45HG

I sort of felt that Verdasco was playing his match in that 4th set, sort of symbolized by the amount of emotion that was poured out. Especially after that 6th point, that was amazing. Verdasco had just played a 5 setter against Murray, but yes Nadal is amazing. I wonder how many he'll end up with, or if Federer can finally win the French

Hopefully! Insane battle shaping down the bottom

Keane was being left out of the squad regularly and hardly playing a role when in it, i don't see this impacting too heavily on their title chances which had already started slipping

But RR, it was only his first offence :D Anyway his form barely warrants QLD selection at present.

The whole transfer system is baffling sometimes!

Geeves stranded on 99, very unlucky. Katich bowled 4 overs in the first innings, though I don't know the circumstances or how it felt... Postscript, Katich bowled a further 6 today for 11 runs

That itself isn't reason enough to claim it the worst final, however I'd have to agree. Shocking final. Crowd were shell shocked

Has taken him a while to get there, and obviously it'll be tough to maintain that quality, but if he can manage to keep it up he'll surely be a threat

All I can really say is, Wow! It must be one of the best matches ever, certainly at the Aus Open. The quality of the match is incredible, even after 5 hours and the weather of the last few days. (218 Kilometer serve at 30-40 deep in the 5th for instance) Incredible

City Chief Cook points Finger at Milan Honestly, what a bunch of sour grape BS. Whinging little muppet

Welcome aboard guys! Always good to have an outside perspective!

I was too intimidated to mention it!

Ashes is looking like a tough series, it's always hard playing a well bonded team that stay firm and always look out for each other, with a strong-team-oriented captain at the helm...

Knew it was game over...

Game on? I'd have to say almost game over

McDonald seems to be coming into his own here, great catch of Kallis. McKenzie could have just thrown his spot away, odd that he's the back up captain but anyway. Would like to see Devilliers stick around, I rate him pretty highly. Hasn't started too smoothly though

This strange and fascinating season continues with none of the 'big four' registering a win!

I quite seriously do not rate Watson. If i were a question of dropping Krejza (Hauritz) for someone, why not bring in Siddle? I'm not a big fan of playing two all rounders, especially when they aren't demanding a spot for each capability (i.e. being a pretty good batsman and a pretty good bowler I don't think cuts it). We need to figure out what we want, a strong batting line up that's possibly short a bowler, or a good bowling line up that may leave our middle order open. We've shown we're happy to not play a spinner, and we do still have Clarke and Symonds, along with Katich, who can bowl a bit of spin. Personally, Krejza is yet to cement his spot for mine and I don't really rate Hauritz. Krejza though does deserve the right to try and cement his spot, and you can only do this by playing test matches consistently (yes I've changed my tact a little ). However, if he were to be dropped because of the pace friendly wicket, I'd rather we took full advantage and played our best back up pacemen, not a decent bowler who can bat a bit. After all, we have one of the best tails I've seen in recent memory

I'm not on any fence, I've been happy for him to continue playing. And if I wasn't, it'd take more than one and a half innings to change my mind

I just hope you don't trip on the fence while jumping over each side!

Mate, I wouldn't write off our post-resergence slump and the fact we're away to west ham. I don't rate them, but don't be surprised to see a Spurs loss. Hate to say it, but we just don't seem to have it. Would like to score, but wouldn't be shocked by 1-0

HT then

I almost hope he has a poor WA test, just to see what you two say

I see what you mean about Lee, but I also think it's a bit far-fetched. Of course any player who has a poor overseas tour, and then follows it up with two poor home tours would then be in trouble. No big surprise there. Yeah, NZ batting was pretty woeful. Though I felt, and perhaps it was misguided, that many of their cheap wickets fell from frustration at not being able to keep the runs flowing easily. It seemed they would stick around for 8-10 overs, unable to rotate the strike, and then play a ridiculous stroke trying to force the play. (The Brisbane test is a difficult one to get a gauge on, as both teams played incredibly irresponsibly (Save for Katich, Clarke (in one innings) and Taylor. It's an interesting article you quoted, I love Roebuck, but I think it also underpins the lack of intelligence in the Kiwi squad at present. Application is their biggest problem IMO

Lee may have had a poor tour, but I do not think that would've warranted him being dropped. Of course there are simple tactics a team can use to try and gain the ascendancy. I think the NZ batsman were able to stay at the crease for periods of time, but while they were doing that they were not putting any pressure on Australia. They saw out overs without purpose, and when they attempted to change the course of the innings, they were found wanting which is understandable. What frustrated me was when they looked like building a partnership, they didn't seem to try to tick the scoreboard over. They allowed the Australian bowlers to find their rythym because the Aussies knew the Kiwis would either not score or would throw their wicket away. I'd call it lazy cricket without application, hopefully they can learn the necessary application...