"It's the death of one-day cricket"

Malcolm Conn in today's Australian doesn't think much of Cricket Australia's proposed changes to the limited overs games

Cricket Australia will attempt to sign the death warrant of the traditional one-day game this week by making its domestic competition another version of the booming Twenty20 game.

Terrified that 50-over cricket will be irrelevant when Australia and New Zealand host the 2015 World Cup, CA is hoping its radical new concept will be taken up internationally in the next two years.

Friday's board meeting will consider a detailed proposal to introduce a 40-over, two-innings competition at state level next season as a first step to taking it global.

"The public has been quite clear to us in its communication through extensive research and the strong message has been that we are at peril if we sit on our hands and don't listen to the public message around reviewing and refreshing the format," a CA spokesman told The Australian last night.

I'm not quite sure how this will all pan out. I don't have a problem with reducing the domestic OneDay matches to 40 overs a side (divided perhaps into 2 x 20 over sessions/segments) though I'd be disappointed to see the International version trimmed similarly.

Most first class matches around the world nowadays are of 4 days' duration (though 3 is the minimum requirement) while Test cricket days is invariably scheduled over 5 days.

It's also ironic that as Cricinfo recently reported

In its quest to maintain India's No.1 Test ranking the BCCI has sent a proposal to Cricket Australia to convert the seven-match ODI series in October to two Tests and three ODIs.

How long ago was it that India was an increasingly reluctant Test playing country? And of course we can be sure that its dismal performance (admittedly fielding a second string team) in the ODI triangular series in Zimbabwe has had nothing to do with BCCI's request to CA.

Although CA didn't solicit my views during its "extensive research" I shall await further and better particulars before confirming my initial scepticism of its proposals.

Domestic interlude #2

Tasmania 5/277 [50 overs] (T Paine 115, M Dighton 44, N Adcock 3/50) defeated South Australia 156 [39.2 overs] (X Doherty 3/21) by 121 runs with 10.4 overs to spare at Adelaide Oval: Ford Ranger one day interstate competition.

I went to the game with a friend who is visiting from the UK. Fortunately for him and the other spectators Tasmania won the toss , batted and proceeded to compile a handy but far from ungettable 5/277 from their 50 overs.

Tim Paine's 115 was the backbone of the innings, but everyone who went to the crease chipped in (the lowest score was George Bailey's 16). I thought that Paine was a tad slow until the ground announcer read out his strike rate: 115 from 130 balls. He was unobtrusively good: I could only quibble about a couple of poorly executed reverse sweeps and a ball or two's nervousness in the 90s.

The Redbacks pace attack lacked penetration and, in the closing overs, accuracy. Nathan Adcock bowled his offspin intelligently to check the scoring and take three wickets, all bowled, in the middle overs when the Tigers looked like breaking away. Dan Cullen also did well, without being as threatening as his captain.

I was looking forward to a hard fought contest, but was bitterly disappointed.

SA began rapidly (and rashly) in what always looked like a futile quest for bonus points which would keep their hopes of playing in the final alive. Only Ben Hilfenhaus was put to the sword (4-0-38-1) but he did at least make the initial breakthrough: Matthew Elliott in his final game caught for 15/14b. 36 for the first wicket was the highest partnership of the innings. What followed was, with some exceptions (a Callum Ferguson off drive comes to mind), a chronicle of ineptitude. Yes, there was some good bowling, especially from Xavier Doherty (10-1-21-3), but how can three run outs and a pub cricket style stumping be explained?

Embarrassing, unfocused... I'll say no more about the Redbacks, but the Tigers deserve praise. They have a young, keen and active team: their fielding (apart from captain Dan Marsh) was very good and their body language exuded confidence. My only criticism was that Marsh bowled himself too much: sure Doherty was doing a good job at the other end but SA were never going to win after Adcock was out for a scratchy 2 making it 6/85 (albeit in 15.4 overs). IMO Marsh should have given
his frontline bowlers a crack at the tail. Don't get me wrong: Marsh is no passenger, and seems to have both the respect of his players and a good grasp of tactics. He is the team's senior pro and is approaching, if he's not already been awarded, elder statesman status.

For their efforts the Tigers were rewarded with a bonus point, which they deserved. They now look like hosting the FR cup final. On today's performance they deserve to win it, and several of their players deserve to come to the notice of the Australian selectors.

Scorecard.

Cricinfo Bulletin.

Santa watches over Redbacks as they deliver Christmas cheer to supporters

SA 3/171 (32.1 0v) def Queensland 170 (45 ov) by 7 wickets with 17.7 overs to spare: interstate one day match at Adelaide Oval

Many years ago South Australia used to play a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland in Adelaide over Christmas (they often played on Christmas Day).

Today, on the threshold of Christmas, those with memories as long as mine were reminded fleetingly of the old times as the red and black garbed South Australians took on the rhubarb and custard clad Queenslanders in a one day match. (To the initiated, the Redbacks played the Bulls)

The Redbacks continued where they'd left off with their crushing defeat of WA (to the initiated, the Warriors) five days ago.

The Bulls struggled to come to terms with the home team's bowling and fielding as well as the overcast, wintry conditions (the max temp was 18.5 degrees which may seem mild, but if you could feel the sou' wester in your face you'd have thought otherwise).

The Bulls began with a partnership of 58, but catastrophe (viz 2/61/, 3/61, 4/63, 5/67) ensued before this season's domestic cricket Mr Reliable (aka Ashley Noffke) with support from recalled veteran Lee Carseldine saw the total to 144. Then another collapse saw an early conclusion to their innings. 170 from 45 overs was not a competitive score.

