From an SA fan point of view. The SA20 has worked out nicely. If youre in Cape Town, you have option to watch games at Newlands and Paarl. Vice versa if youre in Gauteng, you can go to Wanderers or Centurion and support the respective franschises. Also great that Durban and PE gets a franchise, so the regional strategy really works. When they expand theyl probably take it to EL and Bloem. I find the marketing pretty aggressive too, compared to the Mzansi league. When i was in PE last year, they were doing roadshows, handing out pamphlets and really getting it out there From a stadium experience perspective, its pretty decent, you see some English, WI stars and you also see some emerging SA stars. The vibe at the stadium is really good too. My only cry with cricket in SA right now is that we dont get enough test cricket, so im not sure how this tournament influences that. Probably does as it makes more money.
@@SerioussoccerfanYT as much as we would like to see them, its okay that they are not there too. We have the IPL which i think does enough to showcase Indian talent. The different leagues all need to have different value propositions.
The IPL is well supported in South Africa, everyone knows the teams and players. The IPL teams buying in SA actually helped people latch onto supporting their IPL franchises in SA now. The product has also been quality and having support from India is also big. At first I wasn't sold but at the start of the 3rd edition I am very sold now. On my way to Wanderers to support the Johannesburg Super Kings with Cape Town Mumbai Indians here for the visit.
The discussion with Smith about the start of SA20 and the economics of the modern game in South Africa was absolutely fascinating. Graeme speaks so well!
Nass and Athers! Superb listening to you both! @nass pls don’t lost heart over what you said or didn’t say about smith because afterall it was your gutsy 23* which bailed England out from that match with a draw!!😅 keep it up you both and love the Bo holds barred discussions on all things cricket! Lots of love and respect from India!
Graeme Smith is making a whole lot of sense on the need for test cricket to have strong sides, not just the big three. The WI and SA have contributed the lion share of the greatest players to play the game in the last 50 years:viv, barry richards, graeme pollock, the four horsemen(anyone of 8 pacemen), white lightning, ntini, pollock, steyn, KG, AB de villears, Brian Charles Lara, Greenidge and haynes, dujon, chanderpaul Jacques Kallis etc. That being said, SA cricket is a very well run organization, especially now. CWI is dysfunctional and has been so for decades with the exception of sober leadership from Sir Wes Hall, Ken Gordon and Ricky Skerrit. Self interest, vindictiveness and ignorance have eroded a once proud cricketing legacy to the point where it is almost unrecognizable. I'm a west indian and unless there is a dissolution of CWI, or a massive forced change in organizational behavior, we get nowhere. I understand the romance of a strong WI team and our unparalleled legacy, but unless there is radical change, we are not going anywhere
Just saw a clip n news report of windies team in shatters n division on eve of 1996 world cup...no wonder they performed abysmally in that crucial semi...leaving their most experienced batter stranded who was captain at the time ..n he retired immediately after that match
@@tiffgplu2590 there are those, like clive lloyd who blame t20 cricket for the WI's demise. I think that is rubbish. The first t20 was played in july 2004. The West Indies lost seven test matches that year to england, three at home and four in england. clearly, we were getting canned long before that. All West indians wondered out loud what would happen when ambrose and walsh retired, and when lara hung up his gloves, and what happened actually wasn't that bad. Under the leadership of Chris Gayle, we drew a series with a very strong SL which we were expected to lose, Sarwan showing his mastery of murali in the final test. We won our first and only test match in SA, we did not lose in NZ for the first time in 13 years, we won the wisden trophy for the first time in 11 years.....then the board started to fight with the players over ipl contracts and availability.
Was always a huge Smith fan even when our own fans were against him - had to keep on defending him to everyone. Our best ever - met the guy - really down to earth!!!
Fascinating conversations about the global cricket landscape at the moment. CSA clearly had to adapt and introduce the IPL franchises. BBL and other franchiees on a rollercoaster. T20 and primetime audiences will always go hand in hand. Perhaps Test Cricket does indeed need to resize itself.
the Christmas break allowed me to follow the test series after several years. Nearly everyone seemed vulnerable except for Beau Webster, he just seemed to fit in the team seamlessly and tbh I can't remember more than 1-2 deliveries where he got close to being dismissed.
Englands batting would fall like a pack of cards against Australia in those conditions. Australia's attack is relentless. They also have Richardson, Morris, Abbott, Nesser... to name a few in the wings.
Spot on. England are preparing for what the Australian pitches were like a few years ago. They’re now like England pitches in the 2010s where the ball is hooping around all over the place. It’ll probably be 4-1 to Australia and that’s if England get lucky
Ricky ponting recently said BG trophy between India and Aus ,has attracted more crowds than Ashes ,with huge fan following. 8,37,000 people turned up for 5 test matches which lasted a total of 18 to 19 days. Can Ashes next yr in Aus ,live upto expectation? Who is going to the Bumrah of 2024 or Rishab pant of 2021??
That's because India has a huge population and all follow only cricket.. Ashes is much bigger than BGT. It Has a history attached to it. BGT is good from financial point of view.
