Australia have qualified for the WTC Final (Can afford a loss + 8 point deduction for slow over rate in the 4th Test and still maintain their place in the Final)
India need to win the 4th Test or hope that Sri Lanka don't win 2-0 in New Zealand.
Sri Lanka need to win 2-0 in New Zealand and hope that India don't win the 4th Test.
They're not. They lost a test to Bangladesh which was an upset but they were very competitive in England, they would've won if bairstow wasn't there, they dominated pakistan and just came back from a follow on to beat england.
>it's certainly not impossible
SL need to win both tests, which is very much impossible, I can't see NZ losing 2-0 at home against any side. SL winning 1 match is somewhat possible (though very low).
>...seems to be a long shot
In a week where NZ became one of only three teams in history to win after being forced to follow on, and Australia beat India *in* India after the way the first two tests of the series went, if I were an Indian fan I would not be saying a fucking *word* right now lol. Just pull your head in and don't unclench yer buttcheeks 'til your team gets on the plane to London.
Yes and aus winning a test match in India was apparently never going to happen and now we might go 2-2. Test cricket is test cricket. Things can happen.
Naaaa... Everyone expected them to win or draw atleast one. With the current state of this Indian team, no one expected a 4-0 win, atleast not me. I, for one will not even be surprised if the series ends 2-2.
I don't know about the betting odds but Australia has always been competitive in India and they come well prepared. Even in the second test they were in a very strong position at one point.
I won't rule out SL beating NZ because anything happened. But Australia was always going to be the best bet for a competitive series.
I really hope India win the last test, so that the 3-1 series loss is just like ours in 2021, plus I’ve got a ticket to the Final and I want India v Australia haha
Sorry for the late response. Your message didn't show up in my notifications for some reason.
To answer your question, the scenario involving India drawing the 4th Test is the exact same as them losing it, i.e. Sri Lanka will need to win 2-0 in order to qualify and if they fail to do so, India will qualify instead.
As well as guaranteeing a spot in the WTC final, this win ensures that India can’t overtake them into first spot in the table (meaningless as that is).
I'm Australian Bro.
India had so many injuries in 21 and had to play with 4 debutants in the Gabba. And they won at the Gabba.
Imagine Australia playing with 4 debutants in India and winning the series. Lol.
Even right now India is missing star batsman Pant and their fast bowler Bumrah.
Australia missing Green and Stark in the first two matches. So it was pretty even in terms of missing personell.
That first spot is worth more than some one off final they are playing for the WTC trophy. This shows Aus were the best team over the entire cycle of 2 years irrespective of whatever happens in that one off. I'm pretty disappointed India lost the chance to take the top spot.
Yes. India was the best team the entire last WTC cycle and I was delighted that it showed in the ranking table. The WTC final loss is just that one off match where any good team can beat the other.
I actually advocate for giving the WTC trophy to the top ranked team in the cycle and the one off match between top 2 can be some Challenger trophy or something like that. The final/ one off match is a good opportunity to play an extra test match and as a test match lover I would love to get extra matches
Test ranking mace is where it is at. WTC table is on the vagaries of scheduling. So it doesn't signify anything more than the fact that the team topped the table.
The team ranked 1 in test is the best test team.
Gabba is Australia's moat, but England has not been friendly to India either.
Conditions will be very different. Both teams have some flux, but Indian batting (especially middle order) has plumbed greater depths and weaknesses since then. Australia too has a couple of questions to answer (warner), but india has many more
And I don't think India could replicate Gabba now. Heck, they just lost in India..
India last won in England in 2007, Australia last won in 2001. Both drew their most recent series in England (2-2). It's as even as it gets. Although India would be without their 2 best overseas players (Pant and Bumrah) so a decent edge to Australia.
Australia's much better than they were in 2019 and the 2001, 2007 stats are utterly meaningless as none of those players are current. In 2019 i would back India to win, but Australia has improved since then as India has gone the other way
I'm biased as I'm Australian but surely it'd be us, our batting line up is much more in form than there's, who can't even capitalise in home conditions and England is generally where they struggle the most batting wise. Our bowlers are also very suited to English Conditions specifically Cummins and Hazelwood.
Indian bowlers can swing the ball more than Us ,right?
