The Panglossian

I'm not sure what you mean by "Wow", Jarka. Are you surprised by my description of Ridley's behaviour that night? Believe me, it was grossly intimidating. He set the pattern for a night of hatred, where rational discussion was not on the agenda.

Ian Ridley was my favourite player in the late 50's,though Dico later replaced him in that role.Ridley had the great combination of extraordinary skill and courage, and played a large part in many premierships. BUT.......the bitterness at the merger meeting in '96 was stirred up by him. He stood on the dais yelling propaganda into the microphone like bloody Hitler! In the audience you couldn't help but get angry as he screamed the same things over and over again, with propaganda slogans blaring away on the screen behind him over and over again. Before the meeting, I queued up in the voting line to check that my proxy vote had been counted. The employee at the booth (like all the attendants at all the other booths )was a member of the MFC office staff,ie employees of Ian Ridley. They checked my name on the list and saw I'd voted against. They then said..."are you aware that you can CHANGE your vote?". Of course I declined to do so. I then waited beside the booth to see what was said if a proxy vote was FOR the merger. I waited for a while and noted that people who'd voted FOR the merger were NOT offered the option of changing their vote, whereas NO-voters were. I then realised that it was a dodgy arrangement. It was a complete disgrace that a supposedly reputable firm like Arthur Anderson would allow staff of the MFC, beholden to Ridley and his board, to be in what should be neutral position at voting tables. It was also rumoured that Bill Guest signed up a lot of his staff as members at the last moment to collect some more pro votes. As far as the turning away of people from the meeting was concerned, this shouldn't have precluded them from voting, but it did. All they had to do was queue up, enter the foyer to vote, then go, being told there was no more room to enter the hall. The above is my vivid memory of that unpleasant evening.

Eddie Everywhere is trying to recruit Usain Bolt fora game for the Melb Stars in the Big Bash. I hope it doesn't come off. It would ruin the already tenuous appeal of this comp as serious cricket.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

What about Hussey's catch!!!!

I'm not a "White man". I've followed his career since he made a district century and took a hat-trick as a teenager for Dandenong. I've hoped for, and expected, great things. I reckon his batting is flawed. There's no building of an innings. He either blocks it back to the bowler, or tries to whack it out of the ground. When he does try to hit the ball hard, he lifts his head. His timing is affected by this fault. His bowling is finished because he hasn't improved, or made any alterations. He lacks the confidence in himself to have a bowl at Shield level. I hate his captaincy. As a passionate follower of Victorian cricket, I'd like to see him do well, but in my opinion , he (like Hodge!!!!) , is not in our best 11 ODI players(and nowhere near it for Tests.) I'd feel so much more optimistic with M.Hussey there, instead of White.

Wow !!!!What a sensational win by Victoria in the Ryobi Cup v. Tas. tonight. Absolutely brilliant hitting by Glenn Maxwell! BUT.......!!!!!!! What a lesson for Australia in the World Cup. Vic needed one to win off the last ball. After Siddle edged it to point, Holland almost completed the single while the ball reached the fieldsman! The lesson? DON'T let the batsman at the bowler's end crib in these circumstances. The bowler shouldn't just run him out(as he easily could have).He should warn him, before he bowls, that he'll be watching to make sure he doesn't crib. The keeper should stand up to the stumps. So the shot straight to the short fieldsman should be a runout at either end. This scenario is not unlikely in an important game in the World Cup. I also thought Maxwell's clean hitting on the legside showed the value of the striker standing his ground(not stepping away to the legside), and whacking it with the bottom hand through mid-wicket.The ball raced so hard off his bat that it was four unless it went absolutely directly to the fieldsman on the boundary.( though he often hit over them for six!! He has unique talent.

LIMITED OVER CRICKET TACTICS: If I were coach of an Australian team in the one-dayers,I'd introduce a team rule statim that I'm confident would improve our results. This is particularly important leading up to the World Cup. The rule would be this:- our batsmen must NEVER step away to square leg to try to score. Why do I propose this? For 3 reasons.... 1./ It is extremely difficult to get any power into shots on the offside when moving away from the ball. 2./ If the batsman moves to the leg side,swings, and misses , it means the bowler who puts a poor ball outside leg gets away with it not being called a wide. If the batsman moves inside the ball, has a whack , and misses, he gets the extra ball. 3./ It is much more naturally powerful to slog the ball with the bottom hand dominating,to the leg side. If the ball is hit powerfully with timing, , it doesn't matter if the leg field is stacked,it has a good chance of being a boundary(certainly a better chance than the"inside out" cover-drive to a crowded off field.) Usually there are at least as many fielders on the offside as on the legside. Another point......Setting fields for spinners. All international captains set their mid on and mid-off deep for slow bowlers, allowing an easy single, even with a new batsman on strike. I contend that those fieldsmen should be close enough to cut off the single until the striker has risked a couple "over the top" . By setting these straight fielders deep, you are saying to the batsman...."play straight! Don't take any risks! Keep the ball down!" These tactics should not be employed until the batsman is dominating the attack. Last point. Trivial, but it could mean the difference between winning and losing.... On the last ball of the first innings.... RUN UNTIL YOU"RE RUN OUT!!!! I'm amazed how often players don't take a risky single(or second) on the last ball! What's the downside?(apart from their batting average).A little bit of pressure on the fieldsman often results in an error.

Gosh!!! What a disappointing day at the Test!!! They bowled well and we batted badly, then they batted well, and we bowled only fairly. I was looking forward to today for ages, hoping for a close game(won by Aust!). Not much hope of that now. Only spark of hope is that it's grey and dark tomorrow again morning at 9.30(real time), and perhaps our bowlers can extract something out of the pitch, and get some early wickets. I felt that our guys bowled too fast to move the ball off the seam,and the disappearance of the clouds when England came out to bat made conditions easier for them. But those excuses don't make up for the one-sidedness of this match so far.

I can't remember a series where we appear to be so utterly outclassed. The Windies used to kill us in the 80's and early nineties, but at least we could get a few of them out. This is Shocking!!! Everything's going wrong!!!! Katich, Ponting and Harris.....3 balls between them on a batting paradise!!! The Katich run out started it all. Trott's throw from side-on was a 1 in 5 chance at best. That led to Ponting's dismissal, which put the out of form Clarke in a dreadful position. The English are getting more and more confident. They now have four batsmen in best-ever form. All they need now is Swann to take a bag....an d that's looking SO likely. This is torture. I was so looking forward to the Melb Test....but probably the Ashes will be gone by then. Perhaps we'll be hoping to stop the 5 nil whitewash. The weather's our best hope.

Can't help thinking what a huge advantage the Poms gained by winning the toss. Even though their first innings was poor, it was obvious the Aussies would need a HUGE lead to make the game safe, batting fourth against Swann . Luckily, the Poms batted slowly this afternoon. If they'd got 140 ahead tonight, as they could have if they'd shown more initiative, we'd be in a very vulnerable position to LOSE this Test. It's still not impossible. Bloody Bushrangers have won the toss the last 2 games and chosen to bowl on featherbeds, with the obvious disastrous outcomes.

Fantastic ton in each innings by McDonald, against a test standard attack.(though Starc was injured in the second innings). He deserves to be looked at seriously by the selectors for the Ashes series. Probably a better bat, and better bowler(albeit not a spinner) , than North. He would add variety to our attack, and looks a class batsman to me. Do any other Demonlanders watch some of the live Telecast on the Cricket Australia website?

The poor Old Hammers. Stayed with Arsenal till the 87th min. Dammit! They remind me of Melbourne so much!