Cricket Season Thread

Those bans were no doubt harsh, but context matters.

Most of the Australian public was fed up with the behaviour of that particular side and particularly Warner. Sandpaper was just a sympton of the total lack of decorum and respect for the game that side had. The ban was reactionary and over the top, particularly with the benefit of hindsight, but there was more to it than just what happened at Cape Town.
 
Who cares anymore? Khawaja could have made a stand anytime since. Chose not to and now he’s living on millionaires row on the Goldy, so decides to tell the “truth”.
Absolute flog, him and his mate Warner. It was a dark time for Aus cricket, handled poorly, but it has done absolutely nothing positive for the game to bring this up nearly a decade later. Maybe it’s time for another deep dive into the under arm saga. It’s been a while.

On a personal note, thank God he was overlooked for the captaincy, not because of the skin colour or the heritage, but because in spite of his efforts on the cricket pitch, imo his morals despite his religious views have displayed a form of cowardice. Put simply, if it was so wrong, stand tall at the time, not a decade later with a book to sell.
 
Dennis Lillee trained and mentored fearsome bowlers like Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson but he had a rule. He generally wouldn’t mentor fast bowlers under 16 years of age, allowing their bodies to develop and their natural bowling action to take a shape.

Then a 15 years old who was bowling tape balls at a garbage bin outside a friend’s property became an exception. His raw pace caught someone attention and story traveled all the way to Dennis Lillee who couldn’t stop himself to take the young lad under his wings.

The youth was Mahli Beardman.
The lad who knew nothing but to bowl fast since he was 12.
The youth who impressed the great Denis Lilee when he was 15.
Now that young man has made the English batters dance on their toes when he’s just 21.

What a debut for Mahli Beardman.





View attachment 46654
Geez imagine being a kid trying to hit Beardman bowling rockets with a taped ball...
 

Staff online

Back
Top