The Panglossian

Their surnames are the same as past or present Test cricket players ....but I can’t think of a Test player called Bruce....the other 23, I can.

Wilbur Wilde’s brother, Chris Aitken ( I think), played for the Dees in the 70s. ? your Dad, Smokey?

Hibberd always surprises me with his quickness off the mark. He’s fast for a strongly built player.. He’s very gutsy, too.

Still angry about the loss to the Bullies in the pre-season?

I wonder whatbStorm and Victory would think about that. Though Storm are doing something out Wyndham way, I think. Melbourne Rebels involved, too,.

Gosh, CHF,........you sure don’t suffer from MFCSS! I wish I was 50% confident of wins v WCE over there, at Geelong, and Port at AO. More like 10% , if you ask me. I’m very worried about the Essendon game, too.

I’d like to see Weideman playing at CHB for Casey. He might develop some confidence in his marking there. He might also learn a bit about when and where to lead , if he plays on a lead-up forward. Though BBB put in a shocker in his last game for Casey, and hasn’t had a chance to regain form, he couldn’t do worse than SW did against Collingwood.

Give him a few games at HB for Casey. Perhaps he’ll get his marking confidence back. This should have happened 2 or 3 years ago.

When we were struggling, and Coll. were doing well, they'd always condescendingly suggest that the Queens Birthday game was "their Grand Final".

I'm worried...... this QB is their grand final. Nothing else to look forward to, for them.

We don’t get Beetoften

The less crowd the better from a Demon point of view. We saw what effect a home side crowd has on the umps last week.

Can anyone get the Livestream up?

Eighteen games, actually.

I find “Off the Bench” intolerable on Saturday mornings. Pickering and Hutchinson share “ in jokes”,which are annoying. The “first person self- congratulatory” rubbish suggests , wrongly, that they, themselves are not conceited prigs.

Receiving. Over

I’m in a really happy mood!

Healthy, fit young men don't get sudden blockages of blood supply to the leg!

Waiting...........

Great article. Thanks WJ.

Barracking for the Melbourne Stars is very like going for the Demons!

I agree that it would be ridiculous to blame Paine for our bad batting. It would be handy if he took a routine catch or two, and a regulation stumping off Lyon, who must be fuming. If he remains captain( though he’s getting pretty old), he and Langer better have a good hard think about field placings and bowling changes. I’m not sure if there’s a good keeper in Australia( by the way, Carey will be 30 before the Ashes, so he’s no spring chicken).What’s Philippe like as a keeper, ?...I know he can bat, ditto McDermott, but he’s late 20s)So when the selectors think we need a new keeper(? 2025), perhaps we should go for the best batsmen, since the keepers are all likely to perform disastrously like Tim did. Paine’s batting surprised and pleased me in this series. He still only has 2 first class centuries at the age of 36. I’m not sure he can keep up the form he showed this series, but I hope so.

Iron gloves didn’t help... but it’s Paine’s behaviour and influence I object to. Shane Warne didn’t like his field placing, but he wouldn’t know!

Well done Tim That’s two series you’ve lost for us Inspiring skipper......encourages us to sledge!

I mentioned the possibility of dropping Paine and using Wade. Carey is another possibility, but it occurred to me that Ben McDermott is a dark horse for the spot. All three are ordinary keepers, but Ben is 8 yrs younger than Paine, and has more upside as a batsman, and, probably as a keeper. Paine is too old, too undisciplined, too untalented , and tactically poor. Find another captain. I've always admired Langer, but it's becoming clear he's not imbuing the proper sportsmanship in the team. He condones Paine calling Ashwin a d...head, and that Paine's players like him, but Ashwin and Kohli's team-mates don't like them. Petulant and childish.