Australia v India, 3rd Test, Melbourne, 26-30 December, 2014

skully wrote:

Big Dog wrote:What is the consensus....Was Smiths late declaration an error of judgement or was he more concerned with not losing than winning?

...i'm thinking the latter.

Of course. Why would you outplay a side for 2 and seven eighths Tests then give them a chance to get back in the series?  I'd rather a tense search for wickets than a worrying "why did we declare so early?"

Come on Skulls, India were never going to get the runs...even if we declared overnight....which we should have. Giving India a sniff may have forced them to take chances which would have given us a real chance of bowling them out..........thats my take anyway.

He may be a qunt, but Kohli scared them into delaying the declaration.

Like Red, BD, you are entitled to your opinion (but at least you didn't harp on about it ALL FARKIN DAY ). I happen to support the approach we took. I'm sure Tweak discussed it at length with Boof. I'm guessing the "why would you give a sucker an even break?" was the prevailing sentiment.

In the end, if had've taken the chances Kohli (x3), Rahane and Dhoni all gave, we would've won comfortably.

Big Dog wrote:

skully wrote:

Big Dog wrote:What is the consensus....Was Smiths late declaration an error of judgement or was he more concerned with not losing than winning?

...i'm thinking the latter.

Of course. Why would you outplay a side for 2 and seven eighths Tests then give them a chance to get back in the series?  I'd rather a tense search for wickets than a worrying "why did we declare so early?"

Come on Skulls, India were never going to get the runs...even if we declared overnight....which we should have. Giving India a sniff may have forced them to take chances which would have given us a real chance of bowling them out..........thats my take anyway.

Spot on BD. It also means that this 'Australian way' implying attacking, aggressive cricket can't be bandied about so loosely anymore.

Oh dear. Why can't it, Red??

[sigh]

One thing's for sure- If it had been Dhoni batting on this morning, Chappelli would have torn into him.

Red wrote:

skully wrote:

Red wrote:

skully wrote:Dropped catches and missed run outs cost us in he end.

Anywho, the AB-Sunny is back with the Good Guys.

The trophy seems to be a bit of a hometown affair these days.

Skully it wasn't only the missed chances, we didn't allow ourselves enough overs.

Red, I have patiently "listened" to you repeat yourself all day. I heard you the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.....15th time. FFS, STFU.

I know but questions were continually posed. Still think I was much closer to the mark with the observation that we needed to declare early and could have pushed for a win rather than worry about eating overs up to secure a draw.

Or, as was pointed out politely, we could easily still have lost at the point you first started peddling your theory.

Your theory was, again, reminiscent of Anne Elk's.

Henry wrote:If I was Smith, with India six down I wouldn't be shaking hands until there are three balls left in the final over.

I do agree with this, absolutely. In fact I'd have made them lay every ball, you never know when you might get lucky with a stumping off a wide.

Had this been England and Cook, how would people have reacted?

lardbucket wrote:

Henry wrote:If I was Smith, with India six down I wouldn't be shaking hands until there are three balls left in the final over.

I do agree with this, absolutely. In fact I'd have made them lay every ball, you never know when you might get lucky with a stumping off a wide.

There were four overs left. I wonder how many overs India's 9,10, and 11 have lasted each innings in this series? Can't be more than four, except for the first innings in Adelaide when Shami and Aaron slogged a few.

Henry wrote:One thing's for sure- If it had been Dhoni batting on this morning, Chappelli would have torn into him.

Why does anybody give a shit what Chappell ever says?

Average player, as a captain lucky enough to have Lillee, Thomson, and his brother in his side for most of his tenure, at a time when all other sides were weak. Highly over-rated.

Red wrote:Had this been England and Cook, how would people have reacted?

I would have flown to England and shat on his doorstep. Then punched him and rubbed his face in said shit.

lardbucket wrote:

Henry wrote:One thing's for sure- If it had been Dhoni batting on this morning, Chappelli would have torn into him.

