titan_uranus

Can't wait for Houston-Chicago, should be a corker. The Colts looked pretty good on TNF, even if it was against the Jaguars. If Playoffs started today they'd be in there, so that's a testament to Luck and their improved defence from last year.

Day 1 really wasn't as bad for us as people seem to think. Amla was one millimetre from being out LBW for 0, Peterson should have been given out LBW for a bit less than what he made, Amla also edged one between Wade and Clarke which Clarke should have gone for, and had he, could have caught him, and Kallis was saved by the most minute of no-balls which Rauf wasn't prepared to call at the time (and which, IMO, should therefore mean it's not a no ball and so be it. Let the on field umpire decide. If it's too close to call, or even if he misses a bad one, so be it. None of this referring it upstairs or, as is now the law, requiring the third umpire to check each delivery). People seem to hate Lyon but he bowled well yesterday. Got good bounce, which is a weapon he needs. It was that bounce which got Amla's edge, and Clarke should have gone for it. Hilfenhaus was pretty average yesterday, if he doesn't lift I don't see him holding his spot over Starc (or Hazlewood/Harris/Cutting). As much as I am sorry for Greig's terrible sickness, I really am not missing his voice at all, nor his 'banter' with Lawry (or anyone). I would never wish that illness upon anyone, and I hope he recovers 100%. But I do not miss his commentary one bit.

Looks like Quiney will get the nod in the now likely event Watson doesn't pull up for Friday: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-south-africa-2012/content/current/story/589712.html Good on him. If he plays, there will be 4 Victorians!

I can't wait for the Test to begin. For one, it will be a good distraction from the whole tanking crap. For another, it should actually be very entertaining. It's very interesting to consider who is the '7th best batsman' in Australia. If the top 6 starts with Warner, Cowan, Watson, Ponting, Clarke and Hussey, then the question of who's next in line is very important, not least because there are injury concerns with Watson and Ponting, and there's no certainty at all that Cowan will hold his spot through the six Tests we have. IMO, Andrew McDonald will be a smokey to get a game if Watson goes down. Watson's clear value is the bowling he brings, and there's no doubt that McDonald's bowling is as good, if not better, than Watson's, whilst his batting has improved considerably since he last played a Test in 2009. The fact he's captain of the Australia A side must surely show the selectors have some faith in him. He'd have to bat low, though, at 6 or so, which would push Ponting to 3 and Clarke and Hussey up a spot probably, but I think Clarke would enjoy having the extra bowler. In saying that, Steve Smith just made a half century for Australia A, and whilst most people recognise he's a shocking bowler at first class level and his batting is sporadic at best, the selectors and Clarke seem to love him. Another option I think. If Cowan fails (I hope he doesn't, I like him), whilst Hughes would be considered, I'd be looking for someone more like Rob Quiney or Alex Doolan. A steadier hand to bat alongside Warner would be preferable to Hughes. Also, I have no confidence in Hughes at Test level after that NZ series a year ago. Having said this, I think Cowan is good enough to hold his spot. In terms of bowling in Brisbane, if it's a toss up between Starc and Lyon (as I think it is), I hope they pick Lyon. Lyon bowled well at the Gabba last year. He's actually had a good year at Test level; he bowled well in the Windies. He bowls best when he gets drift and bounce, which the Gabba suits, so I hope they recognise that and give him his deserved spot. He's the best spinner we have at the moment (especially with Holland injured), so we need to persevere, and South Africa have a bunch of lefties (Smith, Rudolph, Duminy) who are all susceptible to off-spin, unlike the Indians who only had one left-handed batsman.

On international cricket: no idea why Dan Christian is playing. He bats at 8, which adds nothing, and bowls medium pace rubbish without being threatening. He's doing nothing special. David Hussey's bowling is better anyway, and would add impetus to the batting. On domestic cricket: how did Brad Hadding get man of the match in this game: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-domestic-2012/engine/current/match/576083.html? Haddin: 114, then 7. Henriques: 161 not out, then 50 not out off 51 balls, then 3 wickets (including Cosgrove). Would have thought old Moises had that one wrapped up.

Can't believe we (49ers) lost. The way the Vikings moved the ball through our defence was unheard of. Well played. Ridiculous Week 3 so far. Jacksonville over Indianapolis, the Saints 0-3 in OT, Jets-Dolphins going to OT, just insane.

You referred to King, which I don't agree with. As in, I don't see the point in mentioning his views. Outside of your reference to King, your post was good. That is all I meant.

I wouldn't put stock in anything that comes out of David King's mouth, after the year he's had. Agree with the rest of your post though: that shoulder reconstruction may have something to do with his low averages this year. At least, if we're going to shop around first-round picks for him, you'd hope so.

No idea why Harris was 'rested'. With Siddle out with back soreness, that opened the door for Beer as our second spinner. No need to change Harris (MoM in Barbados, and with good reason too) for Pattinson. He shouldn't need a rest. I guess he must be injured then, and they don't want to admit it. Slow day's cricket. Tough to score runs on this pitch it seems. Watson and Clarke were batting quite well until Clarke threw it away. Watson scored his umpteenth 50 that didn't make it to 100.