@@KalpanaSingh-tv2yr No McG test went for 5 days and broke the record for no. of fans turning up. Last time the record was set in 1937 ,when everyone came to watch Sir Don Bradman. After that now in 2023 ,almost 86 yrs after a huge crowd turned up at MCG. India always had high population from 1970s😂😂😂
England does have Players like rishab in their team but don't think they have someone like bumrah. None of the pitches in the BGT were not that batting friendly and if similar kind of pitches are prepared for ashes and if Australia choose to play with 4 fast bowlers then don't see england giving even tough fight to Australia.
I think Konstas will be a huge success after his small but important edge he put Australia into especially the opening combination with audacious strokes to lift the Aussie strategy and rile up the Indians up unto then...the Tempo and feel changed..I'm sure he is a smart guy and will settle down to normal cricket when the situation requires.,,,He is an Investment...They should carry Sweeny also in the WTC squad...Im sure the Aussies will lift the WTC again..,they have just got back into rythm once again...
awesome watch. As good as Smith is in his current venture and being one of the great test captains and opening batsmen, I feel he should be pushing a lot more in getting test cricket attractive again in south africa. Or to be drastic we need new administrators who wants sa test cricket to be where it once was. We play far too little tests and i do miss the bigger international seasons we used to have over christmas and well into the new year. We should always have our best players available to play for there country and not to have an excuse that they are contracted to a t20 comp. My opinion is that t20s should stay at domestic level and out of the international calendar.
Australias batting did look somewhat vulnerable to one of the greatest bowlers of all time and the only bowler in history to reach 200 wickets at under 20! Great news for England! 😂
I like the two division idea for Test cricket. It works in football leagues around the world. But I do see Graeme’s point that the smaller cricket nations get a massive boost when any of the big three tour their country. So the two division system would remove that revenue stream for them. It’s a tricky one. Having a global financial setup in place for Test cricket would certainly help keep Test cricket alive in the smaller cricketing countries
This criticsm of SAs qualification to the WTC final smacks of priviledge. One hand people say test cricket needs to grow beyond the big 3, and then dismiss and ridicule when a non-big 3 team make it by beating other 'smaller' nations, disrespecting them by calling them 'nobodies'. How is that going to encourage other countries? Ridiculous
Great show, recent developments in SA and this podcast are bringing me back to the game. I had moved away from cricket, from being an avid follower of all forms I got disillusioned by the Hansie Cronje saga and the political interference. The last straw for me was in the semi finals of the world cup against New Zealand when the team was forced to drop the bowler of the tournament, Kyle Abbott on the day of the match. I just thought if our cricket administrators didn't care about our results or the game of cricket why should 8 support it and care. That game was lost by 1 run. Felt for Abbott, Philander and AB the captain in particular. Anyway looking forward to a break from rugby and the Test Final in June.
We need to get the best test players playing test match cricket. Do worldwide francising, like a african franchise, australian franchise, english franchise, american franchise etc. Do a player auction for the sponsors.
The issue is that the icc set up schedules where India, England and Australia play 5 test series. The rest only play 1 or 2 test series. That is not growing the game. Just making the top 3 stronger. 😢
BGT Series had made Aussie team more stronger as they have a quality allrounder as Webster to be a backup for Green. Also, Mcsweeney is a good opener and Konstas is a dasher. So, now Aussie have 3 openers ( Khawaja, Mcsweeny and Konstas) and 3 allrounders( Green, Websters and Marsh) to chose from. Also, Boland is back in form and he is a machine and very suited to this new type of Aussie pitches. Boland and Webster would make Cummins,Starc, Hazelwood more lethal. Only possible weakness can be their batting but if Smith and Labuchagne gets into form then it would be a nigthmare for England team. To defeat Australia, England need batsmen who can grind them down especially the first 40 overs. Find such batsmen and England team can have a chance.
For me, West Indies were the reason I started watching cricket along with beefy. They helped shape the game. They produce the greatest all-rounder of all time. They were arguably the greatest team of all time. I hate the way the sport is just in the pockets of three main teams. Nowadays I don't like the way India play cricket in comparison with those West Indians of years ago and I don't enjoy the fact that England are part of a privileged club. I think this whole scenario is an absolute disgrace and has put me off the game forever as someone who's watched it all my life
Would love to hear how Nepal premier league went through from these greats. Promoting associate country is probably a nice way to promote cricket around the world too!!
Nepal is the only country left not at test status and with a big fan base. If Nepal can be cracked, infrastructure and playing level, that'll be amazing
I think Nasser needs to take a year to follow all test games of a smaller team like WI, SL or Ban to know why test cricket is dying. A good ashes or bgt doesn't mean good year of test cricket.
So Athers are you saying you had no confidence in England prior to the 2013-14 Ashes? I find that hard to believe seeing as England had won the past 3 series before that. Sure Mitchell Johnson did what he did but not too many people saw that coming. He didn’t even feature in the previous Ashes, which were held only 6 months prior. If my memory serves me correctly England went into that series as favourites.
