#AFL Round 23 Discussion Thread

[Blood Fever]

I'm with ya. How could England get their lowest score since Jesus was a boy, and then win!.

Watched the nightmare unfold. Stokes outstanding but annoyed me that with the new type of bats, mi@@@@s are rewarded with sixes, especially on the smaller English grounds.

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Watched the nightmare unfold. Stokes outstanding but annoyed me that with the new type of bats, mi@@@@s are rewarded with sixes, especially on the smaller English grounds.

Mis hits - got censored I think!

[barry]

Yes, the cricket was completely nuts. We threw it away I reckon. Using up the last review the way they did, poor bowling at the end,
poor field placement, Lyon's fumble. We shot ourselves in one foot then again in the other foot, then a couple times in the leg for
good measure. Tim Paine's captaincy in a sport where captaincy actually matters a bit is pretty average. Amazing innings by Stokes
though, just incredible. We are the better team (assuming Smith is playing) so I still think we will retain the Ashes.

Cant agree. Tim Paine is an outstanding captain.
He, and we all thought that the Yorker review was a long shot, but very unlikely to get another opportunity to review in the match. Better not lose with a DRS up your sleive. Its like leaving survivor with an immunity necklace.
Upside: Win the ashes. Downside: almost nil*.

What happened was the umpires basically "put away the whistle" when it got really close. They do not want to give an incorrect call of out, and so would be very conservative with LBW's.
It was just unfortunate that the LBW chance came up, Ump wasnt 100% sure, not out. Changes of that at the point of the yorker review is about 100:1. (see * above)
Pain played the odds, and lost.


Just remember we dropped Stokes 2 or 3 times, and missed a sitter run-out. Thats where the blame lies. The wicket was doing absolutely nothing on day 4. Batsmen paradise.
Played a sensational innings though.

[stevoswan]

Ramps makes the All Australian squad....the only Swan to do so. Deserved selection!

Rampe makes All Australian squad - sydneyswans.com.au

Revealed: The All Australian squad for 2019 - AFL.com.au

[stevoswan]

Cant agree. Tim Paine is an outstanding captain.
He, and we all thought that the Yorker review was a long shot, but very unlikely to get another opportunity to review in the match. Better not lose with a DRS up your sleive. Its like leaving survivor with an immunity necklace.
Upside: Win the ashes. Downside: almost nil*.

What happened was the umpires basically "put away the whistle" when it got really close. They do not want to give an incorrect call of out, and so would be very conservative with LBW's.
It was just unfortunate that the LBW chance came up, Ump wasnt 100% sure, not out. Changes of that at the point of the yorker review is about 100:1. (see * above)
Pain played the odds, and lost.


Just remember we dropped Stokes 2 or 3 times, and missed a sitter run-out. Thats where the blame lies. The wicket was doing absolutely nothing on day 4. Batsmen paradise.
Played a sensational innings though.

The review was silly in hindsight but probably ok at the time but I remember thinking 'we'd better not live to regret that', which we did. The run out was just deplorable but sort of understandable in the extremely tense circumstances but bottom line, inexcusable.

We had our chances....but one thing is glaringly obvious.....

.....and that is that Umpire Wilson is totally sub standard and lost us that test due to his incompetence. No one will ever witness a plumber LBW! Add to that, he made most of the ten umpiring errors in the first test and a howler of a review in the second test as third umpire......it was amazing he was let back on the field for the third test. He should be removed from the test panel.

Oh yeah, I also agree that Paine is an outstanding captain.

[stevoswan]

Sam Murray cleared to play next season.....successfully mitigates drug ban to 18 months.

Banned Pie free to play next year after drug-test drama - AFL.com.au

[stevoswan]

Back to the Ashes....I think Titus O'Rielly sums it up best in his review of the Port/Freo game......

"How did the Aussies let that Test slip?

I mean, it’s almost impossible to lose from that position without actively trying.

What was with the constant bouncing of Jack Leach? How about trying to bowl on the stumps to a tailender? Just wasted deliveries.

What about the constant allowing of Stokes to rotate the strike so Leach barely faced a ball?

Or the missed run out by Lyon? Or that bloody idiotic review? I though Shane Watson had the monopoly on those.

Then there is the truly supernatural awfulness of Joel Wilson, who somehow has carved out a career as a cricket umpire despite possessing none of the required abilities such a position requires.

It was a day of great shame for our nation and the English are right to mock us. This was like their Brexit, only ours happened on the sporting field, with something important on the line."

Brilliant as usual.....

The Monday Knee Jerk Reaction: AFL Round Twenty Three - Titus O'Reily | Don’t have faith in yourself

[barry]

The funny thing about the test match was that despite stokes going the tonk, he was in no hurry to score runs. He had 2 days to get 70 odd. Therefore, ringing the boundary with players, took all the normal catching men out of the equation . He could tee-off, trying to hit a four and if it didn't come off, he would just not run.
Hard to know what better to do, but a more conventional field where there was risk with big hitting may have been better.

Still, by the type of dismissals in that last day. (Outfield catches, runouts), it shows the pitch was very benign.

[Meg]

Still, by the type of dismissals in that last day. (Outfield catches, runouts), it shows the pitch was very benign.

Yep benign day 4 pitch under no time pressure to get the runs whereas usually a 4th innings chase is on a day 5 pitch against the clock. Plus benign weather conditions compared with day 1 when Oz batsmen were playing in overcast dim light.

But as already said Oz still could have/ should have won. And it was brilliant batting by Stokes.

[Hotpotato]

Outrageous win by the bloody Poms that rightly should have been ours.

The whole review system is farcical.

It should be scrapped .

Like the tennis, send close calls upstairs .

You couldn’t look away . It was mesmerising.
Will remember it forever.

[stevoswan]

Just watched the video in this story: Losing Leo, 'Lion Warrior': Rory and Belinda Sloane's heartbreaking story - AFL.com.au

Don't mind admitting I was tearing up something chronic at times....it's heavy stuff and reminded me of a certain retiree and his little Luella.

Life can throw some real curve balls sometimes.

[mcs]

Yep benign day 4 pitch under no time pressure to get the runs whereas usually a 4th innings chase is on a day 5 pitch against the clock. Plus benign weather conditions compared with day 1 when Oz batsmen were playing in overcast dim light.

But as already said Oz still could have/ should have won. And it was brilliant batting by Stokes.

Was a crazy day at the cricket. Can't believe Poms managed to win, but we blew it pretty bad towards the end. It certainly was a very tame pitch though - very few demons at all in it to be honest.

We blew it really in the 2nd batting innings - should have ended the contest there or then, but gave away some silly wickets and didn't grind them out of it.

[bloodspirit]

It's been a bad five minutes for the Blues' off season ambitions: first Coniglio re-signs with the Giants, then they give up their pursuit of Brandon Ellis and now it turns out Papley is contracted for 4 more years. There's still Jack Martin to aim for but their trade season is off on the wrong foot.

[mcs]

It's been a bad five minutes for the Blues' off season ambitions: first Coniglio re-signs with the Giants, then they give up their pursuit of Brandon Ellis and now it turns out Papley is contracted for 4 more years. There's still Jack Martin to aim for but their trade season is off on the wrong foot.

My heart bleeds for them.... not....

[bloodspirit]

Soooo not. They are right down there with the Hawks as my least favourite club.

[Nico]

Soooo not. They are right down there with the Hawks as my least favourite club.

Serial cheats for 2 decades. Happy to see them stay as cellar dwellers.