MadAsHell

Tea Day 2 England 238 A. Cook 51 J. Trott 49 K. Pietersen 26 N. Lyon 4/42 (20) J. Bird 2/58 (22) R. Harris 2/70 (19) Australia 4/148 C. Rogers 71* S. Watson 37* S. Smith 17 S. Broad 3/40 (14) T. Bresnan 1/37 (10) G. Swann 0/9 (5) Tough cricket out there but good to see Rogers and Watson hanging tough. Suprised England didn't bowl Swann at Watson more early? We've got their lead down to under 100 now. If we can be about level with the loss of no more then 7 wickets at stumps then we're looking in a reasonable position. Fingers crossed Rogers can break his 100 duck and Watson break his trott of scores under 50 after tea!

Lunch Day 2 England 238 A. Cook 51 J. Trott 49 K. Pietersen 26 N. Lyon 4/42 (20) J. Bird 2/58 (22) R. Harris 2/70 (19) Australia 3/75 C. Rogers 41* S. Smith 17* M. Clarke 6 S. Broad 3/23 (7) G. Swann 0/8 (3) T. Bresnan 0/13 (3) Interesting session and Broad was bowling really well while the other bowlers don't look quite as threatening. A bit of luck for Rogers which is nice and both he and Smith are looking reasonable at the crease. 300 has to be our goal now given the early wickets. Clarke's was a very poor shot I must say and poor old Khawaja has posted another poor score and another innings passes without Warner getting to 50... Lets hope we can have a wicketless session coming up and put some pressure on England.

You're right about Lyon, very impressive performance on a pitch that wasn't turning a heap, but as you say did seem slow and the batsmen struggled to time. With all our batsmen outside of Clarke needing runs to justify their positions I'm hoping they'll seize this opportunity to out us in a dominant position and put as well clear of the 320 you mentioned which as you said would be a decent total on this wicket.

Haha, very good RR, I like it! In my defence I did say fingers crossed, not that he would or even that I thought he would. My formal position on Maxwell is that he's a seriously talented cricketer with all of bat, ball and in the field. Of those three areas I think batting is his weakness due to consistency, but that can be improved over time. You're right that he looked well out of his depth over in India and it's clearly to early for him right now. But I would put him in the same field with James Faulkner and Mitch Marsh as talented all rounders who could become decent players if they're able to improve certain aspects of their games. Marsh & Faulkner being an ability to make more runs and Maxwell needs to improve his technique/temperment and also tighten up his bowling some what. Personally after Watson I reckon the next best all rounder in the country at this stage would be Andrew McDonald so I can't see Maxwell getting a call up anytime soon. But as you say, if he's able to prove himself in different conditions over time with more then just the occasional 50 or 100 off a handful of deliveries or seldom bag of wickets on turning tracks only then he could be a player. He's in the maybe pile of players for mine as far as having a test career goes, but I do see a decent career in the ODI & T20 formats

Stumps on Day 1 England 9/238 A. Cook 51 J. Trott 49 K. Pietersen 26 N. Lyon 4/42 (20) R. Harris 2/70 (19) S. Watson 1/21 (13) Shame we leaked a few runs at the end of the day but all and all a great day for the Aussies and especially Nathan Lyon. It looks a pretty flat wicket. So fingers crossed we can knock them over early tomorrow and then go out there and make 400-500 and really apply some pressure!

Add Bell to his list of scalps Macca! What a bizzare shot to play first over after tea???

Tea on Day 1 England 4/155 A. Cook 51 J. Trott 49 K. Pietersen 26 N. Lyon 2/28 (7) S. Watson 1/20 (10) J. Bird 1/31 (16) Very good sessions there as this seems a very flat and very slow pitch and I reckon it will be hard work for the bowlers all day every day. Pitch made for a draw.... If we can get Bell early after Tea we'll be in a great position to try and knock them over for under 250. Come on Aussies!

When David Warner burst onto the scene just over 4 years ago in a T20 match against RSA I think Test match cricket would have been the furthest thing from peoples minds, yet here we are all this time later and one could argue that after Clarke, Warner's our 2nd best batsman in the test side. I'm certainly not saying that Maxwell will make it or will be the next big thing in Test cricket. But fact of the matter is that's he's still only 24. He has a better First Class batting average then Shaun Marsh who several people still think has some type of a future in our Test side and only has 5 less First class hundreds despite being 6 years Marsh's junior. Also one of those hundreds that Maxwell almost never scores at First Class level happened in the last week of July this year http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/630760.html. Maxwell also has a better First Class bowling average then Nathan Lyon who is currently in our test side bowling the same off breaks. Maxwell's batting was shown up over in India, but then again, Michael Clarke aside, who batting in that tour wasn't shown up over there? They were all horrible. He also showed an ability to take regular wickets in India with the ball with a strike rate of just over 35. His economy was high, but if he's taking a wicket every 6 overs then one cancels the other out. As I said, not saying that Maxwell will make it. But to say that the guy could become a very good player is no more speculative then saying Joe Burns or Josh Hazlewood is going to make it. Agree Biffen, I'm a big fan of Bird. Early days in this test but I reckon England are already playing for the draw in this test to secure the series with a 2-0 lead with 1 test to go. Lunch Day 1 England 1/57 A. Cook 21* J. Root 16 J. Trott 13* S. Watson 1/8 (7) J. Bird 0/15 (8) P. Siddle 0/15 (5) Glad to see Watson listed at 6, his scores can almost be accepted if he's batting down there and taking wickets also.

