dee-luded

Macca, I hope Hughes doesn't bat early. If 4 & 6 are open,,, & Hughes plays, please don't play him in the top 4... play him at 6 then? I'd like to see as much grit & reliability in the top 4, rather than hit & miss fast runs. nothing against quick runs but not at the expence of instability. I'm sorry Warner is out, as I think he could bat at anything from 1st drop, down to the middle order.

Yes, I think they were trying to turn the Aussie Cricket Culture into something foreign... a smile & laughter is the best remedy for stress & confidence. I expect much improvement. Win??? I also wonder if BOOF will be good for Mitchell Johnston's career down the track. I reckon the way CA was trying to turn the Round Aussie peg, into a square keyway'd precision tool. It's not us. .... In a way they've been trying to turn the Aussie team into something like Melbourne.

Hmmm, Wimbledon's on.

I think they need some maturity to help with the teams mental stability both off & onfield.. I agree Punter looked tired & I called for him to step down 12 months before he finally did... I went too soon.. However they are going thru a leadership vacuum, like we at Melbourne have. IMO, the exodus of AA grade players from our national team, was too quick & without a successful succession plan... So I think punter can add value, after having a rest from the side.. I reckon he's got one tour in him. especially on crumbling wickets against spin.

How about one from the bleachers? I'd like to see Punter have a crack... ... & warner can come back after his penance, to the mid order?

... seriously a concern if he's chasing roots with beards... & then gets angry anderson at them...to boot. does the boy need glasses, or is he a bit ter wisted?

last chance saloon... beers & blows = $10,000.00 go over your budget, & turn the lights out on your way home !!!

nothin' worse than Cocky Poms... accept maybe a cocky & crowing Kennett, in a crimson & satin dinner jacket...

well thats not good is it, thats our weakness? playing spin on square tracks. we're better on a seamer. lets hope for rain & humidity before the wickets are finished.

g'day Macca. Taylor calls for Watson to be Ashes opener ,,, this is what, (sort of) I was saying ages back, to have Watson open, & drop Warner down to 3, or middle order. I imagine Warner playing a Boon type role @ 3,,, or to bolster the middle order for quick runs, or a steadying hand. ... do you know what the English wickets are like when they're dry? do they bounce? or do they still seam?

Disgusting??? the only thing disgusting was gifting him & others games some years ago, when they simply didn't deserve them... that was disgusting.... and the soft kicks the Melbourne players used to hang out for on their own, away from any danger, that was disgusting,,, free range, that was the old melbourne moto... free range. the new harder approach that is about to show itself, that is wat we want... nothing disgusting about head over the footy... only honour.

.... a well known ex AFL recruiting manager, told me months before the Draft, in which we took Watts,,, that 'they' were concerned about his ability to play the physical side of the AFL game... we keep recruiting boys instead of young men. watts can play, but IMO he only wants to play the way HE likes to.... Not the way we may need him to. just another tail shaking wildly. if he's not willing to lead, & commit to help the change,,, then he just wants to Run... any one who wants to Run, better skee-daddle. before the boogie man gets them. If he wants to Man Up, than he better get a move on... I wonder if he just wants to get his picture in the fashion pages, & be seen... cafe` latte?

No stark Django? Interesting about this Chadd Sayers, I think that type of bowler is a must control & moving thru the air & off the track.

Time for AB to come onboard & do a Simpson.

Look, our main target is to get to England in as good a shape as we can be. Once we started to see those cattle tracks over there it wasn't going to help us in anyway, but may infact do us great damage. It looks to me like the new frontier has arrived into crickets selection processes, re the mental games between selectors & players, & the leadership vacuum has IMO caused some frictions, which I think they've tried to arrest. But as they say it takes 2 to argue. wrong is invariably on both sides. but at least some fight has returned, even if its on an unplayable track. They have to unite now & none have broken down, cross fingers Siddle stays fit. # IPL... I think its no coincidence that we have had problems since the 20/20 etc. I don't watch it or listen to it. the subcontinent has done a lot of damage to the game we knew.

