Whispering_Jack

Very little known about him since the drafts. His NTFL team Waratah has only won one game since winning the first six on the trot and that was against chopping block Darwin. This has occurred after Manson, Fevola and Pettifer stopped playing. I suppose it's what happens when you have mercenaries who aren't totally dedicated to the cause at a club.

Only asking? I reckon India must know how 186 feels now. Of course, I'm watching a delightful performance from Zimbabwe v NZ. After scoring 51 in their first dig and following on they're currently 5/12 in the second inninings and making the Indian batsmen look Bradmanesque. Zimbabwe sent the Kiwis into bat on the first day too!

It's Adelaide and it's India that we're playing. Despite the indifference of the captaincy, ineptitude of most of the bowling attack, the very ordinary fielding and the psychological edge we hold over them after yesterday, their batting on reputation is still very strong and it's a flat track. I'd be asking first if we can get them out twice in this test match.

Not a bad idea. Please remind us closer to the time of the game Ravi. You can be table captain.

I know less about soccer than you do but their defence looked pretty shoddy. Kevin Muscat was a big loss at the end of last season but he was a bit of a loose screw in the latter stages of his career.

I watched a bit of their game yesterday and I reckon they're tanking. As long as they don't recruit a kid with wonky knees and a fat father next year, they'll come good very quickly.

I'm thinking of going to at least one of the interstate games this year. Anyone know how far the La Grande apartments on the corner of Mitchell and Knuckey Streets, Darwin is from the Marara Oval?

Interesting opinion from Malcolm Conn about the elder statesmen of our test side -Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin must retire after Adelaide Test. I'm more inclined to think there should be a phasing out of the older guard with Haddin first to go but he'll probably take a few catches and post a good score in Adelaide to buy some more time.

Actually, the place has a new bright look and I think it might be paying dividends for the owners. I went past yesterday and congratulated Steven on the new look and I'll certainly pop in for a feed one lunchtime in the near future. But I won't be using the chopsticks because, quite frankly, I'm no good at that sort of thing. I always say that if god meant us to eat with chopsticks then we would all have been born with two long fingers. Spoon and fork for me.

Good, I might pop into the track on the way to Wednesday's training session at Casey Fields to watch it finish the race.

I wonder what would be happening right now if the test team was performing as poorly as it was last year? It's easy to keep naming unchanged sides when you're winning but the lack of four day state games is IMO not ideal. For example, we have a few worthy candidates for the wicketkeeper position but they're being starved of opportunities to show their wares. I think Haddin is very lucky to still have the gig. Meanwhile, in Dubai the Poms are getting flogged by Pakistan in the first test.

... and do you have to grow a porn moustache to appear in it?

Green Bay's shock elimination today puts the 49ers in a good position for the NFC championship match. Home field advantage against the New York Giants who I think I dislike as much as their notorious West Sydney namesakes!

There was a long delay late on the first day when Warner was hit on the head by that short ball but, based on the cricinfo score report they were six overs short at the end of the day. That's still a fair bit even when you're getting carted around all over the place and quite significant if taken over the course of a whole test match. If the authorities want to crack down on slow over rates, the sanction against Dhoni is correct.

Warner's superb innings has finally allowed me to get back on topic and refer to my OP about Shiv Chanderpaul. The connection is the record they now share for the fourth fastest test century:- Fastest Test centuries No. of balls Player Opponent Venue Season 56 West Indies Cricket Board Viv Richards v England Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's 1985–86 57 Australia Adam Gilchrist v England WACA Ground, Perth 2006–07 67 Australia Jack Gregory v South Africa Old Wanderers, Johannesburg 1921–22 69 West Indies Cricket Board Shivnarine Chanderpaul† v Australia Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana 2002–03 69 Australia David Warner† v India WACA Ground, Perth 2011-12 The funny thing from my point of view is that I always thought of Shiv as a dogged batsman rather than a big hitter. I can't recall that century in 2002-03 but it must have been out of character. Anyway, it's good to know that the Aussies finally did find a way to end his innings as per my my post #1.

Question without notice. How many members of the current touring Indian team have captained their country?

Well, if he backed the horse then he might not be so cashed up any more. Perhaps he should have divulged the name of the jockey on board - P. Scully Banana Fritter.