The lights were switched on as Matthew Elliott and Daniel Harris opened the batting and at once went after the bowling. Elliott was aggressively fluent, as we've come to expect from him in one day games ( why don't we see more of this in the four day comp?). The Bulls attack was at less than full strength but wasn't handled well: stand- in captain James Hopes had less faith in his own bowling than did Ricky Ponting in the higher level Chappell-Hadlee series a few days ago . The part time off spinner Aaron Nye was the best of a modest bunch, and was rewarded with Elliott's wicket, caught on the boundary going for the six that would have brought him a century and his team victory. Still 94/91 b was nothing to be ashamed of.

The Redbacks are now second to Tasmania in the one day (FR Cup) comp. Is it too much to hope for a long-overdue appearance in a final?

Scorecard

PS: In the interval between innings SACA held a simple presentation ceremony for the U-17 Redbacks and Scorpions (SA women's) teams. It was good to see them acknowledged in this way.

Lehmann farewells one day cricket with century...and SA win by 8 wickets

Following hard upon the heels of Darren Lehmann's announcement of his retirement from top cricket, the principal interest in the one day match between South Australia and Western Australia was likely be on the great man. And he didn't disappoint, producing a magnificent 126no/104b in an unbroken 236 partnership with Matthew Elliott 133no/137b to overhaul WA's formidable 6/305 with...wait for it... 18 balls to spare.

What a game.

The Warriors batted first and got off to a cracking start, despite losing Justin Langer cheaply. Luke Ronchi (the next Adam Gilchrist?) smote 69 from 58b and with Sean Ervine took the score to 104 from 100b, in the process testing both the bowling and ground fielding. When after 30 overs the Warriors had built the solid platform of 3/182, bearing in mind the rule of thumb of doubling the score in the last 20 overs, a huge score seemed likely. But it didn't quite work that way: Ervine stayed and scored, but others came and went: one, Mark Johnston, forced to retire hurt when his jaw was broken by a return from the field.

A final score of 6/305 looked sufficient, especially given the brittleness of the Redbacks batting, but to my spectator's eyes 19 from the last 4 overs was less than I expected, especially as the 4 overs before that had yielded 38.

Ervine finished with an impressive 134 no /129b: an innings of such class as to merit much media attention. Yet it wasn't to be as the Redbacks overcame early losses, Callum Ferguson brilliantly caught at fine leg by the otherwise hapless (see his bowling analysis) Shawn Gillies and a less than sprightly Mark Cosgrove run out, before the two former internationals came together.

They built their partnership by taking their time (relatively speaking) before hitting out when the Warriors attack, which included Brad Hogg, who looked ordinary if no worse than his team mates, wilted before the onslaught.

I was impressed with Boof's fitness: the weather was much cooler than the preceding week or so's run of 30 degree plus days, but I only noticed one Arjuna Ranatunga moment (ie walking an easy single), and that was in the middle of his innings.

Two magnificent innings - actually three, since Ervine deserves some sympathy, as he has twice now in a 50 overs game at Adelaide Oval made a century and been on the losing side. The other occasion? See here



Scorecard
Photos

Redbacks win a game at last

It took them until the last ball but South Australia did defeat NSW by 5 wickets tonight at the Adelaide Oval.

I was there for two periods of play: the middle overs of the NSW, and the middle and final overs of the SA, innings. The Blues batted relatively slowly against a tight Redbacks attack. Even if the wicket was less batter-friendly than usual it did not require great prescience to predict that 7/233 would be a winning score.

And so it proved, though the Redbacks middle order made heavy work of scraping the last few runs after Matthew Elliott (83/113b) and Darren Lehmann (a quickfire 34/32b including a magnificent flat batted pull shot for 6) had set up victory. Nathan Bracken bowled magnificently in the last few overs while Stephen O'Keefe, Nathan Hauritz and Doug Bollinger held the Redbacks in check for most of their respective spells. Unusually for a limited overs game, the run rate really slowed in the last few overs as the Redbacks took their time to get not only the run levelling the scores but also the winning one.

Scorecard.

Blues beat Red(back)s in one day game

In the FRODC (Ford Ranger One Day Cup) match at the Adelaide Oval yesterday, as in the concurrent US mid-term elections, the Blue Party (NSW/ Democrats) prevailed over the Reds (SA Redbacks/Republicans). The Redbacks made 7/251, with Lehmann (as is his custom) and Ferguson (a welcome return to form) making the major contributions.

I thought this was a defendable but not matchwinning score. These days something of the order of 270 - 280 seems to be about par for the 50 over course.

The Blues stuttered at first, with Jaques ( continuing a poor run) and Michael Clarke (direct from the Champions Trophy in Mumbai) falling cheaply. Fortunately two of the less experienced players, Cowan (who'd failed in each innings of the four day game) and Christian (who was listed on the scoreboard batting order at no 7 but came in at 4), steadied the team with 74 and 68 respectively and provided Haddin (56 no) with a platform to hit out in the closing overs and win by 4 wickets with 4 balls remaining. For the score see here.

I was present for the final overs of the SA and the opening ones of the NSW innings when I took the photos above which show Stuart Clark who, surprisingly in view of his performance in the PC four day game, didn't bowl his full quota of overs, and Shaun Tait, captured close to the moments of delivery. Note the latter's slinging action.