Not wrong there 45. Here's the match report. http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/current/story/660507.html Went from 8/152 to 8/298 and then a double wicket maiden from Coulter-Nile in the 2nd last over got Australia A over the line against India A who were playing some good players in Rohit Sharma, Raina and Pujara. Maxwell also took a wicket to go with his century. I tell you what, if he can do what David Warner's done (to an extent he has anyway) and learn to adjust his aggresive batting into test form. He could become our genuine spinning all rounder allowing us to play 4 quicks if we wanted? He's a serious talent Maxwell. Fingers crossed he can become our next Doug Walters...

Reckon there's a big chance Bird could come in for Harris as the last and only time Harris has played 3 tests in a row before he broke down, so they may decide to rest Harris given it's back ti back tests and then bring Rhino back for The Oval for whoever's the least impressive of Starc or Bird. Faulkner I'm not sure if he'll get a run in England, but if Watson keep failing to produce Faulkner could come in for Watson for our summer and bat in the middle order. Think you're right about England resting a bowler Macca, and I wouldn't be suprised if it's Anderson. He looked really tired and not his usual self at Old Trafford and now they've retained the Ashes they may rest him. All of Onions, Tremlett & Panesar have been around the squad so they have options. Would love to see them bring Finn back, but doubt that will happen. I agree Rhino that the selectors haven't been kind to Lyon with the way they keep chopping and changing him around the XI. How you can take 9 wickets one test and then be dropped for the next is a head scratcher, whether you were playing on a dust bowl in India or not. And then to drop Agar after his 2nd test when yes he had an ordinary game, but he bowled well and took 2 (should have been 3) wickets on debut at Trent Bridge is equally as odd. The selectors need to decide what they want, a wicket taking spinner or a defensive spinner and stick to that, do they want someone who spins the ball into the right handers or away from them? Bottom line is, when our summer starts I just hope they pick a spinner and give them the 5 tests and then assess their performance from there.

According to cricinfo there's still no sign of play resuming anytime soon, and there for it looks like any chance we had of keeping the Ashes alive have been washed away. Sad really. At least they gave it a red hot shot and can play with a bit of a nothing to loose attitude over the last two tests. If Lyon doesn't produce anything in the next test I'd love to see Fawad Ahmed drafted into the squad to play the last test at the always turning Oval ptch.

This series just can't avoid controversy can it!? Bad light stops play. Australia 1st Innings 7/527dec M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 G. Swann 5/159 (43) S. Broad 1/108 (33) England 1st Innings 368 K. Pietersen 113 A. Cook 62 P. Siddle 4/63 (29.3) M. Starc 3/76 (27) Australia 2nd Innings 7/172 D. Warner 41 M. Clarke 30* T. Bresnan 2/25 (6) J. Anderson 2/37 (8) Well we're 331 ahead and I suspect that will be it for the rest of the day and Clarke will declare overnight setting England 332 for victory on the final day so it's game one! Reckon he would have loved 10-20 overs at them tonight though. Under the old rule we would have been able to keep batting if we wanted but not anymore! Looking forward to an epic final day, although unfortunatly with only 1 day to bat I think England will play for the draw meaning our chances of victory are slim I must say.

Well they've already gone past my mark of a 310 run lead.

And due to the rain we're at an early Tea on Day 4. Australia 1st Innings 7/527dec M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 G. Swann 5/159 (43) S. Broad 1/108 (33) England 1st Innings 368 K. Pietersen 113 A. Cook 62 P. Siddle 4/63 (29.3) M. Starc 3/76 (27) Australia 2nd Innings 5/137 D. Warner 41 U. Khawaja 24 T. Bresnan 2/25 (6) S. Broad 1/30 (7) Lead is currently 296 so aleady England would need a record score at Old Trafford to win this match as the previous best there is 294. As I said in my other post when the rain stops I'd like to see us add as little as another 14 runs and then set England that 311 to win. Currently 38 overs left today as no overs have been lost to rain yet, but that could change. Then 90 overs tomorrow, but allow for rain and there's only a maximum of 128 overs left in this match. We very well could loose this match, but if we do it will be because we've chased the win and I'll cop that if need be. We've outplayed England for 3.5 days and the players have redeemed themselves somewhat from the disaster that was Lords.

