Whispering_Jack

You can add Langer to the list as well. All were given more than one test on return and, in this case, there's a shortage of alternatives so they'll stick with Hughes at least for Melbourne and probably for Sydney assuming Katich is gone for the duration. BTW: Where do England's cricketers stay when they're on tour in Sth Africa? With their mums.

Hauritz 110 n.o. in the Shield game.

Yes, the series is alive but this could be Australian cricket's one swallow for the summer unless Punter strikes some form with the bat and a spin bowler materialises from the heavens. Cricket is very different to AFL but I do like the analogy between our situation in test cricket and the way Melbourne fell away late in Daniher's reign as coach. The differences were that we could have seen it coming better with the cricket as Warne, McGrath, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist and Lee were nearing the end. There's no draft in cricket but we're blessed with a fantastic cricket nursery (our Under 19 team that won the World Cup is chock full of talent). The answer now is to persevere with Hughes and Smith and I like Cameron White for his aggressive attitude. Perhaps he might get another test chance after the World Cup notwithstanding that he's a Victorian. Other than that, we still have an enormous battle on our hands to save the Ashes. Even if we can salvage a win or a draw in the Boxing Day test, we need to win the toss and hit a big first innings score in Sydney. If we're going to rely on a bloke who's had a couple of month's first class experience and best figures of 3fer to spin out the Poms and it works, I'll shout "a Beer". Who is he?

According to Twitter, Alex Keath scored 191 not out for Victoria's Under 23 team and could be in the Sheffield Shield team very soon. There are quite a few young cricketers with great potential around the country and one can only hope that they be given the opportunities for promotion that have been denied to similar players around the country in the past few years.

Mitchell Johnson is the Dane Swan of the Aussie cricket team. Great job getting a five fer. On the other hand, Marcus North needs to produce when he comes out to bat tomorrow. If not, he should go out and buy some tickets for the Commonwealth Games events.

Test Match v Grand Final on 2nd October. What will you be watching?

Firstly to Jaded - bad luck and I hope if it is contageous then you should stay away from Melbourne players for a while ! As for the cricket it was absorbing stuff at the end. Great captaincy by Ponting - especially the decision to bat first .

I have and always will regard Ron Barassi Jr. as the # 1 Melbourne player of my lifetime. He personified strength, courage, determination and leadership. He won games for us and with him in the side, we won premierships - lots of them. Forget Essendon (2000), Brisbane (2001-3) and Geelong (2007-), we were the best side in the history of the game, our reign lasted for a decade and RDB was the best of the best. Robbie Flower was the most skillful player to wear the red and blue (I might be ancient but Ivor Warne-Smith was before my time). Slight of build, Robbie was graceful and time stopped when he was near the ball. He was a magnificent mark, would run, bounce and mesmerise the opposition and one of his runs from coast to coast via pockets, flanks and wings to score a goal at Windy Hill one day was the most sublime pieces of action this game has ever produced. It wasn't his fault that we only made the finals once in his entire career but it would have been unbearable going to the footy between 1972 and 1987 but for him. My memories of Laurie Mithen are fading but I can't recall the dynamic centreman ever being beaten. He taught some of my friends who were students at Melbourne High School in the 60s and they used to call him a "bastard". That's how he played his football - like a real bastard and that's why Melbourne was so successful when he played in the middle. Stan Alves played on the opposite wing to Robbie Flower and arrived at Melbourne at the wrong time - 1965, when the Melbourne show was closing down. He was a champion, a beautiful mover and a clever thinking footballer. Sadly, he left to achieve premiership success elsewhere. It always amazed me that Melbourne couldn't do better with Alves and Flower on the wings and Greg Wells in the middle. Shows how bad we were everywhere else on the field in those days. Brian Dixon used to count his kicks in the days before statisticians took over the game. He was quite brilliant and although his kicking style wasn't the greatest, he was remarkably effective and contributed enormously to his team's successful era. Strangely, I have picked three wingmen in my top five. They were always important on the wide, open spaces of the MCG. I couldn't fit in anybody from the modern era but the others would be Jimmy, Garry Lyon, Alan Johnson, Shane Woewodin (I'm assuming I can mention him now), Neita and Brian Wilson for a short period of time. Gerard Healy might have made it had he stuck around long enough instead of making a run for the money and The Ox would probably have rivalled Laurie Mithen for my third spot if not for the tragedy of his knees. Of the current crop of players (and I don't want to put any pressure on prematurely but ...) I reckon our first three picks in the 2007 draft, Morton, Grimes and Maric all have the capacity to go places in this game. It's just a question of whether they have the will and the application to put in the enormous amount of work necessary.

My highlight of this year's cricket season - West Indies' tailenders Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell blocked out the final 36 minutes of the Second Test against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground to force a draw. The Windies lead the series 1-0.

Surely, we'll collect another $94,319 in the next 48 hours?

Good work Dave. I remember contributing to both Footscray and Richmond's fund raising efforts when they were in dire straits and it's fantastic that supporters of all clubs are willing to chip in and help one another. PS: Hope the stuff about Didak, the Shaws and other Collingwood stuff around here last week weren't out of line

Good to see the Poms losing to SA despite the great innings of Mr. Collingwood. He and Mick Malthouse have a lot in common.

Agree with you that if rattling tin cans is all there is to it then we're in trouble. However, I've had discussions with Jimmy and one other director and they assure me that the debt demolition plan is only the first phase or the first quarter. An outline of the plan has been placed on the club's website and further details will be made public in due course. It's up to the club's members and supporters to support the board's efforts and to also keep the board on its toes if they're not doing their job.

Come on Demon fans. The site says on $11,276.00 collected to date. When you take into account the ten grand put in by the Richmond supporter, that's almost nothing from the true faithful! As the man says -

How do we get that Chanderpaul out?

From today's Melbourne Age:- Melbourne Football Club wants to hear from the relatives of 14 former players expected to be named in the club's all-time top 150 players. A Melbourne spokesman said the 14 "missing in action" players were a vital part of the club's history and it hoped to involve any descendants in this year's 150th anniversary celebrations. The former players are: Bill Allan (1910-1923), a ruckman from Ringwood; Harry Brereton (1909-1912 and 1915), who was the VFL's leading goal-scorer of 1912; Vin Coutie (1902-1911) from Leopold, who captained the club for three seasons; Harry Coy (1921-1928), recruited from Port Melbourne and part of the 1926 premiership side; Hugh Dunbar (1922-1928), from the Macedon Ranges and also part of 1926 premiership side; Rowley Fischer (1933-1941), a ruckman from Murtoa in the Wimmera, who played in the 1939 premiership side; George Haines (1919-1925), a rover from Geelong who changed his name from Heinz and captained the club in 1919 and '20; Les Jones (1933-1941), a centreman from East Fremantle who played in the 1939 premiership; Charlie Lilley (1913-1915 and 1919-1925), a defender and centreman from Elsternwick; George Margitich (1930-1934), recruited from South Adelaide who led the club goalkicking three times; Fred McGinis (1897-1901), who was Champion of the Colony in 1897 and played in the 1900 premiership side; Gordon Ogden (1928-1937), a defender who represented Victoria five times; Jack Purse (1900-1906), who was centre half-back in the 1900 premiership side; and Frank Roberts (1936-1941), from Sandhurst via St Kilda, who was best on ground in the 1939 premiership side and also played in the 1940 premiership side.