MadAsHell

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/ireland-would-boost-test-cricket-jason-gillespie-20141215-1281o1.html#comments This! In the 2007 World Cup they had wins over Pakistan, Bangladesh and drew with Zimbabwe. 2011 they beat England & Netherlands and really pushed India, West Indies & Bangladesh. (Chocked in the Bangladesh game in fact.) They've done far more then either Zimbabwe or Bangladesh did when they achieved Test status. Could be the shot in the arm test cricekt needs. I know I'm looking forward to attending their ODI during the World Cup against Zimbabwe down at Bellrieve Oval in March next year.

Well it'll certainly be a different looking team for the GABBA test! http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/josh-hazlewood-mitchell-starc-replace-ryan-harris-peter-siddle-for-second-test-20141216-128677.html Hopefully the bouncy GABBA wicket should suit both Hazlewood & Starc and hopefully we'll see Rhino back for Boxing Day with any luck. Smith to number 4 no great suprise I don't think. The question will be which Shaun Marsh will turn up this time at number 5? Golden Duck, or one of the best 150's we'll ever see?

Yes Bedi is another very good sub-continent finger spinner who often had batsmen in all sorts especially on the turning tracks of India. Big call, can see the arguments for and against. He's clearly the leader for the future, however given he's batting so well I'm almost concerned we may be asking to much of him to soon. I would have though Haddin being named captain with Smith as Vice Captain and moving up to number 4 may have been enough of a step up to begin with. Having said that if (worst case scenario) Clarke is forced into retirement, then it makes sense to give the gig to Smith now. Another slight concern I have is the potential awkwardness it creates as far as leadership amongst the Test & ODI it could cause. For example if Clarke misses the World Cup, is George Bailey to get the ODI captains gig for the tournament like he had in the series against South Africa, even though Smith was and will be in the team, or do we give Smith both gigs? It's an interesting scenario that will or could arise. Best of luck for him for the rest of the series, so far 214 runs without being dismissed, so lets hope he can do more of the same in Brisbane with the extra responsability.

Yeah I can't believe that I overlooked Lance Gibbs, pretty big oversight there. I lost him in the sea of awesome West Indian fast bowlers. Deadly Underwood's left arm orthodox I think is a field all on it's own which includes the likes of Vettori. Yes they're bowling off spin, but it's spinning the other way, so personally I class it in it's own category.

I see what you mean Nasher. Outside of the sub-continent I'd have to agree with you, off spin bowlers just don't seem o have the same success that the pace or leg spinners have been able to get. Only one off spin bolwer outside the sub-continent has taken more then 200 wickets and that's Graeme Swan with 255, the next closest is another Englishman in Jim Laker who according to Richie Beneaud is the best off spin bowler he ever saw play. Laker took 193 wickets with a bowling average around 21. The other non sub-continent nations best performers have been Hugh Tayfield from South Africe who took 170 but stopped playing in 1960, Sonny Ramadhin for the Windies with 158 who finished in 1961 and Hugh Trumble for Australia with 141 who stopped in 1904. Worth noting New Zealand haven't produced one off spin bowler to get to 100 wickets. Once you look at Sri Lanka, India & Pakistan all of the sudden we see names like Muralithern, Harbijan Singh, Saqlain Mushtag & Saeed Ajmal who get to play on dust bowls on a regula basis. Nathan Lyon has been able to play a role in this Australian team and shown steady improvement while doing so. Something Hauritz was unable to do and none of the many spinenrs tried looked like being capable of doing. If he's able to become our first ever off spin bowler to 150 wickets and the second ever outside the sub-continent then it's a credit to him and to the coaches who have been able to turn him into a valuable player. I stiil don't think he's effective playing in the sub-continent though given his style of bowling.

Agree with what you say Macca. Up until yesterday I was hoping the World Cup would be his ODI swan song and he'd keep going with Tests for a few more years yet. But given these injuries just keep surfacing, I no longer reckon the World Cup is worth the risk. As if he picks up a major injury, it could force him out of the Ashes, which for me has to be the main objective. I hope he can bounce back and remain injury free. But his fitness is becoming a major concern, and in my opinion ODI cricket just may have to make way now in order to make sure we can get him through tests.

