Macca

I recall that the Crows supposedly started loading towards the end of the season proper before tapering just prior to the finals in '97 & '98 So are teams at their best when tapering? Does anyone know? In athletics especially, athletes aren't competing when tapering Whilst they finished off the season well in '98 (despite losing their first final by 8 goals to the Demons) they did lose 2 of their last 3 in '97 And of course, they won both flags in '97 & '98 The whole subject matter is murky due to the lack of data available. And the consequences of that often, unknown data

Correct but whilst training harder periodically is a very real thing I'm not sure wins and losses can be attributed accordingly. Certainly not every time. And if it isn't every time, which times? Collingwood may well be loading but is that the reason why they've lost their last 2 games? No one knows for sure and having a firm view would be guessing The same argument can be made for Port Adelaide When we lost 2 games late in the season last year (also, just getting over the line against the Blues) those who were advocating the loading process were in full voice They may have been right too but again, who knows for sure?

Further to the above, the owner of Dukes (which manufactors the Dukes ball) is saying that he is going to investigate whether the ball was a 4 or 5 years old variety Back then the Dukes ball offered more swing & seam But will the ICC investigate? I doubt it as they'll probably see the protestations as just more whinging or sour grapes Plus, the ICC are a bit of a toothless tiger anyway. Beholden to self interest And that's the issue as well. In a general sense we are so used to not accepting the umpires decisions that when a serious issue like this does surface, it gets lost with all the other complaints & whinging But even at the lower levels of park cricket, this sort of thing would probably never happen. But we're talking about an elite level of sport here. As previously stated, it's the worst decision by officialdom (by far) that I've ever witnessed at a professional level LBW or catching adjudications even themselves out over time. So you take the good with the bad But are we ever going to see a worn out ball replaced with a near new ball in the future? A decision which led to one team having an unfair advantage? In my eyes, the 5th test has a giant asterisk attached to it Anyway, that's 4 Ashes acquisitions in a row now. Winners are grinners!

Well all that might do is make the ball swing even further ... technically, roughing up one side of the ball in a deliberate manner is illegal. To do both sides needs more than just rubbing the shine off as that shine can be retrieved with some elbow grease! Of course, I'm not suggesting that the umpires did an illegal act, more so doing what can be done illegally Bottle tops (Wasim), Zippers (Du Plessis) Dirt (Atherton) and Sandpaper (Warner/Bancroft) have all been caught using illegal methods roughing up one side of the ball So in effect, if that's what the umpires did, then they are showing their naivity to how a bowling team can gain an advantage Way back, the Indian spinners used to just rub the ball in the dirt near the popping crease (until that method was banned) A 40 over bowl has got to that stage through natural methods over a session and a half including being hit hard with a bat up to 240 times ... I'm not sure that sort of wear & tear can be reproduced in a short space of time. Effectively, the hardness gets knocked out of cricket ball over time Khawaja has been quoted as saying that the ball was no older than 8 overs old ... and he'd know. These blokes play cricket nearly every day in some sort of capacity

His opportunism includes seeing a spot in the forward line up for grabs ... and he's seized the moment It can happen in good teams such as ours ... a stellar defence and a terrific midfield so the coach asks for someone to put up their hand in the forward line So up steps Melk (and Petty) ... and Petracca. And then JVR jumps in with 4 goals as an add-on It's all coming together

And how about that Jake Melksham! What a turnaround in form that many here probably couldn't see (including myself) He's a dangerous commodity in that forward pocket/flank and opposition coaches would be damn concerned about his opportunism and silky skills Him on one side of the forward line and Fritsch (on his return) on the other side is what I'd like to see in operation There's no way Jake makes way for Bayley ... they both play as part of a medium sized forward line (along with Petracca) as well as the talls and smalls chiming in Beat that, Collingwood!

As someone else said here ... Grundy has provided great value in the sense that we've now got a fit & firing Gawn at the right time of the year Max looks totally rejuvinated and that couldn't have happened without a Grundy type to often take the burden And we can manage Gawn & Grundy ongoing for the next 4 weeks and then September So it's the sum of all the parts not the micro image that only the media want to see

I'm wondering if we are setting up Grundy to come in sooner or later as a type of utility Good to see Smith get a full game as he can play a variety of roles forward or back or as a type of link I reckon Grundy could play a similar role (but not the same role) as well as a bit of rucking

All players make errors, DJ

Because he had a good game

Harmes played quite well last week 19 possessions 4 clearances & 4 tackles So rightfully rewarded by the MC

When it was obvious that Jackson was off we made the play for Grundy So we can either hold Grundy to his contract (my preferred view) or we trade him out and get ourselves another ruckman (which is a must because if we don't bring in another ruckman, it will be Gawn on his own with maybe 1 or 2 years of prime production left) So unless we can get hold of another decent ruckman as back up to Gawn, I'd say we will simply declare Grundy as a required player and hold him to his contract It's not as if Grundy is being offered an $8Million contact elsewhere like Jackson was. That's not happening and other clubs will almost certainly want him cheap. So why sell him cheap? That's not good for business He's a keeper, all things considered and as others have said, he's got a good chance of being in the team in September anyway (but not right now)

Beat this one! We have never won a Friday evening encounter against any opposition whilst I've been drunk to the eyeballs! It has never happened and needs to be rectified quick smart

Any team, anywhere, anytime

The Poms were given a near new ball to replace a worn 40 over ball. The worst decision I've ever seen by officials. Both umpires should be admonished for their sheer incompetance The replacement ball given to the Poms was a monumental blunder

Well the first part of the equation has been accomplished, we got through to lunch unscathed All things considered, a very good result Interesting that Wood hasn't bowled yet as he is apparently being held back until the ball reverse swings. Might have been worth 2 or 3 overs before lunch regardless

As someone else mentioned here, good forwards relish body contact and JVR looks to have that quality at a young age At 22 - 25, lookout!!

