Rhino Richards

The Age reported a punter dropped a sum on Pakistan at a $1.06. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/pun...00106-luah.html

No problems. I regularly scroll the Bible....Cricinfo

I think you're close. I had understood that post his B'low, Woey was getting some strong interest over West (I think Freo) to come to them when his existing contract expired in 2001. Concerned that the high $$$ deal was going to attract him, MFC pre emptively secured Woey to a four year contract where the last two years of the contract were back ended with higher payments than in the first two years. After 2000, Woey struggled to be a key player in the midfield by 2002 and was being played off the HBF and was not a prime player in the MFC midfield mix. When lost the semi final in 2002, a full review of the strengths and weaknesses of the side by the Footy dept. They had a view to revitalise the side to be more competitive to seriously compete for a flag in 3 years time. They identified that Woey was not one of the prime movers in the side on 2002 form and was seen as a declining force as a footballer going forward and given the salary cap pressure with his back ended package, MFC sought a trade. Collingwood traded pick 14(?) for him. MFC also agreed to pick up a considerable amount of his back ended salary for the two years of his existing contract. I suspect that the we paid the Pies somewhere between 150k to 200k per annum in 2003 and 2004.

Still reeling how Pakistan stole defeat from the jaws of victory. Australia is in special company being the sixth side to win from being over 200 runs behind on the first innings. Australia completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in cricket's history when they beat Pakistan by 36 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This was only the sixth time that a team overcame a first-innings deficit of more than 200 to win a Test. Australia have been involved in each of those six matches - thrice at the receiving end and thrice victorious. Victories after conceding first-innings leads in excess of 200 Team Opposition First-innings deficit Ground Margin of victory Start date Australia Sri Lanka 291 Colombo (SSC) 16 runs 17 Aug 1992 ---> Emergence of the great SK Warne India Australia 274 Kolkata 171 runs 11 Mar 2001 --> When S Waugh sent India in again and Laxman and Dravid did the unbelievable. England Australia 261 Sydney 10 runs 14 Dec 1894 Australia South Africa 236 Durban 5 wickets 20 Jan 1950 England Australia 227 Leeds 18 runs 16 Jul 1981 --> When Beefy Botham belted Australia Australia Pakistan 206 Sydney 36 runs 3 Jan 2010

Very interesting comment. It was indeed a memorable day. Takes the stuffing out of Hobart for a "dead" test though. (Sorry Nasher)

No kidding. :D I am not sure where we disagree. A player gets cut/traded he is gutted. Happens all the time. I am not sure why you made a point of mentioning it as it did not address or deflect from Dappa's "best 22" comment.

Bad luck Jaded. it rules you out of the 3rd test then. What a Test. Unbelievable. Pakistan will be crushed. They took their foot off our throat with feckless batting in two innings, poor fielding and catching and terrible captaincy in the way they allowed Hussey/Siddle to pick easy and regular runs. Australia was quite the opposite today to Pakistan and they won the day that counted. Well done Aussies and for you WYL well captained in the end by Ponting in the use of his bowlers and fielding settings. Yousuf could learn plenty from that.

A player gets cut by a club and is gutted..That's a first. Woey displayed the same attitude when he was cut by the Pies. Buckley won the B'low because he was Buckley. He also had Licuria and Burns at their peak who were a far greater influence than Woey who was in the midfield rotations. People forget that his B'low win was a surprise and Woey won it as part of a workmanlike midfield that included Powell (ball magnet that year but finished their after), Leoncelli, Rigoni. As his midfield supports waned in the following years so did Woey. A player that got everything out of himself for AFL but lacked the class, skill and speed to match it in the big time Sept action. In his first GF at the Pies in 2003, he was overawed and outplayed by Simon Black. It did not help when he pulled out of a contested marking situation as well. he was fair to average midfielder at CFC but his time was up within 2 years of leaving MFC Its was a tough trade but the correct one given the circumstances.

Agree. However, I do find it annoying that a spinner bowling off a couple of paces at no more than a trot bowls no balls.

