Latest / The Follow-On / Should the Pink-ball Test live on? - Mike Hussey gives his verdict on Day/Night Test, reflects on Starc's insane Ashes and previews the U19 & T20 World Cups!

Transcript

Should the Pink-ball Test live on? - Mike Hussey gives his verdict on Day/Night Test, reflects on Starc's insane Ashes and previews the U19 & T20 World Cups! · The Follow-On

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Fox Crickets podcast
0:03
Speaker 1: The Follow On. My name's Courtney Walsh and I'm delighted
0:05
Speaker 1: to be joined by Australian great Mike Hussi. Seventy nine
0:09
Speaker 1: tests and six two hundred and thirty five runs. It's
0:12
Speaker 1: a lot of runs, Mike. How are you going because
0:15
Speaker 1: it feels like you've got a lot of runs on
0:17
Speaker 1: the your board through this summer with big bass duties
0:20
Speaker 1: with the Tests. I think I saw you doing thousand
0:23
Speaker 1: throwdowns and the nets in Perth leading up to the
0:25
Speaker 1: opening tests of the Ashes. How are you carrying on
0:28
Speaker 1: with all the runs under your board this summer? Yeah?
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Speaker 2: Go today, Courtney. Thanks for having me on the podcast. Yeah.
0:34
Speaker 2: I've really enjoyed the summer. I mean I've enjoyed most
0:37
Speaker 2: of the summer. I really enjoyed the week leading up
0:39
Speaker 2: with the Aussies before the first Test match in the nets.
0:41
Speaker 2: It's watching them prepare and how they went about it.
0:44
Speaker 2: Obviously a great result for Australia with the four to
0:46
Speaker 2: one Ashes winning of the Ashes so well, that was good.
0:51
Speaker 2: A little bit frustrated with some of the Test cricket
0:53
Speaker 2: that was played, I mean two two day Test matches.
0:57
Speaker 2: It's not what I was hoping for. You know, you're
0:59
Speaker 2: hoping for five day classics and you know test matches
1:02
Speaker 2: at the least last four days and you see some
1:04
Speaker 2: really good, tough, hard test cricket, so you know, a
1:07
Speaker 2: little bit of frustration there, but obviously some unbelievable performances
1:11
Speaker 2: from from well from both teams really, but mainly from
1:13
Speaker 2: the Australian players with Stark and Harry and Travis Head,
1:17
Speaker 2: I mean, Joe Root scored a couple of great hundreds
1:19
Speaker 2: as well, which was great to see. So so some
1:21
Speaker 2: really good cricket in amongst some frustrating sort of cricket
1:25
Speaker 2: there as well. And then the Big Bash has been good. Yeah,
1:28
Speaker 2: I've really enjoyed it coming into the business end of
1:30
Speaker 2: the tournament now, so yeah, it sort of feels like
1:33
Speaker 2: the sum was flying past at a rate of knights.
1:36
Speaker 1: We might just get you quick refleshing. She talked about
1:38
Speaker 1: the ashes, your highlights I talked about talked to Alan Gilchrist,
1:42
Speaker 1: your fellow Western Australian and his For him, it was
1:46
Speaker 1: Alex Carey's performance and and how he continued to elevate.
1:49
Speaker 1: He said, understandably, he's a keeper there's a there's clearly
1:52
Speaker 1: a brethren through the gloveman. Kerry O'Keefe talked about how
1:56
Speaker 1: he lamented, I suppose the lack of an off spinner,
1:59
Speaker 1: but again off spinners and keepers keep you know, there's
2:02
Speaker 1: a brotherhood there is it the same for batters? You know,
2:05
Speaker 1: the batsmen have the same thing. Who was your highlight
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Speaker 1: or biggest success story of the Ashes?
2:12
Speaker 2: It's a good question. I mean, I think for me
2:15
Speaker 2: Mitchell Stark he was the big highlight for me. He
2:19
Speaker 2: was unbelievable to be able to bowl the first ball
2:21
Speaker 2: the series of probably what mid one forties and then
2:23
Speaker 2: bowl his last ball the series probably exactly the same
2:26
Speaker 2: a how mid one forties, you know, pick up wickets,
2:30
Speaker 2: you know, especially early in the series where he was
2:32
Speaker 2: just so devastating, also scored some handy runs. I mean,
2:36
Speaker 2: I think back to the Brisbane Test match where he
2:38
Speaker 2: had that partnership with Scotti bowl and which was just
2:40
Speaker 2: so crucial from a tactical sense for Australia to be
2:43
Speaker 2: able to then bowl with a new pink ball sort
2:45
Speaker 2: of that night time. I just think his whole series
2:49
Speaker 2: and his longevity as a player. But you know, a
2:52
Speaker 2: true testament to his physical abilities to be able to
2:55
Speaker 2: get through the five Test matches, keep his standards and
2:57
Speaker 2: his speeds that he's bowling up the whole time, coupled
3:01
Speaker 2: in with you know a few handy scores with the
3:03
Speaker 2: bat there, I just think he was far and away,
3:06
Speaker 2: you know, a much deserving player of the series. I mean,
3:09
Speaker 2: I mean, I know Travis had it was incredible as well,
3:12
Speaker 2: and Alex Carey, but for me, I was very happy
3:15
Speaker 2: that Mitchell Stark was Player of the Series because I
3:17
Speaker 2: think he fully deserved it, you know, with his performances
3:20
Speaker 2: when you were.
