H_T

I was wrong. What a game. Thought he had it in the 5th. Goes to show what a competitor Djokovic really is.

Absolutely. Uncle Tony. Still a little blurry eyed today, but I'm pleased to have witnessed it on the box. I think many perceive Novak as arrogant. He's different but I don't think arrogant is accurate. Certainly in all his interviews he comes accross as gracious, humbling and polite. I think it's his battle persona on the court that gets misconstrued. Rafa has a similar persona after winning the big points as Djokovic does. They both have gone to ground, fists pumped and all look to their respective boxes for support. Bit harsh on the stupid little girl, maurie, annoying as she was. She's young and excited and probably a family member.

The English top order really struggled. Series win to Pakistan. It will be interesting to see what England produce in the Third Test.

Nadal for me DA. All the way on Sunday. He is on fire and the knee doesn't seem to trouble him. An extra day helps.

Ponting chalks up a half century in the second innings. Can we re-visit those Best XI sides from last year ?

Stating the obvious: I reckon we've got enough runs. Declare now. Haddin should shout Clarke a beer tonight. edit; Quickfire Haddin cameo chalks up 600 and we declare - 7/604. Now let 'em rip boys.

I think I read somewhere this morning Kallis has ~12,260 runs. Superb record nevertheless. I think Ricky has re-joined him on Test centuries. Good to see Ricky boost his average back up (~53) and Clarke is now over ~48, last I checked.

Not a snowflakes chance... .. However, it could be anytime soon. The fantastic run rate in the first session was remarkable. Clarke will be thinking of declaring. He may let Punter get his highest test score (current highest for Punter is 257), then bowl. The faster than expected clip in the first session has increased my initial target of 450-475 to 550-560 now.

Nadal stepped it up a gear last night. Looking forward to see Nadal, Federer and Djokovic make the pointy end of the tournament and see who conquers who.

3/469 - 134 runs for the morning session. Nearly 4.5 runs per over. Too slow ...

Lunch: Brilliant innings Clarke. 210* Brilliant innings Ponting. 198* Partnership - 385*

The Ponting-Clarke partnership continues and they now hold the record for the all time highest partnership v India (surpassing the Clarke-Hussey partnership - that didn't last long...lol) and the all-time highest Test partnership at Adelaide.

Not much has been said regarding Clarke's run rate. But this innings as well as his innings in Sydney are very good. It shows his intent to score at a decent clip as he has stated, he is certainly leading the way and his teammates are following his lead.

The difference from that fateful day is we're currently leading the series 3-0, and Clarke having displayed being a team man first and foremost, on home soil, will be mindful of not wanting to harm our bowlers by bowling back-to-back innings on a peach batting deck. Cummins and Pattinson will be in his mind and Siddle has played a full summer. Declaring with a solid total of 450-475 has it's advantages IMO. It already gives a big lead against a poor performing India with the bat, it opens up the opportunity for more time to get India out twice, and will likely give a bowlers a tad of a spell having to bat again. It also gives the likes of Marsh another opportunity to bat, despite a "putrid" summer to date.

Whilst we maybe champing at the bit to see big records fall today - and we may see some - I feel Australia will declare around 450. They won't want to bat India out of the game with the series already won (ie. make it a dull game). Australia may declare earlier than many think (ie. instead of the 550/600+ variety on first innings) - at around a total of 450-475. If we go for 550/600 our bowlers may not get a break. Something that Clarke will be mindful of I'm sure. Don't be surprised if we declare at lunch or close to/just after lunch.

I'm hopeful of opening the record books again tomorrow guys. Err ... touch wood...

Clarke may actually prefer batting at 5, whether or not the selectors push him up to 3 - or himself - may depend on the current 'development' or trials of Marsh and Khawaja in that position. The other aspect is when Watson returns, where will he play ? Back in the opening position where he did so well ? Or down the order ? Or is he a No.3 prospect too ? Many unanswered questions that will be answered soon enough, and the West Indies tour may present us with an answer or two in this transition stage of Australian cricket.

Cameron White's form in the T20 form has been poor - and I'll add bewildering. 'Bewildering' from some of the shots in the first few games of the Big bash he went out on. Puzzling and disappointing. edit: A couple of years ago I held hope for him at Test level, even mentioned him in discussion as a possible Test captain one day. That notion now looks so far from coming to fruition, it's not funny.

I only see a bright future for spinner Saeed Ajmal. He's a class act. As for the team, I'm unsure on a "bright future", they were enjoying themselves in Dubai. Gul was enjoying himself even after being denied a wicket with a no ball when England were reeling at 7-88 in the second innings, thinking he'd claimed his fifth. Prefer to see more of this side to be honest to make a better assessment. I haven't seen them for some time before the Dubai encounter. The second Test will tell us more.

I caught some of it last night on FS. Their spin bowler (forget his name, sorry), took 10 wickets for the match (7 & 3 respectively) and he has something like 93 test Wickets @ avg. of 27. He's got a good variety and he was extracting good turn on that pitch which was considered a very good pitch for batting. The top order for England were considered woefully out of touch (as Botham put it) and there is two tests to go. And whilst they are to partly to blame it could be that Tremlett gets dropped for Panesar.

Thanks for that. - from that espn link.Wade has 4 x 100's at First Class level. So far he's backed up what Shipperd said back then. Certainly is a "pocket rocket".

Yeah, I heard Wade came from Tassie. Maybe it was Paine that was in his way ? Tassie is doing a stirling job, Nasher. On Wade, he's definitely no slouch with the gloves and his movement. Regarding his batting, the last couple of seasons, if you go through a lot of the results you will notice great contribution from Wade for the Vics. Countless times he has actually been the backbone of an innings whether it be first class or the one-dayer's and either saved the Vic's bacon or put them in a very good spot. IIRC he did it numerous times last season. To be able to nut out innings' like these is a pre-requisite for the top job IMO. He puts value on his wicket. * Agree with the first class record over Paine's too.

Stats were from Cricket Info (ESPN), btw.

Agree DL7. I'm on the Wade bandwagon and considering this is an interesting scenario, including the story of Paine's injured finger, I thought I'd compare the two statistically at First Class level: - Tim Paine Age: 27 Matches: 46 Inns: 84 Runs: 2467 HS: 215 Average: 31.62 100's: 1 50's: 18 Catches: 130 Stumpings: 6 * Paine has also played 4 Test Matches, 8 innings, 287 runs in total @ avg. of 35.87 with 2 x 50's, 16 Catches and 1 stumping. High Score: 92. Matthew Wade Age: 24 Matches: 50 Inns: 74 Runs: 2490 HS: 113* Average: 40.16 100's: 4 50's: 17 Catches: 183 Stumpings: 5 It's hard to argue that Paine is better than Wade. Whichever way the selectors go, you can bet the Australian keeping job will be in good hands. No pun intended.

It does make some sense. Siddle has been up for a while, and the Border-Gavaskar is ours. What do you think of the article re: Haddin and Wade maybe leap-frogging the injured Paine ? Must admit, I like Wade (as a cricketer). I think I've said that before ... edit: clarification