I struggled to be confident. There's no doubt that England were still a decent team at the time, but following the Petersen/South African series loss in 2012 and losing the number one ranking, there were a few "papering over the cracks" performances that followed, in particular the 3-0 home win over Australia, which I remember, to this day, wondering how on earth the final scoreline ended so lopsided. So, with the team being in that "jittery" mode, I was looking back to 2006-07, rather than 2010-11, for a bit of foretelling as to what might happen in the 2013-14 Ashes.
There SHOULD be a tier system, on a FOUR YEAR cycle, the first two years, everyone plays everyone at least once, in one off Tests or full series, depending.... to determine the tiers, this should include Afghanistan and Ireland too. The top six after two years, go in to tier one, and are playing the next two years for a place in the WTC final. The bottom six, are playing to finish top of the league in Tier Two... because, if they DO, they should get promoted, room being made by the WORST of the Tier One teams, being RELEGATED to Tier Two, for the NEXT four year cycle. Hell, if you wanted to keep players from burnout, and leave enough room for T20i, T20 pro leagues, and ODI cricket, you could do it on a SIX year cycle. All the teams playing each other at least once, in the first three years, but over three years, leaving enough time for off seasons, T20i and ODI, and pro leagues, then the next three years, the tiers once decided, play off for either promotion if tier two, or the WTC if tier one. Scrapping the WTC, as some say a tier system will lead to, would be the WORST idea the ICC has had in a LONG time.....but a stagnant set tier system, where the big three, and maybe NZ, perhaps SA, play each other, for a primo world champ trophy, that winds up being considered the proper thing, whilst the rest of the test playing nations, play off in a lower tier for something that winds up being seen as an 'Also Ran' award.. that would be beyond worst, beyond crazy.. it would likely kill Test Cricket. Sure, the whole thing is a mess right now, but like some corners cut, DIY, none code, uncertified skyscraper teetering, in some semi isolated slum... it is holding together. So before you bulldoze Kowloon, it might be an idea to actually know what you are getting in to, before replacing it with something which is envisioned as being a better way, but just ends up making things worse, or even threatens the long term viability of Red Ball cricket.
should work well.. Tests Tier 1: Ind, Eng, Aus, SA, NZ, SL, Pak .. all play each other home/away across 2yrs. 3 series each a year, 6 series in 2yrs. Tier 2: WI (as their main guys don't play Tests at all), Ban, Afg, Zim, Ire. every 2yrs. no7 drops to tier2, and no1 in tier2 moves up.. will make it better than now.
In Australia's experience with T20, I believe they made a mistake in thinking this concept is here to stay. They don't need 8 teams. They only needed the 6 state teams. The crowds they get in BBL now are tracking just like with interstate one dayers in the 1980s. It made some guys well off, but really we have seen this movie before.
I don’t think so. Ashes is Ashes. Ashes > BGT. Aus play totally different vs Eng at Lord’s than Indian at certain random stadium. Lord’s is Lord’s, No any other stadium combined can beat Lord’s prestige where cricket was born. So Ashes is more valuable than BGT where Aus play Eng with aggression, in a hostile environment, booing players. England is origin of Cricket. So. Aus never take BGT highly valued over Ashes.
Australian batting isnt as vulnerable as you might think. Pitches have been sporty for years now and the kookaburra ball has been upgraded to stay harder for longer, so although visiting teams may create a few extra chances Australia with local expewrience, will generally cope better than visiting teams; particularly when teams like England doctor flat as possible pitches at home to accommodate 'bazball'.
I think australia will pick 4 quicks against England especially in Gabba,MCG, Perth and adelaide i don't think they will drop Boland against England in Australian conditions
@@wouldlovemyownname akinston wood brandon carse potts all are good bowlers but I don't see their style of bowling suitable for Australian conditions in australia you need to pick skiddy fast bowlers bhumrha performed well because he is a skiddy bowler his dilivery hit bat hard but I don't see current english bowlers are skiddy they bowl good line and length but they beat australian batters with pace and wood age 35 he already passed his prime and he is not going to play 5 matches in a row
@@debasismohanty1952yes spot on and even with batting everything ll be dependent on root and brook and if they don't fire then they ll struggle big time. Even though india lost 3-1 but still apart from head and smith none of the Australian batsman performed consistently and our rest of bowlers apart from bumrah did troubled them. It would be interesting to see england approach in this year ashes.
Test cricket needs South Africa in final of the WTC, don't bother about WTC flaws right now, more South Africa fans would follow test cricket and in-turn would contribute in South Africa becoming stronger in future like they were 10 years ago. Sri Lanka are a better team now than 2-3 years ago.
"To be honest, I was just getting Bumrah-ed," Khawaja told ABC Sport after Australia regained the BGT in Sydney. "It was friggin' tough work. It was tough work. People were asking me 'what's going on?' I'm being honest, I'm just getting Bumrah-ed." (ESPNCricInfo)
World test championship is nuts, England play more test matches than anyone, most teams don't even play half as many tests as England or even play all the sides ?? How is this even possible ??
