Macca

We picked an old & aging squad who have had their butts kicked - serves us right. The selectors have a lot to answer for. It's time to rebuild primarily with youth - this policy of picking older blokes or players well past their best needs to be addressed - picking players to "play a role" or having "stop-gap measures" is a philosophy that looks foolish if it doesn't work. I've never been an advocate of necessarily picking player who has made the "most runs" at the next level down. There's a lot more to unearthing a top test batsman than that. There's "longevity" to take into account as well. Rogers has been a relative success but just 2 years down the track, he's going. Out of the initial squad of 17 up to 9 players are either finished, aren't the future or aren't good enough. That's far too high a number but the selectors have only got themselves to blame for the dilemma we find ourselves in. They made the choices so they have to wear the consequences. Harris, Haddin, Watson, Rogers, Voges, S Marsh, Clarke, Nevill & Siddle are either finished or they have big question marks against their names - Nevill's keeping is "adequate" and his batting is average - I hope he can improve because he needs to - he turns 30 in a month. Siddle is medium/fast at best these days whilst Voges & S Marsh do not represent the future - the rest of the aforementioned 9 are either finished, are finishing up or close to finishing up. I really hope Clarke can turn things around and champion players often do - the short ball is a major weakness for him now and he needs to overcome that. His weakness against the short ball is affecting the other parts of his game. However, there's a number of young talented batsmen in shield ranks so it's not all doom and gloom - again, the issue is perception rather than reality - many of our previous top batsmen were virtual unknowns before they were initially picked for Australia. Some of the young batsmen to keep an eye on - Stoinis, Maddinson, Bancroft, Silk, Handscomb, Head, Patterson, Lynn, Burns & Khawaja ... all are worth consideration by the selectors - others like Maxwell & Henriques may get a recall but the all-rounders spot is Mitch Marsh's for the foreseeable future (he should have played in this test) Khawaja needs to learn to go on with it (and he can) whilst Maxwell is a rare talent who needs to work on his temperament. Burns showed a bit and may get another chance - the others all have "potential" but it's always been that way with young batsmen - there's not too many Don Bradman's about. If the selectors can get their act together I'm quite confident that we'll bounce back almost straight away - the bowling stocks look plentiful in comparison - Pattinson, Cummins & Coulter-Nile have big upsides and there's other bowlers on the horizon too. Starc & Hazlewood can only get better. The young batsmen picked should be based on a trial & error basis - as it's traditionally been. Give 'em 3 or 4 tests (initially) and see where we go from there - rotate another young batsmen in if needed. Like footy, people shouldn't be looking for instant results or the next "wunderkind" ... these things take time. The weird bit is how many footy followers seem to be obsessed with under 18 talent yet when it comes to cricket, these same people have almost no knowledge of the young talent coming through. Because it's not in their face, they presume bleakness. The other issue is the drop-in wickets or decks that don't offer much to seam or spin bowling in this country anymore - that effects both our batsmen and our bowlers. We're really good on flat decks or hard and fast surfaces but we continue to struggle when the ball has sideways movement (especially in England & India) Next up it's Bangladesh & the Windies who aren't very strong ... we play the Kiwis in-between those 2 nations but New Zealand are nearly always hard to beat - and they're a much better team these days as well.

We're getting a good run of luck ... dropped catches ... a no-ball when they do catch one. Then Rogers misses one by half a metre and they all go up - what, what!

7 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Cowboys @ Packers 8 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Colts @ Broncos

5 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Ravens @ Patriots 6 of 11 ... Divisional Round - Panthers @ Seahawks

I'm more thinking of how to win this particular test rather than any long term or short term solutions with the keeping spot. Nevill's keeping to Lyon in the 3rd test was at times amateurish - missing balls completely and not gloving the ball well ... I thought he moved a bit too slowly to the quicks too - especially taking balls down the leg side. Ian Healy made some pointed comments - and he'd know. Haddin dropped a soda in Cardiff but other than that, he kept to his usual standards. Haddin brings a wealth of experience, know-how & leadership where as Nevill is trying to find his way in the grand final of test series. So are Mitch Marsh, Voges, Starc & Hazlewood for that matter. That's a lot of inexperience. Nevill probably deserves a good go at it but my idea of an extended run in test cricket is not always to play every test uninterrupted. McGrath was rested or dropped 5 times in his first 9 tests. Sometimes we're in too much of a hurry to get rid of experienced players too quickly - the balance of the side is all important. Once Mitch Marsh was preferred to Watson then I would have kept Haddin in - especially when we already had an unproven newcomer in Voges in the side. A 5,6 & 7 of Voges, M Marsh & Nevill didn't hurt us in at Lords because of the Rogers/Smith partnership but that same 5,6 & 7 line-up let us down badly in the just completed test. My reasoning of having Haddin at 6 and Mitch at 7 is that both might be better overall value with that configuration rather than the other way around. One has loads of experience whilst the other doesn't. I accept that Nevill will probably play though and I genuinely wish him well - if he does do well with the gloves, I'll give him due credit. However, the selectors will be picking a team to win this next test match - not necessarily with an eye on getting games into new players ... so, it wouldn't surprise to see 3 changes. Anyway, time will tell. .