Unbelievably good Test. It will undeservedly not get the praise/attention it deserves, not being an Ashes Test or a win against India, or in our home summer even. But to be so far behind in the middle of Day 4, and to turn things around like that, no matter who the opponent is, is brilliant cricket. Kudos has to be given to Clarke. Only the second time ever that a team has declared behind on first innings and gone on to win the match. I'm sure that's in part due to the total lack of captains declaring behind on first innings. It's hard to be anything other than mighty impressed with Clarke's captaincy so far. Not sure about our side for the next Test. Pattinson is a great bowler, but I can't see any room for him at the moment. Siddle is our 'leader', if you will, and it would be extraordinarily harsh to drop him after one Test, where previously we'd said we were grooming him to be our long term Test bowling leader. Harris and Hilfenhaus pick themselves, and we won't go without a spinner. Pattinson may have to sit this one out. I agree, I think Pattinson (or even Cummins) will be the number 8. Siddle and Harris aren't consistent enough, but their best is good enough to bat at 8. As I've always said, though, it doesn't fuss me much at all, and I'm confident that we will make enough runs whether our number 8 is more like Johnson or more like Lee, or worse than both.

Shaping up for a big Day 5. I think all four results are possible. If we bowl well and their lead is under 200, and we get about 2 sessions to chase it, we'll certainly give it a crack, with Warner and Watson at the top of the order. Not sure what our limit is on runs, but I would have thought, if we do in fact bowl them out halfway into the day, we wouldn't want much more than 200.

Pity England won that Test. They remain number 1. But they play South Africa in our winter, so that should be a good contest. As for our match, we're not inspiring much with the ball at the moment. Chanderpaul and Bravo are both class batsmen. We're going to have to lift if we want to bowl them out. Surprised we didn't play Pattinson.

Ah good call. NZ didn't play a lot of cricket in 2011. I don't think he took a great deal of wickets either.

Definitely deserving. Swann had a poor year, Tahir from South Africa, Lyon, and Bishoo from the Windies are just developing, Sri Lanka and India rotate their spinners too much for one sole spinner to get a long period of wicket taking, and Shakib al Hasan from Bangladesh is good but doesn't play anywhere near enough cricket to be close to in a 2011 XI. Ajmal, really, is well in front of anyone else, although Ashwin is good on turning pitches and Bishoo looks a promising prospect (as does Lyon, really). In other spinning news, Brad Hogg is back in Australian colours, picked in the squad for the Australian T20 series against India. He's 40. Also, Cameron White has gone from captain of the T20 side to not being in it, with George Bailey doing the opposite. He's never played for Australia before, so his first game for the side will be as captain.

Agreed. They may have played much of their cricket against NZ, WI and Zimbabwe, but that doesn't change the fact that they have developed a side that is beginning to gel as an XI, and is playing consistent cricket. They have done a lot of work to find a group of players who actually care, and it seems to be working. Of course, if they were to lose the series to England and lose future series to sides like South Africa, India and Australia, it might all be for nought. But you have to be pleased with what they've achieved over the last year or so, and I see a bright future for them.

They have managed to ditch the unpredictable, wildly swinging form of the 2000s and for the last 12-18 months they've been quite solid. They've had their current top 6 settled for about a year now, which is highly unlike Pakistan.

I haven't been checking this thread all season. I've jumped on the 49ers bandwagon so it's good to see us make the Championship game (that game against New Orleans was amazingly good. Amazingly). Can't believe NYG beat Green Bay. Like WJ, I hate the Giants (don't know why, I just do. Hate Tom Coughlin, for one), but more than that, I just didn't see a side beating the Packers any time soon. Good on them, but I sure hope we cream them this week. As for the AFC, whilst Baltimore's defence is strong, their offence was pretty poor against the Texans, and I don't think they'll score enough points to rival the Pats, who will score against the Raven defence anyway. Brady's in good form.

Pakistan are quite underrated in world cricket. They've got some damaging bowlers (Saeed Ajmal may be the world's best spinner, Umar Gul is still a good pace bowler) and their top 6 is, for once, at least stable. They're a good side and it's good to see them playing, and beating, the stronger sides. England has been playing on South African, English and Australian pitches for most of the last 2 years. It'll be interesting to see how they adapt in the second test.

I think this is exactly how the selectors see things. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I can see the argument. It's a great shame Paine's not fit right now, as surely he'd be putting enormous pressure on Haddin. Imagine if England's top order hadn't gifted their wickets away. They'd have made 100 more runs, at least.

I'll pay 'credible'. Nothing special, and out-performed by all of our bowlers. But life would be easier for them for sure if they had support from the batsmen.

That's giving the Indian bowlers too much credit. They haven't been as bad as the batsmen, but they haven't been 'very good' at all. They've been OK.

Not sure the distance the game travels is that relevant to the underlying problem of captains being too lax about over rates. Whether a game goes for 1 day or 5, you need to ensure that across the board, captains are getting their overs out in reasonable time. Really? I still rate Hilfenhaus' ball well above Starc's. Oh well.

I get your sentiment, but it's not even close to Hilfenhaus' ball in the second innings in Sydney which bowled Laxman.

Yeh me too. Let it function. Our first 200 run partnership in almost 4 years (not that you need a 200 run partnership to validate a pair, but still). I think the solidity of Cowan and the hitting of Warner work well together. Let Watson work his way into the middle order.

Dearie me, for a little part there a 2-day test was in the offing. Luckily sanity returned and Kohli and Dravid batted rather well. India should be commended for not swapping Kohli for Sharma. That would achieve little. They should drop Laxman for Sharma for Adelaide, however. They need to get their youth in their side and just stick with them. All four pacemen have bowled well in parts of this Test. Starc's been impressive, which just adds to the bottleneck of fast bowlers and spots in the side. Siddle's been the pick of the bunch for mine, again, even if his wickets column is a bit less than Hilfenhaus.