gsmith12

Nice to see the heat put to the sword by the Adelaide Strikers.

Where does Tony Madigan fit in this discussion, beaten by Clay in a semi at the Rome 1960 Olympics.

Many believed he was robbed including myself.

Shame big Mitch is out of the 4th test, will it be Siddle, Starc or Agar to come in? He has given us enough in the past but don't see us winning with Sids or any of those in and no MJ.

Starc a lefty to replace a lefty ?

When speaking of batting greats, Kumar Sangakkara is not out of place, he is now one of only 5 to have scored more than 12000 test runs.

His current hundred v NZ has given the Sri Lankans a first innings lead after being in all sorts of trouble early.

Nice to see the Heat put to the sword, well done Hurricanes' wonderful chase.

Not a big fan but I watch as 2 of my Grandchildren spend time with us and they just love the game.

Jacques Kallis was terrific tonight, still all class.

It's a speculative pick Smithy ... treat is as such and the merit can be seen.

We've done so in the past with spectacular results ... Warne, Border and S Waugh hadn't done very much at all before they were picked for Australia ... now, I'm not for a minute putting Agar in the same category of those 3 players but I can't see what the issue is.

This "banging down the door" stuff is pure rubbish if we were to completely analyse the way our players have advanced to the test side throughout history ... I even heard Border say it the other day.

Honestly, when Border was first picked it was Allan who? Our memory plays tricks with us.

Even Bradman hadn't done a great deal before he first got picked ... so much so that he batted at no.7 in his first test and then was promptly dropped ... if they knew he was going to average 99.94 throughout his career then why bat him so low and why drop him after 1 test?

The truth is that he was a speculative pick (like most of our other greats have been)

We shouldn't be at all concerned about giving some of our young blokes a go (especially in a dead rubber) If we took the same attitude in footy then when would the stars be first picked? When they're 25?

Greg Chappell said it best ... "You learn how to play test cricket by playing test cricket" ... Chappell would know.

Don't disagree with your sentiments Macca and the selection sure is out of left field.

Wonder how Ahmed feels.

BTW what has happened to Jimmy Muirhead ?

Agar has batted 5 times this season in the Shield for an aggregate of 130 runs and an average of 26, combined with his bowling results of 7 victims @ 45 a piece, hardly inspiring is it ?

If this sort of form earns you a Test recall the cupboard must be bare.

Tweeted by Rodney Hogg and food for thought !

Fawad 18 wickets @ 30

Boyce 8 wickets @ 35

Agar 7 wickets @ 45

Not even BBL Smithy?

Not a fan Jack although I watch because the Grandkids love it.

Trying to help coach good technique to a 12 and 9 year old in the Big Bash climate is a nightmare.

Disappointing times, I was playing footy in the Wimmera at the time with a very young family consequently very rarely had the chance to get to Melbourne.

Our lack of success over the previous decade meant we weren't given much television exposure either.

Was copping heaps from mates who had grown to hate the Dees due to our domination of the competition from '54 to '64 which was understandable.

Little did I know that a further 40 years down the track little has changed other than some of those mates now show pity for our club which I hate even more than the ribbing.

Alves, Wells, Flower, Biffin, Smith and Hardeman kept me going.

Seems odd, New Year's day and no cricket.

I'll judge his recruitment based on how well he plays, not on how well he interviews.

Smart lad who speaks well and seems genuinely involved.

Can play and his experience will be a huge boost.

I wonder if Agar is in line for Burns spot,,, sorry for mitch Marsh's spot. Burns has had a taste & maybe needs to go back to work on his game.

maybe Agar needs a hitout at Inter' level prior to the World Cup. & at the same time help to shape Lyon up a little?

Apart from the sensational 98 that Ashton made in England in 2013 he has done bugger all with the bat whereas Burns has been prolific for Qld batting as an opener or at three.

Absolutely no comparison.

To be fair Lyon's not the only one. Our fielding in this test has been below average.

Rogers dropped Rahane not long before Tea which was poor, and let's not forget the three dropped catches in the 1st innings that cost us a total of 170 runs.

As I type Kohli out 1st ball after Tea. Could be a result yet?