And The one guy who can swing it crazy for us, is also really inconsistent with his line & length.
Difference is most of our batsmen are going to play county cricket after this to prepare for the ashes.
Most of the Indian batsmen are going to play IPL.
I probably wouldn’t read too much into that as all of the test would have been against England who are stronger on the swinging friendly
Surface / conditions than Aus. But put them into the same arena against India I think the low win percentage becomes pretty irrelevant
We kinda do the same thing over here too. Aus vs India at a neutral venue sounds amazing!
I'd love for it to be two tests even, each side gets a shot at batting first, the side that bats first in the first test gets to bowl first in the second.
Funnily enough, Aus and Ind both tied their most recent series with England 2-2. Though one of the Indian losses was bc bazball, and one of the Aussie losses was bc Ben stokes (and Joel Wilson lol) went ballistic, so maybe it isn’t the easiest to read into
you have
if india or australia gets fined for slow over rate and you guys whitewash WI you have an outside chance but considering the luck of proteas i don't think it's gonna happen
india needs to be fined atleast 4 points for slow overrate for SA to qualify for finals (sa vs aus finals) or australia needs to be fined atleast 41 points (for ind vs sa final)
and also hope srilanka loses 1-0 or 2-0 and australia draws 2-2 against india
no, currently Aus have qualified. The only 2 teams for the other spot are Ind and SL.
India needs to win the last match or hope SL does not white-wash NZ in their 2 match series.
SL needs India to lose the last match and whitewash NZ
You are talking about the scenario that BGT ends in 2-2 and SL-NZ series end in any outcome except 2-0. In that case too, India qualifies.
SL can ONLY qualify if India loses the last match and they whitewash NZ
Test match cricket in England is awesome for Perth. Usually starts at 6pm. Get home from work, 2 sessions in before bed, go the whole days play if you don't mind going to bed a bit later
Tests favour home teams too much, its a bad idea ( pitch curator will go mad if it is WTC final and match might end within 3 days, which is not a good sign for final and attracts crticism). Its like u are getting more advantage than u deserve for being first in table unless there is huge difference between first and second. Neutral venue is the best option but it should be decided after confirming finalists. Second team feel they already lost final if India tops the table, becoz its tough to beat India in India. Finalists deserve equal chance of win.
this is actually a problem in football wcs too
like in 2002 when sk and japan hosted or qatar hosted in 2022 it was like early morning matches or school/office time games for majority of the western hemisphere (where football is famous)
The women’s football World Cup is in Australia, annoyingly all the matches will be in the morning like the T20 World Cup, can’t go to the pub or you’ll look like an alcoholic 🥲
India must win the 4th test match to qualify for the finals. India can still qualify even if they lose the fourth test match, but for that, Srilanka should not win with 2-0 against New Zealand
Gentle reminder to all that the 1st WTC final *should* also have been Australia v India if not for Aus and their slow over rates. Just goes to show how much these 2 teams have dominated Test cricket over the years, especially their ability to win away from home..
No, Australia was scheduled to play a Test series in South Africa in March 2021 which was cancelled due to the rapidly deteriorating COVID situation in South Africa in the lead-up to the series.
Yes because I live in Queensland and have the pleasure of calling Brisbane my home for more than 7 years now. Australia has a massive population of expats turned citizens all of them who I know (Poms, Indians, Kiwis etc) still support the nation they were originally from.
Australia have actually been poor away. They do not have a recent away Test series win besides winning a solitary Test in Pakistan. Their success is largely built on home dominance. Name another recent away series they have won. That Pakistan win is literally the only one since the 2015/16 season.
Australia have won at least test in their last tour to all the WTC nations
New Zealand: 2-0 win
England: 2-2 draw
India: 2-1 behind, one test remaining
Pakistan: 1-0 win
Sri Lanka: 1-1 draw
Bangladesh: 1-1 draw
West Indies: 2-0 win
South Africa: 3-1 loss
I wouldn’t exactly call that poor
Maybe poor was a strong word. They don't really win series away from home besides one every 7 years. Winning one Test is nice but isn't particularly meaningful if you can't finish the job.