I'd be skeptical of those numbers. Might they just be dominated by Richmond and Collingwood supporters. Richmond home game with a big supporter base and it was a Friday night game whch should normally add 10k to the Crowd. The Adelaide game was a Friday night game also. QBW is about 75% Collingwood. Sydney still draws a significant number of old Swans supporters and they were fresh off a flag. We do need sustained success to turn things around not 1 or 2 good years Sometimes we forget that MFC is the only basket case. I would think Richmond and St Kilda could be scrutinised as well.

While it may not appear so in Australia and England, Test cricket is seriously on the wane in the sub continent (key importance) and the West Indies. Its also poorly attended in South Africa. Its a terrible state of affairs and has been so for a while. The more I think about it, I am more [censored] off with the Australian's 2nd innings than the first innings. Losing 8/170 on a better batting track after getting to 100+ opening partnership is very poor and reflects the lack of concentration that has been with the Australian batting all summer and during the Ashes. Ponting's injury, lack of fitness and consequential form has really hurt Australia. He has been a rock at 3 for years. But the recent Tests drop in runs has exposed and not balanced the other cracks elsewhere. Hussey may get a ton today and good on him if he does. However, he should buy K Akmal some velcro for his keeping gloves. He is lucky to be still there. Regardless, today wont change my view that his star is fading and has been for the past 12 months. He should not be there for the next Ashes challenge and should be moved out of the team prior to then. Clarke has been a worry all summer. Good enough to dominate the WI and the Paki attacks and hasn't and has got progressive worse. Rumour has it that things off the field are not going well for him and the mystery of the disappearing and re appearing Aston Martin has given rise to suggestions that the planets are not lining up for him privately and its affecting his game. His back would also be a worry. North should go. Does not get runs when its tough. We dont use his off spin which is not Test standard. We already have one of those in the team. I recall him taking some good grabs in the Ashes. I also recall him dropping a couple of sodas though. The catch he dropped in the first innings was a sitter at a critical time. Should have been taken. Goodbye. I would play Bailey (There you go Nasher!) Haddin has had an indifferent season with the gloves and the bat. A great flat track striker of the ball and will have days where he scorch the opposition. But he is not solid enough to play 6 and should stay at 7. Hauritz aint there in my book. He had a day out at MEL (a one off) but has not done much otherwise. Watson is and has been the premier batsman for Australia this summer. Notwithstanding his dismissals in the 90s, his season has been outstanding. HIs leadership and aggression at the start of the batting yesterday was outrstanding. Got a great ball but deserved a ton. He was badly let down for his efforts. If anything he is more secure than Katich and Hughes to open and comments that he should be batting six have been and are folly. He is the one strength at the moment. I am not sure whether Hilfy is going to be fit enough for Hobart but if so Siddle can be deemed unlucky to go. Bowled as well as the other bowlers but has not has the luck. Would have felt wretched after North's fumble. A good innings wont save him either. What this summer and the Ashes have shown is that the Test attack is at best honest where all bowlers apply to game plan and the wickets are shared. We dont have a real match winner like a McGrath, Warne or Gillespie. Johnson can do jaffa cameos but can vary from missile to monkey quickly. The distance between 1st and 6th on the Test rankings is probably closer than its been for 40 years.

It would seem so. Runs aside, Hussey is scratching around again. He is on borrowed time as well. If I was Test batting aspirant, I would be wanting to make sure I got amongst the runs. Pity there is little domestic cricket on beyond 20/20 at the moment. At 7/255,49 runs in front, Australia are fooked. Again a disappointing batting performance by all bar Watson. At one stage 0/104 and then to lose 7/151 is really poor. Kaneria is bowling them over on a seemingly reasonable batting strip. Shows the value of a good wrist spinner. Australia dont have one ATM.

Great session for Australia. 0/86 and 120 behind. They need two more good sessions today(100 runs per session few if any wickets) then the pendulum starts to move back. Still a lllooonnnggg way to go though.

Not sure about that one. But it the batting captains choice whether he has it rolled between innings before his side goes into bat. Pitch looked firm with no signs of being dusty or cracking.

