Australia vs South Africa at the IPL
Arthur Turner, a columnist at Sport24, which is a South African website, has some amusing views.
He talks about how the Australian dominance in the IPL is unhealthy.
He talks about how its not good for the competition in the IPL to have so many coaches from Australia - 5 out of 8.
Turner goes on to say that no one outside Australia knows Greg Shipperd, Darren Lehmann, and Darren Berry, the 3 Australian coaches without international coaching experience.
He argues that the fact that these 3 have highly valued IPL contracts goes to show that Australia, as a cricket nation, is over rated.
Turner must have some nerve to say that.
Shipperd is arguably the best 20-20 coach on the planet. He led Victoria to the 20-20 title 3 years in a row. He coached the best 20-20 team of Australia, who for the longest period were, and maybe still are, the best cricket team in the world.
We all know who Greg Shipperd is.
Darren Lehmann's credentials as a coach may not be as good as the one he had as a player, but again no one can argue against Lehmann's cricketing nous.
Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and many others have spoken about how they used to turn to Lehmann on occasions on the field.
So yes, we all, outside Australia, also know who Lehmann is and how good he can be as a coach.
As for Darren Berry; he is probably the least known of the 3 but I do know that he is a former captain of Victoria and close to Shane Warne.
Warne made it clear that he wanted his coaching staff last year and we all saw what Berry and Warne did for the Royals.
So we may not have known Berry before last year, but we do now. Everyone does.
Turner doesn't stop there.
He goes on and talks about the large number of Australian players (26 of them) that are playing in the IPL. He denounces their presence by stating that they are only there because of the Australian coaches.
He presents his arguement by mentioning that South Africa beat Australia recently and are the number 1 ranked ODI team and yet they have a lesser number of players (15) playing in the IPL.
So its all about that is it Turner? Its all about why there aren't more South Africans than Australians playing the league?
Turner compares the domestic performances of Rob Quiney and Ryan Harris to two South African players - Henry Davids and Rory Kleinveldt.
Moreover, Turner argues about Ryan Harris and Rob Quiney while stating that some of the Australians in the IPL have never, and will never, play an international cricket match.
I wonder if Turner knows that Ryan Harris has played an ODI for Australia and that Quiney has been talked about as a potential ODI opener if I am not mistaken.
They are definitely better known than the Henry and the Rory that he mentions.
Turner concludes his piece by saying that IPL will have to address these problems if it wants to remain the premier Twenty20 competition.
What problems!?
Had Turner only talked about the huge presence of the Australians in the IPL and argued that a more equal distribution of players from international cricket playing countries was required, then maybe, just maybe, his arguement would have carried some weight.
But the fact that he puts forward names of South Africans that could have been better bets than the Australians in the IPL, diminishes any value that his arguement could have had.
With Turner being a Player Agent in South Africa, it all falls into place now, doesn't it!?
He talks about how the Australian dominance in the IPL is unhealthy.
He talks about how its not good for the competition in the IPL to have so many coaches from Australia - 5 out of 8.
Turner goes on to say that no one outside Australia knows Greg Shipperd, Darren Lehmann, and Darren Berry, the 3 Australian coaches without international coaching experience.
He argues that the fact that these 3 have highly valued IPL contracts goes to show that Australia, as a cricket nation, is over rated.
Turner must have some nerve to say that.
Shipperd is arguably the best 20-20 coach on the planet. He led Victoria to the 20-20 title 3 years in a row. He coached the best 20-20 team of Australia, who for the longest period were, and maybe still are, the best cricket team in the world.
We all know who Greg Shipperd is.
Darren Lehmann's credentials as a coach may not be as good as the one he had as a player, but again no one can argue against Lehmann's cricketing nous.
Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and many others have spoken about how they used to turn to Lehmann on occasions on the field.
So yes, we all, outside Australia, also know who Lehmann is and how good he can be as a coach.
As for Darren Berry; he is probably the least known of the 3 but I do know that he is a former captain of Victoria and close to Shane Warne.
Warne made it clear that he wanted his coaching staff last year and we all saw what Berry and Warne did for the Royals.
So we may not have known Berry before last year, but we do now. Everyone does.
Turner doesn't stop there.
He goes on and talks about the large number of Australian players (26 of them) that are playing in the IPL. He denounces their presence by stating that they are only there because of the Australian coaches.
He presents his arguement by mentioning that South Africa beat Australia recently and are the number 1 ranked ODI team and yet they have a lesser number of players (15) playing in the IPL.
So its all about that is it Turner? Its all about why there aren't more South Africans than Australians playing the league?
Turner compares the domestic performances of Rob Quiney and Ryan Harris to two South African players - Henry Davids and Rory Kleinveldt.
Moreover, Turner argues about Ryan Harris and Rob Quiney while stating that some of the Australians in the IPL have never, and will never, play an international cricket match.
I wonder if Turner knows that Ryan Harris has played an ODI for Australia and that Quiney has been talked about as a potential ODI opener if I am not mistaken.
They are definitely better known than the Henry and the Rory that he mentions.
Turner concludes his piece by saying that IPL will have to address these problems if it wants to remain the premier Twenty20 competition.
What problems!?
Had Turner only talked about the huge presence of the Australians in the IPL and argued that a more equal distribution of players from international cricket playing countries was required, then maybe, just maybe, his arguement would have carried some weight.
But the fact that he puts forward names of South Africans that could have been better bets than the Australians in the IPL, diminishes any value that his arguement could have had.
With Turner being a Player Agent in South Africa, it all falls into place now, doesn't it!?
Whats interesting is that Shaun Marsh joins Luke Pomersbach in the Mohali team - the 2 Western Australians were suspended earlier this season for a late night drinking binge by WA. One can expect some late nights then in and around Punjab once the IPL kicks off.
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