titan_uranus

They do have a spinner: Paul Harris. And some other guy called Botha is vying for his spot, so I guess maybe he's a spinner as well. The South African team to play Bangladesh in the 1st of two tests today is: 1. Smith 2. McKenzie 3. Amla 4. Kallis 5. De Villiers 6. Prince 7. Boucher 8. Harris 9. Morkel 10. Steyn 11. Ntini Similar to India in that they play 6 batsmen and 4 bowlers. Kallis will bowl as well. But to me Boucher looks older. Plus I'd thought he'd retired already...

I can't believe Boucher is still playing. How old is he? Amla, McKenzie, De Villiers, Kallis, Prince and Smith are all doing very nicely. Last time we played them Prince was Warne's bunny. He couldn't get a start. Now he's arguably their best or second best bastman. Moving De Villiers down the order has seen him flourish. Usually one of those 6 fires in a match. As for their bowlers, Ntini, while old, is still effective, Dale Steyn, when not injured, bowls faster than Lee. They've got Morkel and Nel as well. So overall I think they'll provide more than a decent challenge. Expect at least one loss over the 6 tests we play home and away.

Once again, Daniel Vettori plays a lone hand for NZ. He's their best bowler, and frighteningly enough he's their most consistent batsman as well. You would think they wouldn't stand a chance against us at the Gabba. With a 490 target, what chance did we leave the South Africans? Not much, which meant they were content to bat out a draw rather than go for the win. If we'd declared a little earlier, then maybe, with a lower target, they might have gone a bit harder for it. However, you're right in that, in 127 overs, and with Warne, we should have taken more than 5 wickets.

He made 203* at the WACA in 2005 vs Sth Africa. Letting him get to 200 meant we declared too late, and Sth Africa were able to draw the test match. That was the match before we began our 15 match winning streak that didn't end until India earlier this year. If Clarke's unwell, Hodge is the obvious replacement. I'm just unsure if the selectors want to pick another 33 year old.

It was the decision to use Hussey that got to me. Obviously he should have used Lee or Watson, who were reversing it for the first time in 4 tests, but if he was under orders to use part-timers, why not use Katich? He at least has taken wickets at test level, and is certainly more likely than Hussey to take a wicket. But putting on Hussey was not only wrong, it was stupid.

I was just about to say I thought we had a chance. 5 minutes ago we were 3/150, Hussey and Hayden doing very well working singles. Then, in the space of 5 balls, both are out, so we're 5/154. We had a chance, India was playing defensively, but they've started to attack and have made breakthrough. We're still well over the run rate but Haddin and Watson don't exactly inspire confidence.

We have no idea what to do in a situation such as the one we are in now. Katich and Hayden have come out slogging, Katich can't do it, played an awful stroke and was caught. Next over, Ponting takes a suicidal run and is run out by a metre. 2/37. We mightn't be there at tea. Awful batting. Absolutely awful.

Ponting's captaincy has, on this tour, been exposed for what it is: not that good. As Jon Pierik writes in the HUN today, Ponting's not an 'intuitive' captain, like Mark Taylor. I see that as somewhat of a criticism of Ponting's captaincy. Since he began, Australia has been the dominant force in cricket, and with bowlers like Warne and McGrath, you don't need to do as much as a captain than you would with the Bangladesh team. Now that we're struggling, Ponting's lack of ability to analyse the game and intuitively know what to do and when has been exposed. However, I doubt it was his decision to bowl the part-timers. What is his fault is the constant talking to the bowler between overs and the eternity he spends setting fields. If he'd not wasted so much time between overs in the first 2 sessions, then maybe he wouldn't have had this problem. As for the match, I think India will go for it to start with. They've got plenty of runs to play with, so they could well go on the attack and look for quick wickets early. If that works then they can push for a win, but if it doesn't, they can slip into an 8-1 field whenever they want to shut us out. Which they will do as soon as we look like getting close to the target.

