Jumping Jack Clennett

Maxwell is injured at present. I reckon he'll represent Australia in limited overs cricket very soon. He's mercurial,

Quoting Rhino...."Then it started to change....and we won 7 of our last 8 games" Didn't we win our last six home-and-away games then 2 finals? i.e. 8 out of 9. Actually, we won 3 finals, since John Kennedy hit the post at the 15 min mark of Q4, and it was called a goal.(much to Jimma's chagrin!). Carlton won the GF,then we beat them 3 times the next year(including a final), so I claim we'd have won the GF. As stated above, Northey had created an irresistible force, and only a series of questionable umpiring decisions, and poor kicking by usually accurate kicks(Campbell, Yates and Eishold), lost us that Prelim. I was told by the Club doctor at the B and F (soon after the GF)that Brian Wilson was the only plasyer who'd have missed the GF. He reckons they'd have been able to play Flower with pain-killing injections in his shoulder. "Dirty"Dave Williams, who was dead stiff to miss the Prelim would have been a useful replacement for Willo. ***Sorry "Melb Man" just read your post after sending this one. By the way, though Eishold's kick was a shocker, he was put on a ludicrous angle by the ump who was miles away when he marked it on the point of the goalsquare for a "gimme" goal. But he was given an acute angle, which made it a hard shot under pressure, and he went to water.

Watched SA v Vic on Foxtel tonight. Poor batting by us collapsing to pretty ordinary fast bowlers. But, great left arm orthodox spinning from Holland(who I thought was useless) to bring us back into the game. THEN a catastrophic blunder by (soon to be ex)captain White. About 15 for SA to get.2 wickets in hand.Cooper on strike. Jayde Herrick fresh, as yet unbowled. Who does he bring on? Inexperienced off- spinner, Salpietro, who gets whacked. When he finally DOES bring on Herrick, it's too late, but he does get 1/1/1/0. He must have been seething. White's captaincy form is slightly worse than his batting.(0 again today, trying to hit a middle stump yorker through square leg).

I watched some of the live TV streaming of the Vic SA match from Adelaide. Quiney and Handscomb made tons. Handscomb really looks the goods. So correct technically. Aggressive, but good concentration. Likely future Test player. Poor old White bombed again, this time at no.3. At least he decided to bat on an absolute road.

You missed me....am I too late? Can I jump up on the cart? I'm a beginner, so if possible please put me in the league for inexperienced players.

Fascinating Test in Abu Dabi! Great to see the Poms fold in the fourth innings!

What an exciting game last night between the Stars and Hobart! It worries me that two England(?occasional)players were such stand-outs(Shah and Wright).(though Victorian reject Birt...?any relation to Johnnie?)....did really ell,too.) What was Clint Mackay doing bowling gift full tosses? Did the wet ball slip? Normally Clint is a top class bowler.

Jack....I was actually at the SCG that day in 1903 when "Tip" Foster knocked up that 287 at the SCG. I was only 13 years old, so I don't remember it all that clearly.But I do recall that it was his debut! Not a bad start!

If only we'd played "Dirty Dave" in the '87 prelim final,I'm sure we'd have won. If we had won ,he'd have replaced the injured Wilson in the GF, and we'd have beaten Carlton then , as we did three times in 1988.

I can't stand Warne, but I was stunned by his genius last night. He seemed to be able to read the batsmen's minds. His control of length and line was phenomenal, despite his absence from top class cricket for years and despite the distraction of being " miked up". I know it's only hit and giggle in 20:20 but it's the bowlers who are made to look bad....but not Warne. I'm a Test Cricket fan, but I'm prepared to follow 20:20 if it keeps up the profile of cricket, and as long as the majority of players regard Test cricket as the pinnacle. I preferred the interstate 20:20.

