Macca

It's a bit sad when you already find yourself hangin' out for the NFL practice games. Not sure if I could handle a loss against GWS. It could completely do my head in if that happens. .

Yeah, what's the bet he'd end up at Casey. Complete with his gridiron gear on. Melbournised

Kobe reckons he made a move and it just went pop. Calf muscles and Achilles tendon injuries are the domain of the older athlete. Story of the Lakers year really. You'll almost certainly be playing OKC if you make the playoffs. Utah and the Lakers both won today but LA are possibly going to have to beat the Spurs and Houston to make it anyway.

KC will probably go with the popular pick in Luke Joeckel. With Andy Reid and Alex Smith on board, they could be a team to look out for. Did I read somewhere that the 49ers have 13 picks in the first 6 rounds of the draft ? As if they're not strong enough already! ... NFL Mock Draft 2013: Most Likely Scenarios for Every First Round Pick

Now that was a great version. Time for our team to blow off the cobwebs. Here's a couple of tracks from Marilyn Manson that might help them. The first track (No Reflection) was released last year whilst the 2nd song (Sweet Dreams) was released in 1995 Macca 12.7

The Lakers win out and they make it. 3 games, all at home. Warriors, Spurs, Rockets. Utah have Minnesota home and away then are at Memphis. Magic said today that the Lakers will beat the Spurs if they meet them in the 1st round. Although to make the playoffs LA might have to defeat the Spurs in their 2nd last game (which could cause the Spurs to finish in the 2 seed). Anyway, big call. Bill Simmons chimed in with his usual cutting humour. Something about the Lakers lack of defence. One week and we're into it. Can't wait really, playoffs in the NBA are just great. The Knicks have been on a fine run but it's looking like a match-up with the Celtics in the 1st round. That would be a classic series. .

All I know right now is that our division is gonna be an absolute bunfight. The Red Sox have started with a few wins. Yep, good start by Oakland (now 7-2) . The Braves have started well.(8-1) Washington might do ok. There are so many in with a chance.

Macca 12.6

Yeah, good point HT (of what I can remember of it !) We'll take 2 spinners to England. The following quote is from an 'Age' article a couple of days ago. Bit of a misleading headline but interesting, nonetheless ... We'll cook the pitches: Skipper

With a bit of coaching Xavier could be a much better bowler. He needs to get a lot more side on in his delivery stride and put a lot more body into his bowling. He's a bit too open and that's why he doesn't get enough flight, drift and spin on the ball. I'm really surprised someone hasn't got hold of him and fixed his delivery stride and action. Haven't the individual States got any bowling coaches? He's 30 years old and there might still be time. His bowling right now is better suited to limited overs cricket. Look at Ojha, Panesar and the like. Really nice actions with a smooth flow about how they bowl. All the good left arm tweakers had this trait. Lyon or Ahmed? At least we might have 2 decent spinners vying for the one spot. That's a good thing ...

It may be a good thing that he's a mature age leggie. Hohns and Holland were quite handy for us before Warne arrived on the scene.

Yeah, as I was posting that team I had an eye on the future as opposed to right now. It largely explains why Cummins is in my XI. You are most probably right with regards to Lyon being in the team first up but 2 things to take into account. 1 - If Fawad is named in the squad then there is a very good chance that he will debut in one of the 5 Tests. 2 - The selectors did drop Lyon from the Team after the 1st Test in India so he may not be regarded as a permanent fixture by the selectors. In summary, if all those players I mentioned were named in the squad then you may find that XI that I named could be the one named for the 3rd Test (especially if we're 1 - 0 down in the series at that stage) It was more of a future's XI, Django, rather than the team picked for the 1st Test. I think that even if Cummins is fit, they'll wait a bit before bringing him into the side. I did call it the 'Best XI'. Should have put a 'Going forward' bit beside it to be clear. By the way, I like Lyon but it's doubtful he'll ever be 'Great'. And besides all that, we all know that England don't play leg spin very well !! Here's my XI for the 1st Ashes Test. I don't believe it's a 'great' team by any means. Ultimately I believe Cummins, Ahmed and possibly Paine and Burns will find their way into the team. Henriques or maybe even the 'smoky', Mitchell Marsh could come in for a 'Non bowling Watson'. I like the look of Doolan and Maddinson as well. We need to unearth a number of 'stars' if we're going to return to no.1 status. Warner Watson Cowan Clarke Khawaja Smith Wade Siddle Starc Pattinson Lyon

