Sweet, sweet victory, and very well deserved.

  On 17/12/2013 at 06:05, Choke said:

Who was it that said it was going to be 5-0 England? Botham?

I hope people are giving him hell.

Gonna check if he has a twitter handle

here it is a very sheepish Picket Fence

Nathan Lyon - some big wickets when it counted. Pietersen, Stokes.

Played a small but significant part in the Test, had to play.....was important to bowl long spells and give our quicks a break. Worked a treat.

let's hope Paul Roos can do a Darren Lehmann - outstanding effort Boof

  On 17/12/2013 at 06:37, daisycutter said:

let's hope Paul Roos can do a Darren Lehmann - outstanding effort Boof

He already has. up in Sydney.

he knows what he's doing, but it needs the 'buy in' of the whole club, supporters 'n' all.

My men, Mitch Johnson, Davie Warner, & Mr Siddle.

#edit: oh geez I forgot, i was just back in from a trip to melbourne & back, Watto !

Edited December 17, 201311 yr by dee-luded

  On 17/12/2013 at 08:02, dee-luded said:

He already has. up in Sydney.

he knows what he's doing, but it needs the 'buy in' of the whole club, supporters 'n' all.

don't care what he did in sydney d-l, I only care what he can do for the mfc

Never in doubt, titan

Sweet, sweet victory. Now for that rubbish footy team of ours to turn thIngs around in similar fashion.

  On 17/12/2013 at 08:08, daisycutter said:

don't care what he did in sydney d-l, I only care what he can do for the mfc

know-how

how to change a culture. & turn an organisation back into a club.

The scenes in the rooms were great. Like to see more of that sort of stuff - that sort of connection goes down well with a large percentage of supporters. Footy does it quite well and there's no reason why cricket can't do the same.

A much better effort from England in their 2nd innings and they might have found a decent cricketer in Ben Stokes. To make a century under the circumstances is a good sign for England. He bowls with good velocity as well.

Well done to our trio of centurions in this Test. Seven 100's from our blokes in 3 Tests is good going (we had only scored a total of 8 centuries in the preceding 12 Tests)

The next 2 Tests might be a bit closer but we've won the prize!

Test Match Special Podcast ... Australia regain the Ashes (includes interviews with both captains)

Good on Ryan Harris for coming out and slagging off the Crown Casino .

Refreshing to see a cricketer not obsessed with crawling up Jamie Packers pants.

Disgraceful that Pup couldn't put in a phone call and have the staff on the door summarily executed for treason.

Another black mark against Clarkes off-field Gen Y insipidness.

Watching the first session of play in the First Test, SA v India, at Jo'berg.

Incredibly, not much of a crowd bothered to turn up despite the high standing of both countries.

We'll have more in the toilets at the G at any given time on Boxing Day.

What is it with South African cricket crowds?

I'm amazed that Crown denied them entry. They had just won the Ashes ffs, what's the world coming to? If I was running the door I wouldn't care if they were rolling in. Perhaps there's more to the story.

Warner, Smith and Bailey have all been released to play BBL at the weekend.

Should we be comfortable with this in the middle of a series when they should be focussing on the next test?

  On 18/12/2013 at 11:25, Whispering_Jack said:

Watching the first session of play in the First Test, SA v India, at Jo'berg.

Incredibly, not much of a crowd bothered to turn up despite the high standing of both countries.

We'll have more in the toilets at the G at any given time on Boxing Day.

What is it with South African cricket crowds?

A wise man once said of these people

There are only two types of South Africans.

Defensive or OFFensive.

  On 18/12/2013 at 12:03, P-man said:

I'm amazed that Crown denied them entry. They had just won the Ashes ffs, what's the world coming to? If I was running the door I wouldn't care if they were rolling in. Perhaps there's more to the story.

a DRUNKEN MUB IS A DRUNKEN UBM

good on the door staff for not letting drunks spoil a night out for other patrons

doesnt matter that they just won the ashes,

that the attitude that puts people of sporstmen,easy entry have a drink card son

I forgot to say earlier - how good has Haddin been! Fantastic batting, and equally fantastic keeping.

Put Prior, and some others, to shame.

  On 18/12/2013 at 11:25, Whispering_Jack said:

Watching the first session of play in the First Test, SA v India, at Jo'berg.

Incredibly, not much of a crowd bothered to turn up despite the high standing of both countries.