Touching back on the subject of young Australian batsmen, this article caught my eye and I find it both concerning and frustrating. http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2013/content/current/story/658449.html I hope CA are doing everything to convince this kid that there's a future for him with Australia, and probably sooner then when he could carve one out with England. How they could allow a talent like this kid to simply walk to England would be criminal. We don't have many batsmen in the country at the moment under 25 who average over 40 in FC cricket apart from Maddinson. Robson's scored 993 runs at an average of 62.06 in County Cricket this season. I just hope the right people are doing everything they can to ensure we have the best players possible playing for Australia. And back onto the current match. I'd actually like to see Autstralia declare once we get to 151 and set England 311 to win, the same amount we had to chase at Trent Bridge Bit of psychological warfare. Pretty much saying to Cook that we weren't good enough to chase that down and we don't think you guys are either!

Nice footage there Macca. An interesting action from Grimmett I must say, seems a more round arm action then a lot of leg spinners, but obviously it worked! Hope the rain stays away, as we look set for another great finish otherwise. If they do take the rain into calculations as if as you say, there's almost certainly going to be rain about tomorrow, might we see a very early declaration and Australia simply set England a ground record run chase of 295 which would see a declaration probably 20 minutes out from tea?

You're spot on there Macca. Lyon needs to learn to mix his bowling up. Below I've attached an article from Ashley Mallett on Lyon earlier this year which still reins true today. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/history-lesson-for-lyon-20130111-2cl5h.html Mallett makes reference to the fact that he to had to learn that in order to be succesful, he needed to vary his delieveries to get more of a dip. Clarrie Grimmet taught Mallet that, below's from the above article. 'I took a train from Perth to Adelaide and walked to his home at Firle. I found him sawing a branch from the top of an old peppercorn tree. Suddenly this 76-year-old leprechaun armed with a Jack Hobbs-autographed cricket bat sprang to the ground. Beside him was a ball in a sock hanging from the branch of the tree. He handed me the bat and said: ''There you are, son. Let's have a look at your batting?'' I baulked at the offer, but the old man was firm: ''Ah, I taught a young man to back-cut on the ship to England in 1930 … and Don Bradman was a fast learner!'' I played one ball and Grimmett said, ''Right, that's enough of your batting.'' We then ventured to the full-sized turf wicket he had in his spacious backyard. Clarrie wore no pads; in fact no protection whatsoever. Wearing black horn-rimmed glasses, he faced up to my first ball. It met the middle of his bat and he called me down the wicket: ''Give up bowling and become a batsman … I could play you blindfolded.'' That really hit home. I was hurt, but I was determined to show him I could bowl. ''Mr Grimmett, I've got a handkerchief in my pocket.'' He placed the handkerchief over his glasses. My second ball hit the middle of his bat and when he stopped laughing, he gave me the best bowling lesson of my life. He talked about the need to achieve a dipping arc and how easy it was for a batsman if he was looking down on the ball. That is always the case when a delivery arrives at a trajectory below the level of the batsman's eye for most of its flight path. Any reasonable batsman would know almost immediately whether the ball is a half-volley or a ball slightly short of a length.' I hope Lyon can bowl well in the 2nd dig and take us towards victory. But sadly like Grimmet facing Mallet, I get the impression the English batsmen could face Lyon blindfolded. Lunch Day 4. Australia 1st Innings 7/527dec M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 G. Swann 5/159 (43) S. Broad 1/108 (33) England 1st Innings 368 K. Pietersen 113 A. Cook 62 P. Siddle 4/63 (29.3) M. Starc 3/76 (27) Australia 2nd Innings 1/24 D. Warner 12* C. Rogers 12 S. Broad 1/10 (3) G. Swann 0/1 (1) I reckon we'll bat for awhile and not go over the top funnily enough. Can see us declaring at 190 allowing us 10 overs at England tonight. Would set them 350 to win off 100 overs at 3.5 an over. Certainly keeping them interested. The weather is a concern, but at the same time I don;t think they should factor it in to much. You don't want to declare to early, have no rain and then leave England with a cofortable chase of about 280 with 4 sessions. Will be interesting to see how they play it?

Agree with you there HT. Just looked up that the highest ever run chase at Old Trafford is 294, so I reckon a target of around 350 will be in the Aussies thinking. Ideally they'll be hoping the wrap Englands innings up for no more then about 350 within the first hour to hour and a half giving us a lead in the area of 170-200. Then just go out there and bat normal through to tea and then maybe unleash for 8-10 overs after tea. Set England 350 to win off about 110-115 overs. Only a run rate of just over 3 an over would be required by England which should keep them interested which is important. If we were to set them 400 in the final day they'd never attempt it and just bat to save the match. But 350 off half the final session of Day 4 and all of Day 5 should be enough to still get them playing some shots which gives our bowlers a better chance of taking the wickets.