But back onto the test just completed. Well done once more to Nathan Lyon. To put it all into perspective as far as what he's achieved so far in his career, he is now 3rd on the list of all time Australian wicket takers as far as finger spinners are concerned as his 12 wicket hall moved him past Monty Noble and into 25th overal for Australian wicket takers with 127. He's now only 5 wickets behind Ashley Mallett and 14 behind Hugh Trumble to become our greatest ever off spin wicket taker which is an amazing achievement. And in other wicket taking news, Peter Siddle is only 8 wickets shy of becoming the 15th Australian to the 200 wicket mark, but sadly I don't think he'll ever get the opportunity to add to his 192.

Agree Macca, there certainly are players coming through and options available for the Aussies, even though at times there mightn't seem like much. Our fast bowling especially are looking good. Outside Johnson, Harris & Siddle, there's obviously Starc & Hazlewood. We're seeing Cummins making steps back into international cricket with his recent ODI & T20 appearances, and lets not forget about one James Pattinson who's currently on the injury come back trail. As far as the keeper spots go Matthew Wade looked much improved in the ODI series, Chris Hartley's batting is improving at state level and then there's the young Sam Whiteman coming through the ranks and the ever reliable Victorian born NSW keeper Peter Nevill also on the scene. James Muirhead & Adam Zampa are two young spinners who should be watched with interest over the coming years. Who knows, maybe even Ashton Agar isn't done with yet. And as far as the batsmen go, as you've mentioned, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddison, Joe Burns & Jordan Silk, all still very young and all with a lot of talent who hopefully have long careers ahead. As far as the rest of this series and Clarke's absence are concerned. I'd be giving Haddin the captaincy for the rest of this series and look to retire Clarke from ODI cricket immediatly and hope to get him right for the Windies tour. His loss in the ODI team isn't as great as it is in the test team as we have enough good ODI players at international level to come in for him. Cameron White, Adam Voges & Shaun Marsh have all shown in white ball cricket that they're more then capable of competing with the best. It appears Shaun Marsh will come in and bat at 5 much to my objection as I just don't think he 's up to international standard in test cricket. If they wanted an older experienced player in I'd of rathered Adam Voges who can also bowl handy left arm orthodox, has leadership experience and has a superior first class average and is coming off 2 100's against Victoria, or giving Callum Ferguson a go. He top scored for SA on Thursday with 11 of their 45! Anyway it will be interesting to see how things play out of the coming days, weeks and even months for that matter. Well done again to the Aussies for a simply brilliant performance and Nathan Lyon, David Warner, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke & Virat Kohli all who displayed some of the best individual performances I've ever seen. That innings of Kohli's was the best 5th day innings I've seen since Ponting in the 3rd Ashes Test of 2005 at Trent Bridge. They both edge ahead of Faf Du Plessis Adelaide innings against us as both Ponting & Kohli were also going for a win at the same time. Faf never had that intention but was still a brilliant innings.

Slightly off topic now, but a great win last evening by the Vics in the Shield against WA over at the WACA, and it's fantastic to see them on top of the table a the half way point of the season after their disaster of a season last year. Their batting performances have been particularly impressive given the majority of the runs have come from some younger and lesser known players in Peter Handscomb & Marcus Stoinis along with Dan Christian who's showing the form of why he was named 12th Man for Australia on a couple of occasions at Test level a few years back. Scott Boland & NSW import Chris Tremain have led the fast bowlers well and Fawad Ahmed's back bowling his leg spinners nicely again after an ordinary past season. Only disapointing thing so far would be poor Peter Handscomb has probably missed out on a rough chance of getting a call up as cover for Clarke. After the first three rounds of the Shield he was the comps leading run scorer after having only had 4 innings, but made two centuries & a 50. However he didn't get a bat in the round 4 match due to the match being called off after day 1 and he then injured his finger before the last round and missed due to injury, meaning he hasn't had a bat for some time and now the season is entering big bash mode. Fingers crossed for him that when the Shield resumes his form hasn't gone and he can keep pushing his claims as one of the countries best young batsmen. As fot now it appears Shaun Marsh has been named as cover (something I still don't understand) especially given the form Adam Voges has been showing and given his superior first class average. Still I digress.

