Abdul
ODI Debutant
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
- Runs
- 9,212
PakPassion.net : To start off, what's the reason for your strong disliking towards Aaron Finch?
Convict : I don't dislike Aaron Finch as a person. I just don't rate him as a batsman at all. He's a batsmen with extremely poor technique, proven by his consistent failures at first class level, who can only play a few shots. Despite how commentators talk up "how rare him getting bogged down is", it's actually something that's very common. In the vast majority of his scores at ODI level of note he's had to have been carried by his partner early on. He gets bogged down and either gets his partner out or gets himself caught in the ring trying to force things on. Australia can do much better (eg Khawaja).
PakPassion.net : What do you think about the current state of Pakistan cricket?
Convict : Pakistani cricket in my opinion has really prolonged the transition process with the batting a bit too long. Younis and Misbah are very good players and Misbah especially has really held the team together with his leadership but I don't think Pakistan is equipped for their retirement. That's largely a structural thing, stemming from a stagnant domestic system. Younger batsmen aren't ready for international cricket and aren't really developing enough to force their way into the team and to stay in, but when they get dropped they haven't really been able to address the faults that got them dropped. So Umar Akmal for instance hasn't made the step up that his age peers in other countries have done and Pakistan really need that generation of batsmen to make the step up soon.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favourite Pakistan player and why?
Convict : Of all time it is Wasim Akram. At the moment probably Younis Khan or Yasir Shah. I really love seeing world class leg spin.
PakPassion.net : Who is coming through for Australia? Any good players of spin?
Convict : I think we have a few talented players coming through but they're all mostly a few years away from international level. I have major doubts about both Burns and Lynn from Queensland. Renshaw and Heazlett from the same state are apparently very good but I haven't had a chance to see them bat yet and I don't think it's fair to judge someone based solely on some streams and highlights packages and cricinfo scorecards. Billy Stanlake and Joel Paris are seriously good bowling talents. Bancroft, Handscomb, Head and Silk are the young batsmen that I rate the most. Silk has unfortunately really stagnated. Bancroft is mentally very strong and disciplined and has experienced success at first class level in India and from memory also in an U19 tour. In many ways he's more similar to Alastair Cook than to any recent Australian opening batsmen and I think he'll become the player we need to complement Warner. Handscomb is the player I think is closest to taking the step up and I rate him as a fairly good player of spin. Whether or not that translates to runs in Asia is not something I know yet, it's hard to judge that kind of thing based on runs in Australia against Australian bowlers. Travis Head well he's got the talent and he's going to be a good Limited Overs player for Australia and I suspect will be in our top order for the next world cup. As for Tests that remains to be seen, he's got the talent for it. I do however thing the South Australians have messed up by giving him the Captaincy so early.
Nic Maddinson is the most talented batsman in the country (including Smith) but I have no confidence in him making it in any format.
PakPassion.net : Do you think the PSL can be as successful as the BBL?
Convict : Once it moves back to Pakistan it will be. While it's in the UAE it's always going to be constrained.
PakPassion.net : What keeps you going as a cricket fan despite many people claiming the game is on the decline?
Convict : I love the game. Not just from winning but also purely from a technical point - I enjoy watching good, pure cricket. Some parts of cricket I think are in decline (batting) but I also believe that boards are beginning to wake up to that stuff and are trying to find ways to better develop batsmen. I don't think T20 cricket will change that direction because I think most people realise that even the best T20 batsmen are generally equipped with solid, basic fundamentals they learned in junior cricket.
PakPassion.net : How will it feel if Pakistan end Australia's home Test streak this year?
Convict : Losing Test series, especially series you ought to win, always hurts. To me it's about as likely as Australia winning a Test next time we tour India so it's not really a prospect I'm actually considering.
PakPassion.net : Are the flat nature of Australian pitches producing a generation of young batsmen poorly equipped to deal with quality swing and spin bowling overseas?
Convict : Well I'd actually have to say no. I'm not denying that this current generation of Australian batsmen are poorly equipped but the flat wickets at Test level haven't got anything to do with that. For one I don't think anyone makes meaningful technical changes to their batting at Test level. At shield level yes but shield wickets bare little resemblance to Test wickets (because sheffield shield is commercially irrelevant). For a three year period around 2010-2012, Shield wickets were actually the complete opposite of flat with Tasmania and Queensland in particular preparing greentops that were far greener than the wicket Broad destroyed Australia on last year. Season averages in the 30s were very good in those years and only Ricky Ponting and Phil Hughes out of regular shield batsmen had really good averages. Ponting actually pointed out that CA needed to clamp down on that because the wickets favoured bowlers so much that young batsmen weren't getting the opportunity to develop their games and dud bowlers were looking like champions.
