Rhino Richards

That's eerie. Because I was thinking you would do well there. Smith, Bollinger, George, Harris, Paine have all been blooded in the last 12 months. Smith has already had a taste of Test cricket and is working on the areas he needs to improve. There has been considerable opportunity. In the last 12 months Watson has been reinvented as an opener. You only need to look to find out Not on form to date.

Smith is being considered as a bowler. At 20 and a part time leggie with an average of 50 and strike rate of one in 12 overs is not a firm basis for selection. However in the past 2 tests, Hauritz has bowled himself out of the Test team as opposed to the tenuous argument you are trying to make. Smith is likely to be thrown to the wolves Warne was a junior prodigy who was identified as a 15yo as a very promising leggie. Warne was always going to make it. Smith is nowhere near Warne's class. And for the record Warne was 3 years older than Smith when he made his Test debut. So they are hardly denying Smith opportunities. Why you cant actually provide information to support a comment is beyond me. You are a treasure trove of uninformed comment and a wasteland of facts. I am not sure 5 years averages are a basis for determining Test selection or not. I would have through a rolling 12 months of scores and average would have been more applicable. Duhhh! Only you could ask such a self serving question. There are no easy answers to the situation at the moment. I hope an uncapped player rises to occassion. Your last sentence would be a true assessment of your personal disposition

No its not. You are not just asking at all. You make ignorant broad brush criticisms without substantiation and as usual you get found out. Smith has bowled 300 overs in first class cricket with a bowl ave of 49! and a strike rate of 73! Its no basis for Test selection as a front line spinner. And a couple of net sessions with Warnie wont change a thing in the short term. All you have done is thrown a couple of names without consideration of their form or first class record. Wonderful. And if it wasnt for the prat Chappell we wouldn't be in......

He needs his 'Jimma" gee up chat with WYL then it would all be clear. You have proven that ad nauseum.

I should have said if a bowler does not bowl to plan. But if Hauritz is not place the ball where it should go then..... Do you think Ponting and Hauritz talk off the field and actual plan the fields rather than "Hey that didnt work what do we do now?" I didnt. But you make so many silly statements it reflects on you and not your target. And if the selectors have not done enough post Gilchrist what should they have done? You have been challenged on this view previously like alot of other views and had little of substance to back it up. You do like to cash your chips in early.

Maybe you could give him a Jimma chat some time. If you did have a clue about field settings you would know it means nothing if a bowler does bowl to plan. I guess you cant see that at silly mid couch. I just dont stoop to an ongoing tirade of silly comments and thoughtless swipes on issues. It just highlights you and not the problem you think you are addressing.

Ok back on Earth A fit Ferguson and now Khawaja are starting to have claims and there is no reason why if they bat well that they can make the test team. Both Hughes and Rogers are openers and I dont think this is where the gaps are. Jaques has been patchy and does not make runs at critical times. Hussey is a one day player. Klinger needs a good streak of form to push. McDonald a good nice to have bat/bowl that just does not look competent enought to star sufficiently with one or the other. You need to do that at Test level. With Watson already there, I cant see how they will opt for MacDonald unless they drop a quick. Too true. I blame Greg Chappell for all this. Telling his brother to bowl that underarm was a .........

I am glad you are watching it now. I am sure Warnie has enough axes to grind. And I am glad you know how to set a field in cricket. Very reassuring. You might work out that its impossible to set a meaningful field when a bowler is bowling crap. But I am sure you must be on top of that too. And to correct a misconception, alot of posters feel you rant on and I believe with proven justification.

It was FFS. Watson was moved in as an opener with success. Bollinger and Siddle have about two years experience. Since then Harris, George and Paine have been blooded since then. Hussey averaged 66 with the bat against the Pakis. Not a case to be dropped. I am not sure what the match fixing allegations have here with team selection. Oh, yes HT did point that out. B) North could have been dropped but who would they have reasonably replaced him with given they were going for a No 6 that could bowl. Sorry White struggled at 8 when he played and does not even bowl himself these days. So not a clear selection issue. The ACB selectors have been doing this where there are ready replacements. The spinner and middle order roles are begging for players to sit up and create the action. Who did? Ferguson got injured at the wrong time and missed his moment. There is no clear You continue to rant on about this but have been unable to put a plausible or sensible substantiation to your comments. I dont think in some areas its a deep well for the selectors to tap. But only you see the obvious.

At 21, Smith with one or two tests and a part time bowler is not a frontline option in either India or the Ashes. While Hauritz is a poor option you cant provide a better one than Smith...Hmmm So who would you replace Hussey and North with? As for the same side being selected series after series. The last time I looked George and Paine are new to the side in the past 3 months. So much for the pumping going on. Most of the players that play for Australia have been identified in their youth and tracked and developed by the ACB. You learn little by throwing kids to the wolves. I would have thought MFC might have taught you a bit more. It sounds great when you rant but when you think about it.... He's right WYL. You do this all the time. The silly statements are only outdone by the tragic efforts to support/divert/deny/falsify or complicate matters. And you get found out every time. B)

And what would you DO that would improve the side now and with the Ashes in sight? Like it or lump it, Hauritz is our only 4th innings bowler. He is bowling poorly. This is further exacerbated by the fact that he has been taken apart by one of the great players of spin, Tendulkar. Smith is not a frontline spinner and the silliness of playing a part time spinner was shown on the last India tour with White. As for the batting I would have thought that century aside that North position is in doubt before Hussey. Mind you Clarke has been ordinary for a while on and off the field but he has some creds. I am also struggling to identify definite replacements for either or both players where that replacement has a good track record over the past 6 to 12 months to push for selection. There are no quick fixes and I would rather considered selections as opposed to making changes for changes sake under the banner of "LETS DO SOMETHING".