Australia will smash england in those lively pitches lol....england's approach will make them look like clowns on those pitches it wont be flat roads like in last ashes in england
Nassir don't you think the Ashes series should be a three match series and then BGT should also be a 3 match series? this will get us a window for other teams to compete with Eng Aus and India!! But Eng will never do it, they're only to blame others and especially jealous of IPL
@@lj4daniel70 lol what do you mean he was luck due to umpires call? Do you understand what umpires call is? He got two good bowls in Perth. Only got 1 innings in Adelaide & got caught by strangling down leg side & in Sydney due to terrible pitch he got unplayable bowl again in second innings!
@@Danish-by8wk umpires calls are lucky calls...actually most people are against the Idea of umpires call and it should have been termed out...he got lucky with umpires call and got hundreds and apart from bhum he faced mediocre Indian bowling attack
@@lj4daniel70 huh umpires are not not lucky calls. You don't understand the DRS technology. Nasser Hussein has tried to explained it to crybabies like virat kholi. When there is umpires call it's doesn't mean half bowl is hitting the stumps. It's means there is 50% chance of hitting the stump. Siraj wasn't mediocre neither was jadega. They still had a decent bowling attack!
India have nobody but themselves to blame for the drubbing. Rohit ,: Not in my playing 11, let alone captain. Virat : Dropped after 2 tests Shreyas : captain, starting with NZ series at home Sai Sudarshan, Sarfaraz included in the 16
Do you think that if India regresses as a test nation the clamour around the two tier system will die down ? India have a transition on their hands. With Ashwin gone, and the triumvirate of Jadeja, Kohli and Sharma on their last legs..if they were to have a bad tour to England then suddenly India would have a gaping hole in their test side for the home season.
Graeme smith is one of the understated legends of the game . He averaged close to 50 being an opener in South African condition .
Facts.
Graeme Smith, what a top bloke. Always had a lot of respect for this guy 👍🏻
From an SA fan point of view. The SA20 has worked out nicely. If youre in Cape Town, you have option to watch games at Newlands and Paarl. Vice versa if youre in Gauteng, you can go to Wanderers or Centurion and support the respective franschises. Also great that Durban and PE gets a franchise, so the regional strategy really works.
When they expand theyl probably take it to EL and Bloem.
I find the marketing pretty aggressive too, compared to the Mzansi league. When i was in PE last year, they were doing roadshows, handing out pamphlets and really getting it out there
From a stadium experience perspective, its pretty decent, you see some English, WI stars and you also see some emerging SA stars. The vibe at the stadium is really good too.
My only cry with cricket in SA right now is that we dont get enough test cricket, so im not sure how this tournament influences that. Probably does as it makes more money.
and the sa20 popsicle as well
Would you like to see Indian stars in the SA20 ? If so, who ?
Nope @@SerioussoccerfanYT
@@VARMOT123 whats the SA20 popscile?
@@SerioussoccerfanYT as much as we would like to see them, its okay that they are not there too. We have the IPL which i think does enough to showcase Indian talent. The different leagues all need to have different value propositions.
Glad to have the podcast back. Really looking forward to the cricket coming this year, probably the toughest test for Stokes and co
Best Podcast thus far! Great guest in Graeme Smith. Really enjoyed listening to this.
Just love the analysis of Athers & Nass
Grame smith age like fine wine.. he still can open the batting
The IPL is well supported in South Africa, everyone knows the teams and players. The IPL teams buying in SA actually helped people latch onto supporting their IPL franchises in SA now. The product has also been quality and having support from India is also big. At first I wasn't sold but at the start of the 3rd edition I am very sold now. On my way to Wanderers to support the Johannesburg Super Kings with Cape Town Mumbai Indians here for the visit.
Cape Town Mumbai Indians lol that’s funny
Always love the podcast graeme smith the best captain of Great RSA team
One more gem of a conversation 👍🏻
The discussion with Smith about the start of SA20 and the economics of the modern game in South Africa was absolutely fascinating. Graeme speaks so well!
@@RamNarayan93 why r u indians obsessed with gora log? Smith said nothing special. Just a normal convo
SA 20 is another one of those cancers that would ultimately devour international cricket and all 12 months would be packed with circus club cricket.
@@Mirage_1212 exactly, everyone is just looking to fill their pockets. True Cricket will die if no one steps up
@@aflatoonist4632 yup. True cricket is now only appreciated by older fans. Newer cricket fans are more interested in club rivalries
Greame Smith is such a lovely guy ....one of the finest youngest captains the world has seen ❤
Anyone else notice how Graeme kept calling Atherton ‘Nass’?
It’s like he’s had a bet with someone how many times he can say Nass
Nas Hussain, Nas Atherton interviewing Someone Smith
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has bought he was calling Athers Nas
😂
Greame Smith, revisiting SA provincial cricket. Legend of the game, still been a legend with sa cricket in the future!