My thought is that batting technique in particular goes back to junior cricket where young batsmen need to build the basic fundamentals, they then go into grade cricket where they finally come up across experienced adult veterans who further Test their techniques and then on to shield which is basically the finishing school. Traditionally you could possibly say that junior cricket = Primary School, Grade Cricket = High School, Shield Cricket = University and then Test cricket is the Professional field. Nowadays however players are reaching Shield cricket without many of the basic fundamentals that previous generations had and then going to Test cricket ill equipped. The new system of developing batsmen optimises them for certain game styles but doesn't give them the basic tools they need to adapt quickly to different conditions.
I go into all this stuff a lot more in this thread http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...The-development-of-batsmen-in-the-modern-game
PakPassion.net : Which Australian cricketers do you think had immense potential to be greats but underachieved and what do you think is the reason behind their downfall?
Convict : Of recent players it's probably pretty harsh to see he underachieved but I think Damien Martyn had the potential to do much more with his career. Unfortunately he didn't have the appetite for big innings which really held him back. Ryan Harris is another one. Not just from injury but because it took him far too long to finally decide to get series about a professional career.
PakPassion.net : How would you rate Watson's career now that it's coming to an end? Did he achieve his potential in your book or could he have been one of the great all rounders of the game?
Convict : Good old Watto. It's quite funny. His final career stats in isolation are fairly decent yet every cricket fan in Australia thinks he's a complete dud. And in terms of ODI cricket, he's probably in Australia's All Time Best XI and we've won 5 World Cups. He was a very clever bowler and a much better bowler than his stats indicated. In terms of batting you always got the feeling that the opposition teams and opposition fans viewed him as a key wicket even while he was a laughing stock in Australia.
Watto batted like he spent thousands of hours every year facing a bowling machine and creating a perfectly repeatable technique. With the problem being that clever international bowlers aren't restricted in the way a bowling machine is and that predictability is not always a virtue. He also, especially early in his career was almost too strong for his body due to a lot of time building muscles in the gym which led to constant soft tissue injuries.
Tragically, in the way only Watto could be tragic, one gets the impression that he's possibly the only example of someone who would have been better in his chosen profession if he were just a bit lazier and a bit less robotic.
Tried too hard to be the Terminator but instead ended up as C3P0
But these are the sort of traits that could make him a very good coach in the future. He's an overseas player who many young Pakistani players, who aren't in danger of over training, could learn from.
PakPassion.net : Do you think that Aaron Finch will be selected to open for the Test team?
Convict : We're more likely to whitewash India in India than Finch is to to play Test cricket. He's a fringe shield player for Victoria. The selectors have a pretty good grasp on Finch's major limitations in red ball cricket so no selection will happen unless he somehow changes his game completely and earns a spot through sheer weight of runs in Shield cricket. In which case he will have earned his selection.
And even if he did get selected for Australia, I'd hope he succeeds and call for him to be dropped when he inevitably fails, but he'd be far from the first spud to represent Australia (Doherty for instance)
PakPassion.net : Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Convict : Not really much to say. I'm fairly typical for an Australian male of my generation I guess though I probably do watch far more cricket than most. I played cricket at a fairly decent level but was never good enough for any sort of consideration for a state squad but I've played against many players who were good enough and have gone on to higher honours. I have a strong bias towards Chris Rogers and Adam Voges due to club connection.
I also note that in the question thread I was asked why I hate/dislike Indian cricket. I don't though I admit that India is a rival team. I just find myself occasionally getting sucked into responding to bait some times and then finding myself throwing out my own bait in other threads.
PakPassion.net : What is the attraction of posting on PakPassion for a non-Pakistan person such as yourself?
Convict : It's probably the best specialist cricket forum on the internet or at least I haven't found any better. I like cricket enough to be interested in teams that I don't support which helps but most of the posters here are in a similar position which is why there is such a strong international contingent as well as a very knowledgeable Pakistani fan base here. PP is also a lot more active than most cricket forums.
PakPassion.net : What are some of your hobbies?
Convict : Cricket, footy (Australian Football) and computer games - mainly simulation and strategy. I also do like reading science fiction.
PakPassion.net : Which countries would you like to visit, and why?
Convict : It's an ambition of mine to watch Australia play a Test match in every Test nation in the world.
PakPassion.net : Lastly, how did you find PakPassion?
Convict : The spot fixing saga. I was looking for more on it and came across PP. I sporadically lurked every now and then over the next few years before seeing a few threads I really, really wanted to respond to.