Continuing on with all the highlights of last year's playoffs ... the links will take you to youtube where you can "fullscreen" the games ... 3 of 11 ... wild-card Bengals @ Colts 4 of 11 ... wild-card Lions @ Cowboys

I'd bring S Marsh & Haddin in for Voges & Nevill ... Voges out because he hasn't made runs and we need Haddin's experience despite Nevill being a good prospect. Nevill's glovework against Lyon was average but it's more so that Haddin's batting in the late middle order that is badly needed. The next test is do or die. I'd also reshuffle the batting order so as to make it more productive ... I also can't see Siddle being picked - Cummins is more likely but I reckon we'll keep the same 4 bowlers regardless. I do like the idea of having an experienced batsman and an experienced bowler in the squad but not necessarily as first choice for the test matches. So, the selectors have probably got that bit right with S Marsh and Siddle as back-ups. My team in batting order ... Rogers Warner Smith S Marsh Clarke (out of form and needs to drop down a rung for the foreseeable future) Haddin (a temporary move to no.6 until M Marsh is more accustomed to test cricket) M Marsh Johnson Starc Hazlewood Lyon So, with my side we'd end up with a 5, 6 & 7 of Clarke, Haddin & M Marsh instead of Voges, M Marsh & Nevill. A much more solid look about it ... S Marsh can bat anywhere in the order but having a left hand bat to break up the 2 right handers in Smith & Clarke could put their bowlers off their line - remembering that they'll be missing the experience of Anderson. It's a big out for them and we need to take advantage. .

Yep and in the case with Burns, he's been given a taste of the big time. What happens with Burns from now is up to Joey himself - he got picked on spec so he's obviously got something ... he can now go back to shield or Australia A level and hopefully get better - and he's young enough to get better too. Martyn, Langer, Hayden and many others had to fight their way back in after being initially picked on spec. It's been that way going all the way back to Bradman and beyond - and it works. Khawaja is another who can get back - he's also currently on that Australia A tour in India. Jordan Silk is another with prospects. It's not all doom and gloom as the so-called experts keep telling us. In fact, I'd wager that the system we have in place is much the same as it's always been. It's more that people just have less knowledge because it's not in their face. The selectors job is to look further than just the numbers - I'd compare it to evaluating a top rate draftee in footy - there are no guarantees yet sometimes they can hit the jackpot. Re the bowling - Starc and Hazlewood still have a few kinks to iron out but there's a big upside with both of them. Cummins and Pattinson look to have bright futures too (if they can remain fit) Mitch Marsh & Nevill both need a decent go at it and I wouldn't rule a line through Maxwell either - temperament is his issue and that can be learnt. As for the current series, who knows where it takes us from here? Trying to make predictions is pure guesswork Anderson might be out for the remainder of the series with that side strain and if that's the case, they'll really miss him - and our batsmen would be relieved too (if he was to miss)

I'm not against picking older blokes per se but we shouldn't put ourselves in a position where we are forced to use 4 or 5 new players in the top 7 because of the general age of the team - it's not like these aging cricketers are all all-time greats. It should be more of a gradual process - rotating young talent through the no.5 batting position is one way of doing things - the all-rounder traditionally takes up the no.6 spot but there would have been nothing wrong with batting Mitch Marsh behind Haddin as a softer intro. I was surprised to see Brad left out of this test - not because of what Warnie and others said, more so that without him, our middle order and late middle order looks vulnerable (and this isn't just an ordinary series - it's the ashes) .

5 of the top 7 in the team (from the first test) are either finished, finishing up, never should have been picked in the first place or possibly coming to the end prematurely. It's time to rebuild the batting side of things as we have traditionally done - picking old blokes just because they've made a few runs at shield level is fraught with danger. Just about all of our top batsnen over the years were picked on spec and picked when they were relatively young - fact Most of these top players were NEVER "bangin' down the door" - another fact. Bancroft just made 150 against India A and he's a 22 opening batsman from WA - the average punter would never have heard of him because other forms of first class cricket are not in our face anymore ... there are a number of other promising young players out there if people could be bothered looking. .