Why does anybody give a shit what Chappell ever says?

Average player, as a captain lucky enough to have Lillee, Thomson, and his brother in his side for most of his tenure, at a time when all other sides were weak. Highly over-rated.

I don't give a shit what he says. He's a bitter, grudge-holding old bore. But he has a disturbing obsession with criticising Dhoni every time he's on commentary. Like Dhoni punched him off a bar stool or something.....

Henry wrote:

lardbucket wrote:

Henry wrote:If I was Smith, with India six down I wouldn't be shaking hands until there are three balls left in the final over.

I do agree with this, absolutely. In fact I'd have made them play every ball, you never know when you might get lucky with a stumping off a wide.

There were four overs left. I wonder how many overs India's 9,10, and 11 have lasted each innings in this series? Can't be more than four, except for the first innings in Adelaide when Shami and Aaron slogged a few.

Smith moving himself out of second slip the ball before a ball was edged there, wide of Watson, might have been the difference. I don't think the last three batsmen would have lasted 5 overs.

Henry wrote:

lardbucket wrote:

Henry wrote:One thing's for sure- If it had been Dhoni batting on this morning, Chappelli would have torn into him.

Why does anybody give a shit what Chappell ever says?

Average player, as a captain lucky enough to have Lillee, Thomson, and his brother in his side for most of his tenure, at a time when all other sides were weak. Highly over-rated.

I don't give a shit what he says. He's a bitter, grudge-holding old bore. But he has a disturbing obsession with criticising Dhoni every time he's on commentary. Like Dhoni punched him off a bar stool or something.....

It's not just Dhoni. It's anyone who doesn't fawn at his ankles.

Red wrote:Had this been England and Cook, how would people have reacted?

I have to agree with Red on this one. Its always been our policy to go for the win. Smith has broken this policy by playing for the draw. If it had been Ponting (or any other unpopular captain) you would all be baying for his blood.
If this is going to be Smiths captaincy for the future.....he isnt going to have a future.

I wonder if it was Smith's decision alone, or did Lehmann advise him?

Big Dog wrote:What is the consensus....Was Smiths late declaration an error of judgement or was he more concerned with not losing than winning?

...i'm thinking the latter.

Well that would depend on what he was thinking. If he was looking to win first and foremost it was obviously an error, but that's hindsight talking.

The more important question is why the tightarses at the 'G" didn't open the gates earlier?

Bradman wrote:
The more important question is why the tightarses at the 'G" didn't open the gates earlier?

run by dumbasses.

Big Dog wrote:

Red wrote:Had this been England and Cook, how would people have reacted?

I have to agree with Red on this one. Its always been our policy to go for the win. Smith has broken this policy by playing for the draw. If it had been Ponting (or any other unpopular captain) you would all be baying for his blood.
If this is going to be Smiths captaincy for the future.....he isnt going to have a future.

Smith (and his advisors) possibly thought our best chance of a win lay with the Indian batsmen not being confident to play their natural (attacking) game. I know I did.

and qmy hits the nail on the head with a far more important and practical question

Did Rhino get the MoM?

If Aus needed to win to keep the series alive, yes then WTF delaying the declaration, but taking a leaf from the AB never give a sucker a break Book, the right call.

lardbucket wrote:Did Rhino get the MoM?

Yes

lardbucket wrote:

Henry wrote:One thing's for sure- If it had been Dhoni batting on this morning, Chappelli would have torn into him.

Why does anybody give a shit what Chappell ever says?

Average player, as a captain lucky enough to have Lillee, Thomson, and his brother in his side for most of his tenure, at a time when all other sides were weak. Highly over-rated.

So true. Crappelli used to sing praises about Dhoni every third sentence 4 years ago saying he'd achieved the most with the worst bowling attack... His captaincy methods largely have remained the same since. Good pundit, that man.

MSD has always been a good ODI and T20 captain. He has a knack of making a bowling change and getting a wicket in those formats. But in tests, he's been rubbish most of the time. Especially overseas.