That's what I used to believe. But we spent all day at the crease yesterday. 85.4 overs, 8 wickets in hand, but just 166 runs in total. Something like our second or third worst run rate in an innings 9 years. What will happen from here: Optimist's view: we'll bowl India out by the end of today for 200, then chase down 290-odd tomorrow and win the trophy back Pessimist's view: India will bat for almost the rest of the game, Dravid will get going and score 70 off 300 balls. I think India will post a sizeable lead (350-400), then declare, giving us 2-3 sessions to try and win. But we won't.

India's bowling a negative line outside off stump with all but 1 fielder on the off side. We scored 42 runs in a session, and lost Katich, because we weren't playing at any of the balls. It's up to the Australians to have a go, try to work the balls onto the leg side. Despite it being negative/defensive/whatever from Dhoni, we're the ones who need to win, not India. Katich scored 10 runs in an hour and a half. It's all good for India. We have to be past their score by the end of the day if we want to win, and that isn't going to happen if we don't play shots.

Suggested on cricinfo that he didn't see India swap Mishra (poor fielder) for Vijay (young, good fielder). Totally agreed. Dravid surely will retire after either this series or the England series beginning next week. I think he's playing based only on his reputation, not his form, which is very poor. They might play as good cricket as us, if not better, but they won't sustain it. I would have expected White to get a bowl sometime yesterday morning. If they did play him for his batting, then why isn't someone like Hodge or Marsh playing instead? If not, why didn't he bowl? He seemed to do alright on Day 1. I'm a bit worried about Clarke actually. Apparently Watson was padded up during the Katich-Hussey partnership, and Clarke wasn't. He didn't bowl, and he fielded at slip, where he doesn't usually field if Hayden is playing. Which all suggests that he's below fitness.

So much for keeping them under 400. It would be nice if we kept them under 500 now. 0/93 off 27 overs in that session. Ganguly looks like he'll make a century. There isn't much chance that we'll win it now.

Ganguly and Dhoni having no problem scoring runs off Lee, Johnson and Krejza. Watson's doing better in the runs department, but he's bowling consistently outside off stump and they're leaving him. So, not only are we leaking runs, but we're not at all dangerous. I think we've beaten the bat once in this session. If we don't get a wicket before lunch, it will be 2 wickets in the last 3 sessions.

Johnson dropped him too, and his catch was much easier and should have been taken. But at least we got him out. As for the score, I'd put us in front only because they were 0/98 after 17 overs or so. To take 5 for 220 odd from where they were I think is a positive. But the work's not finished yet. Definitely gotta get them out for less than 400. If we can get Dhoni before he gets going that'll be a good chance of happening. As for Lee, I think he struggles on these Indian pitches. Hopefully he'll improve in Australia over the summer (but you're right, he's going to take plenty of wickets against NZ regardless of how well he bowls).

Quite an unbelievable start to this match. At lunch India is 3/122, Krejza having first being belted all over the place, but then the wicket of Dravid seemed to give him confidence, and he then bowled Sehwag. That's what we needed. Obviously we'd prefer not to have to concede so many runs, but at least Krejza is taking wickets. And we need wickets. I'd go so far as to say we levelled the session, especially considering where it could have gone. But there's still the small matters of Tendulkar and Laxman, who we couldn't get out in the last test. And also Ganguly and Dhoni.

Absolute disaster is Krejza. I was hopeful, but look at this: 3 overs, 32 runs. Sehwag just doesn't respect him at all. Both batsmen are smashing him all over the place, and take singles with ease. 17 overs, India 0/96. Still 30 minutes until lunch. Edit: How things change. 2 more overs, 2 wickets fall, including Dravid to Krejza. 2/99.

Match is just about to start. Ponting called the toss incorrectly, so Dhoni chose to bat first. That almost automatically rules out an Australian win. More importantly, though, Krejza is playing! Stuart Clark has been dropped, Cameron White retains his spot. Obviously the selectors want batting down to 8, but know we need another spin bowler. Clark isn't damaging enough, and we already have Lee, Johnson and Watson in the pace department, so I'm fine with Clark out instead of White. Gambhir isn't playing. Murali Vijay will open with Sehwag. I'm predicting a draw, considering that India don't need to push for a win.