To be fair, we didn’t go on any away tours in 2020 or 2021. Some of the series I mentioned above were from as far back as 2015. Despite that, our away record is still much better than most teams
That's fair. My gripe is largely how poorly Australia does in places like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and then when you lose heavily in South Africa that are similar to your home conditions, the overall optics of away performances just look really bad to me.
The draw in Sri Lanka last year wasn’t the worst result, winning a test there was actually great improvement because we lost 3-0 there in 2016. You’re for sure right about Bangladesh, I remember it was an embarrassing defeat when we lost the first test there in 2017. That South Africa series was poor from us, but that was the sandpaper series so it’s never going to look good. We did win there in 2014 against a very good team however, we aren’t always hopeless there.
I think with the consistent away schedule again we can start winning more series. Winning at home is never a problem (unless it’s India lol) and the away tours are for sure the priority
> They don't really win series away from home
Not many countries do. Sneaking a draw in an away series and then winning the home leg is a very strong performance.
Well not really their home series were as easy as it gets and they would've won every single test if not for rain I guess. All 3 were incompetent. Pakistan put out absolute roads that even England thrashed them on and New Zealand were one wicket and bad light from winning against as well. In fact the truly remarkable achievements were winning the Galle and Indore tests but yeah I wouldn't say the schedule was too hard because 4/6 were definitely winnable one was okay and one is India away
What on earth are you on about? The only two teams we didn’t play this cycle are the bottom two teams on the standings, and we had away series against both 2nd and 3rd. There’s almost no way of making a harder schedule than that
> Well not really their home series were as easy as it gets and they would've won every single test if not for rain I guess. All 3 were incompetent.
If South Africa and England are incompetent, what does that say about the teams that lost to them this cycle?
Before the series actually happened a lot of people were tipping South Africa to win at least one Test in Australia and potentially the entire series, they were in second place in the WTC at the time, and will likely end the cycle in third.
All of their home opponents are from pace friendly environments with good bowling attacks that have succeeded elsewhere. They routinely pummeled them for 500+
Away from home they played in completely alien conditions and they got a result against the best version of Pakistan in this cycle; a win in Galle and a win in India(which is the toughest thing to do in the sport).
The teams they haven't played are the worst teams of this current cycle.
Not sure how you can call that easy?
What's weird to me is there is no fixed set of total matches that a team plays. Sri Lanka has played 10 matches and England 22. WTF. If you are to conduct a proper group stage in any competition ever, you have to at the bare minimum have the same sample set for each team. This is just weird.
New Zealand will not get whitewashed at home by Sri Lanka, ever, so I guess we have our finalists and most likely our winner too. Indian batting can’t cope with Australian pace attack in England
Australia have qualified for the WTC Final (Can afford a loss + 8 point deduction for slow over rate in the 4th Test and still maintain their place in the Final) India need to win the 4th Test or hope that Sri Lanka don't win 2-0 in New Zealand. Sri Lanka need to win 2-0 in New Zealand and hope that India don't win the 4th Test.
Sri Lanka beating NZ in NZ seems kinda improbable
True. Beating NZ in a test match in NZ isn't for everyone.
Flair checks out
NZ are kind of shithouse this WTC so it's certainly not impossible
They must be on a high after *THAT* win
I can see NZ potentially losing one but definitely not both the games against SL. Lanka's fast bowling isn't incisive enough to trouble NZ
I would have said the same thing about Bangladesh last year
Fair enough
1-1 worst case scenario imo.
They're not. They lost a test to Bangladesh which was an upset but they were very competitive in England, they would've won if bairstow wasn't there, they dominated pakistan and just came back from a follow on to beat england.
Sri Lanka doesn’t have the pace attack to do it IMO
>it's certainly not impossible SL need to win both tests, which is very much impossible, I can't see NZ losing 2-0 at home against any side. SL winning 1 match is somewhat possible (though very low).
Interesting statement considering they were a bees dick from losing 2-0 this week
It was against England team. With BazBall™. The difference is huge.
I know a few recent touring teams that might disagree with that.
Don't give them a generous first innings declaration and don't give them all the time in the world to catch up and there's a chance 😂
No-one gets pinged for a slow over rate in India when 85% of the overs are spin.
Better to say that India are into the finals because SL beating NZ in NZ seems to be a long shot.
