titan_uranus

7/520 declared. 5 runs short of breaking the record for highest score with no century. Still, it's the biggest Australian score ever without someone making a century. Haddin played beautifully. The only bad shot he played was the one he went out to. It will be interesting to see how we bowl to Gayle after Adelaide. Hopefully McKay gets some success.

This continual failure of our batsmen to make centuries is becoming a bit worrying to me. Not because I'm desperate to see 100s, but it shows a lack of concentration or application, and it robs the team of momentum and the chance to dominate even further. However, Katich's dismissal just lenghtens the list of near-misses in Test cricket over the last month. Some of the cricket recently has been amazing. The NZ-Pakistan series was close, and thus exciting, the India-SL ODI was amazing, the Windies have put up more fight than most imagined possible, and the first day of the RSA-England Test was a close battle. Agree. Smith is not even close to being a Test-quality bowler. He's a batting all-rounder at the moment. Krejza and McGain are well in front of him. If we want a leg-spinning all-rounder we should pick Cameron White. 3 bowlers? They've got Anderson, Broad, Onions and Swann. That's 4... However, Anderson's got a knee problem, Onions has pulled his calf, and Broad was seen doing a lot of stretching in the field. We may well see Collingwood and Trott continue bowling their part-time nothings if those injuries are serious.

Yes, whoops to WYL and JJC. Victoria has just won by 6 wickets. Brilliant stuff. If White can get some continued success for Victoria he might get another chance at Test level, but as a middle order batsman rather than a spinner. He is only 26 and has leadership abilities that far outweigh Michael Clarke.

Members of the team didn't want him as captain any more, and he got [censored] off and left the team when they went to NZ. Then he didn't play domestic cricket, so the PCB didn't consider him for their tour here. Really disappointing. He averages 50.09 in Tests and secures the no. 3 spot. Quite unbelievable, really. Carrying the bat isn't exactly something easy or common. The amount of 90s scored of late, and that stat, make this one of the most interesting cricket seasons of late (even if some of the matches haven't been as interesting as others). Absolutely brilliant cricketer, is Vettori. There's basically nothing he can't do. Mind you, he was dropped on 97. Almost lengthened the list. Incidentally, Victoria requires 79 runs off 36 overs with 7 wickets in hand to beat SA today. Would be a remarkable result if it happened. And it would co-incide with Tasmania beating WA in similar fashion (declaring behind on 1st innings, only to chase down the target on the 4th day).

Their scorecard reads 44*, 9, 6, 0, 0, 0. 3 consecutive ducks from the middle order. They need Younis Khan back so badly. And he's not in the squad to tour Australia. Mind you, they way we've been bowling to the Windies, there's no stopping the Pakistanis from finding some form here.

Congratulations to the Windies for playing probably their best Test cricket in 5 years. Dwayne Bravo really sets their team up. That performance would usually get BOG honours, but it's hard to go past an opener who carries his bat and makes 164 (with the next highest score being 27). And an under-pressure captain to boot. With Siddle unlikely, and Hilfenhaus still out, a pace spot opens up. If the selectors are desperate to ensure we win, they should pick Stuart Clark. But if they want to choose someone with an eye to the future, they should pick Clint Mackay. Hauritz should not be guaranteed his spot in Perth. On our tour of South Africa we played McDonald instead of a spinner and we won 2-1 on pitches that didn't take spin too well. Perth doesn't take spin too well. I'd be inclined to bring McDonald pack. His medium pacers are better than most give him credit for, and he did little wrong in South Africa. I'd be telling Hauritz to go back to NSW and get some wickets. The two big worries in the middle order are Hussey and North. Hussey gets one last Test. Another failure and it will probably be time to look at a replacement. Callum Ferguson couldn't have done his ACL at a worse time. Maybe George Bailey? Or, of course, we could drop Watson down the order and open with Hughes/Jaques/Rogers (one of whom may be brought in anyway if Katich doesn't come up). Batting Watson at 5/6 would also help him bowl more overs. As for North, he has a major problem of making tiny scores, interspersed with 100s. He also seems to do a lot worse when he comes in at a critical point, rather than when we're cruising. I'm not convinced that he's the answer at 6, despite his 3 centuries. Continual sub-20 scores hurt. My team for Perth: Watson Katich (subject to fitness) Ponting Hussey Clarke North Haddin McDonald Johnson Mackay Bollinger

