Posted by jrod on May 29, 2009 under TAS | 
With Dan Marsh’s axing decision to step down as captain (Even though I wrote he was retiring, it appears he is to play on) Tasmania have given the top job to George Bailey.
It is the obvious choice, mostly because there seems to be no other alternatives.
It will be interesting to see how George goes in the top role, he seems like a tricky little guy, and he is stepping into a tough bastard’s shoes.
Tasmania had to make changes after a shithouse performance last year.
It does mean this is a good time for Bailey to take over, as he probably can’t get the team to perform any worse than they did last year.
Watching him being interviewed in the IPL a few times he struck me as a fairly clever cricketer, even if he did run himself out the only two times he batted in the tournament.
He does have one massive plus as a captain, the media will find it hard to turn on someone who is always smiling.
His deputy is going to be Tim Paine, and this does worry me a bit.
For the benefit of Australian cricket I just want Tim Paine to make runs and take catches consistently, and I hope the Vice Captaincy isn’t a distraction to him.
The problem with Bailey and Paine has always been consistency; neither of them has had a bend the shield over kind of season yet.
Perhaps this will make both of them better cricketers, but captaining the Tigers is probably the hardest job in shield cricket, as Tasmania don’t have any major football or rugby teams to vent their frustration on.
I wish them well, not well enough that they beat the Vics, but well.
Posted by jrod on March 8, 2009 under SA, TAS |
Tasmania were left with a pretty simple objective, win match, play final.
With the Vics killing New Texas, Tassie had fate in their hands.
They dropped it.
After the first innings was complete, Tasmania found themselves about 50 in front, not a massive lead, but handy in the situation.
They had bowled South Australia out for 253, so when they went on to make 289 and set the redbacks 338, that should have been enough for them to win.
It wasn’t, South Australia made it look pretty easy, only losing 5 wickets and having 15 overs in the bank.
Mark Cosgrove was the difference, his comeback has been the happiest time in his life since he played for Australia and got free KFC.
2 hundreds in 3 matches, and he has now proves that fatty boom bah or not, the man I s first class batsman of some skill.
The redbacks finish the season 3rd, and considering how bad they have been, it is a great result. This is also the firs time they have won 3 games on the trot in 15 years, which tells you how shit they have been.
Tasmania finish it 4th, and should be spanked by hairy men for the next 6 months.
How a team with this much talent has finished 4th is beyond me, although to be fair, Western Australia has finished 6th, so talent had less to do with this years results than desire and team harmony.
Tim Paine has not come along, which must burn Tasmania with Matthew Wade the most inform batsman of all keepers in the country.
Luke Butterworth is finally back in the side, but is not the allrounder everyone thought he would be.
George Bailey has still never had a huge season, and you have to ask if he ever will.
From the 06/07 side only Geeves and Hilfenhaus have gone onto higher honours.
They just have that air of underperformance about them, and with Dan Marsh 83 years old, they would want some of these people to stand up next year, or they will really struggle.
Posted by jrod on February 27, 2009 under NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA |
With Luke Ronchi dropped, and Tim Paine unable to live up to his potential the race for back up test keeper is wide open.
Should Haddin get injured, no one could accurately predict who the next keeper would be.
The front runner should be Manou, but really it isn’t. No one has ever talked him up, even though he has carried the Redbacks for 2 years now. Very tidy, if not brilliant with the gloves. His career average of 23 is ordinary, but in the last two years he has averaged around 36 with 4 hundreds. Has a bit of mongrel in him as well. Perfect back up keeper, would be grateful for the opportunity. Not a long term proposition at 29 though.
Chris Hartley might be the man to jump the queue. Is the best regular gloveman in the country, and with Crosthwaite, are the only two guys who are proper old school keepers. His career batting average is 27, but is in career best form with the bat, has one hundred this year, 3 50s and that is not including his 82* overnight in the current match. Of all the keepers in Australia only he and Manou seem to be safe in their jobs.
Victoria’s keeping is a mess, but for good reasons. Wade and Crosthwaite are probably the 3rd and 4th best options in Australia at the moment, and they are continuing to fight for one spot. Crosthwaite has made the side as a batsman this year, Wade has done it for the last two years. Wade’s glovework doesn’t impress me (although he has 51 catches in 8 games this year), but his batting is solid. The only thing he hadn’t done is kick on and make a hundred, well he did that yesterday, so in 19 first class games he has 1 hundred and 4 50s, and is 21. Having someone as good as Crossy behind him seems to be spurring him on. Maybe not ready to be number two, but will be mid 20s when Haddin is due for retirement.
Daniel Smith could be the roughie, not that I think he is good enough, but people seem to like him, and he is from NSWales, so that has to put him in the running. Has averaged 26 in 18 games, which seems to be about the same for all the back ups. Can play, but is probably a bit too hit and miss as a back up.
At one stage I wanted Tim Paine to replace Gilly. Watching him bat you can actually see the talent ooze out of him (not a semen joke). But where are the results, he hasn’t made big scores with the bat, and his keeping is adequate at best. With an average of 30 he pretty much tops this list, but he has made only one hundred in the last 3 years, and for his talent that is not good enough. Could still replace Haddin, but he must frustrate the selectors, and that could count against him.
