Macca

I thought it was a great piece of bowling by Leach. Labuschagne became unbalanced by a perfectly executed delivery. Not your normal stumping where the batsman charges the bowler.

There are other batsmen who I'd prefer to see who (IMO) are more suitable. Renshaw, Pucovski & Patterson all look good to me and there's almost certainly 1 or 2 others. And in Australian conditions there are any number of batsmen who can shine (including the aforementioned Warner, Harris, Bancroft, Head & Wade) We just continue to struggle away from home (notably in India & England)

A self fulfilling prophesy DJ?

Harris & Head can be added to that list DJ. Time for some new blood. We actually need 4 batsmen which is unprecedented. If Alex Carey was in the side we could bat him as high as no.5 whilst Mitch Marsh could maybe bat at no.7. Regardless, there's a lot of holes to fill. Yet here we are retaining the Ashes. Strange days indeed.

Like the combo Wadda ... like it a lot Sparta Prague are an old MB favourite, Arsenal should win well and Porto are morals. Wake up and win? Should do!

Patriots Browns Chiefs

Over to you Wadda for the final installment!

Yes true ... and as the race becomes an even greater prize for the Internationals they might end up closing the loop-hole for those 3yo European horses. Once there isn't the need for the lure of all things European, they may well turn the focus onto more local representation. Of course we don't exactly breed stayers here but European horses left here under the care of local trainers soon become our own. Adopted that way. It can't be turned into a race solely for 3yo European horses and the VRC would be fully aware of that. For now, it's fine, but I reckon the loophole will be closed once it looks like it might be getting out of hand. 3yo's properly weighted as 4yo's would add a few kilo's thus evening the score. In the meantime local trainers will continue to look for European 2yo staying types to purchase. But they don't come cheap as those selling know there's quite a reasonable demand. We just have to get used to the fact that the race is a truly international one and local punters need to learn how to read overseas form. With a heavy accent on Group form - Wins & Places. Forget times. Just horses that perform well at mainly G1 & G2 level. And then those dropping down to lightweights are the absolute standouts (such as Rekindling & Cross Counter)

Weekend Special Monday Portugal Primeira Liga 3.00am Portimonense vs Porto Porto Win & +2.5 Goals Match Score $2.00

England will probably win this test but we've got the prize for a good while (maybe until 2023 unless they somehow manage to defeat us here in 2021/22) And I'm not sure England cared too much when we won the 5th test of the 1972 series in England to draw level 2-2. Enjoy the moment.

Excellent run by Mr Quickie ... beat a number of good horses home at WFA level. I believe it's virtually guaranteed a run in the Melbourne Cup too (30th in order of entry) Carrying 52.5kg unless it gets penalised further. In other Melbourne Cup news ... last year's 3 placegetters are all returning for the race. Cross Counter (57.5kgs), Marmelo (56kgs) & Prince of Arron (53kgs) The race is now a 'Quality Hcp' as opposed to being a straight handicap these days DZ. As well as being run as a truly International race. The weight scale is usually ranging from 57.5kgs down to 51kgs in more recent times. Previously the scale would be much wider (61kgs down to 47kgs)

Harlem was 66-1 when it won the Australian cup but then won the same race again earlier this year at 30-1 They went around quick too in today's Makybe Diva Stakes (01:33.97 for the mile) Quite a good field too. Anyway, close on half a million to the connections and Gatting has now won nearly 2 million. Maybe the Perth form is better than we regard it as. Another WA Mare Arcadia Queen did it easy today although the field in the 'Theo Marks' wasn't strong. Again, another slick time (01:14.96 for the 1300m) I thought we might have seen the W.A galloper Galaxy Star over here as well as that horse has beaten Gatting twice recently. Retired now and is heading for a visit with 'Justify' in the USA. They are racing for a lot of money in the Spring carnival these days (NSW racing has made a quantum leap more recently) so Bob Peters and co are now bringing their better horses here. 'Enticing Star' should be stepping out soon (most likely in Sydney)