Here's my Ashes squad. The selectors will no doubt be thinking differently. One proviso ... the selectors have intimated that they will take 7 batsmen, 2 keepers, 2 spinners and 6 fast bowlers (or 5 quicks and an all rounder who bowls medium fast) Squad of 17 Clarke (Capt) Warner Cowan Smith (has to be rewarded) Burns (need one new batsman who didn't tour India) Khawaja Watson (V Capt) (plays in the best XI if he is bowling) Mitchell Marsh (have heard he might be the 'smoky') Wade Paine *Ahmed (if he's available) Lyon Pattinson **Cummins (if he is fit and raring to go) Starc Siddle **Bird (subject to fitness) *Beer, Ajar or Holland on standby for Ahmed **Harris, Hilfenhaus and Johnson on standby for Cummins and/or Bird (in that order) Best XI Warner Watson Cowan Clarke Khawaja Smith Wade Siddle Pattinson Cummins Ahmed 12th man Starc The XI bats "left and right" all the way through the order. Paine, Starc and Lyon are unlucky not to be included in the XI. Would have liked to have found room for Doolan and or Rogers in the squad.

Got a stack of new stuff to post in the coming weeks but in the meantime, here's a couple of 'bumped' songs from 'The Strokes'. A band out of New York with their own unique style.

Maxwell opened the batting and opened the bowling. When was the last time that happened? And when was the last time we opened with 2 spinners? Have we ever done it? Maybe Watson for the 1st question but opening with 2 spinners is a toughie. A wild guess would be O'Reilly and Grimmett. It's looking like a 4 nil clean sweep now (barring a massive batting collapse)

All the same, it's tough going for the batsmen out there. The ball is turning big time and is often keeping low or jumping off a length. Even the best players of spin are going to struggle in these conditions. We need someone to take the long handle - maybe Johnson? Thinking ahead, it's quite possible that Lyon will open the bowling. Maxwell could be on early as well.

So how do we bat in this innings? Do we go out there and try and smack as many as we can, before the pitch gets us? Maxwell opening! Here we go!

There's been some strange goings on, that's for sure. A month long training camp to help with team bonding could help fix things. (a training camp doesn't necessarily have to be a hard slog) Trouble is, many of our available players will be otherwise occupied in the IPL. Straight after that, the 'Champions Trophy' will be held in June (in England) There literally isn't any time for many of our players to draw breath. Not enough time to freshen up. The England players don't have the same problem as many or most of them aren't playing in the IPL. Our players have a whole host of distractions to deal with. There is a huge change going on in the sport as a whole and I'm not sure how it can be addressed. The money on offer is enormous (in t20) Lyon picks up a career best 7/94 ... bowled beautifully.

The way I generally view sport, there is nearly always something to be gained in winning games when it doesn't really matter. For any number of reasons. Primarily, it's the 'Never give up factor'. If we win this match it could easily help us win a close game in the future. There's the belief and confidence factor. Hating to lose anytime, breeds a winning attitude. You take a win anytime and you never give up - ever. Do we really want to lose 4-0? To India? Aren't we supposed to hate losing to teams that we hate? India are like the Pies, Bombers or the Blues. Any loss to any of those teams, anytime, is unacceptable. Even if you're clearly not good enough, you have to fight it out. We're finally showing a bit of gumption after showing very little in the first 3 Tests. Lyon could end up with a big match haul which would do his confidence the world of good (the coach has 'stated' that Lyon is low on confidence) A win is a win is a win. Edit : England currently 9 for 204, just after Tea on the 3rd day of the 3rd Test in New Zealand (the Kiwi's made 443 in their 1st innings) Considering the first 2 Tests were drawn, England are staring down another series defeat. (they've lost series to Pakistan (3-0) and South Africa (2-0) in the past 15 months) C'mon New Zealand !

Nathan Lyon bowled very well and we looked a different team out there today. Very competitive and good to see. Maxwell bowled ok as well and he should have had another wicket (a stumping) The track is really playing some tricks and if we can set India anything above 200, it might be enough. The ball is turning quite a lot and the quicks are getting some variable bounce. We need to bat with some real intent once we finish off their 1st innings. Ojha bowled really well for them and he is such a classical bowler to watch. He deserved so much more than the one wicket he got in our 1st innings. He could be quite a handful in our 2nd innings (along with all their other bowlers, Ashwin and Jadeja especially) The match is set up for a great finish and we've got a real chance to push for victory. It was great to see some good old fashioned Aussie fight out there today.

