titan_uranus

I've always been a fan of his. He's doing everything right. With Watson potentially out, that's two spots in the top six we need to fill. Bailey takes one, but the other one is up for grabs. Doolan's century helps him, as does Faulkner's ODI form. White needs to keep making runs, maybe with a wicket or two here or there, to ensure he stays in selectors' minds. At some point this Ashes questions are going to be asked about most of our top 6, spots may appear.

Bucs led Seattle 21-0. After the Jets beat the Saints and the Eagles put up 7 touchdowns today, I thought maybe they were a chance. Nope. Seattle wins 24-21 in OT after Marshawn Lynch dominates their OT drive. Biggest ever comeback for Seattle. They're not playing well but their next two games are at Atlanta and the Vikings. Meanwhile, Jets beat the Saints (wtf) and the Eagles put 49 points up against the Raiders (wtf). Redskins over the Chargers too, which really helps the Jets in their search for a Wild Card. Chiefs will be undefeated going into their SNF game with the Broncos. Huge. And now Cleveland beats Baltimore for the first time in six years. They're 2 back in AFC North.

If Watson misses the first Test due to his hamstring, you have to wonder whether sending him out to bat was the right thing. Regardless, Indian cricket hit a new low when Dhawan mocked Watson's limp. India's young crickets are, without exception, a bunch of petulant brats (Dhawan, Kohli, Raina). Puts the wonderful attitudes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to shame. No. Six batsmen. One keeper. Four bowlers. Great innings from him (fastest Australian ODI century I think) but that was a small ground where most batsmen were finding the fence with ease.

How many injuries this season! I feel like the number of injuries isn't correlative to the size of the sport, just feels like far too many players going down. It's just the one 15-minute period in the regular season. If there's no score after 15 minutes it's a tie. Of all the ways to lose, to be sacked (just, mind you) is one of the worst, surely. Came about because of the drop on the previous Bengals possession. Had Sanu held that catch, they'd have been close enough to go for the FG. Big result, that. Miami has games left against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, plus two games against the Jets, and the Bills as well. The division is not completely out of the question if New England stutters a tad, otherwise a wild card is achievable. As for Cincy, they've still got the Ravens twice, plus the Chargers and the Colts, so the door is open for the Ravens to snatch the division off them I guess.

Rohit Sharma - wow. Australian bowling - not so wow. Brisbane and Melbourne. You're right, though. These pitches are made for Tremlett, who dominated when he played last time, and Broad. Tough for us all round. Timely from Doolan, with Shane Watson injuring his hamstring - no surprise with that one. If we rate Watson as highly as we appear to, he shouldn't be bowling meaningless overs in an ODI in India three weeks before the Ashes starts. In other scores, Cowan made just 4, Lyon took three wickets but it wasn't enough to stop Tasmania, Marcus North took WA to a draw by batting out the fourth day for 118* off 314, Marsh made just 4, Cameron White backed up his 83 and 61 with the bat by taking 4 fourth-innings wickets, Ahmed couldn't get a single one, Trott and (surprise surprise) Bell made 100s too. White a sneaky chance for a Test spot this summer if he keeps it up. Domestic form right now has him right up there, and if he's taking wickets too, you never know, what with Australia's penchant for 'all-rounders'.

Clarke should bat at 5, especially if his back is playing up. More rest. I'd put Bailey at 4, with Smith at 6. Smith's more suited to 6, plays spin well enough. Bailey's got a good enough technique to bat at 4. In order to win, we can't afford to regress from our platform from the winter. By that I mean, we have to keep Cook and Trott quiet, Root the same. To go the next step, we then have to work out how to get Bell out and how to play Anderson's swing.

Agreed, I think that'll be the side. The third paceman is an issue - I don't rate Johnson with the red ball at all. His current form is white-ball stuff, which he's more suited to. Short spells, bursts of fire and bounce and pace. Major psychological issues with the English batsmen too. Having said that, if not Johnson then who? Bollinger did just take a six-for, but I'd rather go with Johnson if Dougie's the only other option. Hazlewood's not taking enough wickets. Hasting's isn't good enough. Coulter-Nile is thereabouts but again, wouldn't put him much in front of Hastings. Ben Hilfenhaus is another option but he's had one good summer his entire career (two years ago v India's awful batsmen). Bird, Starc, Pattinson and Cummins are the future of Australian fast bowling. Such an enormous pity (and problem) that they're all out for the summer.