Yeah he needs grip and bounce which he gets plenty of in Australia, South Africa and to a degree, New Zealand & England. But in the sub-continent & Windies on slower & lower wickets doesn't get as much of either. I can't see it happening, but I really think the selectors should take a horses for courses approach with our spin bowler until we find an out and out great again. When playing at home and the other countries that offer some bounce and grip then Lyon is an automatic. When touring the sub-continent & Windies however I think they should pick Fawad Ahmed who grew up on those wickets and is likely to get more out of them.

Another wicketless day with ball in hand for Siddle. It really is sad at how quickly he's fallen away. Less then 18 months ago he was streets ahead of the rest of our bowlers.

It will be very interesting to see how the Adelaide Test plays out when it begins on Tuesday, and the manner in which it's played. Will be working so won't get to catch a big deal of it apart from the final day. Cricket Australia, the BCCI and all the venues and partners deserve a lot of credit for the way they've handled everything during a difficult time.

I'd say Hazlewood is as good as home to make his debut. I'd say the only chance Siddle has of making the XI is if Rhino doesn't quite get up if he's sore after his comeback Shield games. I'm suprised they haven't named a replacement for Clarke already, I'd be amazed if he's fit to play the 1st Test. I just pray if not Shaun Marsh or Phil Hughes. Hughes should only come back in once Rogers time has gone and Marsh just isn't good enough. His first class average (for someone who's 30) suggests as much. I'd rather as I said early, see Peter Handscomb given a go, or failing that Joe Burns or worst case scenario one of Callum Ferguson or Adam Voges given the chance to see how they go at the next level.

I haven't posted on this thread for awhile for some unknown reason: But for the first test, assuming Haddin & Harris are fit to play and Clarke is unfit I'd be going with: C. Rogers D. Warner S. Watson S. Smith P. Handscomb M. Marsh +B. Haddin* M. Johnson R. Harris N. Lyon J. Hazlewood 12th Man: P. Siddle Firstly I'd certainly keep Rogers in place of Hughes. Rogers had a shocking 2nd test v Pakistan but was solid in the first. I'd expect the plan with Rogers is for him to play until the end of the Ashes series next year given his knowledge of English conditions. There for I'd expect he'd be given the first two tests v India to score some runs. Watson to bat at three, as he's the best option we have for that spot at the moment, and I'd also move Smith up to 4 and make him vice captain. Give him some good responsibility without throwing him to the wolves as captain just yet. Haddin to be given the captaincy gig as he's the obvious choice, especially as it's only going to be on a short term basis and Lyon for mine holds his spot just from a quiet challenge from Fawad Ahmed who's taken 14 wickets @ 27 in 3 Shield Matches so far. Lyon bowls at his best in our conditions, but please lets not take him on a tour of an asian nation again! But as for my two biggest inclusions. I'd favour Josh Hazlewood over Peter Siddle who unfortunatly I think is cooked. He seems to have become ineffective in test cricket, and with Hazlewood's extra pace and bounce, I think he'll compliment Johnson & Harris nicely. Given we also have the medium pace of Watson & Marsh to call on, I think the stock bowler of Siddle is less necessary then what it once was. And finally, the man to replace Michael Clarke, I've gone with a left field choice of young Victorian Peter Handscomb. Reasons being that after 3 Shield rounds he's the leading run scorer with 348 runs @ 116.00, 24 more runs then equal second place Joe Burns & Callum Ferguson, despite the fact Handscomb has batted two less innings then both. With two centuries and a 50 in 4 innings, Handscomb is well and truly in form and at only 23 years of age he's a true batting talent that we haven't seen a lot of recently. He's capable of openning the batting and batting in the middle order, as you'll see from his first class matches over the years. He's a good fieldsman who can also keep wicket, and despite the fact that his career average so far is only 35.73, Michael Clarke made his test debut with a similar average due to his huge potential, and we've seen how his star rose. Otherwise our other options suck as Ferguson, Doolan, S. Marsh & Khawaja with all similar first class averages, hwoever all in the mid 20's to 30 and scope for improvement not as great. I don't think Handscomb will be picked, they'll likely go with Ferguson, but I think this is a real opportunity for the selectors to be bold and pick a young player on the way up at just the right time.