Great interview. Smith had a lot of good things to say. His perspective on t20 and tests were great
Nass and Athers! Superb listening to you both! @nass pls don’t lost heart over what you said or didn’t say about smith because afterall it was your gutsy 23* which bailed England out from that match with a draw!!😅 keep it up you both and love the Bo holds barred discussions on all things cricket! Lots of love and respect from India!
Fantastic. The Monty Python of cricket.
Graeme Smith is making a whole lot of sense on the need for test cricket to have strong sides, not just the big three. The WI and SA have contributed the lion share of the greatest players to play the game in the last 50 years:viv, barry richards, graeme pollock, the four horsemen(anyone of 8 pacemen), white lightning, ntini, pollock, steyn, KG, AB de villears, Brian Charles Lara, Greenidge and haynes, dujon, chanderpaul Jacques Kallis etc. That being said, SA cricket is a very well run organization, especially now. CWI is dysfunctional and has been so for decades with the exception of sober leadership from Sir Wes Hall, Ken Gordon and Ricky Skerrit. Self interest, vindictiveness and ignorance have eroded a once proud cricketing legacy to the point where it is almost unrecognizable. I'm a west indian and unless there is a dissolution of CWI, or a massive forced change in organizational behavior, we get nowhere. I understand the romance of a strong WI team and our unparalleled legacy, but unless there is radical change, we are not going anywhere
Just saw a clip n news report of windies team in shatters n division on eve of 1996 world cup...no wonder they performed abysmally in that crucial semi...leaving their most experienced batter stranded who was captain at the time ..n he retired immediately after that match
@@tiffgplu2590 Just the tip of the iceberg sir. you must read about how Digicel replaced Cable and Wireless as the sponsors of WI cricket.
@@tiffgplu2590 there are those, like clive lloyd who blame t20 cricket for the WI's demise. I think that is rubbish. The first t20 was played in july 2004. The West Indies lost seven test matches that year to england, three at home and four in england. clearly, we were getting canned long before that. All West indians wondered out loud what would happen when ambrose and walsh retired, and when lara hung up his gloves, and what happened actually wasn't that bad. Under the leadership of Chris Gayle, we drew a series with a very strong SL which we were expected to lose, Sarwan showing his mastery of murali in the final test. We won our first and only test match in SA, we did not lose in NZ for the first time in 13 years, we won the wisden trophy for the first time in 11 years.....then the board started to fight with the players over ipl contracts and availability.
Test cricket is just too long for a globalised world. Players get paid more for half a day worth of cricket.
Was always a huge Smith fan even when our own fans were against him - had to keep on defending him to everyone. Our best ever - met the guy - really down to earth!!!
I am glad that you both had a good Christmas and New Year 🎉. Cheers guys 😊 with the podcast 😊!!!
Brilliant as always
As a left handed batsman myself graeme smith was one of the amazing players i always loved watching, up there with tres cook and strauss
Quality conversations . 🔥
Love this podcast.
Fascinating conversations about the global cricket landscape at the moment. CSA clearly had to adapt and introduce the IPL franchises. BBL and other franchiees on a rollercoaster. T20 and primetime audiences will always go hand in hand. Perhaps Test Cricket does indeed need to resize itself.
the Christmas break allowed me to follow the test series after several years. Nearly everyone seemed vulnerable except for Beau Webster, he just seemed to fit in the team seamlessly and tbh I can't remember more than 1-2 deliveries where he got close to being dismissed.
dude retired at 33 and could've scored another 4k test runs . Graeme smith is probably the most underrated. batter of his era
Still looks so fresh and handsome.
Two of my best lads
Love listening to both of you guys
Happy new year guys
Big fan of Graeme Smith
Such a wholesome podcast
Make SA cricket great again ❤
Great discussion
best cricket podcast
Englands batting would fall like a pack of cards against Australia in those conditions. Australia's attack is relentless. They also have Richardson, Morris, Abbott, Nesser... to name a few in the wings.
Bring southgate he will change this bazball
Spot on. England are preparing for what the Australian pitches were like a few years ago. They’re now like England pitches in the 2010s where the ball is hooping around all over the place. It’ll probably be 4-1 to Australia and that’s if England get lucky
England has archer, wood, Atkinson, saqib Mahmood, carse if all fit all together, it would be interesting ashes down under..
@@J92-DS nah they would do better than India
@@suvadeepghosh4459 if they were so good then why is England always languishing near the bottom of the table in when they play the most.
SA20 and IPL might have a negotiable agreement on the transferable players and on the slot of FTP .. win win situation for CSA on the commercial side
Good show, 3 easy to listen too characters of the game.
Ricky ponting recently said
BG trophy between India and Aus ,has attracted more crowds than Ashes ,with huge fan following.
8,37,000 people turned up for 5 test matches which lasted a total of 18 to 19 days.
Can Ashes next yr in Aus ,live upto expectation?
Who is going to the Bumrah of 2024 or Rishab pant of 2021??
Where is your visa
That's because India has a huge population and all follow only cricket..
Ashes is much bigger than BGT.