Well then, Australia has a fight on its hands here. Conceding 451 runs was bad enough, but then to lose 7 for 127 to collapse from 3/312 to 439 all out is pretty poor. In fact it's crap. Siddle is apparently injured (hamstring) and is unlikely to bowl today. That's going to make things very difficult. Hussey's innings did nothing to ease the pressure on him. Far too slow. The bowling was good, but not that good. It's amazing how many milestones have been missed in international cricket in the last few weeks: Shane Watson 96 Brendan Nash 92 Simon Katich 92 Ross Taylor (NZ) 97 and 94 Angelo Mathews (SL) 99 (run out!) Virender Sehwag (India) 293

Hilfenhaus is out of the 2nd test with knee soreness: http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvwi09/content/c...ory/437450.html Bollinger will almost certainly play. Deservedly so. Clint McKay gets Hilfenhaus's spot in the squad. A bit unfair on McDonald, maybe. But it may well signal the end of Stuart Clark.

Agree with a lot of what's being said here. Day 1 showed that the Windies' bowlers aren't all hacks. Roach looks good, Rampaul is OK, Taylor is the best of the lot but injury ruined him (and he's gone for the series). It's their batting that's abysmal. Chanderpaul's shot in the second innings was inexplicable and completely un-Chanderpaul. I was shaking my head when I saw that. I don't know what prompted him to do that, considering how unflappable he was 18 months ago. Anyone waiting for a decent contest will have to wait until the limited over stuff begins. Pakistan is the best T20 team in the world and they're good at ODIs too. Katich Rogers Jaques Hughes Daylight Daylight Daylight Daylight Watson That's at the moment, though. Selecting with a view to the future would put Hughes above Rogers and Jaques. Watson is hopeless. He's only there because he can bowl. He would never have been selected in the first place if it wasn't for the fact that he provided insurance for Johnson in England. He isn't good enough and should either drop down the order, or, better still, get lost. IMO Rogers > Jaques at domestic level, but Jaques has performed at Test level. Rogers had one go at it and failed, which probably sticks out in selectors' minds.

It's time to go: Watson. 5 lbws in his 6 innings as opener. 10 lbws in his career. Hughes was dropped because of a flaw in his technique. If this isn't a flaw in Watson's technique I don't know what is. Bring in Hughes, or even Jaques.

As if the Windies needed more problems, Sarwan is out. They replace their second best batsman with a debutant, Dowlin. We're batting first too.

Poor Vettori. They come out after a 2-3 hour rain delay, he gets himself to 99, then he gets out on what ends up being the second last ball of the day due to bad light. And Rahul Dravid has overtaken Allan Border in terms of number of runs scored. Run out for 144 when the bowler dropped a return catch and it somehow deflected down onto the stumps!

Very odd selection. Murali is fading, Mendis is good but terrribly erratic, and Herath is just OK. Only one strike bowler, who's playing about his 4th Test. Should have played another paceman. A good example of that could be the Brisbane test last year. NZ won the toss and sent us in, then bowled us out for 214. That showed that to be a good decision. We went on to thrash them with a strong second innings, but that's more to do with their poor batting than their decision to bowl first. The pitch that day was a green top, and it showed on the first morning. Oh boy do I love statsguru. What a gem of a site. Here here. Keeps NZ cricket from being a total disaster. Just passed Warne for the most runs at no. 8. But yes, he was dropped on his first ball. Had that catch been taken Pakistan would have been batting before the end of play yesterday. Meanwhile, it's raining in Dunedin. What a surprise.