Agree that Broad could be an option, although making bowlers captain doesn't seem to be the done thing. Think Vettori or Pollock were the last ones?Think they need to get Morgan into the XI now, given he's a good chance to eventually get the gig. Buttler coming in for Prior's a given, especiallg given Craig Keiswetter broke his eye socket recently who would have been the best replacement IMO. Daniel Briggs the left arm spinner should come in for Ali who's not quite a bowler, not quite a batsman. And the angry irish fast bowler Boyd Rankin should also come in for Plunkett to give them a bit of x factor with his pace and bounce. XI for the 3rd Test should be: A. Cook* S. Robson I. Bell G. Ballance J. Root E. Morgan +J. Buttler S. Broad D. Briggs J. Anderson B. Rankin Stokes to be 12th man.

Poor old england can't take a trick at the moment. Cook copping it from all angles, Prior pulling out of the squad for surgery. Stokes, their shinning light from the ashes currently averaging 0.00 with the bat after three innings, Anderson facing suspension, still no specialist spinner. Oh and even better, the man most likely to be their next captain can't get a gig in the long form of the game! Wouldn't know where to start with england myself, they're a few cans short of a 6 pack. Think they should stick with Cook as captain for now while the series is still alive, given they backed him into it.

Haha, oh I love schadenfreude. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of blokes. Serves them right for their arrogance at their 3-0 victory last year when they thought all was still well despite the fact the series was much closer then the score line suggested. Cook's a great player, but he's far to conservative to be captain. They'd be better off bringing in someone like Morgan to bat in the middle order and be captain. He may not have the best first class record, but they need someone with some direction and positivity at the helm, let Cook worry about his batting.

How's this for an upcoming summer of cricket! http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/hectic-home-international-cricket-season-20140623-zsidi.html And South Africa, India & England all out here, the three top drawing nations you can get, and to think this is all followed by the World Cup also is just making for an epic summer of cricket. First international of the summer a T20 v RSA on November 5 in Adelaide and the final international is the ODI World Cup final in Melbourne on March 29. FIve months worth thankyou very much! A couple of things caught my eye. No Perth Test is a shame, would rathered ditch Brisbane myself, no ODI's outside the World Cup being played in Adelaide and Australia not playing any in Brisbane all made for curious reading.

Shifter Shehan mentioned on TAC Futuer Stars yesterday that Stretch impressed across half back in that game and that he expects him to get drafted.

I reckon we may end up in 13th position giving us Pick 6, then I think Picks 25 & 43 (roughly). Pick 6 I'm really keen on Jake Lever out of the Calder Cannons. 192cm Key position defender. Think a Sam Fisher meets Jarred Rivers type, great disposal and provides a fair bit of run to. Probably needs to add another 10kg but at TAC level he holds his own in 1 on 1 battles no problem. He would give us another tall defender coming through with Dunn, Frawley & Garland all bring there for the best part of 8 years plus now. Pick 25 I'd love Jake's Calder Cannons team mate Touk Miller despite his terrible first name. He reminds me of Ben McGlynn actually, but with the pace of Prestia or Kent. Great burst of speed and he gets in and under and he's also very effective inside the forward 50 making him an ideal small forward (at 177cm) in his first few seasons. Pick 43 Billy Stretch (Father/Son) Thankyou very much, and the young midfielder/forward will go along way to helping us with our lack of speed on the outside. If we do commit to him, it may sway Viney/Taylor/Roos's decision on whether or not to offer Blease another contract or not?

