Macca

@Go the Biff @titan_uranus @BDA @Dr. Gonzo @Clintosaurus @DemonDave @Dee Zephyr @Dappa Dan @Gorgoroth @layzie @JV7 @DeeSpencer 1 point on offer this week (the bonus point on offer as well) Leaderboard Tipping Comp 3 - Dr. Gonzo, Clintosaurus, DeeSpencer*, Macca* 2 - DemonDave, Go the Biff, layzie 1 - Gorgoroth, BDA, JV7 0 - Everyone else 🤔 Bit easier this week but is it ever easy? (rhetorical question)

Australia @ Palestine (in Kuwait) on at 1.00am tomorrow morning (Ch10)

Derek Randall's big hundred, DK with 11 wickets, Marsh's 100, Hookesy's 5 consecutive boundaries, McCoskers courage, same margin as in the 1st ever test, England pushing for victory Centenary Test 1977 Highlights 1:07:45

I went to the first 2 days of the Centenary test ... felt devastated after day 1 but ecstatic after day 2! It was a memorable test match with many highlights I know a few people who went to every day but I had to work on the Monday (day 3) Thanks for the heads up on Packer vs The Board ... will take a look

And we took great delight in Thommo & DK Lillee terrorising the Poms in '74/'75 Later on Mitch Johnson was unleashed in 2013/14 John Snow for England was particularly nasty back in '70/'71 ... he was seriously quick. Hard work just surviving as a batsman No helmets back in those days either. A touch of the gladiatorial was cricket back then Gentleman's game? Maybe in the village green back in olde England but not at the lower levels in suburban Oz ... we play for sheep stations!

Yep, finals are finals and you've still got to go out there and win the game Thinking about it, our experience at tournament level came to the fore We were cool, calm and collected right throughout. Where as India did not respond well to the adversity that came their way. They froze a bit but I wouldn't call it choking Probably lacked real leadership where as the Aussie team was chock full of experience and wise-heads I've witnessed all 6 World Cup wins now and feel quite blessed. The team is my favourite outside of the MFC and I've been richly rewarded over time

Well, there'd probably be more Indians at the ground (MCG) than Aussies so it depends on who wins!!! I watched about 20 or 30 games in the WC and there was a good number of opposition supporters at each game except ... the final The cameras kept panning to 1000's of locals and then occasionally 2 or 3 people in Aussie tops. And there was no crowd support for any Aussie highlights - dead silence every time So I wasn't suprised at all that that the ground emptied once the Aussies won

The trouble was that the crowd was almost completely one-sided. Barely a foreigner to be seen My guess is that the game sold out months ago so barely any tickets left for non-locals So you'll always get a large percentage of disappointed fans leaving which left very few leftovers But I see your point The Aussies are often seen as the villians in the cricket world. A number of Aussies don't warm to the cricket 11 too

My attitude towards our drafting in general has changed a great deal because of how good Jason Taylor is at identifying talent. I used to believe that it was more of a crapshoot than it actually is JT rarely, if ever, misses and that includes bringing in established talent with draft picks (on numerous occasions) For that reason, we need to keep our eye on Jefferson. JT's record is phenomenal and I reckon he is the best in the business And who do we have to thank for acquiring his services? None other than Mark Neeld The parting gift that keeps on giving!! Extraordinary stuff, layz!!

Yeah, I was joining in on giving credit where credit is due (Olisic) Amongst Demons both here and elsewhere I reckon we collectively thought we'd picked up a gem with Kozzie ... you're right though, many in the media thought otherwise I reckon 'The Duke of' might surprise many and he'll get early games I reckon Another thing that stood out is how quickly he wants to dispose of the ball ... vital at AFL level. And those first 2 or 3 quick steps is an AFL necessity too. He's got that too As for the wild Dane, putting his head over the ball against men for a season is good grounding. He looks right at home in that role and looks a creative type as well

Actually, Olisic was the one who stood out here with his admiration of Oliver a long way short of the draft ... and he was right on the money too And Mach5 is right ... there was hardly a soul here castigating the choice of Oliver. That just didn't happen. In the lead up when he was the bolter, maybe? But once we drafted him, we were all over the choice. He did win the Morrish Medal although that award has historically been cursed However, your call of a 'reach' with regards to 'The Duke of ... ' might be remembered though layz!! Heehee😁😁

Game on at Arrowfield!

Well that happens in sport all over the world and should come as no surprise ... standard practice And the Indian players did receive their runners-up medals first up in the presentation (which is not practiced in the AFL)

Well, actually, I posted here that I would have batted What I didn't do was condemn the decision to bowl first (like so many others did) Cummins is/was not rated highly as a captain by a large percentage of cricket followers and I reckon that's why many saw the decision to bowl first as wrong But he's won a lot of people over and good on him for doing so An example of his excellent captaincy was the 22 bowling changes against India in the final ... kept them guessing throughout By contrast, leaving Starc & Hazlewood on against South Africa in the SF was very smart ... other captains might have taken them off to save them for later He's certainly won me over as a captain ... retained the Ashes, won the Test Championship and now the World Cup

Kozzie played round 1 in 2020 (Jackson debuted in R2)

Hunts the ball with a real focus. A healthy air of confidence about the lad too Nice disposal skills and looks to have excellent awareness I can see both Koltyn & Caleb Windsor playing in the seniors next year ... maybe 6-8 games each (or more)

Yes, summed it up well He looks a likely type and certainly what we're looking for Default move is to lower the eyes by the looks of it. Again, what we're in need of Good pace too

I'd say the coach (McDonald) would have had a lot of input ... seems like analytics could be his go. He was a very clued up and switched on cricketer back in his playing days And someone was saying that Head might have known the types of deliveries that he'd be facing. If so, that is heady stuff (pardon the pun!)

The bold move to bowl first paid off in the end and once we knew the reasoning, a smart & decisive move The dew did kick in, in the evening and the pitch was much easier to bat on as the match progressed The team can all take a bow especially the captain, Travis & Marnus It's nice following a dominant team that wins a lot. And beating India in India is some sort of achievement!!

Australia - 6 World Cups!!!!

Now 3-165 off 29 overs ... a terrific recovery Need 76 off 21 overs

We're in trouble ... 3/47 after 8 overs Consolidation needed just as how India went about it Turns out Smith was hit outside the line and should have reviewed. It did look out on first viewing but Smith normally reviews

Warner goes ... probably should have been out first ball 1-16 off 1.2 overs! It's all happening Marsh is in and nearly plays on first ball

The slow wicket concerns more so because the Indian bowlers are brought up on these sort of tracks But apparently the dew arrives in the evenings and they are having a decent break between innings Interesting that in the last World cup in 2019 both teams posted scores of 241 and in the 1987 final in India, Australia made 5/253 vs England 8/246 Much will depend on our top 3 getting amongst the runs and we would probably want Smith or Marnus to bat to the end of our innings ... do that and we probably win

8-217 ... Zampa strikes! The Aussies have been great but we've still got to get the target. A slow wicket that might quicken if the dew arrives But we can pace ourselves and having Smith & Marnus in the middle order is a real plus as we may well need them to occupy the crease