So how many can we chase down Wadda? Any more than 300 is an ask. 350 and England win you'd imagine. They are now 2-157 (effectively) and if Stokes gets going the match could slip away very quickly Not conceding yet but I must say I would have taken a 2-2 result in a heartbeat before the series started. I thought they'd win 3-1 or 2-1 so retaining the Ashes is a bit of a surprise. Our batting has been diabolical apart from Smith & to a lesser degree Labuschagne. Yet even so, we should have been up 3-0 going into this test (if we hadn't have blown the 3rd test)

Yeah that was me misreading someone's post again ... my excuse is I was a bit punch-drunk and reeling back in horror when Gatting kept going! Either that or the Norm Smith curse has infiltrated the racing thread on this site. And I got the race 9 exacta with Mosh Music & Royal Ace. I had Mosh Music marked 2nd so the $13 on offer seemed way overs. The Mare sure knows how to win ... 7 from 10 now which is a great record. A black booker BM

I got about 130-1 on the 5pick and had 3 coffees on it! So yeah, I do bet small to win big but was really confident on all 5. Your best bet, DZ's, Arcadia Queen and Alfarris (place) in the 1st race. Never been more confident! The payout could well of been reduced though because of the scratchings. I will somtimes purposely design a multi for a 4 figure return. But I'm usually not that confident with them. But I was very very confident with our 3pick as well as the 5. As it was Alfarris won! But thems the breaks ... with today's ok profit I will load into Purton & Moreira at Sha Tin tomorrow. Just a series of doubles. If both jockeys feature I'll probably win. I do like the 'picked-out' double. Can usually work it up to about 10-1 up to 15-1 so you only need 1 collect to turn a profit. The Storm aren't getting it easy here Wadda ... Raiders taking it right up to them

I'm still in a daze and numb from just missing out on nearly 2.0k Wadda ... pardon my indulgence! Overall I'm in front as I picked up a shortened version of that 5pick multi and got a few other collects. Kept thinking that somehow Gatting didn't actually win or that we can somehow fast track a failed swab ha ha It's not like the horse had an easy run either. I suppose Harlem won the Australian Cup twice so you never know hey? It's W.A form is quite reasonable but nothing startling. Makes you think that the horse it can't get past (Galaxy Star) would do well over in the East as well. And 'Great Shot' for that matter.

Fair enough Have I mentioned that I'm ultra superstitious Wadda ha ha! Anyway, I just got a wimner in Mizzy but I had a 5pick multi going with Mystic Journey as the final leg ... a decent 4 figure payoff too. Damn annoying.

You don't expect to get done by a 100-1 shot. Gatting has been racing well in the West but not at this level. I had a saver on Scales of Justice as I thought that horse was only one that could beat Mystic Journey.. Full marks to the winner though and Jamie Kah. The horse had a similar run to Mystic so no excuses. And I thought the unwritten rule was to not question any of our best bets? Lost on some people.

Arcadia Queen very impressive. Set for the Everest but will probably have another run in between

Cash outs are at the whim of the bookies there ... sometimes there, sometimes not And I don't have a problem with the new format ... easy as Wadda. Come on 'Mystic Journey'!

That makes it 2 from 2 Well done Wadda! On we're on one of the best (Mystic Journey) to bring it home. Surely we get it this time. Surely!

Good work DZ We're on our way.!

I'd party hard if I was part of a winning Ashes series! Can you imagine? It would be like being part of an AFL flag. They're part of history and it's the biggest prize in the sport. So we are justifiably rusty? We'll probably get going at some stage. Maybe when we bat.

Looks like it DJ ... dead rubbers nearly always have that strange feel about them. They're a bit like soccer friendlies. They don't have the same edge (pardon the pun) They want to lessen the workload on Cummins & Hazlewood yet we send them in? Would have thought batting first with Warner a chance to save his career was the go. Dave might still get runs when we bat of course but the wicket seems batsman friendly.

Well if he goes, he goes. He's no star but he does have value in the sense that our backline lacks depth. May & Lever have to stay fit otherwise we're back to Oscar or perhaps Petty. Doesn't inspire LH. The off-season should always be looked upon as the sum of all parts though. A loss here, a win there, so to speak. In the end the Hawks might be offering reasonable coin over a 3 year contract (if the rumours are true) whilst we might not want to go beyond a year or 2. And you can never blame a player for maximising a decent deal for themselves. It's a short career on average.