Something that I'm following started on Monday which is the World Cup qualifying tournament for the final two spots available after Ireland & Afghanistan previously secured their births. Ten teams are competing in this contest which runs for about 3 weeks I think it is in New Zealand, which will see some pretty competative cricket being played. The format is two groups of 5. You play everyone in your group, and the top three teams go through to the super 6's where you play the other groups top 3. After which the teams are ranked from 1-6 from the five games they've played against eachother with the top two teams gaining entry to the World Cup and also playing against eachother in the final for position of seeding. There were some interesting results Day 1 by the way! Netherlands v Uganda Probably the tournament favourites kicked off proceedings against one of the outsiders Uganda. The African nation won the toss and elected to bat and got off to a great start with openning with pair Mukasa & Mutyagaba putting the favourites on the back foot by scoring at a good click at putting on over 50 for the openning partnership. Uganda's momentum was halted hower in the 17th over when Mukasa was hit on the pads in front for 44 with the score on 76 to the part time off spin of former Western Australian Warriors batsman Michael Swart. This wicket proved to be the turning point of the match, as Uganda who put on 76 for the first wicket, only added a further 76 for the remaining 9. Dutch left arm orthodox spinner Michael Rippon proving to be the chief destroyer capturing 4 wickets as Uganda were all out for 152 in 46.1 overs. The Netherlands run chase was never in any real serious doubt. Myburgh made a brisk 22 off only 12 deliveries and fell with the score on 27, but a 35 run partnership for the 2nd wicket and 85 run stand for the 3rd with half centuries to wicket keeper batsman Barresi and skipper Borren and the Netherlands keeping their run rate at over 5 an over saw them never challenged. Uganda 152 (46.1 overs) R. Mukasa 44 M. Rippon 4/15 (10) A. Mutyagaba 36 M. Swart 2/28 (10) L. Sematimba 15 M. Bukhari 2/30 (9) Netherlands 3/155 (30.1 overs) W. Barresi 61* D. Arinaitwe 1/26 (6) P. Borren 50 C. Waiswa 1/27 (6) S. Myburgh 22 F. Ochimi 1/34 (5) Nepal v United Arab Emirates An even money contest was expected in the match between the ever improving Nepal and the under achieving UAE, who have only ever made one previous world cup despite the money and facilities at hand that other associate nations would die for. Nepal won the toss and elected to field which looked to be a master stroke when Amjad Ali was run out for a duck in the first over leaving the UAE at 1/1. Despite the early set back, the UAE skipper Khurram Khan coming in at number 3 decided that attack was the best form of defence as he played a run a ball innings before being adjudged lbw for 21 leaving UAE at 2/42 in the 8th over. And when openning batsman Salman Faris was dismissed for a more patient 35 when the score was on 81 after 17 overs the game was right in the ballance. UAE batsman Shaiman Anwar & S Patil turned this tight contest into one way traffick however with a breath taking 145 run partnership which saw Anwar bring up the first century of the tournament at better then a run a ball. When he was finally dismissed for 109, the UAE were sitting at 4/226 with more then 10 overs up their sleeve. Patil carried on his merry way with support from the middle to lower order which saw the UAE reach 8/297 after their 50 overs, a target that was always going to be a tough ask for Nepal on a wicket that was offering a bit of movement to the quicks, a known weakness of Nepal. As expected Nepal found the going tough against the new ball in their run chase and by the time Malla was dismissed for 4, they found themselves 5/53 after 18 overs and out of the contest. To Nepal's credit their middle to lower order worked hard to nearly bat out the full 50 overs thanks to a half century from Vesawkar who was well supported by Bhandari & Gauchan, but on the first ball of the 49th over Nepal were put out of their missery as UAE claimed a 102 run victory which will make other countries take notice for the rest of this tournament. United Arab Emirates 8/297 S. Anwar 109 B. Regmi 3/43 (10) S. Patil 74 J. Mukhiya 2/58 (8) S. Faris 35 S. Gauchan 1/42 (10) Nepal 195 (48.1 overs) S. Vesawkar 54 K. Shazad 3/46 (10) S. Gauchan 37* K. Khan 2/19 (5) B. Bhandari 37 A. Guruge 2/25 (7) Kenya v Papua New Guinea The 2003 World Cup semi finalist Kenya were up against PNG, a country who have never made it this far in the World Cup qualifying process, so many would think this would be a walk in the park for Kenya, however Papua New Guinea who's three most recent coaches have been Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel & Stuart Law were always confident this was a winable game for them. PNG won the toss and elected to field first and they gave themselves every opportunity of an upset win by not allowing Kenya to ever get away from them by continuing to take wickets throughout whenever the Kenyan's looked to put their foot down. Kenyan batsman Collins Obuya made an impressive century and some late order hitting from Odoyo made sure