3:21
Speaker 1: In the nets and as I said, I remember watching
3:24
Speaker 1: from from from Perth Stadium and there's a great vantage
3:27
Speaker 1: pointing up there, and you see. I remember watching Mitchell
3:30
Speaker 1: Stark bowling in the nets and thinking how frightening it
3:33
Speaker 1: looked because he just had he had the ball doing
3:36
Speaker 1: all manner of things off that surface. I think you
3:38
Speaker 1: had Jake Reather on at one stage and it just
3:40
Speaker 1: it was alarming to watch how quickly it was bowling.
3:43
Speaker 1: But when you're throwing doing your throw down s Eccessrick,
3:45
Speaker 1: can you tell if a bat that is in good knick?
3:47
Speaker 1: Did you did you see that Mitch Stark. I don't
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Speaker 1: know if you've had any throwdowns to Mitch, but you thought, well,
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Speaker 1: he's actually middling it quite well here.
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Speaker 2: Not really, I don't think I even threw to Mitch Stark.
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Speaker 2: I know he batted a little bit against some bowlers,
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Speaker 2: but I don't think I actual he threw to him. Yeah.
4:02
Speaker 2: I mean you can tell when a player is in
4:06
Speaker 2: really good touch, and I think it generally comes from
4:08
Speaker 2: how they're moving. You know, it is their footwork, crisp.
4:11
Speaker 2: Are they defending well? You know that's often I know
4:14
Speaker 2: that's not the modern way anymore. But if you see
4:16
Speaker 2: a batsman getting in a really good position, defending the
4:18
Speaker 2: ball right out of the middle of the bat and
4:20
Speaker 2: it's really balanced, then I sort of go, oh, hang
4:22
Speaker 2: on this, this this player is in you know, in
4:24
Speaker 2: good these games, in good working order. So I think
4:28
Speaker 2: that sort of, you know, is what sort of sort
4:30
Speaker 2: of stands out when you know a player's you know,
4:32
Speaker 2: playing really well. As far as Staki, I mean, he's
4:35
Speaker 2: been around a long time. He knows his preparation from
4:38
Speaker 2: a bowling sort of sense and also a batting sense,
4:40
Speaker 2: you know, inside and out, and he just he just
4:42
Speaker 2: looked like he just ticked off exactly what he needed
4:45
Speaker 2: to do to be ready to go for that first
4:47
Speaker 2: Ashes Test match in Perth. But I think the planning
4:50
Speaker 2: probably started months, you know, in advance, maybe even up
4:54
Speaker 2: to six months in advance. They would have just basically
4:57
Speaker 2: mapped it all out, exactly what you're going to do,
4:58
Speaker 2: exactly what you need to do from a physical sense,
5:01
Speaker 2: from a game percents, like as in playing Sheffield Chield games,
5:05
Speaker 2: how much cricket you want to get, how much rest
5:07
Speaker 2: do you want to get? They would have mapped it
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Speaker 2: all out. And I think Starky has a really good
5:10
Speaker 2: understanding of his preparation and what he needs to get
5:14
Speaker 2: his body right and his mind right ready to go
5:16
Speaker 2: for a massive series. It just seemed like he set
5:18
Speaker 2: himself with this series, particularly with the ball, but obviously
5:22
Speaker 2: some pretty handy runs there as well.
5:24
Speaker 1: Well well, I mean, you know, part of the final
5:27
Speaker 1: Nash's series finishes, and then all of a sudden we're
5:29
Speaker 1: looking forward to twenty twenty seven, not that long away realistically,
5:32
Speaker 1: eighteen months, and then twenty twenty nine with the next
5:35
Speaker 1: Sashes tour, and you think, given how he's bowling and
5:39
Speaker 1: he's disciplined in his dedication. Could you see him last
5:43
Speaker 1: in the distance sort of three to forty? I guess
5:45
Speaker 1: we had Jimmy Anderson still bowling very well at forty
5:48
Speaker 1: one for England and arguably unlucky enough to be on
5:50
Speaker 1: this tour. Is he the type of character that you
5:52
Speaker 1: could see, you know, with that his physique, with his
5:55
Speaker 1: ability to get through the durability someone like him bowling
5:58
Speaker 1: through to twenty twenty nine third.
6:01
Speaker 2: I can honestly see him doing it if he wants to,
6:03
Speaker 2: if he's still mentally got the sort of strength to
6:07
Speaker 2: keep going through that process of you know, planning it
6:10
Speaker 2: all out, getting your physical preparation exactly perfect. But the
6:14
Speaker 2: you know, the amount of sports science these days, and
6:18
Speaker 2: how well you know the players look after themselves. I
6:21
Speaker 2: mean they're so professional, and how they look after himself,
6:24
Speaker 2: Like I believe Starky did not touch even a sip
6:27
Speaker 2: of alcohol throughout the whole series. You know that would
6:30
Speaker 2: never have happened fifty years ago, you know, So just
6:33
Speaker 2: the way he knows his body, he knows his preparation,
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Speaker 2: and he knows what he needs to do to get
6:38
Speaker 2: himself ready to play. If he's still mentally got that
6:41
Speaker 2: drive to want to keep doing it, then I see
6:43
Speaker 2: there's no reason why he can't. It's just comes to
6:46
Speaker 2: a stage when you get to the end of your career.
