home soil doesn’t count for much, however emphatic. Khawaja’s 2nd innings ton almost certainly saved his career though, especially since he dropped two lollipop catches.
Sri Lanka are off to South Africa next- I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some near record defeats, depending on how interested the Saffers are.
I dont agree Holder getting a suspension for 1 match for slow overrate with the match finishing early. Sigh. Common sense needed.
I am surprise how late the 20 20 is on in NZ. Second dig just on at 10 to 10pm. Maybe its for the tv Indian audience. I feel sorry for the kids nz. Its a school night.
Disagree. Rules are rules and just because they won comfortably is no reason for him to get away with it. The ICC rules don’t allow for context, nor should they.
Holder’s team were going incredibly slow and with a bit of reading the scorecards etc, it’s obvious as to why, he didn’t really want to use his fifth bowler - Roston Chase. So by slowing up, they allow that fifth bowler workload to effectively disappear.
Captain’s don’t get suspended on the first occasion either, he’s a previous offender.
Absolutely it’s Indian TV. Today was a public holiday so it might have been a bit more palatable the night before. Next is a sell out on Friday in Auckland then Sunday night in Hamilton. The BCCI do what they want…
Yeah i know. Well midnight in nz is 5pm in India. One could argue the later finish in NZ is still working time in India. Having the game schedule to finish at 10pm nz time will be a huge difference to ratings?
Outrageous batting frenzy is how I describe Brisbane Heat’s innings in tonight’s BBL match at The Gabba. After Melbourne Stars scored 8/156 from their 20 overs thanks to Marcus Stoinis’ 81, the Heat’s openers Max Bryant and Ben Cutting hit all over the ground, with 10 fours and 13 sixes between them! They chased down the target with 10 overs to spare! Brendon McCullum didn’t get to bat in his final home match for the Heat. The Stars’ bowlers simply had no answer to Bryant and Cutting (player of the match). The heavy loss means the Stars simply must beat the Sixers at the MCG on Sunday afternoon to reach the semi-finals.
Had the Heat been batting first, that would no doubt have ended up as a record first innings score in the BBL (currently 223) and probably of all time (currently 263).
Though it’s probable they would have been more conservative if they batted first. That’s why it’s a big advantage to chase in T20 matches most of the time as you know exactly what is required.
Exactly what has been letting the Hurricanes down, thankfully they managed to win the other night batting first but usually they don’t set a high enough score first but they sure can chase. There’s been some great chases between them and the Heat over the years!
It’s true that some teams opt for a conservative approach when chasing a middling score, but as you say the Heat aren’t that sort of side. Even so, more restraint is required when setting a target.
Elsewhere, India had a fairly comfortable victory against the Kiwis which means it’s 1-1 in that T20 series. The third and final game will be played at Hamilton tomorrow.
Is anyone fed up with the (ongoing) slowness of over rates these days? It’s been an issue for a long time in test cricket but now the crawl is infiltrating even BBL games. Little things like extra drinks breaks and UN-style consultations between deliveries add up. Since the death of Phillip Hughes there has also been extra time given to assess head strikes but this is probably understandable.
The inclusion of DRS has also slowed the game down as predicted, though that’s not an issue in BBL games. One run out decision in the recent T20 game between South Africa and Pakistan took about 10 minutes- that’s ridiculous in my book.
It’s ironic that as the pace of everyday life speeds up irrepressibly, cricket is slowing down. Perhaps that’s why many people regard it as something of a quaint anachronism. At least in T20 league games there should be an emphasis on fast and furious action, given that the product seeks to compete with other sports with a duration of ~3 hours. Many BBL games, due to torpid over rates, are ballooning out to 3.5 hours or more. Not that flash when kids are a big part of the audience and many games are on school nights.
Absolutely. The over rates and wasted time in cricket now is infuriating.
I’d abandon drinks breaks as they are now and replace them with a 90 second counted timer. Some drinks breaks go upwards of five-Seven minutes. Farcical.
There was one 3rd umpire decision in the NZ v India game the other day that took five replays to decide if it was out…before it even got referred we had two replays back home. There’s got to be a way to speed that up.
They chased down the target with 10 overs to spare! Brendon McCullum didn’t get to bat in his final home match for the Heat. The Stars’ bowlers simply had no answer to Bryant and Cutting (player of the match). The heavy loss means the Stars simply must beat the Sixers at the MCG on Sunday afternoon to reach the semi-finals.