Slashing Through the Cordon

On today's episode of The Casual Mankadder, we dissect the outcome of the 1st Test of the two Test series between Australia and the West Indies which was completed in Adelaide this week. Despite the final result being one that even my daughter that ignores everything to do with cricket could have predicted, the West Indies have unearthed another two or three promising young cricketers who all perf...

The decision today to pick Cameron Green in the starting XI for the upcoming West Indies Test series to replace the retiring David Warner came as no surprise to anyone, given the number of leaks to the media over recent days to ensure everyone was prepared for the eventual announcement. It has become a time-honoured tradition, essentially to ensure that the Chairman of Selectors press conference t...

On today's edition of Three Points of Play: 1. The 3rd Test has been run and won, and all that remains is to take a look at the series as a whole and discuss whether the 3-0 scoreline was an accurate view of how the cricket was played, and whether Pakistan can make a better showing going forward. 2. David Warner has completed his international career (T20 World Cup pending), and we take a short an...

On today's edition of Five Points of Play: From the City of Lost Cricket, we discuss Day 3 of the Australia vs Pakistan Test match, and how the game has once again ebbed and flowed on the backs of half hour patches of brilliance from both teams. Given the amount of time that is still being lost in Test cricket, we talk about the pure ridiculousness of ten minutes being scythed out of the match bec...

On today's edition of Five Points of Play: We discuss the truncated Day 2 of the 3rd and final Test between Australia and Pakistan in Sydney, and whether the lack of play has hindered the chance of a result once again in the City of Lost Cricket. Bad light once again reared its ugly head before the onset of rain, and with it a discussion on whether changes need to be made to the regulations in ord...

On today's edition of Five Points of Play: We discuss the opening day's play of the 3rd Test between Australia and Pakistan in Sydney, and the ebbing and flowing of the day's play, and the heroes and villains involved. I rant about the diabolical over rate for the day by Australia, why both teams are somewhat at fault, and an idea on how it could be fixed quickly. We discuss the non playing of Pak...

On today's episode of The Casual Mankadder, we take a look back at the 1st Test of the Australia summer 2023/24, with the match against Pakistan in Perth at the new Perth Stadium. In amongst the angst of David Warner's century followed by a duck, and Mitch Marsh's excellent all round performance, we have a look at Nathan Lyon becoming the 8th male cricketer to reach 500 Test wickets, and the overa...

On today's episode of The Casual Mankadder, we attack and discuss three current points of contention in the world of Australian cricket. Firstly, we preview the start of the Test series and discuss the chances of both Pakistan and Australia in the First Test in Perth and the series overall, and whether Pakistan's less than full strength squad is a match for Australia's bully boys on home turf. Sec...

On todays episode of The Casual Mankadder, we preview the upcoming 13th edition of Australia’s Big Bash League. Despite the dwindling ability to attract the top flight short form cricketers from around the world, the BBL still showcases the best talent that Australian domestic cricket has to offer as they look to force their way into the national setup. Today we’ll take a look at each team's squad...