6:48
Speaker 2: It's just a case of like that mental side of
6:50
Speaker 2: things saying, you know, I don't really want to do
6:52
Speaker 2: this anymore. I don't have to do this anymore. But
6:55
Speaker 2: as much as I said he really set himself for
6:58
Speaker 2: this series just gone, you know, will he still have
7:01
Speaker 2: that same motivation to set himself to go again in
7:03
Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven. I don't know. Time will tell, but
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Speaker 2: if he does set his mind to it, then no
7:10
Speaker 2: doubt whatsoever that he'll be able to do it.
7:13
Speaker 1: News never stops cricket never stops discussion. This week England
7:17
Speaker 1: obviously went back and I guess after an ashes there's
7:20
Speaker 1: always a review, the winners and losers. I'm sure we
7:23
Speaker 1: both go through what worked and what didn't. Pink Ball
7:27
Speaker 1: and the future of pink ball tests has popped up.
7:30
Speaker 1: The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary next March at the
7:33
Speaker 1: MCG is a pink ball test. It's a special one
7:36
Speaker 1: off between Australia and England to celebrate the Great Game
7:40
Speaker 1: and the birth of Test cricket. I guess all those
7:42
Speaker 1: years ago and also twenty twenty nine England has said
7:45
Speaker 1: we don't want to play a pink ball test. That's
7:47
Speaker 1: one of the messages coming out. Steve Smith wasn't overly committity.
7:51
Speaker 1: He didn't seem too worried about that prospect of not
7:54
Speaker 1: being a pink ball Test. I guess if he's making runs,
7:57
Speaker 1: he's happy to make runs wherever.
7:59
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts.
8:00
Speaker 1: I suppose it's placed in cricket and that Brisbane Test
8:03
Speaker 1: was a great test. We touched on Joe Route. It
8:06
Speaker 1: was a really lovely test. Michael Lisa was successful. Where
8:09
Speaker 1: do you think it's sort of sits pink ball cricket
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Speaker 1: and in the landscape of the sport.
8:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really interesting question and a good question.
8:19
Speaker 2: I think from my point of view, if you had
8:21
Speaker 2: have asked me probably five, six, seven years ago, I
8:24
Speaker 2: would have been not that sort of keen on pink
8:27
Speaker 2: ball cricket. I'm very much a traditionalist, love the red
8:29
Speaker 2: ball game, but I must admit I feel as though
8:34
Speaker 2: I've changed my tune a little bit. I feel as
8:36
Speaker 2: though the pinkball game has added a lot to test
8:39
Speaker 2: cricket in that the tactics that come into play are
8:43
Speaker 2: fascinating and I think Australia, I think they'd be pretty
8:47
Speaker 2: happy to keep playing pink ball Test matches because their
8:50
Speaker 2: record in those games is unbelievable. So I can understand
8:52
Speaker 2: what England are saying, no, we don't want to play
8:54
Speaker 2: when in Australia, because if you look at Australia's record
8:56
Speaker 2: in Australia with pinkball games, they're almost unbeatable. But I
9:00
Speaker 2: just love that the way that players have to adapt
9:02
Speaker 2: to the different phases of the day and night. And
9:06
Speaker 2: this is where I think Australia were absolutely spot on
9:11
Speaker 2: from a strategic point of view in that Test match
9:13
Speaker 2: in Brisbane, the day night Test. I mentioned it earlier
9:16
Speaker 2: with Mitchell Stark and Scottie Bowl and you know, batting
9:18
Speaker 2: that long period of time, they didn't care about really
9:21
Speaker 2: how many runs they scored. It was all about the
9:23
Speaker 2: time to make sure that they could bowl that new
9:25
Speaker 2: pink ball underlights and that puts a batters under a
9:29
Speaker 2: lot more pressure. The ball does a lot more those
9:31
Speaker 2: at those times. Similarly, batsmen need to change the way
9:34
Speaker 2: they play. You know that you can be a little
9:37
Speaker 2: bit more sort of aggressive during the day session and
9:39
Speaker 2: then twilight gets a little bit tricky. But then if
9:41
Speaker 2: you're facing a new ball, it can be hard under lights,
9:46
Speaker 2: or you know, if you've got an old ball under lights,
9:48
Speaker 2: it's maybe not too bad. So I love the way
9:50
Speaker 2: that teams sometimes they might declare a little bit earlier
9:53
Speaker 2: than they think so they can get access to that
9:55
Speaker 2: new ball under light. So I love there's a little
9:57
Speaker 2: bit of strategy involved. I love watching players having to
9:59
Speaker 2: adapt between the different phases of the day and the
10:02
Speaker 2: night and so and plus you know, particularly the games
10:06
Speaker 2: in Adelaide, I think they've been amazing spectacles as well.
