Nasher

To be fair, I doubt that view was shared by the overwhelming majority. The great thing about forums like this is the variety of views; the cost of that is you get the odd silly one pop up.

He basically just tackled him by the arm, having had no choice after Weller gave him the "don't argue". It would have seriously hurt, and also happened to leave Weller no legal way of disposing of the ball. Loved it.

Squad for WI tour: NSW Michael Clarke Steve Smith Brad Haddin Josh Hazlewood Nathan Lyon Peter Nevill Mitchell Starc David Warner Shane Watson QLD Ryan Harris VIC Fawad Ahmed Chris Rogers Peter Siddle WA Mitchell Johnson Shaun Marsh Mitchell Marsh Adam Voges Tas and SA not represented. Harris was named with an * next to his name, and is apparently not going. Not sure why he was named in the squad, then... Lots of the usual bitching and moaning on facebook and stuff about NSW being over-represented, but it's pretty hard to name anyone from the squad who doesn't belong there. Everyone has their opinion on Watson, but he's obviously still well in favour with the selectors. There are even a few other NSW players whose cases could be pressed, such as Pat Cummins. Peter Siddle is lucky to be in the squad IMO. Good to see Adam Voges selected as a reward for good form. Players being overlooked for being too old despite great form is hopefully a thing of the past. Hopefully they've learned something from Chris Rogers being overlooked for many years. Anyone know where James Pattinson is at? He took 0/131 in the Shield final and only bowled 5.5 overs in the second innings. Injured again? His brittleness has to be a worry, although we seem pretty well covered for talented quicks at this stage. Really pleased that Fawad Ahmed is in the squad. He is far and away the best spin bowler in the country IMO.

Without meaning to turn in to a whinging bitch after such a good finish, I'd love to see the MFC put in high class performances like that, where ability need to combine with some serious calm to deliver victory against one of the absolute best oppositions. AFL is my favourite sport, and I've almost started to forget what it is I love about sport after so many years of our team sucking. This match - and the Aus vs NZ match earlier - have reminded me of that.

When Elliott and Anderson were new at the crease I was thinking hmmm, don't have much faith in this fairly non-descript middle order. Thought they both batted sensationally - kept the runs ticking along, then picked up the pace at the right time. Shame Anderson got out and wasn't there to finish, though Vettori being there definitely added to the theatrics. I was barracking hard for NZ and felt so nervous I narrowly avoided missing the last 3 overs due to the need to chuck my guts up. Great, great stuff. Up there with the best finishes ever, I reckon.

Sadly I think he's being serious. deeflating, meet (Sir) WYL.

Thanks for sharing dazz - but I reckon this is a bit of a "no duh" type story. I've never understood why everyone flocked to the conspiracy theory ("Neeld vetoed the decision") when the simplest idea was the most likely: the guy in charge of recruiting picked the more highly rated player to the surprise of absolutely nobody with any credibility.

Amazing how the two innings were almost mirrors of each other actually. In addition to Southee and Johnson sucking immensely, it was hard to split Boult and Starc's performance with the ball after both absolutely tore through the oppositions middle-lower order. In the first three overs of his second spell, Boult had 5/1. Wow.

Great finish. The McCullum Show aside, it was definitely the bowlers' day (Johnson and Southee being wayward notwithstanding). Boult was amazing as was Starc. Tim Southee had a game to forget all round - a golden duck to go with his 2/65 off 9!

Three posts in a row about the Heat being put to the sword, Smithy. Not a fan?

Watching the t20 tonight. I know it's not the full picture and I doubt Hogg was suggesting was suggesting picking Boyce, but he was bowling complete rubbish. If he ever gets picked, expect Jason Krezja like figures. Ahmed on the other hand looks very sharp. I haven't seen much of him bowl before, but he hits the spot and spins it. I'm very impressed and if Boyce and Agar are the level of competition he's up against then it's only a matter of time before he's in. What's Ahmed's fielding like?

Assuming it's one of Watson or Burns to go, Agar slots in at 8 with Ryano at 9 (what a luxury), with everyone from Johnson up to shimmy up a spot for mine. Interesting choice - he hasn't stood out at Shield level, though I have trust in the group in charge of the team at present, so if they say so. I'd just like to take this opportunity to declare my man-love for Ryan Harris. He's proven to be a truly dependable, tough, aggressive player. His journey has been amazing too - was a genuine B grader until his very late 20s - just goes to show that it's never too late to hit ones straps in this sport. Even with his wrecked body I reckon Ryano for 1/2-3/4 of a series is better than a whole series of the next best.

Shaun Marsh! Noooooooooooo. Shattered.

I'm trying my best to grab any memory of Brad Williams and can't find one. I vaguely remember the name but that's it. Can't even remember his feats at Shield level, though admittedly I wasn't paying stacks of attention to it during that time. I always thought Bracken was a handy bowler who was unlucky not to get more opportunity at Test level.

Steve Smith has turned in to a phenomenal player. Doesn't feel like that long ago when he was a 21 year old not-quite-batsman-not-quite-bowler selected early, that had everyone going "bloody NSW bias". Just another case of mugs on the outer thinking they know more about the blokes paid to select the team, really. His early selection was an investment in the future that has definitely paid off.

This just goes to show how bare the cupboard has been, really. And without wanting to be too harsh on a guy who has just bowled us to victory, it probably also shows the overall worth of specialist off-spinners in general at Test level.

Is that the "win games off his own bat and just about snare a Brownlow when playing 2/3 of the season" role? Yes, yes, I think he'd be perfectly suited to that role.

Just heard as well. I feel sick. Heartbreaking. Sparing a thought for Sean Abbott as well.

I can't remember a draft where the #1 wasn't settled, even as late as the day before the event. It's certainly made it intriguing, especially since we're the holder of the next two picks!

What is the value in tests like that?

Can you please point out where anyone is suggesting anything other than him earning it?

But it's absolutely fine for a #2? Odd comment.

No problem with the requirement of kicking the door down. Others in this thread have instead removed the door and replaced it with a brick wall before he's arrived at the front gate.

What happens if we don't pick McCartin for round 1, and he kicks 10 goals in the VFL? Is he then ready for a game? Why is Hogan any different? Zero games in the AFL and injured for his entire first season on the senior list. He's coming from the same base, is he not? I know my McCartin 10 VFL goals example isn't realistic - I'm just trying to understand the logic of why he's automatically excluded by some for round 1 when we haven't even drafted him yet, let alone exposed him to any form, and where the boundaries of this logic lie.

The first few at least and was moved forward a few times to no effect.