It Has a history attached to it. BGT is good from financial point of view.
@@KalpanaSingh-tv2yr
No
McG test went for 5 days and broke the record for no. of fans turning up.
Last time the record was set in 1937 ,when everyone came to watch Sir Don Bradman.
After that now in 2023 ,almost 86 yrs after a huge crowd turned up at MCG.
India always had high population from 1970s😂😂😂
@@KalpanaSingh-tv2yrMoney and attendance makes a series big.
What has the Ashes got going for it ?
England does have Players like rishab in their team but don't think they have someone like bumrah.
None of the pitches in the BGT were not that batting friendly and if similar kind of pitches are prepared for ashes and if Australia choose to play with 4 fast bowlers then don't see england giving even tough fight to Australia.
I think Konstas will be a huge success after his small but important edge he put Australia into especially the opening combination with audacious strokes to lift the Aussie strategy and rile up the Indians up unto then...the Tempo and feel changed..I'm sure he is a smart guy and will settle down to normal cricket when the situation requires.,,,He is an Investment...They should carry Sweeny also in the WTC squad...Im sure the Aussies will lift the WTC again..,they have just got back into rythm once again...
Best cricket podcast on thus planet !!
awesome watch. As good as Smith is in his current venture and being one of the great test captains and opening batsmen, I feel he should be pushing a lot more in getting test cricket attractive again in south africa. Or to be drastic we need new administrators who wants sa test cricket to be where it once was. We play far too little tests and i do miss the bigger international seasons we used to have over christmas and well into the new year. We should always have our best players available to play for there country and not to have an excuse that they are contracted to a t20 comp. My opinion is that t20s should stay at domestic level and out of the international calendar.
Compliments on an another interesting conversation.
Fantastic cricket insights as usual love the chatter all things cricket!
Australias batting did look somewhat vulnerable to one of the greatest bowlers of all time and the only bowler in history to reach 200 wickets at under 20! Great news for England! 😂
It’s true most of the batsman are past it
True British Gentleman Michael Atherton
I like the two division idea for Test cricket. It works in football leagues around the world. But I do see Graeme’s point that the smaller cricket nations get a massive boost when any of the big three tour their country. So the two division system would remove that revenue stream for them. It’s a tricky one. Having a global financial setup in place for Test cricket would certainly help keep Test cricket alive in the smaller cricketing countries
Bloemfontein and East London would be the next places to add teams
We South African love test cricket
SA20 is a massive success. They are going in the right direction.
It'll soon be bigger than the Blast at the rate it's going.
This criticsm of SAs qualification to the WTC final smacks of priviledge. One hand people say test cricket needs to grow beyond the big 3, and then dismiss and ridicule when a non-big 3 team make it by beating other 'smaller' nations, disrespecting them by calling them 'nobodies'. How is that going to encourage other countries? Ridiculous
Great show, recent developments in SA and this podcast are bringing me back to the game. I had moved away from cricket, from being an avid follower of all forms I got disillusioned by the Hansie Cronje saga and the political interference. The last straw for me was in the semi finals of the world cup against New Zealand when the team was forced to drop the bowler of the tournament, Kyle Abbott on the day of the match. I just thought if our cricket administrators didn't care about our results or the game of cricket why should 8 support it and care. That game was lost by 1 run. Felt for Abbott, Philander and AB the captain in particular.
Anyway looking forward to a break from rugby and the Test Final in June.
We need to get the best test players playing test match cricket. Do worldwide francising, like a african franchise, australian franchise, english franchise, american franchise etc. Do a player auction for the sponsors.
Love this.
The issue is that the icc set up schedules where India, England and Australia play 5 test series. The rest only play 1 or 2 test series. That is not growing the game. Just making the top 3 stronger. 😢
smith true legend
Best talk ❤👌👍💯
Fantastic interview 🎉😂
Top 3 opener in era
BGT Series had made Aussie team more stronger as they have a quality allrounder as Webster to be a backup for Green.
Also, Mcsweeney is a good opener and Konstas is a dasher.
So, now Aussie have 3 openers ( Khawaja, Mcsweeny and Konstas) and 3 allrounders( Green, Websters and Marsh) to chose from.
Also, Boland is back in form and he is a machine and very suited to this new type of Aussie pitches.
Boland and Webster would make Cummins,Starc, Hazelwood more lethal.
Only possible weakness can be their batting but if Smith and Labuchagne gets into form then it would be a nigthmare for England team.
To defeat Australia, England need batsmen who can grind them down especially the first 40 overs.
Find such batsmen and England team can have a chance.
Shami is fit and has been playing domestic cricket all summer, just not selected!
For me, West Indies were the reason I started watching cricket along with beefy. They helped shape the game. They produce the greatest all-rounder of all time. They were arguably the greatest team of all time. I hate the way the sport is just in the pockets of three main teams. Nowadays I don't like the way India play cricket in comparison with those West Indians of years ago and I don't enjoy the fact that England are part of a privileged club. I think this whole scenario is an absolute disgrace and has put me off the game forever as someone who's watched it all my life
Prime Windies and Prime SL, as well as Prime Pakistan added so much dimension to world cricket. Each one adding so much depth.
