The first Super-8 match is halfway through and the defending champions have scored a very defendable 322. No, this is not another world-cup match review post. That the channel remained on Setmax was purely function of the fact that i had left the remote more than arms-length away. Left me open to the inane chatter of Mandira Bedi and Charu Sharma, but an unexpected bonus was that instead of the nonsensical Ayaz Memon, it was Ian Chappell on air. I've always been floored by the insightful comments the man makes. Not surprising why he was one of the best captains to've played for Australia. And sure enough, some points to ponder from the 2nd best commentator I've heard (1st being Benaud):
"When a spinner beats a batsman as completely as Samuels did to Hayden on that occasion, the ball simply has to land in the park, else there's something wrong"
A reference to the quality of bats today that have much more wood but are not as packed/compressed (resulting in more distribution and therefore being easier to lift). A Hayden miscue off Samuels after he beat the batsman in flight ended up looping over the long-on fence. With the disruptive improvements in bats today, even badly timed shots go a long way. If administrators do not take this into consideration, spinners will become extinct.
"Shaun Tait is a handy weapon to have but as captain you have to realise that he will either bowl really well or will be very expensive (never in between). Also, his action will invariably result in injuries over his career."
While the rest of the world Oohs and Aahs over the pace that Tait generates, Chappelli gives the captain's assessment. Looking at his action that depends so much on his final stride with the extreme stress he puts on his back and front leg, one sees what he means
"Administrators need to consider bringing back the use of the 2-piece cricket ball to counter the heavier bats today"
The conventional cricket ball today consists of 4 pieces sewn together as opposed to 2 halves in 'days of yore'. This results in a softer ball that loses shape and therefore does less in the air. The decision was made decades ago to let bats survive longer. However, to counter the growing domination of bats, maybe its time to bring the harder balls back. Another interesting point was how the size of golf balls was increased so they wouldn't travel as far with the improvement in club technology.
Was a welcome change to have the two dimwit hosts completely incapable of contributing and therefore silent. If only there was a way to air-brush them out of the picture too.
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