More brilliant Indian cricket on show. 2/417 after 1 day. Yep, 417 runs in one day, and only 2 down. At least New Zealand pitches are good ones. 6/250 odd after a day. Pretty even that. I guess, Edgbaston in 2005 aside, when we win the toss and bowl first there's usually a reason for it. Batting first is the generic thing to do if there's nothing abnormal or extraordinary about the pitch, so even in matches against high quality teams (like the 6 we played against South Africa, where we won the toss and batted in all 6), there's not always a massive advantage.

It's not just this season. Last season they came last despite having international quality players regularly in their team. The SCG pitch is a factor. But they don't play all their matches there. The Collingwood reference was that I feel the same way about NSW as a Victoria supporter as I do about Collingwood as a Melbourne supporter. Nothing to do with success.

I did. Don't know what to make of that. Doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Recent articles about Hodge seem to paint the picture that he is loving his time with Victoria and that he wants to continue to do his best for the state in the hope that he gets the call up to Australia again. How he didn't get selected in either the Australian or the All Star team for tomorrow night's match is beyond me. NSW is a joke. Full of international players, yet from 2 matches they have 0 points. Only team to have 0 points so far. You'd think with Jaques, Hughes, Katich, Clarke and Haddin batting, and Clark, Bollinger, Lee and Hauritz bowling for you, that you'd do a bit better than that. NSW in cricket is akin to Collingwood in AFL.

Woohoo! Well done Victoria. I got a bit worried with the rain delays, but class prevailed. Rogers and Hussey made up for their first innings failures. Great stuff.

Fair point. However, Jayawardene has scored a Test century against every other country, and in every country except South Africa. 27 centuries in total. Not all Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan batsmen average 55, nor do they all hold records like Jayawardene. He stands above most other sub-continental batsmen.

Mahela Jayawardene is perenially under-rated by those outside of Sri Lanka. A star. 9000 runs at 55. Not Bradman, of course, but close to the best batsman in the world at the moment.

Damn straight JJC! But I can't get there today to watch them... Rogers, Hussey and Quiney hopefully are good enough to ensure they don't put in 2 consecutive failures. I worry a bit with Hussey at 3. He's not in terribly good form. With our top 6, though, 190 odd runs on the 4th day should be gettable. Horrible cricket pitch. But I've followed the game: the first 4 wickets fell in the first session due to good bowling (and swing-favourable conditions). Most of the 7 Sri Lanka wickets fell not to rash shots but to good balls (just weren't enough of them from the Indian bowlers). Let's not forget that Sri Lanka can win this match, needing 8 wickets on the final day, with Muralitharan in their team. It's not going to happen, but at least one team has a chance.

Victoria on the comeback: WA 7/155. Voges and Ronchi out in the last 4 overs. Their lead is 186. We're still a good chance to pull it off.

We conceded points for the first time in 21 months. That's a long time. Our bowling stock is seriously reduced, which might explain part of it. Nannes, Siddle, Harwood, Wright are all missing. But we failed with the bat. And the top 6 is still pretty strong.

Not happy with today's play at the MCG. Got them out for 277, but now we're 7/205. Middle order collapse. Missing Hodge I guess.

Good news for Richie Benaud fans: he's staying on for another 3 years in a downgraded role: http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/...ory/434568.html No more commentary after this season, but he'll be there for other things.

A bit going on in cricket at the moment. 1) There's a possibility that the 2011 Ashes Test could be moved from the SCG to ANZ Stadium. Bigger crowds and more money is a factor: http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/...ory/434042.html Would be sad IMO if Test cricket was moved from the SCG. ODI and Twenty20 would be good at ANZ though. 2) Wash out in Mumbai last night (which is a bit sad in that it was to be the first cricket in Mumbai since the terrorist attacks last year). Watson named man of the series (not Hussey?) 3) There's still a lot of talk about replacing Hussey with Hughes, and batting Watson at 5 or 6. It's going to be a tough decision. Lee/Clark vs Hilfenhaus and Hauritz vs Krejza are also being considered by CA.