10:10
Speaker 2: Just watching on TV or being at the ground watching
10:12
Speaker 2: the sunset, the crowd still there. It's pretty amazing to
10:16
Speaker 2: watch some of the shots you see from the TV
10:20
Speaker 2: cameras is phenomenal. So I think being the traditionalist, if
10:23
Speaker 2: you had asked me sort of ten years ago, I
10:25
Speaker 2: was against it. But I feel like I've changed my
10:27
Speaker 2: tune now and I feel like it's certainly office test
10:29
Speaker 2: cricket a lot.
10:31
Speaker 1: It is one of the most glorious sites. When you
10:32
Speaker 1: see that sort of that a light over it's spectacular. Sure,
10:36
Speaker 1: it is speaking of good sites or interesting sites, we
10:40
Speaker 1: talk about the future of Australian cricket. Oli Peak goes
10:44
Speaker 1: off to captain Australia in the end of NINETEENES he
10:46
Speaker 1: was the youngest underlying World Cup. Beginning tomorrow Australia plays
10:50
Speaker 1: their first match. It's in Africa. He was the youngest
10:54
Speaker 1: member of the team that won it two years ago.
10:58
Speaker 1: Now he's the captain and he's been you know, clearly
11:00
Speaker 1: had some really good success so far in the BBL
11:04
Speaker 1: and also shown some good signs for Victoria. When you
11:08
Speaker 1: talk about those sort of tournaments, underage tournaments, how important
11:10
Speaker 1: are they for the pathway? And who are a few
11:12
Speaker 1: of the youngsters, be it Ollie or even those who
11:15
Speaker 1: have graduated like Marley Beardman who clearly has some talent
11:18
Speaker 1: in the West or a Callum Vidler, who are some
11:20
Speaker 1: of the younger crickets you'll keeping an eye on with
11:22
Speaker 1: a view of the future in Australia.
11:25
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, good question. Well, first of all, I think
11:29
Speaker 2: the under nineteen sort of tournaments and you know, whether
11:31
Speaker 2: it's a World Cup or just even playing against another country,
11:35
Speaker 2: it's a fantastic opportunity. I mean, I was very lucky
11:38
Speaker 2: enough to play Underninning cricket against India a long, long,
11:43
Speaker 2: long time ago now, but we had eight weeks in India.
11:47
Speaker 2: We played sort of youth test matches, youth ODI matches.
11:52
Speaker 2: The life experience you get is just out of this world.
11:56
Speaker 2: I'd never really been out of it. I'd never been
11:57
Speaker 2: out of Australia before, so to go to India was
12:00
Speaker 2: one of the best experiences of my life. I mean
12:02
Speaker 2: it was tough and really hard cricket, but just to
12:06
Speaker 2: experience how another country sort of goes about their cricket,
12:10
Speaker 2: you know, meeting some new players that are going to
12:12
Speaker 2: come through and you're going to you know, hopefully play
12:13
Speaker 2: against him in the future. So we had vvs. Laxman
12:15
Speaker 2: playing for India at that sort of stage, and I
12:17
Speaker 2: don't think we got him out for eight weeks. So
12:19
Speaker 2: that was, you know, a pretty challenge in itself exactly.
12:26
Speaker 2: But to be able to play in India, to play
12:27
Speaker 2: with guys like Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie Andrew Simon's
12:31
Speaker 2: were in our sort of team as well, you know,
12:34
Speaker 2: just to sort of see how they go about it,
12:35
Speaker 2: to play in foreign conditions, it was just so good
12:37
Speaker 2: for your education as a cricketer, but also as a
12:40
Speaker 2: life experience. To be able to experience, you know, conditions
12:43
Speaker 2: so foreign to what we're used to in Australia was
12:46
Speaker 2: just fantastic. So and plus it's it's hugely motivational because
12:49
Speaker 2: you sort of think, wow, you're in the Australian under
12:51
Speaker 2: nineteen team representing your country. That's like, you know, a
12:56
Speaker 2: pretty special milestone. And I remember feeling like really toughed
13:00
Speaker 2: for you know, And so I think it's a it's
13:02
Speaker 2: a really important part of the pathway. It is sort
13:06
Speaker 2: of reward for you know, identification of some some you know,
13:09
Speaker 2: good young talent and good performances coming through that pathway stuff.
13:13
Speaker 2: So I think you know, for Oli Peek and his
13:15
Speaker 2: teammates over there, now, I think they've got a wonderful
13:17
Speaker 2: opportunity to one play in a World Cup represent Australia
13:21
Speaker 2: at und nineteen level, also get to have a look
13:23
Speaker 2: at probably some of the other great talent from all
13:26
Speaker 2: the other countries around the world India, England, South Africa,
13:29
Speaker 2: West Indies, you know who was coming through, and then
13:31
Speaker 2: you know you're obviously going to see the stars of
13:33
Speaker 2: the future for all those countries come through as well eventually,
13:36
Speaker 2: So I think it's you know, a great opportunity for them.