So have we cured our forward line woes in one game? Looks like it to me especially with Fritsch to come back to add to the 4 or 5 standout contributors today And so accurate as well! The Tigers were under seige and when they did rebound, they couldn't get past their 50 metre arc with any sort of system Our 3 or 4 lines of defence kicked in from half way through the 3rd quarter and they (Richmond) had no answers And now we've got the good problem of not necessarily being able to fit Grundy in ... let the media get into a tiss about that as we go quietly about our business

Yes the rest of the white ball cricket is non memorable ... however, as much as it won't happen, I'd like to see the World Cup 50 over matches played on more bowler friendly wickets About 250 - 280 per innings makes for a better match Otherwise it's just bat vs bat ... Less is better And I agree that the WTC needs to be shared around in the future (after the June 2025 WTC) But let's hope that England never makes the final ... to do so for the next WTC they are probably going to have to beat India or Australia in a test series And their only series against either team before the next World Test Championship is @ India next Jan/Feb 2024 for 5 Tests (bazball against Jedeja, Ashwin & Azar Patel? Good luck on the dustbowls England) For us to nail down a spot would probably require a test series win against India in Australia in 2024/25 (5 Tests) The next World Test Championship is set down for June 2025 (Lords) ... India tour England in 2025 but 'after' the WTC At a guess, if India beat England and we beat India in the aforementioned test series', I can see a scenario where both Australia & India make the final again (as long as both teams take care of business against all the other test nations - which is more likely than unlikely) n.b. The next Ashes series is to be held in Australia in 2025/26

Yes, a monumental task chasing down this sort of total. Not confident but hopeful And I agree that we've been spooked by their batting approach. Our bowling plans accordingly have been poor and the field placements highly questionable We're going to need a big hundred from one of our batsmen and at least 3 other decent contributions of 50+ (or another big 100) And as you said, the pitch is playing well but the task is about concentration & temperament as we've got 2 days to get the runs But from an overall point of view, at the start of the series if you'd offered me the Ashes with a 2-2 result I would have taken it in a heartbeat Winning the Ashes to me is like beating India in a test series (home or away) or perhaps even winning the ODI world cup* (in a traditional sense) Not quite as good as winning a footy GF but if we'd won 4 or 5 flags since '64, all the aforementioned wins and the GF would have the same value (in my view) I'm a test cricket fanatic!! I'm excited about the world test championship too looking ahead ... another huge achievement whenever we can win that match But for now, we need to at least make a game of it tonight. We do not want to fall short by a big margin *The ODI World Cup is on this year being hosted by India ... begins October 5th

Match has got right away from us in that session ... bowling was poor right from the get-go Disappointing as the bowlers need to be ready to go - there are no warm-up deliveries at this level but as well as that, the bowling lacked penetration

The pitch might be a bit up and down by days 4 & 5 as well than suiting the spinners. So as you said, it's only Root that we have to be concerned about and not Moeen But in that scenario all their quicks come right into it with variable bounce being a factor (if it happens) Winning the toss and bowling first can always bring trepidation if you have to chase 250+ in the 4th innings To me being level after the first innings means the team batting second needs to be about 60 or 80 ahead But that's just my opinion @grazman

Yeah I picked up on what you think of bazball but there are any number of people who seem to like it (for now) But those who relish the battle between bat & ball are already questioning it's worth T20 cricket is already effecting 50 over cricket (not that that bothers me) so what chance has 5 days of a batathon got? It's the classic be careful what you wish for' Having said all that we dagged around way too much in the first session last night and we should have at least been pushing for singles But we managed to post a decent score so it's game on but advantage England as we do have to bat last Probably need to restrict them to under 300 but if the pitch starts playing up, chasing anything above 250 could be problematical

Good Bazball suits those with attention deficit disorder Can't stand it and it won't last (unless people want to watch another version of white-ball type cricket on flat decks with the bowlers being used as cannon fodder) Leave me out of that garbage #PrepareGreenTopsWithHeapsOfBounce

I see bazball as a threat to traditional test cricket. And I don't like it anyway We do not need another version of white-ball cricket played on flat decks In the end, people will get bored with all the runs (with very little in it for the bowlers) So are we going to see test cricket as a battle between bat and bat with the bowlers acting as cannon fodder as it is in white-ball cricket? Leave me out of that rubbish The tracks in England have all been roads and we've seen very little seam movement and not much spin The Poms seem to have an obsession with runs, runs and more runs. There's even another version of t20 in England called the '100' ... 16.4 over cricket. Why? India are the same with their obsession with more runs except their test match tracks are very difficult to bat on being spin friendly I'd like to see all our wickets in Australia revert back to the way they once were ... seam & bounce in Perth & Brisbane. Spin friendly in Adelaide and seam & spin in Sydney. As for Melbourne ... prepare a green-top with bounce Let's see how your bazball goes in those conditions! Make it harder for the batsmen, not easier. A top level batsman can still score a century in bowler friendly conditions