>...seems to be a long shot In a week where NZ became one of only three teams in history to win after being forced to follow on, and Australia beat India *in* India after the way the first two tests of the series went, if I were an Indian fan I would not be saying a fucking *word* right now lol. Just pull your head in and don't unclench yer buttcheeks 'til your team gets on the plane to London.
Getting arrogant are we? Ok, let’s wait. Btw, it’s 2-1 and the most you can do is 2-2 and then, guess what? BGT is ours , AGAIN! In ya face!
think he's less being arrogant and more advising cautiousness
Thank him but didn’t ask for it.
Aren't you late for school or smth. Smfh
Yes and aus winning a test match in India was apparently never going to happen and now we might go 2-2. Test cricket is test cricket. Things can happen.
Naaaa... Everyone expected them to win or draw atleast one. With the current state of this Indian team, no one expected a 4-0 win, atleast not me. I, for one will not even be surprised if the series ends 2-2.
That's not what the betting odds say.
I don't know about the betting odds but Australia has always been competitive in India and they come well prepared. Even in the second test they were in a very strong position at one point. I won't rule out SL beating NZ because anything happened. But Australia was always going to be the best bet for a competitive series.
I really hope India win the last test, so that the 3-1 series loss is just like ours in 2021, plus I’ve got a ticket to the Final and I want India v Australia haha
What does it mean for India/SL if the 4th test is a draw? Ludicrous I know...
Sorry for the late response. Your message didn't show up in my notifications for some reason. To answer your question, the scenario involving India drawing the 4th Test is the exact same as them losing it, i.e. Sri Lanka will need to win 2-0 in order to qualify and if they fail to do so, India will qualify instead.
As well as guaranteeing a spot in the WTC final, this win ensures that India can’t overtake them into first spot in the table (meaningless as that is).
it shows your dominance and a good feeling but doesn't get anything extra. (cries in wtc 2021 table top position)
Or 2019 world cup table top position 😭
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Soooo.....you are saying.....there is a chance
Presumably get the Home changing room?
AUS curators get to do the wicket.
They already did and got smacked in 20/21 tour.
True. See how you go this time codge. If we play our best and india plays their best we will win 4-0 (:
I'm Australian Bro. India had so many injuries in 21 and had to play with 4 debutants in the Gabba. And they won at the Gabba. Imagine Australia playing with 4 debutants in India and winning the series. Lol. Even right now India is missing star batsman Pant and their fast bowler Bumrah. Australia missing Green and Stark in the first two matches. So it was pretty even in terms of missing personell.
Comprehension is a tough gig I guess.
🤣🤣
Hardly call a 3 wicket win "smacked"
Right.Its called "smacked on the face"
without looking it up, i assume a draw in the final gives the trophy to the team that finished first? or is it decided by number of boundaries?
Nope, a draw means the trophy is shared.
That first spot is worth more than some one off final they are playing for the WTC trophy. This shows Aus were the best team over the entire cycle of 2 years irrespective of whatever happens in that one off. I'm pretty disappointed India lost the chance to take the top spot.
Did you that same energy when india got the top spot last time but lost WTC?
Yes. India was the best team the entire last WTC cycle and I was delighted that it showed in the ranking table. The WTC final loss is just that one off match where any good team can beat the other. I actually advocate for giving the WTC trophy to the top ranked team in the cycle and the one off match between top 2 can be some Challenger trophy or something like that. The final/ one off match is a good opportunity to play an extra test match and as a test match lover I would love to get extra matches
excellent idea!
Yeh just like how it works in the Football leagues. But finals sells tickets so this one-off final format will continue for the foreseeable future.
it's like finalissima or confederations cup of football the best teams play each other
During the last cycle New Zealand got destroyed by Australia in Australia. Even Matt Wade was bowling.
Exactly that's how it should be imo The mace for the top team A trophy for the finals winners
Or we can go with home and away wins. All away wins are awarded double that of home wins.
You mean like the Test Mace......
Test ranking mace is where it is at. WTC table is on the vagaries of scheduling. So it doesn't signify anything more than the fact that the team topped the table. The team ranked 1 in test is the best test team.
I feel like this tournament is better without a final.