13:40
Speaker 2: I mean, someone you know, like Mitch marsh stands out
13:42
Speaker 2: to me. He was captain of the Australian under nineteen
13:44
Speaker 2: team they won a World Cup in New Zealand and
13:48
Speaker 2: you know, you know, all the families were over there
13:50
Speaker 2: and and and you know we've been able to watch
13:51
Speaker 2: sort of Mitch Marsha's sort of career has sort of
13:53
Speaker 2: come through. You mentioned, you know, Marley Beardman coming through
13:56
Speaker 2: now in Western Australia. We've had Simon Budge in wa
13:58
Speaker 2: as well, who you know, so you know it's coming through,
14:01
Speaker 2: you know, developing nicely as well. I mean, it's not
14:03
Speaker 2: a the thing that these young guys, you know, and
14:07
Speaker 2: I'm sure they'll know we'll need to sort of take
14:10
Speaker 2: care of, is that it's not a linear you know,
14:13
Speaker 2: you know, things straight into the Australian Test team or
14:15
Speaker 2: you know, the Australian One Day team. It doesn't always
14:17
Speaker 2: happen like that. It'll be different pace for different guys.
14:20
Speaker 2: Some guys won't make it at all. I mean there
14:22
Speaker 2: was lots of guys you know in my in my
14:24
Speaker 2: year of the Australian nineteen team that didn't even play
14:27
Speaker 2: first class cricket for their state, you know, or may
14:29
Speaker 2: have played a handful of first class games but weren't
14:31
Speaker 2: able to go on and play for Australia and then
14:34
Speaker 2: obviously a handful that we're able to. So it's no guarantee.
14:39
Speaker 2: And that's why I think, you know, for these young guys,
14:40
Speaker 2: just to like experience the now, enjoy this World Cup,
14:43
Speaker 2: enjoy playing for Australia under nineteen level, because you don't
14:45
Speaker 2: know what's going to happen in the future. Yes, we
14:47
Speaker 2: hope that a lot of them come through and are
14:49
Speaker 2: the next generation, the next stars for Australia, but there's
14:52
Speaker 2: certainly no guarantee and some won't. You know that that's
14:54
Speaker 2: that's just reality. So I just want them just to
14:57
Speaker 2: really enjoy the now, enjoy the World Clup, enjoy that
15:00
Speaker 2: you know what that World Cup will sort of that
15:02
Speaker 2: experience will give them.
15:05
Speaker 1: I guess there's another World Cup just around the corner
15:07
Speaker 1: as well. Australia goes off to India and Sri Lanka
15:11
Speaker 1: for the T twenty World Cup. We won it the
15:14
Speaker 1: last time in Dubai in twenty twenty one. Didn't make
15:18
Speaker 1: the semis the last time around in the Caribbean and
15:20
Speaker 1: where Cindy's you know, there's some challenges there. What are
15:24
Speaker 1: the challenges ahead for that team mate hat trick? Is
15:27
Speaker 1: it to navigate a month long World Cup on the subcontinent?
15:30
Speaker 1: And what have you seen in our Australian team? I
15:33
Speaker 1: guess it looks like a lot of sort of all
15:35
Speaker 1: round talents there. Look like can bat really deep if
15:38
Speaker 1: they want. There's a few different spinning options. How have
15:40
Speaker 1: you assessed that challenge and what Australia is preparing to do.
15:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean traveling to the subcontinent for any cricket
15:50
Speaker 2: let alone a World Cup is always really challenging. You know,
15:53
Speaker 2: the conditions are very foreign to what we're used to
15:56
Speaker 2: playing here in Australia. But what I would say is
15:59
Speaker 2: that the but the squad they've picked does have a
16:02
Speaker 2: fair bit of experience of playing in Indian and Sri
16:05
Speaker 2: Lankan conditions, so that's got to be a positive. There's
16:08
Speaker 2: a lot of power in that batting order that goes
16:11
Speaker 2: all the way down, so you know, if they get going,
16:14
Speaker 2: they're going to be extremely hard to stop. I guess
16:16
Speaker 2: for me, is you know that. I'm sure the challenges
16:20
Speaker 2: they'll have is when teams start to take the pace
16:22
Speaker 2: off bowl lots of spin to them, if the conditions
16:26
Speaker 2: are a bit slow and turning, then that that's going
16:29
Speaker 2: to prove challenging again just because it's not what we
16:32
Speaker 2: feel comfortable and we feel more comfortable in conditions with
16:35
Speaker 2: the pace on the ball. There's plenty of bouts, true
16:38
Speaker 2: true pictures which you will get a lot of in
16:40
Speaker 2: India anyway, and so that that is definitely a positive
16:43
Speaker 2: for Australia. But if the pitchers are slow and turning
16:47
Speaker 2: and things like that, that's when they're going to have
16:49
Speaker 2: to use a bit of Now, so you can't just
16:50
Speaker 2: use brute force and power to be able to blast
16:53
Speaker 2: you away out of that situation. Maybe a couple might,
16:55
Speaker 2: but not everyone will be able to, so so that'll
16:58
Speaker 2: be the challenge for the batting group. I think the
17:01
Speaker 2: bowling group still looks really good. I mean hoping Hazewood
17:06
Speaker 2: sort of comes through his injury concerns okay, because his
17:09
Speaker 2: experience will be important, especially now with no Mitchell Stark.