Convict : I don't dislike Aaron Finch as a person. I just don't rate him as a batsman at all. He's a batsmen with extremely poor technique, proven by his consistent failures at first class level, who can only play a few shots. Despite how commentators talk up "how rare him getting bogged down is", it's actually something that's very common. In the vast majority of his scores at ODI level of note he's had to have been carried by his partner early on. He gets bogged down and either gets his partner out or gets himself caught in the ring trying to force things on. Australia can do much better (eg Khawaja).
PakPassion.net : What do you think about the current state of Pakistan cricket?
Convict : Pakistani cricket in my opinion has really prolonged the transition process with the batting a bit too long. Younis and Misbah are very good players and Misbah especially has really held the team together with his leadership but I don't think Pakistan is equipped for their retirement. That's largely a structural thing, stemming from a stagnant domestic system. Younger batsmen aren't ready for international cricket and aren't really developing enough to force their way into the team and to stay in, but when they get dropped they haven't really been able to address the faults that got them dropped. So Umar Akmal for instance hasn't made the step up that his age peers in other countries have done and Pakistan really need that generation of batsmen to make the step up soon.
PakPassion.net : Who is your favourite Pakistan player and why?
Convict : Of all time it is Wasim Akram. At the moment probably Younis Khan or Yasir Shah. I really love seeing world class leg spin.
PakPassion.net : Who is coming through for Australia? Any good players of spin?
Convict : I think we have a few talented players coming through but they're all mostly a few years away from international level. I have major doubts about both Burns and Lynn from Queensland. Renshaw and Heazlett from the same state are apparently very good but I haven't had a chance to see them bat yet and I don't think it's fair to judge someone based solely on some streams and highlights packages and cricinfo scorecards. Billy Stanlake and Joel Paris are seriously good bowling talents. Bancroft, Handscomb, Head and Silk are the young batsmen that I rate the most. Silk has unfortunately really stagnated. Bancroft is mentally very strong and disciplined and has experienced success at first class level in India and from memory also in an U19 tour. In many ways he's more similar to Alastair Cook than to any recent Australian opening batsmen and I think he'll become the player we need to complement Warner. Handscomb is the player I think is closest to taking the step up and I rate him as a fairly good player of spin. Whether or not that translates to runs in Asia is not something I know yet, it's hard to judge that kind of thing based on runs in Australia against Australian bowlers. Travis Head well he's got the talent and he's going to be a good Limited Overs player for Australia and I suspect will be in our top order for the next world cup. As for Tests that remains to be seen, he's got the talent for it. I do however thing the South Australians have messed up by giving him the Captaincy so early.
Nic Maddinson is the most talented batsman in the country (including Smith) but I have no confidence in him making it in any format.
PakPassion.net : Do you think the PSL can be as successful as the BBL?
Convict : Once it moves back to Pakistan it will be. While it's in the UAE it's always going to be constrained.
PakPassion.net : What keeps you going as a cricket fan despite many people claiming the game is on the decline?
Convict : I love the game. Not just from winning but also purely from a technical point - I enjoy watching good, pure cricket. Some parts of cricket I think are in decline (batting) but I also believe that boards are beginning to wake up to that stuff and are trying to find ways to better develop batsmen. I don't think T20 cricket will change that direction because I think most people realise that even the best T20 batsmen are generally equipped with solid, basic fundamentals they learned in junior cricket.
PakPassion.net : How will it feel if Pakistan end Australia's home Test streak this year?
Convict : Losing Test series, especially series you ought to win, always hurts. To me it's about as likely as Australia winning a Test next time we tour India so it's not really a prospect I'm actually considering.
PakPassion.net : Are the flat nature of Australian pitches producing a generation of young batsmen poorly equipped to deal with quality swing and spin bowling overseas?
Convict : Well I'd actually have to say no. I'm not denying that this current generation of Australian batsmen are poorly equipped but the flat wickets at Test level haven't got anything to do with that. For one I don't think anyone makes meaningful technical changes to their batting at Test level. At shield level yes but shield wickets bare little resemblance to Test wickets (because sheffield shield is commercially irrelevant). For a three year period around 2010-2012, Shield wickets were actually the complete opposite of flat with Tasmania and Queensland in particular preparing greentops that were far greener than the wicket Broad destroyed Australia on last year. Season averages in the 30s were very good in those years and only Ricky Ponting and Phil Hughes out of regular shield batsmen had really good averages. Ponting actually pointed out that CA needed to clamp down on that because the wickets favoured bowlers so much that young batsmen weren't getting the opportunity to develop their games and dud bowlers were looking like champions.