I think they gave up on the series back just before they played that game, with suspending the players,,,, or just prior, to protect Lyon from the conditions in the past tests. Possibly to shield him, to keep him in one mental piece before the Ashes. where I think he'll be much needed. Everyone has had a rest thru this series in one (name-term) or another. whether suspended for 1 game or just rested????? Watson for the birth, then back to capitarn... lots of mental games going on between team management & team in the last 6 months.

there ya go,,, heres the Blue Cod,,,, served cold... ... the smokes been wafting around in everyones eyes for the last few months since RP went. and a small helping desert of Humble AppleIsle Pie...

I think all the things you've stated are likely all from unfocused players. I think there has been a major rift in the team, & it seems to me, to have arrived since around the time Punter retired. Maybe something to do with the leadership & the off field administration. And the way Punter & Hussey were handled toward the close of their careers.

It looks like they may have given up on this series & looking forward to England?

see to me the coach wouldn't have the power alone to suspend them without the rest of the hierarchy. i think their playing games with them to try to unsettle them. to shake up something the hierarchy doesn't like. my point is that I wonder if its Clarkes ways, 'that cause' the original conflicts. he has some history of fallouts,,,, & Watson hasn't that I've heard. ...... this is why I wonder, because we have never had this sort of fallout that I can remember since WSC... When you hear of some players going onboard a Yaught, while one of our best has retired & wants some lowkey beers with close mates to close his innings, I wonder strongly.

I agree Macca, but batting in a cricket match seems like a cross between skill & gambling.. you make a mistake you leave the field of battle. If Flower or Alves, Hardeman or Fowler make a mistake they vcan use desperation to nullify the impact. But when the stumps rattle, there is no scope for nullifying the result. Just the long walk back. On the dust tracks & if the leadership has no confidence in you & vica versa & the dressingroom is a horrid place, form falls. its just a fact. Happens in all sport. I want to believe that Clarke has changed & is a good bloke & a inspirational skipper, but to me I've never felt that about him. A highly talented cricketer, but not a true leader.

Macca. Life isn't like that. You can't turn on & off your elite talent on a whim. But an unfriendly environment within your own team environment, will quell the talents of most. I put it to you, that seems to be whats happening. Its not a low skill game like 'tug of war', where all you need to do is crack a whip & shoot a start gun, where all can perform near they're maximum. Confidence is reliant on a cohesive and supportive team structure where players get along. This is how Australian teams have traditionally been selected & if you don't fit you miss out. ... the whispers seem to say that pretentiousness has snuck into the dressing room. * with regard to the players relevent skill levels, the players we have is what we have. You can't demand talent out of them in the dressing-room thru threats. This sort of pressure in cricket might work in a t20 game, but in tests on spinning dust bowls, I don't think so. A calm mind focused on doing what the player is hoping for, is imo the best way forward. Only a happy dressingroom will accommodate this. I don't believe our dressing-room is harmonious since punter left, & then Hussey pulled the pin unexpectedly. coincidence? ... the rumour above said Clarke wouldn't celebrate Husses retirement unless they went onto the Super Yaught. Huss refused, why? I put it to you that he was unhappy with Clarkes ways.... And I suspect he retired because of it, just a couple of months prior to a Ashes series. How much did Clarke have to do with Pontings retirement? We all thought Clarke had grown up & changed, now I suspect he hasn't, but is putting out a different imagary, but is the same petulant self. ... just a bit up himself... this isn't the type to skipper an Aussie side, its the old pommie criteria.

seems like the only happy players are clarkes pets. warner & cowan. could it be that all the others are Unhappy?

bring him back, quick.

Lets hope it returns,,,,, & Lets hope it becomes harmonious again. * to me its time for Alan Border to come back & do a "Bobby Simpson", & become the TEST Team overseer. not play but be the Test Team manager. a bit like a soccer manager. we just don't have the tools for a proper captain atmo. ... and the coach is wrong not understanding Australian ways. You can't make a Cattle Dog a Hyena.