I’ve watched highlights of SA v India and a bit of yesterday live. Some excellent pace bowling on a lively wicket; remember those? India’s batsmen looked a bit clueless against Rabada and Co. Lack of application and technique when they are not on the flat tracks of home I thought.
If SA hadn’t dropped so many catches it would have been even more of a thrashing.
Bruce
If you can see highlights of yesterday look at the beauty that bowled Rohit. Perfect!
Not sure how you play the ball that Rohit got 
It was closer to a full-on leg-break at ~85mph, pitched-up. Truly kippered.
But, it is the modern way not to take a material stride forward nowadays, perhaps driven by DRS?
All true, but the two or three before were back of a length, set him up beautifully.
How refreshing, a match where bowlers can show their craft.
Bruce
Agreed - cricket should be a nip & tuck game, not a bludgeoning contest with the bat. Was watching some BBL a while back, with the usual highly-spread field on a big ground, which rendered the chances of getting caught so much slimmer. Runs galore, but cricket in name only?
What was the crowd like for the BBL though?
The Test grounds are rarely full. What I could see of the 1st Aus V Pak Test looked very sparse after the first day or so, and that was with Australia winning
Bruce
I record the BBL and the match I watched yesterday was really good , plenty of decent bowling, watching Jamie Overton fall all over the place , it was entertaining with neither side getting above 160 and everything in doubt until the final ball
Crowd of 20,000 at the SCG
Watching some of these slog fests is really boring
Not half a torrid time as brother Tom
Not much mentioned here but Aussies gone 2/0 in their 3 test series against Pakistan. Captain Pat took 10 wickets in the Boxing Day Test that’s been spoilt apparently by poor umpire (video) decisions.
Matches like this do slip under the radar over here in the UK, primarily due to Sky’s concurrent coverage of the BBL and the SA v India series. As to the poor umpiring, the solution is…? I think Pat C nailed it in his comments.
True it’s almost slipped under the radar here as well. Re thr umpiring nobody ever complains when it goes there way. The decision they’re whining about was clearly out.
I’m tempted to suggest the TMO must have been the same one who was involved in the Quins v Gloucester rugby game here yesterday evening. Forward passes galore, wholly evident from TV display angles (and I mean ‘wholly evident’), yet the TMO said ‘we cannot find a definitive angle’.
Of course, some of us are old enough to remember some of the tours of yesteryear to Pakistan, where the officiating was questioned on more than a few occasions (before independent umpires were introduced).
The SA v India was an eventful series and I didn’t scour TV schedules any further. I like the BBL and that is as far as I watch.
TNT Sports is not a first choice so I have to remind myself, and with the time difference it would only be highlight packages only.
They also claimed a catch that clearly wasn’t, rub of the green I say. You win some you lose some.
Absolutely. It’s like life – some things go for you, some not. Live with it.
Some interesting stats about home umpires. ( Quite far into the article)
The stories are legion about some of the ‘decisions’ made back then, and English umpires weren’t perfect. I remember David Constant giving an English batsmen out in a home Test series, when the ball bounced way outside leg stump – the look of incredulity spoke volumes.
And this is worth a read, as it highlights the simmering tensions which often existed in those days:
I don’t think he was biased at all, but Dickie Bird used to give some terrible decisions. I was watching some old footage a few months ago.
They do their best but unfortunately hindsight has a habit of highlighting mistakes
I didn’t want to go there 