Agree our fielding generally has been below standard however Lyon's two elementary misses were appalling and unacceptable for a professional.

Just how difficult is it to keep your eye on the ball Nathan ?

Another school girl effort from Lyon in the field let's Kohli off the hook again and probably puts paid to an Aussie win.

After all the cricket Lyon has played you'd think he could keep his eye on the ball.

... the Mandela-Whitlam Trophy

Nice joke.

Well done so far Shaun Marsh on a crucial innings, taking us some way to what is looking more likely then not a Test victory or draw. And I'll admit, I'm a Shaun Marsh knocker.

Highest ever run chase at the G is 332, and we're now 326 ahead.

I'm all for adding 20 odd runs in the morning in 5-6 overs and then declaring and setting India 350 in 90 overs, if they can manage that then well done to them.

We've certainly left the door open with two bad dropped catches that cost us big (Rahane on 70 & Kohli on 88) and now this poor 2nd Innings batting display.

We're just about enough ahead that I'm more confident then not. But the door is certainly wide open for India, that's for sure!

350 the bare minimum the way this track has played and the talent in their top order plus Dhoni.

I prefer my home brew to most beers. Aldi had tasting paddles on sale on the 27th, so the father-in-law and I sampled a few homies while the Aussies were making hay at the 'G (while Smith/Haddin/Johnson/Harris were batting in the first dig).

Left to right: Nelson Sauvin Pilsner, American Wheat, Riwaka Summer Ale, Chinook Amber Ale.

Nice, KK, nice.

lol ... when did t20 ever "have" you? The sport has only been around 5 minutes.

Anyway, I reckon Smith will take the conservative route tomorrow if our batsmen can last that long ... we bat for an hour? Maybe longer if the target figure of 400 is on his mind.

He wouldn't want to lose his 2nd game as captain as besides all that, the 'Border-Gavaskar' trophy is on the line ... that trophy may not mean a lot to the general public but it will do to the players and CA.

Means a great deal to me Macca particularly after the flogging they handed us on our last tour.

Wouldn't be great Telly Melbourne playing Hawthorn or Swans or most other teams on a Friday night, I wouldn't like to see that, it's all about a competitive game, and the advertising revenue, and the crowd and excitement a decent contest brings.

Do the crime of losing and do the time at the bottom, away from the headlights, until, and if the club ever forms into a competitive unit.

Do you see that occurring in the foreseeable future Blue ?

Sad to see no-one saying anything positive about Kholi's superb knock. I actually took some pleasure from him not taking a backward step against both Johnson's bowling and aggression. The match is set-up for a very interesting final two days... a draw is obviously the most likely outcome now, but if either side collapses in a heap in their second innings (something both have proven that they are very capable of doing), there could still be a result.

That was the third great innings of the series by Kohli, no doubt he is a great talent, however it's difficult to heap praise on someone who gobs off for the wrong reasons.

Johnson had every right to throw the stumps down as Kohli was out of his crease and Kohli took the course of action any cricketer worth his salt would do and stayed in the line between the stumps and the fieldsman.

He was hit, so what, cop it and get on with the game.

Virat has far more aggro than is healthy for his game.

Meanwhile we lead by 112 with all second innings wickets intact and in the ascendancy.

The Indian out fielding was appalling in our first dig as was their catching.

Whilst Haddin took two rippers he also put down two easy chances and Lyon's effort was laughable, as Bill Lawry said 'a ten year old would not miss that chance'.

For a team that has taken great pride with their work in the field for many years, we need to lift our game.

Disagree strongly with the anti Seppo sentiment.

Try a sierra nevada pale ale or a Big Eye IPA. Very good beers.

Agree Molloy, Canadian Moosehead is also a nice drop.

Carlton draught is not beer.

Coopers was great during the beer dark ages. It's been left in the past and that is a good thing for everybody.

Mountain Goat risks being the Coopers equivalent of the 2000's. Respect is due to them given their innovation and main-stream success in a market dominated by shocking beer + cartels.

Best beer - Kooinda Estate american ale (the green) and the black IPA. Awesome. Just awesome.

Millions of Aussies seem to disagree with your assessment of Carlton draught.