Kenya would post a competative score of 9/249. But with only one partnership of over 50 through the innings and one of under 10, neither side was able to claim being completely on top of the contest. PNG quick Haoda was impressive with his sharpness claiming 4 wickets. Things looked to change however when PNG openning batsman Ura was dismissed 4th ball of the run chase before PNG had put a run on the board and Kenya by how much? was the though of many at that point in time. However openning batsman Siaka and number three Vala had read a different script and turned the game on it's head with 154 run partnership for the second wicket at close to seven an over. Siaka was the main aggresor who made 103 off only 83 deliveries with 11 boundaries and four sixes. When Siaka was dismissed Kenya would have given themselves a chance of running through the rest of the PNG line up, however Vala simply took up the aggresors role which also saw him bring up a ton and he was well supported by skipper Amini as Papua New Guinea cruised to an 8 wicket victory with 43 deliveries remaining turning the competition on it's head in the openning round. Kenya 9/249 C. Obuya 106 R. Haoda 4/50 (9) T. Odoyo 42 P. Raho 2/47 (10) M. Ouma 24 M. Dai 1/19 (5) Papua New Guinea 2/250 (42.5 overs) A. Vala 105* N. Odhiambo 1/43 (10) L. Siaka 103 S. Ngoche 1/49 (8.5) C. Amini 28* Hong Kong v Scotland The close one of the openning round was out at Queenstown where Hong Kong and Scotland were to do battle. On paper Scotland were the favourites, however a string of poor results and internal issues have been haunting Scotland for some time, which saw a Australia/Darren Lehmann style situation in which Scotlands coach was sacked only weeks ago and Paul Collingwood appointed, which Scotland were no doubt hoping would have a similar effect to the one Lehmann's had with the Aussies. Scotland won the toss and elected to field and had Hong Kong at 1/5 in the third over, however consecutive fifty run partnerships that openner Irfan Ahmed was involved in was setting a solid platform for Hong Kong. However the fall of Hong Kong's third wicket triggered a mid innings collapse of 3/31 in 5.1 overs to leave Hong Kong at 5/159 after 37.4 overs, no doubt leaving Scotland hopeful of wrapping the innings up for 200-220. Hong Kong's middle order had other ideas however as B. Hayat & Tanwir Afzal put on the innings best partnership of 67 runs off only 58 balls which then left Aizaz Khan to get in on the act with Afzal. At the end of Hong Kong's 50 overs a score of 7/263 was on the board which would require an impressive chase by Scotland in order to avoid an early upset loss. The run chase got off to a rocky start for Scotland when skipper Coetzer was dismissed in the fourth over and a steady loss of wickets for Scotland just when partnerships were building saw them slump to 4/71 after 16 overs and in serious trouble. Number 4 batsman P. Mommsen & number 6 R. Taylor went about rebuilding the innings for Scotland with Mommsen taking the more cautious approach and Taylor looking to play his shots. However as the partnership reached 50, Taylor looked to play one aggresive shot to many and lost his wicket. Mommsen looked to try and rescue the innings again but was having trouble finding willing partners and when Scottish bowler Sharif was dismissed for 9, it looked like Hong Kong would waltz to victory with Scotland at 8/172, needing 92 from 71 deliveries with only two wickets in hand. Enter Scottish spinner R. Haq who may have mistaken this One Day Match with a Test Match at the rate he was scoring, however he was staying in which allowed Mommsen who was still at the crease to finally tee off and launch one final assault for Scotland. Mommsen & Haq put on over 50 for the 9th wicket which was Scotlands best for the innings and saw Mommsen bring up his century, however almost immediatley after he did this Haq's defensive reign came to an end when he was dismissed for 14 leaving Scotland needing 40 runs off 19 balls for the last wicket. Number 11 I. Wardlaw did what he needed to do and scored a single off every delivery he faced allowing Mommsen to continue his one man show. However unfortunatly for Scottish fans, Mommsen chasing another big shot was caught in the deep for 118 off the bowling of N. Ahmed who claimed his fourth wicket allowing Hong Kong to capture a tense 17 run victory. Hong Kong 7/263 I. Ahmed 75 I. Wardlaw 3/57 (10) T. Afzal 42 M. Machan 2/37 (8) M. Chapman 36 R. Haq 1/45 (10) Scotland 246 (48.4 overs) P. Mommsen 118 N. Ahmed 4/37 (9.4) M. Machan 34 H. Amjad 3/53 (9) R. Taylor 28 A. Khan 1/33 (6) On Wednesday round two gets underway with Namibia playing their first match against the tournament favourites Netherlands and Canada who have made the last three world cups play against the impressive UAE who have not made it to a World Cup since 1996. Papua New Guinea have a chance to build on their impressive early win taking on the poorly performed Uganda on Thursday while Nepal & Scotland will both be desperate for a win in their clash. Hong Kong & Kenya have the byes this round. Standings so far. GROUP A United Arab Emirates Hong Kong Canada Scotland Nepal GROUP B Netherland Papua New Guinea Namibia Kenya Uganda