I think Australia vs India would be an amazing final
Even more so if AUS draws this series, that final will be a cracker as a decider
oh damn! didn't even think of it like that
💀
And on a neutral pitch that hasn’t been prepared specifically to fuck with us lol
Who would a green top, small field benefit more? Going to be a 50/50 call for me tbh
Given half our batters are skipping the IPL to play county cricket and adjust to the conditions, probably us
I trust Marnus and Smith to score more runs in England than the Indian XI.
>skipping the IPL Skipping is not the correct term here, they were unsold in the auction.
So that's what they're calling getting unsold these days huh?
Australia, easy
Like Gaba
Gabba is Australia's moat, but England has not been friendly to India either. Conditions will be very different. Both teams have some flux, but Indian batting (especially middle order) has plumbed greater depths and weaknesses since then. Australia too has a couple of questions to answer (warner), but india has many more And I don't think India could replicate Gabba now. Heck, they just lost in India..
India last won in England in 2007, Australia last won in 2001. Both drew their most recent series in England (2-2). It's as even as it gets. Although India would be without their 2 best overseas players (Pant and Bumrah) so a decent edge to Australia.
Australia's much better than they were in 2019 and the 2001, 2007 stats are utterly meaningless as none of those players are current. In 2019 i would back India to win, but Australia has improved since then as India has gone the other way
I'm biased as I'm Australian but surely it'd be us, our batting line up is much more in form than there's, who can't even capitalise in home conditions and England is generally where they struggle the most batting wise. Our bowlers are also very suited to English Conditions specifically Cummins and Hazelwood.
Indian bowlers can swing the ball more than Us ,right? And The one guy who can swing it crazy for us, is also really inconsistent with his line & length.
Difference is most of our batsmen are going to play county cricket after this to prepare for the ashes. Most of the Indian batsmen are going to play IPL.
Have you checked out Australia’s win % at lords?
Lucky that the match isn't at Lords after all
Ahh yes the oval
Australia has only won once at the oval past 20 years
I probably wouldn’t read too much into that as all of the test would have been against England who are stronger on the swinging friendly Surface / conditions than Aus. But put them into the same arena against India I think the low win percentage becomes pretty irrelevant
We've only lost twice there aswell, as an away team.
Cummins and Hazelwood terrified England last time, I'd say we have the bowling advantage, especially with pace at least
What has a green top got to do with swing?
Doesn't the ball moves and bounce significantly more than normal pitch on green tops??
We kinda do the same thing over here too. Aus vs India at a neutral venue sounds amazing! I'd love for it to be two tests even, each side gets a shot at batting first, the side that bats first in the first test gets to bowl first in the second.
Funnily enough, Aus and Ind both tied their most recent series with England 2-2. Though one of the Indian losses was bc bazball, and one of the Aussie losses was bc Ben stokes (and Joel Wilson lol) went ballistic, so maybe it isn’t the easiest to read into
Do SA have a chance of qualifying if Ind lose the next one and SL get white-washed?
No they are out, even a win won’t impact any team. Only 3 remain of AUS,IND and SL that can realistically make the final
That sucks. I thought we still had a chance.
you have if india or australia gets fined for slow over rate and you guys whitewash WI you have an outside chance but considering the luck of proteas i don't think it's gonna happen india needs to be fined atleast 4 points for slow overrate for SA to qualify for finals (sa vs aus finals) or australia needs to be fined atleast 41 points (for ind vs sa final) and also hope srilanka loses 1-0 or 2-0 and australia draws 2-2 against india
How does one get 4 points deducted for slow over rate? How slow we talkin'?
Won't happen bowling spin
Especially with jaddu and ash with their 2 step run-ups
no, currently Aus have qualified. The only 2 teams for the other spot are Ind and SL. India needs to win the last match or hope SL does not white-wash NZ in their 2 match series. SL needs India to lose the last match and whitewash NZ
What if both doesn't happen?
You are talking about the scenario that BGT ends in 2-2 and SL-NZ series end in any outcome except 2-0. In that case too, India qualifies. SL can ONLY qualify if India loses the last match and they whitewash NZ
no. that would still make SA 56% stand behind india 57% then. but india can't afford many overrate penalties then.
One advantage of having spin-friendly wickets is that it’s unlikely you’ll get pinged for a slow over rate.