17:13
Speaker 2: I think that's a huge loss, you know, from the
17:16
Speaker 2: biling side of things, because he's so good because he
17:18
Speaker 2: can boil up front with the new ball and swing
17:21
Speaker 2: the new ball into and have early new ball impact.
17:24
Speaker 2: But he's also got so good sort of at the
17:25
Speaker 2: back end with his yorkers and those inswinging yorkers that
17:28
Speaker 2: he gets. So I think that's going to be hard
17:30
Speaker 2: to cover. There is there is plenty of quality there though,
17:33
Speaker 2: and and so I'm confident they'll be able to cover
17:37
Speaker 2: that that sort of lost pretty pretty well. Nathan Ellis
17:40
Speaker 2: has been doing a really good job for Australia over
17:42
Speaker 2: the last few years, you know, so hopefully he can
17:45
Speaker 2: have a great tournament. Obviously, Pat Cummins has been just
17:48
Speaker 2: nursed really through the ashes to make sure that he's
17:51
Speaker 2: ready to go for the World Cup as well, so
17:53
Speaker 2: he'll be really important. And then I think Zampas could
17:55
Speaker 2: probably going to play a really important role, you know.
17:58
Speaker 2: Obviously he's been the our premier sort of spinner in
18:01
Speaker 2: white ball cricket for a number of years now. But
18:03
Speaker 2: I think for Australia to win the World Cup, he's
18:05
Speaker 2: going to have to have a really big tournament. And
18:08
Speaker 2: I think maybe one to watch could be Cooper Connelly.
18:10
Speaker 2: I think he can actually play a really big role
18:12
Speaker 2: given an opportunity, whether he gets the chance, whether it
18:15
Speaker 2: can force his way into that eleven. That's going to
18:18
Speaker 2: be the really interesting one for me. And the reason
18:20
Speaker 2: why I say that, I feel like he can have
18:22
Speaker 2: a big impact because he's obviously a good batsman, but
18:25
Speaker 2: I feel like he's left arm spins quite underrated, and
18:28
Speaker 2: if he can get that left arm spin into the game,
18:32
Speaker 2: I feel like, you know, it can be effective in
18:34
Speaker 2: Indian conditions and.
18:36
Speaker 1: Working in tandem with Sampra or whoever else through that,
18:40
Speaker 1: I suppose that bowling attack through the twenty overns so
18:43
Speaker 1: very interesting. You talked about Mitch marsh and I know
18:46
Speaker 1: you know him well and remember talking after the twenty
18:48
Speaker 1: twenty three World Cup about what happened there, what I
18:54
Speaker 1: loved watching from Afar through the through the tour of
18:57
Speaker 1: the Caribbean and the top end tours against South Africa
19:00
Speaker 1: evening in Ceit Zealanders. After those matches he would be interviewed.
19:04
Speaker 1: He seemed very very genially. He talked about the part
19:09
Speaker 1: of the reason we're having success in that format since
19:12
Speaker 1: that World Cup is enjoying it his leadership. What does
19:15
Speaker 1: MITCHI bring in terms of that captaincy to the short
19:18
Speaker 1: form format.
19:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think you've probably summed it up pretty
19:23
Speaker 2: well there. It's about enjoying, having fun, being relaxed. He's
19:27
Speaker 2: not like I think he sort of thrives in an
19:31
Speaker 2: environment that is not too intense and too stressed and
19:33
Speaker 2: too much pressure. He feels like the environments that are relaxed, enjoyable,
19:41
Speaker 2: almost a bit of freedom to show your talents. That's
19:45
Speaker 2: when you can play your best cricket. And I think
19:47
Speaker 2: that's what he's trying to impress. And his style of
19:49
Speaker 2: leadership on the group is I want you to be yourself.
19:52
Speaker 2: I want you to go out there and yeah, show
19:54
Speaker 2: us how good you can be. Don't overthink it too much,
19:57
Speaker 2: don't get too stressed, don't put the shackles on. Let's
20:00
Speaker 2: let's break those shackles and and go for it. And
20:03
Speaker 2: and you know, I guess there's a lot of positives
20:06
Speaker 2: with that, no question. I guess the challenge with that
20:10
Speaker 2: is if a couple of things don't quite go right,
20:13
Speaker 2: and have they still got the courage to keep that
20:15
Speaker 2: sort of it's not a care free attitude, but it's
20:18
Speaker 2: it's a bit like that where you know, you know,
20:22
Speaker 2: don't don't analyze things too much, you know, don't overthink things.
