That’s was a marvelous innings by Bennett. He’s going to be a star. It’s because he understands the game well and he’s already had at least 3 useful to match winning knocks in his career. This was not that easy a pitch to bat on.
Really solid performance.
I watched the highlights
I noticed that all of Bennett’s shots weren’t smooth and had an element of clumsiness to them.
Compare to Razas hits which were smooth and closer to standard international hitting.
I don’t want to be megafauna but he got dropped 3/4 times early on which doesn’t happen often… and the winkiness of it makes me wonder if he can keep it up.
That said- he’s blown away other youngsters and could ill lol Leone and refine and for his age he is doing well and I’m genuinely excited at his emergence.
Did not get dropped 3 or 4 times at all , not sure what you were watching
In fairness he had some luck go his way, and in cricket you'll take a lucky player all day.
In the first 2 overs he cut one to point that fell just short, he edged a late cut to slip, but it was a half chance at best, he edged one over the keeper's head and he got dropped at square leg. The only real chance was the drop at square leg, the guy actually spilt it. Difficult chance though.
Still a good innings though, an excellent confidence building innings. If he's nervous he wears it well because he just looks confident.
Despite numerous poor innings I still like Marumani. I honestly don't think he's getting the right preparation.
Clearly he'd been told to be aggressive, but when you cross that boundary you have to take some executive decisions.
He didnt need to come out to that, Bennett was going really well at the other end. His go to shot is to clear outside the ball and work it down to backward square or to try and pick it up behind square. I know he's got an offside game, but he's clearly feeling pressure and resorting to the only shot he's confident in. He's a fantastic striker of the cricket ball, I promise you. I've seen him play shots that you can only shake your head at they're so good. We don't even get a glimpse of the real Maru in internationals. He's a good coach's dream.
I would advocate for Marumani to come lower down the order. He looks comfortable in the short number of innings he's played towards the rear end. I agree with Googly. Irrespective of his showings, I see a player in Maru. Coming down the order is not a permanent move for me but more of a ploy to get some confidence flowing in him in internationals. You can see how nervy and borderline cautious he is in every innings, needs to free his mind.
It's the same problem all our batters have. In domestic cricket here they get loose deliveries. You can look really good because boundary balls are on offer. In internationals you don't get many shit balls, you have to be able to score off good deliveries. It's not easy.
Plus you have to assess conditions, field sets, the bowler and decide where you're going to score. Our guys are just not good at that. The local cricket is much less demanding.
Just saw a post that made me laugh.
Campbell and Bennett families are both blueberry farmers.
Something in the blueberries.
Maybe blueberry smoothies for pre-game sustenance?
I know what Doggy is getting at with Bennett. He is not the most talented guy we have but the one thing his does have is a clear mind.
The biggest skill he has is that he can pick up length unbelievably quickly, you can see it in those shots he plays off Medhi, this is why he scores so many runs through the off side as he can spot when it slightly short and rock back giving himself some room to free his hands. He is less convincing off the short ball, appears to struggle to pick it up as quick as he does off the spinners which is why he has been out caught mid on a couple of times.
I still don't like him opening. I feel number 5 is a better option to help him develop. He will have some tough days against better bowlers but is clearly up for the fight.
Really good to see him get more of a bowl. He is a tall guy so offers a different threat to Raza with some extra bounce. We are likely to have two opening batsman in Bennett and Wes who on a good day can bowl 5-8 overs which will allow us to bat deep.
I've been watching Shakib on YouTube.
A huge percentage of his wickets are his offie (supposedly turning away from the right hander) actually going slightly the other way. Fuck knows how that happens so regularly for him. You can see it out of his hand, you can see its got revs and likely to turn and it comes back into you? It's just weird and defies science.
He gives it some air as well, but lands it on the exact horrible length most times. I watched him bowl at Petersen who was coming down to him and it kept hitting him on the pad, coming back in at him? . Every delivery was basically out LBW and they weren't appealing. He's a helluva bowler.
I would advocate for Marumani to come lower down the order. He looks comfortable in the short number of innings he's played towards the rear end. I agree with Googly. Irrespective of his showings, I see a player in Maru. Coming down the order is not a permanent move for me but more of a ploy to get some confidence flowing in him in internationals. You can see how nervy and borderline cautious he is in every innings, needs to free his mind.
Why should Marumani get special treatment ? He has had numerous opportunities and doesn't take them. He may well become a permanent member of the team in time but others need to be given a chance in front of him now. I think his mental side of the game is his biggest problem.
He’s very talented. People on here and on social media who don’t watch our domestic cricket won’t believe me. But I’ve seen a lot of him ever since he was about 15 and he’s got something. I think almost every single person in the setup genuinely believes so too. Yes our domestic cricket is poor quality but for a guy aged 19-21 to dominate like he has and play some of the innings he has is still notable.
He’s struggling hugely at this level though. Probably needs time out of the team, yes. I’m not sure if the issue is mental or what.
But getting the best out of Marumani is an important task for our new coaches whenever they arrive. There is something there, I promise you!
