The lack of Tour Matches these days.

Watching Mitchell Johnson bowl pie after pie has made me think about the lack of tour games.

Here is a guy clearly struggling with his action but he's being forced to work it out in a Test Match. Meanwhile Stuart Clark is back from injury but lacks match fitness.

Every touring team has been cutting down on tour matches for a long time now, but I really think it's got to the stage where it is hurting the standard of play in Test Matches.

This was the schedule for Ponting's first Ashes tour in 1997:

Minor one-day games and Texcao Trophy followed by:

3-day game v Gloucestershire
3-day game v Derbyshire
FIRST TEST
3-day game v Nottinghamshire
3-day game v Leicestershire
SECOND TEST
3-day game v British Universities
3-day game v Hampshire
THIRD TEST
1-day game v Minor Counties
1-day game v Scotland
1-day game v John Paul Getty XI
3-day game v Glamorgan
3-day game v Middlesex
FOURTH TEST
4-day game v Somerset
FIFTH TEST
1-day game v Ireland
4-day game v Kent
SIXTH TEST

That gave the Australians 30 days of tour cricket in between tests matches. If you take away the games in between the fifth and sixth test that still leaves us with 25 days of tour cricket.

Compare that to this year's tour, which gives Australia a grand total of 5 days worth of tour cricket in between test matches.

This isn't a whinge. Teams touring Australia must deal with equally dire (or in some cases worse) schedules.

I understand the explosion of Twenty20 and One-Day Cricket has left less time in the schedule. But could Australia not play Twenty20 games against the counties? Would these games not sell out and rate their tits off?

I'd be happy with one Twenty20 game and one First-Class Match between each test, but something tells me I'm tilting at windmills.

Hass wrote:
This isn't a whinge.

I agree. Back in 1985 I seem to remember that Australia played the Duchess of Arundel match and then a proper four-day game. When England play away, they seem to have one short warm-up game then the tests. It's a big reason why teams are so hard to beat at home now, IMO. The touring side gets no chance to acclimatise.

Mind you, Middx have done their best to get some Aussies nicely warmed up in time. I will never go to another Middx match because of this. I might even have to cross the river and defect to Slurry.

I think I'm right in saying that on the '72 tour, Keith Stackpole scored 1,000 first class runs before the first test.

Hass wrote:Watching Mitchell Johnson bowl pie after pie has made me think about the lack of tour games.

Here is a guy clearly struggling with his action but he's being forced to work it out in a Test Match.

Don't forget, Australia took the brilliant decision to "rest" him from the first of their two only warm-up games.

Dello wrote:

Hass wrote:Watching Mitchell Johnson bowl pie after pie has made me think about the lack of tour games.

Here is a guy clearly struggling with his action but he's being forced to work it out in a Test Match.

Don't forget, Australia took the brilliant decision to "rest" him from the first of their two only warm-up games.

that's b/c our "braintrust selectors" picked 3 cripples.

Don't forget, Australia took the brilliant decision to "rest" him from the first of their two only warm-up games.

Were the brilliant ones to know that under the pressure of a Test match his action was found to be wanting when they made that choice?

Hass's post hits a bunch of marks. Amongst those is the obvious one with respect to Johnson. It's now evident that he needs time in the middle. The lack of non-Test FC matches makes that difficult. The pushot for the Test match "viewers" is a lesser standard of entertainment.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Don't forget, Australia took the brilliant decision to "rest" him from the first of their two only warm-up games.

Where the brilliant ones to know that under the pressure of a Test match his action was found to be wanting when they made that choice?

Hass's post hits a bunch of marks. Amongst those is the obvious one with respect to Johnson. It's now evident that he needs time in the middle. The lack of non-Test FC matches makes that difficult. The pushot for the Test match "viewers" is a lesser standard of entertainment.

It was evident during the JAMODIs over the summer after we rotated him.

Did anyone see the Brett Lee related article in the paper (can't find an online link)? He wants to put himself in cotton wool and not play the tour game, but the selectors want him to play to gauge where his recovery is at.

Let's hope it pisses down with rain in Northampton all game.

Did anyone see the Brett Lee related article in the paper (can't find an online link)? He wants to put himself in cotton wool and not play the tour game, but the selectors want him to play to gauge where his recovery is at.

No I didn't Nath. Anything containing "Brett Lee" repels my vision across to the adjoining page.

JKLever wrote:Let's hope it pisses down with rain in Northampton all game.

That's the way JKL. Fook'em!

Anything about the NSP cummimg in their pants?

Nath wrote:
Did anyone see the Brett Lee related article in the paper (can't find an online link)? He wants to put himself in cotton wool and not play the tour game, but the selectors want him to play to gauge where his recovery is at.

If Brett Lee isn't fit enough to play the tour game then he isn't fit enough to play in the Test Match. It's not like he's Warne or McGrath and even those two players showed that playing half-fit can be a recipe for disaster.

Brett Lee will do what he's told - that's what captains, coaches and selectors are there for.

Dello wrote:

Hass wrote:Watching Mitchell Johnson bowl pie after pie has made me think about the lack of tour games.

Here is a guy clearly struggling with his action but he's being forced to work it out in a Test Match.

Don't forget, Australia took the brilliant decision to "rest" him from the first of their two only warm-up games.

Phurt - don't lump that decision with all Australians - it was only the morons who form the "(no) brains trust" on the tour.

I agree with the questioning of the short preparation.

It has also blighted England tours in the last five years. (Ashes 06/07, WIndies recently, to name but two. Massively undercooked.)

MJ would either have bowled himself into form, or have demonstrated comprehensively he was out of sorts, and Gump would have been selected in his place.

Unfortunately, it's all about banking maximum cash these days. The words "golden - egg - goose" tend to come to mind in this context. The quality of play suffers. when the visitors only get 2 1/2 minutes poaching before they are shoved into the usual back-to-back Tests.