20:25
Speaker 2: Just just keep keep keep a clear mind, keep it free,
20:28
Speaker 2: and things will work out okay in the end. Yeah,
20:30
Speaker 2: So that that's all great when things are going well,
20:32
Speaker 2: if things aren't quite going to plan, can you know,
20:35
Speaker 2: have they still got the courage to keep that sort
20:37
Speaker 2: of mindset, which obviously is the way mich marsh wants
20:40
Speaker 2: to run that team. So yeah, I know they're quite
20:44
Speaker 2: lucky in the fact they've got you know, a very
20:47
Speaker 2: strategic and analytical mind of Andrew McDonald working in the
20:51
Speaker 2: background as well, so he'll do a lot of the
20:52
Speaker 2: analysis work and the strategical preparation of the team and
20:56
Speaker 2: then allow Mitch to go out there and and sort
20:58
Speaker 2: of lead in that more. I don't like to use
21:01
Speaker 2: the word care free attitude, but it's kind of like that,
21:04
Speaker 2: a more sort of relaxed and enjoyable sort of mindset really,
21:08
Speaker 2: and their form is good.
21:09
Speaker 1: Now I'm mindful, you've got to get to some commentary
21:12
Speaker 1: duty to so I might just hit you up with
21:14
Speaker 1: the last couple of queries. Alici Healy she retires well
21:21
Speaker 1: a necessary retirement from cricket this week she'll play her
21:25
Speaker 1: last match for Australia in a Test match at the Whacker,
21:28
Speaker 1: which you know, I'm sure is a ground that holds
21:30
Speaker 1: great memories for you, Diddy your heart against India. Her
21:35
Speaker 1: legacy is a cricketer, but also just rave reviews of
21:39
Speaker 1: her in the commentary box over the last sort of
21:42
Speaker 1: summer her analysis. Can you offer a perspective of both
21:45
Speaker 1: of those things and how tricky it is to make
21:47
Speaker 1: that leap from from great cricketer, champion cricketer to offering
21:51
Speaker 1: advice trying to take viewers inside what's happening in cricket match.
21:54
Speaker 1: Is that the challenge in itself?
21:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I remember when I first sort of
22:00
Speaker 2: trying to make that transition into the combox that you
22:03
Speaker 2: pretty much just get thrown in there and you go
22:05
Speaker 2: and you say, well, how does this all work? You know?
22:06
Speaker 2: What do I talk? What do I You'll figure it out,
22:09
Speaker 2: don't don't worry about it, you know. But Alisa has
22:12
Speaker 2: just fitted in, you know, like like like a glove. Really,
22:15
Speaker 2: she's just cruised in. I think she's just got a
22:18
Speaker 2: great personality for it, and I think it's it's it's
22:21
Speaker 2: testament to her character she's she's just a good person.
22:25
Speaker 2: She can have a laugh, she can take the mickey
22:27
Speaker 2: out of herself. She she does understand the game really
22:31
Speaker 2: well and so she can give a really good, like
22:34
Speaker 2: a lot of good analysis. She's very articulate in getting
22:37
Speaker 2: her message across as well. So I think she's the
22:39
Speaker 2: perfect package really to make that transition into into the
22:43
Speaker 2: sort of commentary box and and sort of all those
22:45
Speaker 2: attributes there you can see why she's been such a
22:48
Speaker 2: great player on the field as well. You know, she's
22:51
Speaker 2: she's obviously got a lot of talent. She she knows
22:55
Speaker 2: the game extremely well. She works hard on the game.
22:58
Speaker 2: She she can have a laugh because that you need
23:00
Speaker 2: to have a laugh sometimes at this game because it
23:02
Speaker 2: just brings you back down to earth and smacks you
23:04
Speaker 2: in the face sometimes. So she seems like she's got
23:06
Speaker 2: a great level head on her like as in, nothing
23:10
Speaker 2: phases her too much, and I think that served her
23:13
Speaker 2: well for out her playing career. You talk about, you know,
23:15
Speaker 2: her playing legacy, it's going to be massive. I mean,
23:18
Speaker 2: she has been a huge part of arguably the most
23:21
Speaker 2: successful Australian cricket team of all time. The amount of
23:25
Speaker 2: World Cups they've won, the amount of success they've had,
23:28
Speaker 2: the amount of games they've won, it's incredible. And I know,
23:31
Speaker 2: I know there's other players in the team as well,
23:32
Speaker 2: but she's been a you know, one of the four
23:35
Speaker 2: or five core key players over well, I don't know
23:39
Speaker 2: how long is it over a decade?
23:40
Speaker 1: You know? Yeah?
23:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, I think you know that that's
23:45
Speaker 2: probably what her legacy is going to be, what one
23:47
Speaker 2: is a great player but also been part of arguably
23:51
Speaker 2: you know, out one of our greatest teams of all time,
23:54
Speaker 2: you know. So yeah, so I just feel like with
23:56
Speaker 2: all those ingredients of her playing days moving into the
24:02
Speaker 2: transitioning of the combox, it's going to be pretty smooth
24:04
Speaker 2: for her because, yeah, she's just a great person and
24:08
Speaker 2: has a great insight into the game. She knows the
24:10
Speaker 2: modern game really well, and so I think she's going
24:13
Speaker 2: to be fantasy. She's already been fantastic, you know, working
24:15
Speaker 2: with her. She's just fit in really really nicely, and
24:18
Speaker 2: that can't be easy, you know, coming in as a
24:21
Speaker 2: as a woman into a male dominated sort of environment.