Impressive. 6/68 in the end. Doesn't help Lyon when he hasn't taken a wicket for NSW today, either. I'd still give Lyon the start though, he's done enough by now to earn his spot, Ahmed needs more than one innings. Other performances today: Bollinger took a 6-for (sneaky chance for the third seamer's spot behind Harris and Siddle?), Cowan made just 24, Doolan 56, Khawaja made just 8, Shaun Marsh 42, Agar just the 1, Siddle just 1 wicket. Meanwhile at tea in the WA Chairman's XI v England XI, WA is 1/221. England's bowling attack includes Jimmy Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steve Finn and Boyd Rankin, the latter three of whom are competing for their third paceman's spot.

Indeed. Hard to believe I forgot. Another big innings, another step towards taking the number 6 spot.

First round of Shield games kicked off today. Cameron White continued his great form with an 83, Michael Clarke got an 88, but the rest of the Test players/hopefuls were just average (Rogers 36, Wade 33, Warner 21, Smith 42). Tom Cooper is on 165* though. As for bowling, Ashton Agar grabbed a couple of wickets on Day 1 against Victoria, which is good. Lyon now plays for NSW so his turn comes tomorrow against Tasmania, as does George Bailey's with the bat. Siddle also bowls more tomorrow, as does Hazlewood. Hilfenhaus took just the one wicket.

Long and Quinn were dominant, tore up Seattle's offensive line. Pretty good defence you've got assembled down there.

Sidney Rice may be out with a knee injury though, so Harvin may just offset Rice. Either way, he'll help, but the main issue is the offensive line not giving Wilson enough protection. Until they get Okung and Giacomini back, they're not going to be as potent.

Gahh frustrating end to the Seahawks-Rams game. Seattle only managed 135 total yards to St Louis' 339. Rams also had 23 first downs to 7. But an early turnover and one 80-yard play to Tate gave them two TDs. Then, Zuerlin misses a 50-yard FG, meaning that on the final drive, the Rams were forced to get in the end-zone rather than settle for a FG. They swiftly get into FG territory, but botch their final set of downs, with an awful play choice on 4th and goal, emptying the backfield to pass the ball when they'd rushed so well all day. At least it showed Seattle's big weakness at the moment - offensive line. They're a few down, but until they get Okung and Giacomini back, they're beatable on that line.

The exception to that rule would be Atlanta right now. Matt Ryan's numbers are putting him up in the top 5 QBs in the league right now, but with a dodgy receiving unit and no running game to speak of (60 passing attempts this week!), they can't produce the goods on offence (not to mention their secondary can't stop anyone right now). It's definitely a QB league at the moment, but a QB alone isn't enough. Packers are amazing. Doing it all despite their injuries. Adding in a running game just makes them even scarier (and Clay Matthews has to come back too). Arizona beating Atlanta wasn't expected. They're 4-3, just going about their business without anyone watching. Long term I don't think they can keep it up, Palmer's just too erratic and throws too many INTs. The two West divisions are so tight at the moment. The fact that the Giants are two games out of the playoffs right now shows you how awful NFC East is. What a joke. San Diego has double the wins and they're 4 games back in their division! In the NFC you'd expect one of Seattle and SF to get the first wild card (not a certainty, but the way they're both playing you'd expect them to stay in front of the other non-division winners). As for the other one, there's a fair bit of contention for it. Won't come from NFC East, but there's Detroit, Chicago, Arizona, and my smokey, Carolina (Newton's game right now is so good). In the AFC, after KC/Denver, the other card is up for grabs. San Diego currently has it from the Jets (would you believe!). Too early to call it, if Baltimore and/or Houston can get their act together who knows.

Calvin Johnson. Wow.

So true. Imagine having a Monday Morning article in the realm of MMQB, or my personal favourite, TMQ with Gregg Easterbrook. Someone just providing an unbiased take on statistics, tactics, trends, players, etc. Would be fantastic. Instead, we get Mark Robinson's 'The Tackle'. Putrid filth.

Nothing new, but interesting to hear CA admit a mistake: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/simon-katich-should-not-have-been-dropped-ca-20131024-2w3uf.html

Word is that Freeman is out concussed and Ponder will start on SNF: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000268404/article/josh-freeman-has-concussion-christian-ponder-at-qb Freeman's surely the better long-term option, but comparing Freeman to Ponder is a bit like comparing Weeden to Gabbert.