What a great read is "the Red Fox"!!!!Thoroughly recommended!! While reading it I was taken back to those great times when we just assumed we' d win the flag! What a catastrophic calamity it was to lose Norm, and then Ron!!!!! But, on reflection, perhaps history might not have been so different had it not happened. We enjoyed an enormous advantage being the only side playing on the MCG...we even trained there!!Now opposition supporters outnumber ours in all but interstate games, and even that is debatable v. Sydney and Brisbane. Also I think we suffered by not having a suburban source of supporters like Ess. ,Coll. and Carlton. The termination of the alliance with the MCC exacerbated this. Was it bad luck, or bad recruiting, but Robbie Flower was the only genuine superstar we've had since Norm went. Compare that to Haw, Ess , North ,Rich,Coll and Carlton.

Well done Demons!! Who is the clever producer?

Quoting the learned,yet vitriolic ,Rhino...... "JJC, its been proven flawed and you and WYL just reinforce your ignorance. " ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where's it been proven flawed!!?? When I disagree with someone, I resist the temptation to call them ignorant. I know it weakens my argument.

"Win the toss...Bat". ( quoting WYL) I agree with you on this ,WYL, but I'm reluctant to discuss it because it raises such vitriolic sentiment in those of the opposite opinion on this forum. Most Test and first class captains agree with you, too.

Yeah,I've heard Sundberg is a real goer.Only problem is he 's TOO fearless.Similar in that respect to Ben Sinclair(keeps getting his head hit in). Being unable to crack it for a rookie spot to the Collingwood midfield should not be considered a negative.

Enjoying this!!! 0/112 after all out 47. Hughes and Watson should keep their heads down and take full advantage of the position they're in.

I'm terribly disappointed by the Bushrangers in the Ryobi Cup. Shocking, under-nine shot by Hodge to be bowled. Cameron White is just not up to state(let alone National) level as a player. Gutsy effort down the batting order by James Pattinson. A message from the coaches should have been sent to Herrick to stop trying to whack it(.....he just had NO timing), and try to deflect. Despite his efforts, he just couldn't score. Our state coaches either are not emphasising the basics to our players, or they're just not listening. The title holders are Maxie GAWN!!!! Great game to watch last night though. I'm not confident about the two tests v. S. Africa starting next week. But if we can do well against them there, we might be on the way back.

Rhino. You could have added some substance to your argument by pointing out "Ronnie's" decision to continue bowling Glenn Maxwell with his offies for 3 overs too long in thje Ryobi Cup match, which proved a match losing decision. By the way, I accidentally called it a T20 match , when it was 50:50. Is it "square earth" to want to bat first in those games, too? Funny how most captains seem to adhere to the "square earth" policy. I guess they're less knowledgable than us.

I really admire Andrew McDonald as a cricketer. But his captaincy???!!! He was lucky enough to win the toss in the T20 v. Qld. Sent 'em in on a perfect strip. The inevitable happened.Our young side batted under tremendous pressure. We lost to an inferior side. The Shield Match? Lucky boy!! Won the toss again!! Sent 'em in on a belter! Our guys failed under pressure again , and are now battling for a draw with little hope.

WJ is very informative, and I like Wayne Wussell's down-to-earth approach.

Tonight's game reminded me of the '87 Prelim . Haw clearly the best side all night. All 50:50 umpiring decisions to the favorites,(Coll) Haw in front nearly all night. Somehow the siren went when Coll got the lead.&! I hope next week is like 87. Haw knew they didn't deserve to be there and capitulated toCarlton. We wouldn't have!

Riley.....ineffectual, underhanded,duplicitous.

Cool...The Filth will carry on...What Neeld has taught them won't be forgotten in 2 weeks.

I've just finished watching the 2nd Semi. I can't believe how hopeless the umpiring was in the first half. There were 19 frees in the first quarter, most of them complete mysteries even on slow motion replay on TV. Amazingly, it seemed most went to Carlton, despite the home crowd's roaring. It was absolutely obvious that the interpretations would differ in the final stages of the game, when they "put their whistles away". There's nothing in the laws to recommend technical frees early, then "free-for-all" late. Chamberlain and his two mates must not be appointed to any more finals. That was a disgrace! Am I correct in my observation that Scmitt was droppped and forgotten after his disgraceful effort at the Adelaide Oval?