24:25
Speaker 2: I know, we've got Isha gur in there as well,
24:27
Speaker 2: and Mel Jones has been fantastic as well. But you know,
24:31
Speaker 2: there's not It's not It can't be that easy. And
24:33
Speaker 2: I just think she's just done it with ease.
24:36
Speaker 1: Speaking of doing it with ease, it doesn't seem like
24:39
Speaker 1: anyone in this BBL is doing it with these It
24:42
Speaker 1: seems like it's been a great competition. So even I
24:44
Speaker 1: know you're in Melbourne tonight to commentate the Renegades an
24:48
Speaker 1: early flight across from Perth, it's all up in the
24:52
Speaker 1: air with a couple of matches to go. What have
24:54
Speaker 1: you made of it? How excited have you been? The
24:56
Speaker 1: crowds look great, the atmosphere has been coming from Melbourne.
25:02
Speaker 1: There've been some down crowds in recent years, but it
25:04
Speaker 1: seems like it's bounced back big time. And in Perth
25:06
Speaker 1: they're always great that Brisbane Heat can do as a
25:09
Speaker 1: miracle escape last night against Hobart. What have you made
25:12
Speaker 1: in the all and what are you looking forward to
25:15
Speaker 1: through the remainder of the competition.
25:18
Speaker 2: It's been such a topsy turvy competition and some amazing games.
25:23
Speaker 2: I mean, looking at I thought, oh, well, these are
25:25
Speaker 2: the four best teams. These other teams aren't very good,
25:27
Speaker 2: and then suddenly, out of nowhere a team will put
25:31
Speaker 2: in this performance out of nowhere, or one of the
25:33
Speaker 2: top teams will start faltering. You think about the Melbourne Stars.
25:36
Speaker 2: You thought, oh, they're never going to lose a game,
25:37
Speaker 2: and suddenly they lose three in a row and you're thinking, oh,
25:40
Speaker 2: hang on a secon, they might miss the finals. Here
25:42
Speaker 2: the Perce Scorches. You look at their batting order. I
25:45
Speaker 2: think that their top seven is arguably the best top
25:48
Speaker 2: seven in the world for T twenty cricket. Yes, but
25:52
Speaker 2: they had two or three games in there where they
25:54
Speaker 2: batted really poorly, and you think, how does this happen.
25:57
Speaker 2: Hobart Hurricanes, you know they seem to still be bubbling along, okay,
26:00
Speaker 2: but you lose Tim David. You know, oh, hang on
26:03
Speaker 2: a second, that that's a big player coming out of
26:05
Speaker 2: their team. They lose a game last night against the
26:08
Speaker 2: Brisbane Heat, which they should never have lost, and suddenly
26:11
Speaker 2: they're under a little bit of pressure. The Brisbane Heat
26:13
Speaker 2: of the team that probably intrigued me the most because
26:16
Speaker 2: I sort of looked at their team and I thought, oh,
26:18
Speaker 2: I'm not sure about them. Then I commentated the game
26:22
Speaker 2: when they chase down two hundred and fifty seven against
26:25
Speaker 2: the Scorches, in incredible fashion, and you think, well, hang
26:29
Speaker 2: on a second, is there something about this team that
26:31
Speaker 2: we're not quite seeing here. They just seem to find
26:33
Speaker 2: a way to win at home when they shouldn't really win.
26:35
Speaker 2: Then you throw back in, you get Nissa back, you
26:37
Speaker 2: get Kowaji back, you get Lavishane back. You think, well,
26:40
Speaker 2: hang on a second, they're a team that you can
26:42
Speaker 2: actually do some damage. The Sydney Six and the sort
26:45
Speaker 2: of bubble up and down, up and down, and you think, well,
26:47
Speaker 2: hang on, They've got Steve Smith coming back and Mitchell
26:49
Speaker 2: Start coming back. They're going to be a serious team
26:51
Speaker 2: as well. So I'm still I've still got a feeling
26:55
Speaker 2: about the Melbourne Stars. I feel as though they've got
26:59
Speaker 2: enough quality there, enough experience to go all the way
27:02
Speaker 2: and win their first title. There's a bit of a
27:04
Speaker 2: feeling about them, but I mean there's some boy good
27:08
Speaker 2: other teams that are going to be challenging them all
27:10
Speaker 2: the way to the end. You know, the Scorches look
27:12
Speaker 2: really strong. Hobart, they're definitely going to be there or
27:14
Speaker 2: there are about six is where you can never write
27:16
Speaker 2: them my goth and Brisbonite. You know, we've seen it
27:18
Speaker 2: in the past. They've had late runs to go all
27:21
Speaker 2: the way through to finals and win finals from nowhere really,
27:25
Speaker 2: so I still feel like it's pretty open, you know,
27:28
Speaker 2: especially in that top four or five places.
27:31
Speaker 1: An intriguing finish. I think the Stars sitting second, so
27:33
Speaker 1: it's all all to be played for over the next
27:36
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. I'll say thank you so much for
27:39
Speaker 1: joining the follow on Mike. It's always an absolute pleasure
27:42
Speaker 1: to have you on in great coverage through the summer.
27:46
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us.
27:47
Speaker 2: No worries, mate, Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed it.
27:49
Speaker 2: Happy to talk cricket anytime.