I've just been speaking to Redleg who is still swanning around the Gold Coast with all the celebrities. Told me he sold three colts at the Magic Millions sales so I reckon he might be cashed up ATM. He's given me a tip to pass on for the next at Kilmore (5:12pm) - No Dispute. Reckons it's a bit like those Demons in Friday's time trials - a definite improver. Redleg has some big footy news from one of the brains of AFL football with who he is now on close first name terms. More of that later. The one on the left is Redleg for those who don't know him.

Sorry make that 8 ... now 9 Hilfy has taken WW..W Three wickets in 5 balls with Umesh Yadav coming in to partner Kholi. This test match won't last half the distance. Edit: Siddle gets Kohli and it's all over red rover. Warner must get MOM.

Kohli is batting well in the circumstances and his duel with Siddle is interesting. His problem is that he's running out of partners and the Aussies are playing at a war of attrition out there. Currently 7 down.

Gai Waterhouse gets 1 - 2 with No Looking Back and Driefontein.

I believe we have a Demonlander on the spot at the Magic Millions. Redleg has been hobnobbing with the greats of horseracing all week including the great Gai Waterhouse, trainer of Driefontein which is the hot favourite. Redleg's tip is Amorino with jockey Larry Cassidy on board.

ORANGE AND CHARCOAL - Recollections and tales of a tragic football club Chapter Two The coach, whose usual complexion was as red as the most ripened of tomatoes, sat ashen-faced throughout the pre match press conference. Alongside him and with a face that was equally as pallid was his club's new chief executive officer, the third in the new club's brief history. The press pack was having a field day interrogating its quarry about the defection of three players on the very day of their team's debut game on the national stage. The whole wide world was watching. The news had attracted the attention of the international media with coverage on CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera. In the Middle East there was rioting and looting in a dozen countries after the news came through that the team from the heartland of their culture in the western suburbs of Sydney had been so ravaged. In the mid west of the United States, entire congregations massed in prayer, North Korean warships bombed villages in the south and on the subcontinent, bookmakers went on strike. Finally, the coach spoke. "I blame the Martians for this. One of our kids pockets the club's hard earned two million bucks and the Martians - they know who they are - make up loopholes in the laws just so that he can end up at their new franchise. Well, it's not fair and we're not going to put up with it, we're going to fight back!" He was careful not to elaborate any further on the form the fightback would take or about the so-called controversial "Demetriou rule" which the Launceston Lyre Birds had cleverly exploited to secure their first recruits for 2013, a 20-year-old now earning $5 million a year plus 10% of home gate receipts and a 25% stake in the new franchise, a former rugby league player who suffered stage fright and a kid straight out of the TAC Cup grossing $500,000 for making television commercials advertising a product that allegedly cures facial blemishes. The loss of the three players followed hot on the heels of the news that a highly ranked GWS recruit, sent to Sweden for consultation with a leading surgeon on his patella tendinitis injury, had disappeared with the specialist's nurse. Both are believed to be in hiding at the sprawling Swedish mansion of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The media pushed ahead with their cross-examination. One crusty old reporter asked the question on everyone's lips. Were the players becoming uncomfortable with the fact that the GWS coaches simply hadn't attempted to train them to counter the forward press? The question clearly caused the coach to bristle. The colour seemed to rush back into his cheeks, his jaw jutted out in front of his face at an almost perpendicular angle and some later said they even saw puffs of smoke coming out of his ears. "I've had enough of this forward press stuff. We put these lads up for nothing at Breakfast Point. We feed them, we clothe them, we even organise the occasional blind date but we draw the line at doing their laundry. Show's over folks. We're outta here!" And with that, the coach and the entire GWS entourage left the room. The start of the game was two hours away and the Giants were still waiting for reinforcements in the form of a couple of rookies who had taken off on the 11:00am flight from Sydney. Meanwhile, as the media people began to shuffle out of the hall, one of the cleaning staff picked up a crumpled scrap of paper with a note written in the coach's handwriting that read: "Choko, why do they keep asking me these stupid, bloody questions about presses?" To be continued ...

I'll try to write up Chapter 2 now that I've been inspired by that run coming to within almost two minutes of the world record. Aiming to write it up in under 9 minutes and 37 seconds. In the meantime, here's a quote from Sheeds on Twitter from today:

Fair catch this -