How? Can you give examples and what do you think Ponting should have done in the situation? He has been in the job six weeks. The ACB are still to agree the terms of reference for the 4 man selection panel at their Board meeting this month. What did you expect in such a short time given the side for India was already selected?

On the contrary, i think Ponting does back his bowlers I think the issue here was that Hauritz bowled poorly in his spells and when you have 200 to 250 to defend you cant [censored] foot around. Bowling North just highlights Hauritz's weakness. Atm, I am not sure who stands out to push North out of the middle order. His spot is shaky if any batsman performs early.Could we play Paine as bat and have Haddin as keeper??

Clarke has a back injury and Katich a shoulder injury which is preventing them from any sustained bowling. The real issue is the failure of Hauritz as a 4th innings bowler. This will crucify us in the coming Ashes series.

I'm sympathetic to your cause TD re Victorians. I think the alleged bias to NSWmen preceded Hilditch but over that time generally the selections have served Australia well. I am hoping Smith usurps North. White was overlooked because he did little on the last Indian Tour. He is best suited to ODI and 20/20. His bowling just wont carry him in Test cricket. Hazelwood is a definite prospect. George a little less so. However doesn't there selection give rise to the thought the selectors are seeking to build and broaden the stock of fast bolwers they can draw on given the toll on the quicks last season.

I understand your sentiments and feel the same way. But I think we need to work through the existing system.

There is a reason why it wont happen. India controls at least 70% of the revenues derived form the game. It is the elephant in the room of world cricket. Australia and England are minnow. IPL should clearly demonstrate who calls the shots in the game. And you can forget Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cricket as their cricket councils are effectively financed by Indian cricket and its commercial arrangements. Your proposal would send the game further backwards at a greater pace than what is happening now. At this time, cricket needs unity of action not the disintegration bred from discontent.

There is no doubt fraud at the high levels of cricket administration in the sub continent. Many of the senior appointments have had chronic conflicts of interest where the interest of cricket are aligned to their own commercial interests. At the country level, Africa and the sub continent are filled with Government lackeys, opportunities and in a couple of cases, crooks. The ICC member reaction to Australia's appointment to the ICC Chair was systematic of where the problems are. i suggest Malcolm Speed knows alot more than he is telling...for good reason.

Its all about the culture of taking money to create outcomes. Whether it is one ball or one match it demeans your country, your opponent the spectators and all involved with cricket. Its a malignant cancer that has been knowingly allowed to flourish by the PCB and the ICC. The offending players should be punished. But the problem extends higher up. In total, the last six Pakistan captains have either been caught red handed or have heavy and reasonable suspicion of being on the take. The PCB is rotten from the top down. And its the same clowns in the ICC that railroaded Australia's appointment to the ICC Chair that have overseen this disaster.

Cute. Do you think so? Just confirmation about what we all suspected was happening. I am not sure ICC has the will or the integrity to do anything about it. The ICC is controlled (owned) by India who use Sri Lanka, Pakistan and B'desh voting blick for its purposes. I just cant see Indians seeking/wanting to delve in and change Paki cricket politics. And meanwhile 20 million Pakistanis sit around with no home, impoverished and awaiting AID..... I cant see the Pakistani Govt getting distracting over reforming a corrupt arm given the problems they have.

Its worse for North if you measure the last 12 months. His spot is the most dicey. Its all part of the concern for the Ashes coming up. Within the Test team for the first time in over 20 years we do not have any elite performing players. It would be interesting to see Clarke's averages since England. Suffered a bad bingle and his batting has suffered. I think only Watson and Katich may have respectable numbers.

Australia 88 & 136/2 (41.0 ov) Pakistan 258 Australia trail by 34 runs with 8 wickets remaining Stumps - Day 2 I reckon Pakistan can still conjure a loss in this Test. It will be credit to their professsionalism and their bookmaker. Just remarkable. What a sham of a outfit they are.

You have to laugh!! B)

Cricket has been overshadowed by other sporting events. Pakistan would have to one of the greatest jokes as a sporting organisations that in the last 12 months: - Throws a Test match and investigates the keeper for some unseemingly butter fingers but the keeper maintains his spot. - Openly criticises an incumbent test captain (Yousuf) during a Test match and series. - Appoints a replacement captain for the one day series who gets suspended for blatant and dumb ball tampering - Appoints Afridi to the captaincy despite the ball tampering and the fact that he has not plated Tests for 4 years. - In his two innings that is critical to the team and getting runs, Afridi bats like a beach cricketer being called for last over. Amazing. Then resigns immediately giving reasons of stress and lack of mental preparation. - Every batsman par Salmon Butt bats like a reckless millionaire. Oh I just remembered Zimbabwe are worse and so are FIFA! Good win by Australia in difficult conditions early. Bob Massie would have taken all 20 wickets on the first 2 days.

The tom tom drums are beating Ugh! Watson and Warner going cheaply would have done us alot of good too. In 20/20 how much can a pitch impact a game in 3 hours? Unlees they kick the ball back in after every six hit in 20/20 I'm afraid he will be lost. He wont work it out that he has been stitched up a treat on this argument.