Keep an eye on South Africa's chase, people!

Keep an eye on South Africa's chase, people!

Thanks. 56 needed off 13.5 overs with De Villiers just falling. Faf's on 123 and Duminy is striding to the crease.

Soft!

Woke up to see the SA-India result. Wow.

Surely, even though SA did close up shop late to prevent losing wickets, you have to call that a 'win' to them and a 'loss' to India. They had 458 to defend and 132 overs to bowl them out, and could only manage 7 wickets. Then, when the game was on the table, with nothing but Tahir (can't bat) and Morkel (injured foot) to come, they put their fielders on the boundary when Philander was batting. Surely you'd be happier to be SA right now.

i dunno

if you were india you wouldn't want to live down by being beaten by that sort of record breaking 4th innings chase

having the field spread and getting a draw would be better than losing

of course the saffers could have gone the big hit and that would have been interesting with a spread field

seems to me both ended up being cautious and letting the draw eventuate

Dismal dismissal of the Poms

they've imploded, got ahead of themselves when they weren't really that good anyway, but they thought they were.

When the chips were down in the hot Aussie Sun, they fried like seagull shitt on the bitumen. Pretenders who only looked good in front of truly out of sorts Aussie team under internal siege.

We on the other hand are back on the improvement plane. A way to go but just taking off.

* the Poms, Bell as suggested imo has to Bat @ 3, & IMO after this series, should be readied to take over the captaincy shortly down the track. Cook is too conservative & goes into his shell.

Pietersen has to bat in the middle order, or out the door.

they've got to find a keeper who has real grit.

And root the number 4 spot inplace. which would allow pietersen @ 5.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cricket/graeme-swanns-nan-blames-nasty-aussies-20131224-2zv4m.html

the truth is out there

Graeme Swann's nan blames nasty Aussies

Graeme Swann's grandmother has blamed unwelcoming Australians for the spinner's sudden retirement and said something "nasty" must have happened to convince the England star to turn his back on the Ashes.

Swann quit cricket after the third Test defeat as Australia reclaimed the Ashes, ending an international career which had yielded 255 wickets for the off-spinner.

"There is something gone wrong there and I blame the Australian players. Not all the Australian players, a certain one," Mina Swann, 89, told The Journal newspaper in Newcastle, England.

"I do not think they have been [made] very welcome, the team. He is not easily upset, there is something nasty happened."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/graeme-swanns-nan-blames-nasty-aussies-20131224-2zv4m.html#ixzz2oMCywPwp

The English team is like a trainwreck at the moment. It's one thing after another.

Christmas really did come early this year.

The English team is like a trainwreck at the moment. It's one thing after another.

Christmas really did come early this year.

Let's hope we win the toss again, bat first again, and storm to 4 nil, with Warner smashing a ton in a big partnership with Rogers.

We have to make up for that debacle in the last Boxing Day Ashes Test......what a huge disappointment that was!

poms imploding day by day.

Bells ring for the swan song being trotted out?

Tough [censored] .Eat shi!

poms imploding day by day.

Bells ring for the swan song being trotted out?

Tough tit .Eat shi!

The Poms are coached by a "Flower" but the way things are going for them, it could well be a "Bailey" or a "Neeld".

I saw the ICC official rankings on Foxtel last night and was bemused at the fact that they're ranked 3rd and we're 5th. I presume they change the rankings at the end of a series?

Ryan Harris is our best ranked bowler followed by Peter Siddle with MJ nowhere in sight and --- no surprise, Clarke's our best batter but NZ's Ross Taylor is ahead of him by one spot. I know Taylor has had a good run this year but I'm still a bit surprised.

Let's hope we win the toss again, bat first again, and storm to 4 nil, with Warner smashing a ton in a big partnership with Rogers.

We have to make up for that debacle in the last Boxing Day Ashes Test......what a huge disappointment that was!

Oh no!

Mr Siddle!

maybe after lunch when the sun bakes the surface, Johnson will get some more bounce.

Watto, one out, one in, ta'ta.

the medium pace balls are doing the trick so far.

lets see when the wicket hardens up.

Edited December 26, 201311 yr by dee-luded

Unbelievable news from the world of 20Twenty is that the Perth Scorchers have signed on Yasir Arafat.

And I thought they carried out an autopsy a few months ago.

RyanO !

what a bowler. great control to swing it either way on call.

clarke does a blind freddy

clarke does a blind freddy

missed it dc, what happened. i went to work outside @ tea.

missed it dc, what happened. i went to work outside @ tea.

he decided to bowl first

he decided to bowl first

Oh right, let me think about your comment again.

I assume you mean it wasn't his decision, but he did what was put to him. IMO, thats why he said he wanted to lose the toss. and "can't believe I'm going to say this", cooky you can have a bat, & we'll field.

great decision Clarky.

Edited December 26, 201311 yr by dee-luded

In my view this is definitely a pitch that I will wait until the conclusion of our innings before making any firm judgements on.

250 could potentially be a competitive score, perhaps it was a day underprepared and will come into its best this afternoon? Will be interesting to see.

I for one loved the day's play, I found it utterly enthralling.

It was great to be there yesterday for the world record crowd (only the official one though, there surely will have been 100,000+ crowds at Kolkata Tests). The roar after the anthems (how very AFL-esque) and again in the late overs of the day with Johnson streaming in was great for the game and would have been something rather novel for the English players.

England's collapsing this morning, now 9/242. I thought we had the advantage overnight, though as has been said we need to see how we bat before knowing for sure whether 250-odd is acceptable. But to have them 6/220-odd at stumps on Day 1 is advantage us I think.

They dug their own grave with ridiculously slow and timid batting from Root, Pietersen and Bell. There was no pressure on the bowlers or on Clarke's field settings, which allowed us to keep attacking. Harris and Johnson are in the kind of form whereby they are able to take wickets at any point, so you have to make runs when you can, and England didn't do that. They should have more on the board for 95 overs of batting than 242.

It was great to be there yesterday for the world record crowd (only the official one though, there surely will have been 100,000+ crowds at Kolkata Tests). The roar after the anthems (how very AFL-esque) and again in the late overs of the day with Johnson streaming in was great for the game and would have been something rather novel for the English players.

England's collapsing this morning, now 9/242. I thought we had the advantage overnight, though as has been said we need to see how we bat before knowing for sure whether 250-odd is acceptable. But to have them 6/220-odd at stumps on Day 1 is advantage us I think.

They dug their own grave with ridiculously slow and timid batting from Root, Pietersen and Bell. There was no pressure on the bowlers or on Clarke's field settings, which allowed us to keep attacking. Harris and Johnson are in the kind of form whereby they are able to take wickets at any point, so you have to make runs when you can, and England didn't do that. They should have more on the board for 95 overs of batting than 242.

I reckon back in the days of Lillee & Thomo, with lots of standing room in the outer crowds got bigger than 91,000

... and the noise & atmosphere was brilliant back then.

Fee Fi Fo Fum

a very poignant image to keep lodged in mind, & those slightly out of focus, Re our teams future.