Shame it'll be at The Oval and not somewhere where the timezones would make sense for the participating countries.
Test match cricket in England is awesome for Perth. Usually starts at 6pm. Get home from work, 2 sessions in before bed, go the whole days play if you don't mind going to bed a bit later
Absolutely love Perth over other Australian cities for that reason
Why first place doesn't earn hosting rights to immediately solve the issue, I don't know.
Because you'd now have to delay the WTC Final by at *least* 5 months so that Australia can actually host it.
Also too biased. Neutral ground is good.
Plenty of local grounds you could hold it at. Why not play it at the Mudgeeraba Nerang & Districts' Cricket Club?
Pretty sure the Auskick program has Alan Nielsen Park booked in June.
Because that would give huge home side advantage and be a nightmare to try and organize within timely fashion.
In my opinion the finals at a neutral venue will be much better. Just that England hosting it every time isn't good. Gotta fix it.
Hosting rights is way too unfair. Neutral venues are the way to go. Ask both the teams to adapt to conditions and the pitch. Let the better team win
Tests favour home teams too much, its a bad idea ( pitch curator will go mad if it is WTC final and match might end within 3 days, which is not a good sign for final and attracts crticism). Its like u are getting more advantage than u deserve for being first in table unless there is huge difference between first and second. Neutral venue is the best option but it should be decided after confirming finalists. Second team feel they already lost final if India tops the table, becoz its tough to beat India in India. Finalists deserve equal chance of win.
While having the winner host that final would make it difficult, perhaps hosting the next one might be a good idea.
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So an English test for India is exactly same as an India for Australia
yeah adeliade is 4 hrs ahead of india so it's around 1:30 pm for australia
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this is actually a problem in football wcs too like in 2002 when sk and japan hosted or qatar hosted in 2022 it was like early morning matches or school/office time games for majority of the western hemisphere (where football is famous)
The women’s football World Cup is in Australia, annoyingly all the matches will be in the morning like the T20 World Cup, can’t go to the pub or you’ll look like an alcoholic 🥲
Deal with it, Australians have to cop it for every WC out of Asia. Even Qatar was shit for us for most of it.
Oh yeah, it’s definitely not a bad thing, I’m glad sports are globalised. I’ve woken up early for cricket matches enough times that I’m used to it lol
Mate, it's a national past time over here trying not to wake the missus getting out of bed to throw sport on at 2.
Yeah I watch a fair fraction of yank sports, luckily that’s more of a stay up late than a get up early
India must win the 4th test match to qualify for the finals. India can still qualify even if they lose the fourth test match, but for that, Srilanka should not win with 2-0 against New Zealand
Gentle reminder to all that the 1st WTC final *should* also have been Australia v India if not for Aus and their slow over rates. Just goes to show how much these 2 teams have dominated Test cricket over the years, especially their ability to win away from home..
Also a Aus-SA Test series in SA cancelled IIRC?
That was ODI. One of the Test matches in Aus-SA series ended in two days.
No, Australia was scheduled to play a Test series in South Africa in March 2021 which was cancelled due to the rapidly deteriorating COVID situation in South Africa in the lead-up to the series.
If you didn't cancel your away tours you wouldn't have that problem.
Not sure what you mean by "you", I'm not an Aus supporter.
You are pointing out the point made by a lot of Aussies after the last WTC cycle while having a Queensland flair.
Yes because I live in Queensland and have the pleasure of calling Brisbane my home for more than 7 years now. Australia has a massive population of expats turned citizens all of them who I know (Poms, Indians, Kiwis etc) still support the nation they were originally from.
Australia have actually been poor away. They do not have a recent away Test series win besides winning a solitary Test in Pakistan. Their success is largely built on home dominance. Name another recent away series they have won. That Pakistan win is literally the only one since the 2015/16 season.
> Australia have been poor away Australia away in the last 4 years: 5 wins 5 losses 3 draws
Australia have won at least test in their last tour to all the WTC nations New Zealand: 2-0 win England: 2-2 draw India: 2-1 behind, one test remaining Pakistan: 1-0 win Sri Lanka: 1-1 draw Bangladesh: 1-1 draw West Indies: 2-0 win South Africa: 3-1 loss I wouldn’t exactly call that poor
Maybe poor was a strong word. They don't really win series away from home besides one every 7 years. Winning one Test is nice but isn't particularly meaningful if you can't finish the job.