Just as we thought the ICC had beaten the BCCI: India may play banned opener Gautam Gambhir against Australia India's complaining that the decision was made without a proper hearing and without taking evidence from Gambhir. The judge just used the footage as enough evidence to charge him. Let's hope the ICC stands up to the BCCI.

Yeah, I expected the appeal to be held off. The BCCI has a lot of power, I'm surprised they didn't win this battle. And it helps the Australians dramatically. Too right HT. Which is why the toss is so important. If we can get in first and set a nice score in the first innings, then maybe the match will play out a bit more like Bangalore than Mohali (provided the pitch is good for batting). In Bangalore we had a big first innings, which I think helped us bowl to the Indians. If we bat second, with a 500-600 deficit to chase, well you can probably write it off then. I would bring Siddle in for Clark. Clark's only taken 2 wickets in 4 innings, and he just isn't dangerous enough. In the second innings in Delhi he consistently bowled a ridiculous line outside off stump to Gambhir when we were in need of quick wickets. Yes, he's economical, but I think Siddle's aggression is more highly required at this point in time. Cameron White's batting in the second innings may just have saved him from being dropped for Krejza. But that's a 50-50, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Krejza come in.

Tait wouldn't help, the problem is we need a spinner. Plus I don't think Tait is good enough at Test level. Warne is gone. Get over it. (I'm not sure if you were being serious or not though) I'm not convinced that Symonds will be the saviour of this team. Has anyone noticed how badly he's doing in Queensland? Ineffective bowling and terrible batting. It's quite concerning.

Well folks, Test number 3 is upon us. Team changes are as followss: India: IN: Kumble OUT: Harbhajan Australia IN: Clark OUT: Siddle Siddle was unlucky to go. Harbhajan out is a positive for us. India won the toss, batted first, and in the third over Lee took Sehwag LBW for one. Score is 1/16.

I never questioned his ability to bat. I was just saying that, from my point of view, his fracas with Lee probably affected his batting. My point was that I think Ponting's communicative skills aren't flash, and because of that, and the subsequent incident with Lee, his batting suffered. Overall, his batting is fine, it's just at those specific moments where I think some of his other roles can get to him a bit. But maybe not. I'm with you 100%. When you look back on what happened, and India's subsequent actions, you see just how ridiculous they acted. I'm surprised more hasn't been said about Sehwag not walking when he was clearly out, considering what happened over the summer.

I have to agree about Ponting. I don't think he is a great communicator, mainly because he hasn't had to communicate negative things in his tenure as skipper. I think he is a bit arrogant and stubborn at times, which impacts on his ability to both bat and captain. Which is quite sad because White's bowling was better than his batting in Mohali. I'd be happier with White if he could score some damn runs.

You make good observations HT. However, I challenge you to name a 'quality' spinner in Australia. We don't have one. We have players like Casson, Krejza, Cullen etc. who are just average to good first class players, but who, IMO, wouldn't get close to cutting it at Test level. It is a problem that I think we will have to deal with for some time until a youngster whom we've never heard of becomes our next spinner. In terms of pace bowling, I think I've read that we're struggling to swing the SG balls used in India (as opposed to Kookaburra here). FFS, we have Troy Cooley employed as a 'bowling coach': how didn't we prepare for bowling in Indian conditions? We absolutely have to study what the Indians do to and with the ball so that we can apply the same techniques. They're getting it to reverse within 15 overs, which is killing us. And as for the batting: we miss Symonds, Gilchrist and Warne at 6, 7 and 8. Now we have Watson (who's had 1 good innings), Haddin (same as Watson) and White (can't bat at test level). They're just not good enough, especially when India have Ganguly, Dhoni and Harbhajan at those positions. With a better middle-lower order, the top order wouldn't feel as pressured.

5/9 is woeful. Hayden's was a poor shot considering it was the last over before tea. Katich's, being the last ball before tea, was worse. Hussey's was incredibly poor, especially for someone like Hussey. If Clarke and Haddin are still there at lunch, then maybe we're a chance (to draw).