My thought is that batting technique in particular goes back to junior cricket where young batsmen need to build the basic fundamentals, they then go into grade cricket where they finally come up across experienced adult veterans who further Test their techniques and then on to shield which is basically the finishing school. Traditionally you could possibly say that junior cricket = Primary School, Grade Cricket = High School, Shield Cricket = University and then Test cricket is the Professional field. Nowadays however players are reaching Shield cricket without many of the basic fundamentals that previous generations had and then going to Test cricket ill equipped. The new system of developing batsmen optimises them for certain game styles but doesn't give them the basic tools they need to adapt quickly to different conditions.
I go into all this stuff a lot more in this thread http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...The-development-of-batsmen-in-the-modern-game
PakPassion.net : Which Australian cricketers do you think had immense potential to be greats but underachieved and what do you think is the reason behind their downfall?
Convict : Of recent players it's probably pretty harsh to see he underachieved but I think Damien Martyn had the potential to do much more with his career. Unfortunately he didn't have the appetite for big innings which really held him back. Ryan Harris is another one. Not just from injury but because it took him far too long to finally decide to get series about a professional career.
PakPassion.net : How would you rate Watson's career now that it's coming to an end? Did he achieve his potential in your book or could he have been one of the great all rounders of the game?
Convict : Good old Watto. It's quite funny. His final career stats in isolation are fairly decent yet every cricket fan in Australia thinks he's a complete dud. And in terms of ODI cricket, he's probably in Australia's All Time Best XI and we've won 5 World Cups. He was a very clever bowler and a much better bowler than his stats indicated. In terms of batting you always got the feeling that the opposition teams and opposition fans viewed him as a key wicket even while he was a laughing stock in Australia.
Watto batted like he spent thousands of hours every year facing a bowling machine and creating a perfectly repeatable technique. With the problem being that clever international bowlers aren't restricted in the way a bowling machine is and that predictability is not always a virtue. He also, especially early in his career was almost too strong for his body due to a lot of time building muscles in the gym which led to constant soft tissue injuries.
Tragically, in the way only Watto could be tragic, one gets the impression that he's possibly the only example of someone who would have been better in his chosen profession if he were just a bit lazier and a bit less robotic.
Tried too hard to be the Terminator but instead ended up as C3P0
But these are the sort of traits that could make him a very good coach in the future. He's an overseas player who many young Pakistani players, who aren't in danger of over training, could learn from.
PakPassion.net : Do you think that Aaron Finch will be selected to open for the Test team?
Convict : We're more likely to whitewash India in India than Finch is to to play Test cricket. He's a fringe shield player for Victoria. The selectors have a pretty good grasp on Finch's major limitations in red ball cricket so no selection will happen unless he somehow changes his game completely and earns a spot through sheer weight of runs in Shield cricket. In which case he will have earned his selection.
And even if he did get selected for Australia, I'd hope he succeeds and call for him to be dropped when he inevitably fails, but he'd be far from the first spud to represent Australia (Doherty for instance)
PakPassion.net : Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Convict : Not really much to say. I'm fairly typical for an Australian male of my generation I guess though I probably do watch far more cricket than most. I played cricket at a fairly decent level but was never good enough for any sort of consideration for a state squad but I've played against many players who were good enough and have gone on to higher honours. I have a strong bias towards Chris Rogers and Adam Voges due to club connection.
I also note that in the question thread I was asked why I hate/dislike Indian cricket. I don't though I admit that India is a rival team. I just find myself occasionally getting sucked into responding to bait some times and then finding myself throwing out my own bait in other threads.
PakPassion.net : What is the attraction of posting on PakPassion for a non-Pakistan person such as yourself?
Convict : It's probably the best specialist cricket forum on the internet or at least I haven't found any better. I like cricket enough to be interested in teams that I don't support which helps but most of the posters here are in a similar position which is why there is such a strong international contingent as well as a very knowledgeable Pakistani fan base here. PP is also a lot more active than most cricket forums.
PakPassion.net : What are some of your hobbies?
Convict : Cricket, footy (Australian Football) and computer games - mainly simulation and strategy. I also do like reading science fiction.
PakPassion.net : Which countries would you like to visit, and why?
Convict : It's an ambition of mine to watch Australia play a Test match in every Test nation in the world.
PakPassion.net : Lastly, how did you find PakPassion?
Convict : The spot fixing saga. I was looking for more on it and came across PP. I sporadically lurked every now and then over the next few years before seeing a few threads I really, really wanted to respond to.
I see on Oz social media pages there's a general dislike for Indian cricket team (from Aussies), why's that?