Over in Western Australia Luke Ronchi has lost the support of Tom Moody. Last season he averaged 40 with the bat and made 64 off about 8 balls when understudying for Haddin. This year he has averaged 20, and is on the outs. Has an amazing amount of talent with the bat, but his keeping is only so so. Who knows where he is in the list now.
Right at the moment I’d go with Hartley, but it would surprise me if almost anyone on this list gets picked.
Posted by jrod on October 2, 2008 under TAS |
Tassie, the butler’s men
Players that wont be available for large chunks of the season
Ponting, sorry he should have been in the NSWales side, and maybe Krezja and Geeves.
Krezja and Geeves won’t miss many games this year, so Tasmania should be at full strength for most of the year.
Tasmania are at that great point where they have a great team, but they haven’t lost many players to the national team.
Should be hard to beat in all forms of the game.
Leadership
Daniel Marsh is in charge again, this could be his last year, so he will want to go out on top.
Can captain this chubby man.
Bowling
Geeves, Drew and Hilfenhaus are three young quick bowlers. Throw in Denton, if he is fit and it’s a great fast bowling line up.
Their spin is more than handy too, Krezja, Doherty and Marsh are all wicket takers as well.
A very well balanced attack, 20 wickets should come often.
Batting
Dighton, Bailey, Birt, And Paine are the backbone of the DiVenutoless batting line up.
Very workmanlike, but the batting sets up the games for their bowlers.
Paine and Bailey will need to step up this year and become superstars to handle the better attacks.
Long in the tooth
Everyone loves Daniel Marsh, but this will be the rotund fellas last year, Bailey will take over mid season or next season.
Ready to shed the nappies
Luke Butterworth was one I talked up last year, and he hardly played. This year he will play and dominate, I hope.
Nostradamus
Shield
1st or 2nd.
One day
1st.
2020
1st or 2nd.
The rub
Should be at the top, but couldn’t take wickets last year.
The Phillip Seymour Hoffman team
Posted by jrod on October 11, 2007 under QLD, TAS |
Tasmania took Queensland (new texas) roughly without buying them any drinks. Queensland was left tied to a bed head with no pants on, feeling quite violated.
Lucky the rain came before Tasmania could get really kinky with them.
Tim Paine batted at 7 and made 70 odd. Oh yeah baby. Brad Haddin & Chris Hartley take one step back please Australia has its new wicket keeper.
Timothy Paine, professor of entomology.
Posted by jrod on October 10, 2007 under SA, TAS |
I thought I better write about the other state teams now, before Tasmania dismember Queensland and I look like I’m jumping on the band wagon.
So heres my follow up on the next two teams in aussie domestic cricket.
South Australia-
Very youthful squad. But they’ve been youthful for a long time now. The word promising is only used before your name for so long. They have the three old boys Lehmann, Elliott (traitor) and Dizzy Gillespie. And then a truckload of hopefuls that are either too fat, or not ready yet to make the next level.
Batsmen are their biggest concern, Cosgrove can bat, but he’s out of shape. Adcock, Ferguson and Borgas have had wraps on them for quite a while. They look like cricketers, but no real results. Manou is a battler who plays above himself probably the least talented keeper in the country, but he fights on regardless. Lehman and Elliott will provide the backbone, and Elliott is essentially playing as an assistant coach.
In the Bowling the have the two most exciting spinners in the country. Problem is for South Australia Bailey and Cullen haven’t won them many games. This is the year, I’d play them both, play an all rounder, probably Cleary, and Gillespie. Add another decent quick and that’s a more than useful make up. Their bowling has been their strength of recent times, but when Tait is fit he won’t be playing for them.
The rub is that they could be anything, but probably wont be. The minute Cullen or Bailey takes wickets they’ll be in the Australian side. If Elliot plays all year, that means their young batsmen still haven’t stepped up and they won’t finish anywhere. Likely finish 4-6.
Tasmania-
For years the shit kickers of state cricket, but all of a sudden look like they could win everything. Hilfenhaus, Butterworth and Paine are all good enough to be10 year players for Australia. They are the reigning champions, they are young, they are hungry, and this may be the last year they all get to play together before their big three depart.
Their batting looks average on paper. But on the ground looks fierce. Di Venuto is one of those dudes that could have had an long international career for most other countries. Dighton, Birt and Bailey are unknowns, but they are all very talented at waving their bats around. Paine is the man, if the Australian selectors could find the balls they had when they selected McGrath, Warne, Steve Waugh and Ponting, he will be Australians next wicket keeper. He bats well enough to be a number 3 in the pura cup winning team, his keeping is better than Gilchrist. What’s not to love?
Bowling wise it’s all about Hilfenhaus at this stage. This boy could single-handedly revive the lost art of out swing bowling. If Lee or Johnson don’t get wickets against Sri Lanka this boy simply must be picked. Butterworth is still too raw to know whether he is a first change bowler or a third change bowler, but he can play and this year they expect big things from him. Damian Wright is still a classy bowler, and gets more wickets than higher profile players. Xavier Doherty is a good spinner, I’ve liked him since I first saw him. Left arm orthodox is not taken seriously in Australia, hopefully X man (it would have to be his nick name, wouldn’t it) can revive it and put some pressure on those South Australian spinners.
The rub is that if this team stays healthy, even without Hilfenhaus they should win the title, only the Victorians or the Queenslanders have the lists to stretch them. Likely finish 1-2.
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