http://www.espncricinfo.com/new-zealand-v-west-indies-2013-14/content/current/story/701827.html Given this latest news I want Ryder re-instated into my XI!

Your not wrong TU, I think we saw our bowlers looking tired for the first time this series in the afternoon session. That coupled with probably a little bit nervous as to what they know is ahead... I expect McDermott would of had a good word to them overnight and hopefully we'll see a much improved performance today. Only 13 overs till the new ball also, so that will be telling. I'd open with Harris & Johnsons, even if just for two overs each and then rest them before the new ball and let Lyon and possibly Watson go to work on them with the old ball for the next 9 overs. If England were to chase down 504 (86 runs more then the current world record for a 4th innings chase) then they deserve to win. But I'm not to nervous yet. If Stokes & Prior add another 100 runs without a wicket going down, then I'll start to feel a little concerned, but it's extremely unlikely to occur.

We're only 50 runs away from setting them a world record run chase, so fair to say things are looking pretty good given the way England have been batting. I reckon they might just bat normal for the first hour and then throw the bat for 20-30 minutes and set them something around the 450 mark for victory. Give themselves the best part of 5 sessions to bowl England out. But they may bat longer, who knows??? You wonder what England can do for the remainder of the series, especially if Broad can't ake any further part? It's a long, long way back for the right now....

It's difficult to always say at the WACA. Last year South Africa were bowled out for 225, yet went onto win the match by about 400 runs. The WACA of recent times seems to be at it's best to bowl on Day 2 and then flatens out a bit until the cracks open up on the last day. I'm happy with our score at stumps, given we've got 4 wickets in hand and their bowlers have looked tired since lunch. If we can get to 400, which is looking good then we're unlikely to loose this match unless England pull one out of nowhere! Great performances by Smith with good support from Haddin & Johnson and a valuable contribution from Warner at the top also, As TU says, there's some serious question marks on our batting. Watson & Bailey I believe are our two biggest issues followed by Rogers given his age. The other concern is the two leading run getters in the Shiled are Marcus North & Cameron White, no spring chickens, so it's not as if we've got anyone currently banging down the door!