We'll have more in the toilets at the G at any given time on Boxing Day.

What is it with South African cricket crowds?

The Test did start on a Wednesday, which didn't help. I read some comments on Cricinfo suggesting there would be far more people on Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

  On 19/12/2013 at 00:13, jazza said:

a DRUNKEN MUB IS A DRUNKEN UBM

good on the door staff for not letting drunks spoil a night out for other patrons

doesnt matter that they just won the ashes,

that the attitude that puts people of sporstmen,easy entry have a drink card son

Warney got him in anyway.

Ryan Harris doesn't shave and looks a bit like a friendly axe-murderer.

The Crown bouncers are notoriously deranged losers.

You can make an exception for a hobbling fast bowler with a few beers under his belt-especially just after we have regained the Urn.

Screw what the patrons of Crown think-who gives a flying what they think-they are just dollar units in a factory of human hell.

imagined there was a warney revolving door at crown somewhere

perhaps they sipped a cocktail made famous by long legged lizzy

gone are the days when DK,TOMO,PIGGY,and a host of batsmen would stay at the nearest pub until stumps with local drunks buying the beer and listening to chappellis take on the poms

now its cocktails,shirts with collars and horses douvers

Chanderpaul, after who the OP of this thread was opened all those years ago, just passed Alan Border in test runs scored.

Congratulations.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/rebecca-wilson-michael-clarke-finally-grows-into-leadership-of-australia-test-team/story-fndpt0dy-1226787781586

Michael Clarke finally grows into leadership of Australia Test team

BEFORE this Ashes series began, a number of Australian players were quietly complaining about the captaincy of Michael Clarke.

They weren't alone. Clarke had been the subject of much vilification since he took over from the adored Ricky Ponting.

You would have read in this column my various misgivings about the Australian skipper - that he was too worried about himself to be a great captain and was not a genuine team man in the Tubby Taylor or Ian Chappell ilk.

His media conferences were as dour as the team's performances on the field, with the Homeworkgate affair in India a lowpoint. Players suspended, vice-captain Shane Watson among them, with Watson quitting the tour to return to Austalia for the birth of his first child.

When the regime change saw off Arthur and brought in coach Darren Lehmann, Clarke was relieved of his duties as a selector.

It's my understanding that Clarke never wanted to be a selector, a role thrust upon him in the ill-fated Argus review.

Thankfully, the Argus review has gone the same way as Mickey Arthur and now, in Boof Lehmann, Clarke has the support of a coach who would die for the team.

That he's no longer a selector now means he can stand among his team mates as an equal.

The game changer came in the first Test in Brisbane when he threatened to break Jimmy Anderson's arm.

The sledge was not meant to be heard and the do-gooders out there were highly critical of the language used. Most Australians, however, absolutely lapped it up. Finally, the captain had shown some ticker away from the bat. He had stuck up for his team mates when they had been sledged within an inch of their lives by an England team used to winning and getting away with it.

The uproar that ensued led to an apology from Channel Nine. The producers should have actually sent out a media release pre-empting an Ashes annihilation by the Australian team. This was the moment Michael Clarke had arrived as captain.

Since then, Clarke's entire demeanour has changed.

His voice is louder and clearer, his eyes stare directly at the person who asked the question and his team mates can't stop hugging each other, or him. You get the feeling they are all mates now, bonded by two years on the scrap heap, when they were let down by flawed rotations systems and a previous coach who stuck too rigidly to the rule book.

Cricket Australia will no doubt take credit for the Ashes victory. They will try to tell us that those terrible systems, invented by sports scientists, were the reason we won the series.

What really happened is that the players themselves, led by Clarke and Lehmann, went out there and did it for each other.

Lehmann told CA the rotation system was over, probably in the same language Clarke used on Anderson.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/rebecca-wilson-michael-clarke-finally-grows-into-leadership-of-australia-test-team/story-fndpt0dy-1226787781586

still reckon he's a poncey metrosexual

How are the mighty fallen?

Graham Swann has retired from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. Kevin Pietersen may follow.

West Indies bundled out for 103 against New Zealand.

Wow.

  On 21/12/2013 at 02:29, daisycutter said:

still reckon he's a poncey metrosexual

so do most of the team

but winning overrides everything

bit like batsmen wearing keepers gloves really,

the press quickly forget the unanswered questions from the last 2 tours

but it is special when he tells us he loves playing for strayyya

Edited December 22, 201311 yr by jazza