Would love to hear how Nepal premier league went through from these greats. Promoting associate country is probably a nice way to promote cricket around the world too!!
Nepal is the only country left not at test status and with a big fan base. If Nepal can be cracked, infrastructure and playing level, that'll be amazing
Two tier test system make lots of sense.
I think Nasser needs to take a year to follow all test games of a smaller team like WI, SL or Ban to know why test cricket is dying. A good ashes or bgt doesn't mean good year of test cricket.
So Athers are you saying you had no confidence in England prior to the 2013-14 Ashes? I find that hard to believe seeing as England had won the past 3 series before that. Sure Mitchell Johnson did what he did but not too many people saw that coming. He didn’t even feature in the previous Ashes, which were held only 6 months prior. If my memory serves me correctly England went into that series as favourites.
I struggled to be confident. There's no doubt that England were still a decent team at the time, but following the Petersen/South African series loss in 2012 and losing the number one ranking, there were a few "papering over the cracks" performances that followed, in particular the 3-0 home win over Australia, which I remember, to this day, wondering how on earth the final scoreline ended so lopsided. So, with the team being in that "jittery" mode, I was looking back to 2006-07, rather than 2010-11, for a bit of foretelling as to what might happen in the 2013-14 Ashes.
Please bring ian Chappell as next guest
There SHOULD be a tier system, on a FOUR YEAR cycle, the first two years, everyone plays everyone at least once, in one off Tests or full series, depending.... to determine the tiers, this should include Afghanistan and Ireland too.
The top six after two years, go in to tier one, and are playing the next two years for a place in the WTC final. The bottom six, are playing to finish top of the league in Tier Two... because, if they DO, they should get promoted, room being made by the WORST of the Tier One teams, being RELEGATED to Tier Two, for the NEXT four year cycle.
Hell, if you wanted to keep players from burnout, and leave enough room for T20i, T20 pro leagues, and ODI cricket, you could do it on a SIX year cycle. All the teams playing each other at least once, in the first three years, but over three years, leaving enough time for off seasons, T20i and ODI, and pro leagues, then the next three years, the tiers once decided, play off for either promotion if tier two, or the WTC if tier one.
Scrapping the WTC, as some say a tier system will lead to, would be the WORST idea the ICC has had in a LONG time.....but a stagnant set tier system, where the big three, and maybe NZ, perhaps SA, play each other, for a primo world champ trophy, that winds up being considered the proper thing, whilst the rest of the test playing nations, play off in a lower tier for something that winds up being seen as an 'Also Ran' award.. that would be beyond worst, beyond crazy.. it would likely kill Test Cricket.
Sure, the whole thing is a mess right now, but like some corners cut, DIY, none code, uncertified skyscraper teetering, in some semi isolated slum... it is holding together. So before you bulldoze Kowloon, it might be an idea to actually know what you are getting in to, before replacing it with something which is envisioned as being a better way, but just ends up making things worse, or even threatens the long term viability of Red Ball cricket.
Instead of taking about how T20s killing Test cricket , Talk about how can we make Test cricket more appealing and commercially successful 🤷🏾😕 .
should work well.. Tests Tier 1: Ind, Eng, Aus, SA, NZ, SL, Pak .. all play each other home/away across 2yrs. 3 series each a year, 6 series in 2yrs.
Tier 2: WI (as their main guys don't play Tests at all), Ban, Afg, Zim, Ire.
every 2yrs. no7 drops to tier2, and no1 in tier2 moves up.. will make it better than now.
In Australia's experience with T20, I believe they made a mistake in thinking this concept is here to stay. They don't need 8 teams. They only needed the 6 state teams. The crowds they get in BBL now are tracking just like with interstate one dayers in the 1980s. It made some guys well off, but really we have seen this movie before.
India vs Australia has become more important than the ashes. You turn up here with those current bowlers. It will be 5-0
I don’t think so. Ashes is Ashes. Ashes > BGT. Aus play totally different vs Eng at Lord’s than Indian at certain random stadium. Lord’s is Lord’s, No any other stadium combined can beat Lord’s prestige where cricket was born. So Ashes is more valuable than BGT where Aus play Eng with aggression, in a hostile environment, booing players. England is origin of Cricket. So. Aus never take BGT highly valued over Ashes.
If Ecb had focused on the blast it could have been such a successful tournament rather than focusing on the hundred
Smashed the “like-button” all the way to Cow Corner 🏏🐄
Australian batting isnt as vulnerable as you might think. Pitches have been sporty for years now and the kookaburra ball has been upgraded to stay harder for longer, so although visiting teams may create a few extra chances Australia with local expewrience, will generally cope better than visiting teams; particularly when teams like England doctor flat as possible pitches at home to accommodate 'bazball'.