I've been inexplicably absent from this thread all season. This year's so wacky and largely unpredictable. It's great to see some swapping of roles - the Chiefs, Jets, Chargers, Browns, even the Raiders at times showing improvement on 2012, whilst the Giants, Steelers, Falcons and Texans all slide backwards (can't say any of that saddens me). Some massive games this week, starting with Broncos-Colts on SNF, plus some huge divisional games like Seahawks-Cards, Bucs-Falcons, Cowboys-Eagles, Bills-Dolphins and Ravens-Steelers. Also amazing to consider that Arizona is fourth in NFC West at 3-3, a record which would have them tied-first in NFC East. Also amazing to note that if the playoffs started today, the undefeated Broncos would be the 5th seed in the AFC. Fifth.

Well done to Zimbabwe for winning only their 10th Test ever, and their first against a side other than Bangladesh since 2001. There's a bit of talent in Zimbabwe. A pity there are so many external factors hampering their professionalism. More exposure to the better Test sides might see them develop into something more than a minnow.

England only have themselves to blame for running out of time. They dawdled all morning with no intent on a result. If it wasn't for Clarke, they wouldn't have been that close. Don't blame the umpires, have a look at yourselves, I'd say. Clarke did the right thing, IMO. 4-0 compared to 3-0 is no difference, but he created buzz and could have won us the Test. Turns out our bowling was crap in the evening (Starc and Faulkner the biggest culprits I think) which gave up too many hittable deliveries, but we still took 6 wickets, 10 for the day. In the end, of the five Tests we were in a winning position in three of them (Old Trafford, Chester-le-Street, The Oval), and could easily have won two of them (Old Trafford, where the rain thwarted us, and Chester-le-Street, where we should have been able to chase that score down). We didn't deserve to be as close as we were at Trent Bridge, but we could have won that too if little things had gone our way (e.g. Haddin not being given out on that evidence). We were clearly outplayed at Lord's, but in the end I think it was much more competitive than the scoreline suggests, and it gives us hope for the return series. Mind you, if Harris goes down it's game over.

Watson and Smith have both hit centuries right at the right time. Heard someone liken Watson to Marcus North - approaches being dropped, pulls a 100 out of nowhere, then (probably) proceeds to stink again. Hopefully Watson can actually convert this 100 into a run of form. Rogers, Clarke, Smith and Watson form four of the top six (Rogers at 1, Watson at 3, Clarke at 4, Smith at 5). I'm not sold on Warner, but you'd assume he stays given how much the selectors love him, and the sixth spot is up for grabs. Come Brisbane, it won't be Faulkner. It probably won't be Khawaja either. It might be Hughes or Cowan, but they'll need to make some first class runs before the series. As for the bowlers, Lyon clearly is our number one spinner, and that debate should be ended. In terms of pacemen, Harris and Siddle are the top two, with Pattinson IMO the third if fit. Starc is errant but has the advantage of being a leftie. Bird is back-up in the likely event Harris is injured some time between now and the Sydney test. Haddin remains our keeper whilst his glovework continues to be of his high standard. Wade needs to learn to keep wicket if he wants to get back in. So, Brisbane Test XI: Rogers Warner Watson Clarke Smith Hughes/Cowan/debutant batsman Haddin Siddle Harris Pattinson Lyon

Sometimes there is more to it than the distance back the players run (e.g. Dunn's instinct is to kick long and his kicking style results in all his kicks being up and under). But your point is definitely a valid one, and is contributing to far too many mistakes. One of about 100 things the new coach needs to work on.

Wow, that was a terrible over from Kerrigan. Good on Hayden Watson for giving it the treatment it deserved, though.

Once again Australia goes for the all-rounder to solve our problems. If you can't bat in the top 6, you're not good enough. So, Faulkner's a bowler. So, we're playing too many bowlers. Batting the keeper at 6 is a terrible idea, especially given Haddin's batting form is weak at best. Starc's also back. We gave Bird one go. We keep moving Starc in and out. It's insane. Clarke says it's not a charity side, that you get dropped if you don't perform. Yet Watson keeps his spot, and now gets to bat at 3 instead of 6. Management of this team is just awful.