Stumps on Day 3. Australia 7/527 M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 C. Rogers 84 G. Swann 5/159 (43) S. Broad 1/108 (33) T. Bresnan 1/114 (32) England 7/294 K. Pietersen 113 A. Cook 62 I. Bell 60 M. Starc 3/75 (26) R. Harris 2/50 (26) P. Siddle 2/53 (25) Good effort by the Aussies. Would have loved 1 more wicket, but will take the 7 down. Important to try and wrap their innings up within the first hour tomorrow morning for around 320-350. Then go out and bat to get our lead to at least 320-350 and declare with an hour to go on Day 4 to keep them interested and increase our chances of taking some wicckets. Could be a big finifh coming up to this test!

Must say that apart from his late spell on Day 2, Lyon hasn't done anything to change my mind that bringing him in for Agar wasn't going to add anything to the team apart from giving us a weaker batting line up. As for the discussion about blooding some young batsmen go, for me it's a case of I wouldn't go out of my way to do it, but if the opportunity arrives I wouldn't be against it. Apart from Clarke our top 6 really is up in the air. Watson & Warner seem to be in a place where they don't know themselves whether they can be bothered working hard enough at the longest form of the game. Hughes is an openner, however shouldn't come back into the XI for some time given the chances he's had. Smith I don't think is going to be good enough at this level and Khawaja has a queston mark. Rogers, while he looks to potentially have the goods, as Macca says, clearly has a shelf life. Maddinson's certainly a batsman who's in form who I'd consider bringing into the side for our home series, but don't feel the need to rush him over now. Ideally I wouldn't be bringing in any really green batsmen until after our home series and the tour of South Africa as they'd be getting a pretty tough initiation. But if they're in form and there's a spot available, then don't shy away from it either. Having said that I wouldn't discount either of Mark Cosgrove or George Bailey at making it into the XI as mature age players if they can produce some good form come the start of the Shield season.

Stumps on Day 2. Australia 7/527 M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 C. Rogers 84 G. Swann 5/159 (43) S. Broad 1/108 (33) T. Bresnan 1/114 (32) England 2/52 A. Cook 36* J. Root 8 J. Trott 2* P. Siddle 2/7 (5) S. Watson 0/0 (5) M. Starc 0/8 (5) Great day for Australia, and I can finally say it, Australia on top,... For now. And good to see us finally get some luck with Bresnan not refering his dismissal. Would love to knock England over tomorrow for under 300 and then bat for half a day and set them 420 in a day and a half. Worst case scenario I'll take having them 8/350 at stumps tomorrow. If they're in any better position then that it will take an effort on our part to get a result in the final two days.

Australia declare at 7/527. Thought they could have batted another hour, but maybe they're concerned about some of the weather around? Come on Aussies, lets get them 3 down tonight to really start and turn the screws!

You might be right there RR. The 4 day leg of the Australia A tour has now ended and not sure if Maddinson was in the OD squad, so he could be a handy inclusion seeing as he's in form. Tea on Day 2. Australia 7/507 M. Clarke 187 S. Smith 89 C. Rogers 84 G. Swann 5/149 (41) S. Broad 1/108 (33) T. Bresnan 1/114 (32) Got to put out honerable mentions to both Haddin & Starc on their current unbeaten 50's. Come out after tea and go hell for leather for 10-12 overs, get the total to somewhere from 550-580 and then have an hour at England before stumps tonight. Lets bat them out of the game. Loving seeing their bowlers worked into the ground. They're looking tired that's for sure, especially Anderson!

And Australia A have gone down by 7 wickets inside three days. Australia A 1st Innings 146 N. Maddinson 88 B. Hendricks 5/52 (9.5) South Africa A 1st Innings 356 R. Rossouw 115* F. Ahmed 4/80 (17.4) Australia A 2nd Innings 277 N. Maddinson 90 S. Harmer 8/87 (31.1) South Africa A 2nd Innings 3/71 (Target 68) S. Van Zyl 23 N. Maddinson 2/22 (3) A nice effort to at least pinch three wickets at the end to bring some respectability to the score board. Despite the heavy defeat, Maddinson would surely have to go close to Man of the match after his effort in this match. Two 50's in low totals and two 2nd innings wickets!

And he's just added a wicket to his match figures to go with the runs, so he can do it all that kid! Loving the way Clark's batting the last 2.5 years really since he got the captains role. He's taken his game to another level that like him or not, he's one of our best batsmen ever. Wonder if our murder of part time spinners have role to play also? (Smith, Warner, Clarke)