England will struggle in Australia because they don't have high quality fast bowlers their bowlers are only good in english conditions
I think australia will pick 4 quicks against England especially in Gabba,MCG, Perth and adelaide i don't think they will drop Boland against England in Australian conditions
@@debasismohanty1952 Yeah its a hell of a thing to replace Broad and Anderson. Where does this pommy optimism come from? What are they smokin??
@@wouldlovemyownname akinston wood brandon carse potts all are good bowlers but I don't see their style of bowling suitable for Australian conditions in australia you need to pick skiddy fast bowlers bhumrha performed well because he is a skiddy bowler his dilivery hit bat hard but I don't see current english bowlers are skiddy they bowl good line and length but they beat australian batters with pace and wood age 35 he already passed his prime and he is not going to play 5 matches in a row
@@debasismohanty1952yes spot on and even with batting everything ll be dependent on root and brook and if they don't fire then they ll struggle big time.
Even though india lost 3-1 but still apart from head and smith none of the Australian batsman performed consistently and our rest of bowlers apart from bumrah did troubled them.
It would be interesting to see england approach in this year ashes.
Test cricket should be a 100 over game .
100 overs per Day
Team has to declare at 100 overs
6+P+H+B+S+N , my 11 Aus
these 2 need never retire from Punditry..
Also, Nasser's tidied and added some succulents to his bookself
nice 2 c u back
Test cricket needs South Africa in final of the WTC, don't bother about WTC flaws right now, more South Africa fans would follow test cricket and in-turn would contribute in South Africa becoming stronger in future like they were 10 years ago. Sri Lanka are a better team now than 2-3 years ago.
on that question of why sending 2nd string test team
the simple answer is " GREED HAS KILLED CRICKET"
"To be honest, I was just getting Bumrah-ed," Khawaja told ABC Sport after Australia regained the BGT in Sydney. "It was friggin' tough work. It was tough work. People were asking me 'what's going on?' I'm being honest, I'm just getting Bumrah-ed." (ESPNCricInfo)
World test championship is nuts, England play more test matches than anyone, most teams don't even play half as many tests as England or even play all the sides ?? How is this even possible ??
The last Test team with no 20yo would have been Australia when Warner was batting against Pakistan lol.
We just subbed out a mid 30s bloke for a teen.
Please 🙏 Ricky ponting WTC 2025 product live interview thank you . Sky sports cricket
Ricky pointing part of the sky sports commentary team I'm sure they will invite Ricky in future
@debasismohanty1952 ok sir thank you
What are these weird comments?" The internet is broken. Bots
where the big three only play each other?
Need timestamps!
Why didn't you ppl ask Smith about Women's SA20
Perhaps they thought that sponsership won't be there for womens.. SA20 is just a budding league now
Australia piches are changing to three day piches
Graeme Smith is a great cricketer and a very good administrator but to call the crowds at SA's test matches anything but lacklustre is misleading.
Australia will smash england in those lively pitches lol....england's approach will make them look like clowns on those pitches it wont be flat roads like in last ashes in england
Athers should be honest here and tell Smith that leagues like yours is ultimately going bring down international cricket! Harsh but true.
ALWAYS QUESTION Australia but they still keep on winning and they still keep winning
Nassir don't you think the Ashes series should be a three match series and then BGT should also be a 3 match series? this will get us a window for other teams to compete with Eng Aus and India!!
But Eng will never do it, they're only to blame others and especially jealous of IPL
I think this time india can win series in England if rohit and virat retire.
Really worried about west Indies
Smith struggled? The conditions was tough & he was very unlucky but still managed to be the 3rd top scorer of the series!
Unlucky?? He was lucky and he was out both times and saved by umpires call...
@@lj4daniel70yes specially akashdeep really troubled him a lot.
@@lj4daniel70 lol what do you mean he was luck due to umpires call? Do you understand what umpires call is?
He got two good bowls in Perth. Only got 1 innings in Adelaide & got caught by strangling down leg side & in Sydney due to terrible pitch he got unplayable bowl again in second innings!
@@Danish-by8wk umpires calls are lucky calls...actually most people are against the Idea of umpires call and it should have been termed out...he got lucky with umpires call and got hundreds and apart from bhum he faced mediocre Indian bowling attack
@@lj4daniel70 huh umpires are not not lucky calls. You don't understand the DRS technology. Nasser Hussein has tried to explained it to crybabies like virat kholi. When there is umpires call it's doesn't mean half bowl is hitting the stumps. It's means there is 50% chance of hitting the stump.
Siraj wasn't mediocre neither was jadega. They still had a decent bowling attack!
He does look a little like Baz. Same age too.
India have nobody but themselves to blame for the drubbing.
Rohit ,: Not in my playing 11, let alone
captain.
Virat : Dropped after 2 tests
Shreyas : captain, starting with NZ series at home
Sai Sudarshan, Sarfaraz included in the 16
Do you think that if India regresses as a test nation the clamour around the two tier system will die down ?
India have a transition on their hands. With Ashwin gone, and the triumvirate of Jadeja, Kohli and Sharma on their last legs..if they were to have a bad tour to England then suddenly India would have a gaping hole in their test side for the home season.