They are seen to be tough...thats the point. if the AFL weren't hovering then I think the Blues would have made each of them do 5 hours of community service. I think they just want to ward off further AFL interest Houli is 28, Betts 24, Walker 25 can hardly afford to miss an opportunity to seal a spot in the team. They have no basis to rest on their laurels. Furthermore in a side lacking a leadership group, its a hardly a functional arrangement for a team with top 4 aspirations this year. It will depend upon how its enforced. Its not a step for forward for the Club or the players. Carlton will either draw resolve from this or it is the first step in the derailment of their season. Time will tell. Agree

That is what brought the Aust batsman undone in the first dig. They ignored the conditions on the first day. However today should be more to there liking. The initial start is good. Now to build on that....

Clear skies in Sydney today.... Pakistan well in front but they failed to kill the snake when it had its foot on its throat. After some good work early, their batsman were too cavalier and their tail too timid. A bit of grit and being only 5 to 6 wickets down then Pakistan could have well and truly batted Australia out of the contest. Australia need to wrap up the last wicket for less than 20 more runs and get to the task of batting when the wicket is arguably at its best. TU rightly points out the Australian batting line up has alot to play for. If they bat all day today for say 85 overs and go at 3.5 runs per over and are no more than 2 or 3 wickets down then its game on with Australia taking a lead into day 4 and its game on. There is a golden rule in Sydney...You dont want to be chasing runs in the fourth innings at the SCG. If Australia can set them 220 to 250 or more then we are set for a beauty. On the other hand if Asif and Sammi bowl a line and length that the Australians struggled with demonstrating then this Test could easily be over today. The fascinating Chess game of Test cricket.

All the more reason why we probably wont hear more from the AFL. It will be convenient for the AFL to "accept" that the three suspended players were responsible and that the Club has moved pro actively to address this issue. The Carlton penalties strike me as part of the smokescreen to "manage" the issue.

Onto to more relevant and interesting topics..... Pakistan 3/221 ...and Umar has just spanked four 4s off 5 balls of Hauritz. Might have had his day in the sun our Nathan. This is a nasty situation for Australia now. Looking at 200+ behind on the first innings unless they can fold the Pakis batting line up. And a few batsman playing for their Test spots...Hughes, North and the undroppable Hussey.

More fool you then.... Worst case of buttering the bread on both sides on this site for awhile. Most definitely. *Squirm* *squirm*. No you didn't. Just makes you more like Basil Fawlty. Nothing exceptional. They're should be more wickets like this. Wickets fine...Pakistan are 1/134

Must be about 11 beaten edges now. They have to keep at it.

The rumour is the old AAMI girl has won a bigger contract wearing a tight pair of shorts for a VB pop up Pub ad. B) Siddle is bowling well (#@$% North) but Bollinger is not having one of his good days. 0/40...they need to get a couple of break throughs....now!

It was a half hearted pull shot trying to protect his injured arm. I doubt whether he would have done that if 100% fit. Worst shot I have seen Ponting play. I dont think it has anything to do with attention span. More protection. Pakistan bowled superbly on a wicket that finally gave a contest between bat and ball. A rarity in Test cricket over the past 10 years!!! Its a pity that when there was a challenge there, not one of the batsman rose to meet it. A few of our Test batsman have been on cruising control this summer and have looked better than they are due to lame featherbeds that break a bowlers heart. Clarke, Hussey (He's finished for mine), North (His spot is in starting to look shaky) and Hughes all played poorly under the conditions. The 1st day was further proof that the Australians cannot play the moving ball. They struggled with it in South Africa and England. In the modern age of dead lifeless wickets we dont have the technique nor the mind set to cope with it. He clearly does not have any of your 35 years of cricket wisdom WYL. History will show Ponting made a bad call with the toss. The pitch did look a tinge green but it was the sideways movement that brought Australia undone. Aside from Geoff Lawson, I cant recall any other "expert" stridently saying they would bowl. I noted that Yousuf said he would have bowled. Fair enough. He also said he would have bowled in Melbourne had he won the toss there!! You were saying about strategy!! Brilliant, Napoleon.

I recall Shane McSpeerin went to St Kevins and may have played with the Old Boys there.

Good point loges. We really blew it. On that performance we did not deserve to be there. A wasted opportunity.