Advantage England ... we had them 7 for 190 but Moeen & Broad have swung it back in their favour. Minimum 370 required by us when we bat again (that would give us a 225 lead) Ideally we make in excess of 400 ... however, we'll almost certainly need one of our batsman to dig in and make a big hundred to get to that sort of figure.

Yep, sometimes the ball can act "strangely" but that was decidedly odd

Lyon 3 for 3 off 3 overs in 3 spells. That's gotta be some sort of record.

Starc in particular and then he picks up a wicket - he's a bit like that. His height and pace and the fact that he's a left armer means he can still pick up a wicket even when he's not bowling well. Mitch Marsh looks a likely type - nice movement away. The game is evenly poised - they'd want to be at least 150 ahead after the first innings - if it's only a 100 odd, we're back in it.

Ha! ... and another one goes 6/86 - egads! I've readjusted down to 160 -180 odd but it's "trending" downwards ... Johnno might get amongst 'em (we'll need him to)

Yep, Rogers has been tremendous .. there's another big score for him here if he can get through the first half hour after lunch. You'd think we'd need at least 250 but if we get 300+ we'll hold the advantage - need Voges, Marsh and Nevill to all contribute though. Looking forward to seeing Johnson on this deck but we'll need to give our bowlers some runs to play with.

The selection of Finn looks an inspired one .... and England have come to play. Need the middle order to stand up

2 - 18 ... nice delivery by Finn and a good catch by Cook. Pitch has a bit of life in it too ... reckon you're right Cards - could be a terrific test match.

Thought I might post up all the playoff highlights ... a couple at a tiime up until the preseason starts (which kicks off in earnest on Friday August 14th - oz time) There is an earlier game coinciding with the hall-of fame weekend (Minnesota @ Pittsburgh) but all the teams are in action from mid August. The NFL have posted up all these games in HD on youtube which the below links will take you - the highlights can be "full screened" as well ... 1 of 11 ... wild-card Cardinals @ Panthers 2 of 11 ... wild-card - Ravens @ Steelers

I think you're right dp ... haven't seen all of the last 2 stages but apparently Froome withstood a number of challenges. Quintana looks to be the only one with any sort of chance but Froome seems to have him covered. Tonight's stage is a short one and they've just started out ... category 1 climb right from the get-go! Live coverage from the official site SBS.com tour tracker

Current standings Rest day tonight but then it's 4 days in the Alps ... Stage 17 Preview ... Profile ... Stage 18 Preview ... Profile ... Stage 19 Preview ... Profile ... Stage 20 Preview ... Profile ...

It seems Geoffrey is none too happy ... here's his column from the Telegraph ... Ashes 2015: There's no shame in losing to a better team like Australia. It is shameful to bat way England did ... and here's the BBC podcast of day 4 of the 2nd test ... England Collapse to Catastrophic Defeat

... and it's only a matter of time now you'd reckon (mind you, my predicted outcomes during this test have been more than a trifle astray ) I should just post in hindsight ... much easier that way although a little boring. The consensus over there is that the game has been and will be decided by whoever won the toss and decided to bat first. So if the England hierarchy have had an influence on how the pitches have been prepared (so far) then it may have backfired. If*, as expected, Australia go on and win this test, then we might expect the next deck at Edgbaston to have a lot more life in it (England would need a "result" wicket) Anyway, here's another BBC podcast for those who might be interested ... this time, Michael Vaughan with an hour long phone-in from day 3 *Rain might help England or they might bat their socks off in their 2nd innings and save the game (there is a small amount of rain forecast but more of a negligible amount)

Puts a new angle on "The Postman always rings twice" hey? ... What a complete nutter - 80 kgs of "post" seems a tad high, all the same. Anyway, you're right with your summation of how the race is heading JJ - the only bit I'll add is that Froome still has to carry out what shouldn't be too much of an ask for him. Stages 17 through to 20 are all in the Alps and all 4 of them are difficult as far as I can make out ... previously we've seen 3 tough stages in a row in the Alps but I'm not sure that they've been 3 of the last 4 stages. So ... it's possibly the toughest finish to a tour we've ever seen. The other thing to remember is that some of Froome's rivals are so far back they've got no alternative but to attack. I'll post up the profiles and previews of the 4 Alp's stages next Tuesday (assuming they all fit in one post)

Order is restored by the looks of it .... hard to see us not winning this test from this position BBC podcast day 2 (includes Geoff Boycott's summary and an interview with Mitch Johnson)