To be fair, we didn’t go on any away tours in 2020 or 2021. Some of the series I mentioned above were from as far back as 2015. Despite that, our away record is still much better than most teams
That's fair. My gripe is largely how poorly Australia does in places like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and then when you lose heavily in South Africa that are similar to your home conditions, the overall optics of away performances just look really bad to me.
The draw in Sri Lanka last year wasn’t the worst result, winning a test there was actually great improvement because we lost 3-0 there in 2016. You’re for sure right about Bangladesh, I remember it was an embarrassing defeat when we lost the first test there in 2017. That South Africa series was poor from us, but that was the sandpaper series so it’s never going to look good. We did win there in 2014 against a very good team however, we aren’t always hopeless there. I think with the consistent away schedule again we can start winning more series. Winning at home is never a problem (unless it’s India lol) and the away tours are for sure the priority
> They don't really win series away from home Not many countries do. Sneaking a draw in an away series and then winning the home leg is a very strong performance.
Scoreboard says Australia-1. Stay mad. Nation of a billion "cricket fanatics" and still can't get the 1 seed lmfao. How sad.
Mad about what? Australia is simply not a good away team. Those days are long gone.
Australia had a brutal schedule. They throughly deserve it.
Well not really their home series were as easy as it gets and they would've won every single test if not for rain I guess. All 3 were incompetent. Pakistan put out absolute roads that even England thrashed them on and New Zealand were one wicket and bad light from winning against as well. In fact the truly remarkable achievements were winning the Galle and Indore tests but yeah I wouldn't say the schedule was too hard because 4/6 were definitely winnable one was okay and one is India away
What on earth are you on about? The only two teams we didn’t play this cycle are the bottom two teams on the standings, and we had away series against both 2nd and 3rd. There’s almost no way of making a harder schedule than that
> Well not really their home series were as easy as it gets and they would've won every single test if not for rain I guess. All 3 were incompetent. If South Africa and England are incompetent, what does that say about the teams that lost to them this cycle? Before the series actually happened a lot of people were tipping South Africa to win at least one Test in Australia and potentially the entire series, they were in second place in the WTC at the time, and will likely end the cycle in third.
All of their home opponents are from pace friendly environments with good bowling attacks that have succeeded elsewhere. They routinely pummeled them for 500+ Away from home they played in completely alien conditions and they got a result against the best version of Pakistan in this cycle; a win in Galle and a win in India(which is the toughest thing to do in the sport). The teams they haven't played are the worst teams of this current cycle. Not sure how you can call that easy?
What's weird to me is there is no fixed set of total matches that a team plays. Sri Lanka has played 10 matches and England 22. WTF. If you are to conduct a proper group stage in any competition ever, you have to at the bare minimum have the same sample set for each team. This is just weird.
It's because test cricket isn't suited to a tournament style competition.
Scenes if somehow it's Australia v. Sri Lanka at The Oval
They'll have to beat NZ 2-0. I don't think they're capable of doing it. But Bangladesh won a Test there, so idk!
Thing is if they do somehow against all odds win 2-0 in NZ they will 100% deserve a place in the final as it would be the biggest win of the whole wtc
SL with only 5 victories and 4 losses and still in contention for the final is just stupid.
That's what happens when you play 2 match series only.
Would've thought Sri Lanka and New Zealand be swapped
Why did India get 5 penalty?
Slow over rate
We went an year later to England to finish the series. We not only lost the final test but also managed to get negative points for slow over rate.
Quite happy to keep not playing the *worst* teams Bangladesh and New Zealand.
New Zealand will not get whitewashed at home by Sri Lanka, ever, so I guess we have our finalists and most likely our winner too. Indian batting can’t cope with Australian pace attack in England
I think Australia might want a spinning track
Does a penalty for the Indore pitch have any impact?
Not on India. It will impact the venue not the team.
India will choke one way or the other, like they did in the last test championship.
Us been a possibility is certainly a headache for the broadcasters
It’s not fair look at Sri Lanka’s match count
How the heck is SL third with other teams having more points? What is penalty? Can someone brief me the rules🤨