I like Bailey as well and the selectors may decide to go with a more 'seasoned' player or 2 for the Ashes. Our middle order needs to be strengthened so George could fit the bill. You do need a good blend of experience and youth in order to win. Cummins would add a lot if he comes up. That extra pace would be vital and he's certainly got it. Klinger and Rogers have a stack of runs behind them. To wrest the Ashes back from England we'll need to bat big or at least better their batting. I reckon we might take at least 1 batsmen who is not in India to England ... one young batsman or one more seasoned. Or one of each. There is nearly always a surprise selection or 2 - it's almost a tradition! We may also take 6 quick bowlers to fit in with the rotation policy. Alternatively, we could always call up another quick at short notice. Harris and Hilfenhaus could come into the reckoning as well but it's the batting that remains a concern. I'm always reminded that anything can happen in sport. Cricket and the NFL are 2 sports where things can change dramatically in a short space of time. If you've got 2 or 3 players who suddenly excel, it can make a huge difference to a teams performance (imagine if we could add Ablett, Pendlebury and Cotchin to our midfield group right now - leaving off the last 3 players on our list) Whilst I'm not confident about wresting back the Ashes in England, it wouldn't surprise me if we did wrest them back. Fingers crossed on Cummins and Fawad Ahmed, TD ! If we can bowl England out cheaply enough on a consistent basis, then we've definitely got a chance.

The reality is that apart from Clarke, the rest of our batsmen struggle against quality spin bowling. Our performance in India has been poor. Now our blokes have to cope with quality seam bowling on decks that could seam around a bit. Swann and/or Panesar will provide a handful as well. We are going to have to bowl exceptionally well and our batsmen will need to post some big scores in the forthcoming Ashes. Big centuries are required and Cowan, Hughes, Watson and Warner need to start converting their starts. (that's if they all play). We need a no.6 batsman as well. Our batting line-up in England could include 1 or 2 other batsmen not currently in India. If Watson is bowling then he's good value and we will probably need a 5th bowler in England. Henriques' bowling in England could be effective but can he bat in the top 6? He impressed in his debut and he should be given more opportunities. Wade should bat at 7. Smith seems to have come back a better player but it's difficult to judge him on an overall basis. It remains to be seen whether he's improved against quality seam bowling. Khawaja is another player who has a nice technique and just needs some more opportunities. Our side is far from settled and touring the subcontinent hasn't helped things at all. A lot will depend on how the selectors view things. They could wield the axe or they could understand that the tours are vastly different and pick the squad accordingly. England bat a lot better than our blokes and that's where the advantage lies. Plus their spinners are far superior to ours. We can match them in the fast bowling stakes. We need to get a lot better and that can happen. '89 was a great example of how things all came together. Fawad Ahmed could prove to be a factor if he's available and picked. Given that there is usually at least one draw in an Ashes series in England, we'd possibly have to win 3 Tests in England to regain the Ashes. 2 wins might do the trick but then there would have to be 2 draws. Can we stop England from winning more than 1 Test in a 5 Test series in England?

They may as well try and smack a few. Trying to hang around against these 3 spinners on this track ain't gonna work. If we lose 4 - 0, is that the 1st time since 1969/70 in South Africa? We lost 5 - 1 to England in 1978/79 but that was during the WSC years. Bob Willis described our team then as our 3rd eleven! (Lambs to the slaughter was an aptly named book by Graham Yallop) Some of the dismissals today have been embarrassing.

Not a bad squad 'TD'. Possibly find room for a Doolan or a Burns though - maybe both. Might be a surprise pick or 2 - there often is. The squad will no doubt be dubbed "The worst to ever tour". Think I'm right in saying the last time that happened was in 1989. The 2005 squad were favoured to win and the 2009 team had high hopes as well (We'd cleaned up England 5 - 0 in 2006/07) 1989 remains as one of my favourite ever series and the 4 - 0 series win came as a complete surprise. It all came together in the batting. Who knows how this 2013 squad will fare? I'm not confident but you never know. I was of the opinion that Cummins wasn't going to come up for England but would be ecstatic if he was fit and firing for the Ashes. We're quite well off for seamers so that area of our team is probably not the main concern. Let's hope that Fawad Ahmed is ok to go. Our batting is a major worry and it looks like we're in all sorts again in this Test (currently 5 - 118). The wicket is already giving up a fair bit of spin. Ojha and Ashwin are again looking mighty dangerous.

Here's one for the politically minded ...Haven't had a chance to have a look at it yet but have heard some very good reports. It's available on netflix but there may be other sources ... A UK version was made way back in 1990 starring Ian Richardson. Not sure how closely related the 2 shows are but some critics have compared the new version quite favourably. ... House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey