Australia v England, 5th Test, Sydney, January 3-7, 2011

F*CK OFF CLARKE!!!!!

Another Bresnan pie snags a wicket. He's the new Botham.

Captain Michael Clarke is just as sh!t as Vice-Captain Michael Clarke.

Cracking take-down by Pietersen on Bres. Like a gazelle felling a hippo.

2 wickets and England are through. Only averaging a wicket per session thus far, though, so this could be it for the day. Hussey's already started out in ominously flukey touch.

Oh, go around the wicket to him, will you?

Khawaja's had a pretty easy ride in his first Test innings. Hasn't even faced a single ball of spin either.

Clarke ...what a farking oxygen thief

SWANNNNNEEEEEEE!!!

Usman gone, spin works

Unlucky Mrs Khawaja - either Allah doesn't give a sh!t about cricket or he just doesn't exist and you're a mental person talking to themselves.

And it's raining again. Allah intervenes a ball too late...

Bill Lawry 'Allah is on fire here at SCG'
(hence he sent the rain to get himself off fire)

Khawaja out for 37 & the rain starts again.

Dello wrote:These should be ideal Jimmy Anderson conditions, but he's just not at the races today.

The Leader indeed.

He does seem a bit "off" somehow - but I wonder whether he's a bit wary of the surface at the stumps. Did you see the way he slipped in his delivery stride first over ? It's almost as if he's afraid to really go for it.

That said, anyone returning 34 off 20 overs isn't bowling badly however you look at it. Early start tomorrow he may still run through the middle / lower order like a helping of rough dodgy chicken

So I take it that PUp played a captain's knock

doctorspin wrote:F*CK OFF WATTO!!!!!.....Again

and ****** you, doctor.

So a few things didn't change.

Watson got a good start and then surrendered his wicket, making an effeminate gesture to himself in the process.

Hughes played some aggressive shots but nicked off with his feet in the air.

Clarke failed again at #4.

The team is relying on Hussey and Haddin to pull them out the fire.

The sun failed to shine in dimmest Sydney.

And surely Haddin's promotion in the order is an admission by the selectors that they're not picking the best six specialist batsmen in the country.

taipan wrote:So I take it that PUp played a captain's knock

i'm sure he was hitting them well in the nets

Just heard Chappelli interviewed. He thinks Punter is kidding himself if he believes he should remain captain, saying that it's time for Australia to go in a new direction and Punter has had his time with the reins.

He also thinks that Punter should give Clarke some space in the dressingroom. When he replaced Lawry as skipper for the last test against England, the erstwhile skipper stayed away from the team letting the new one run his own ship.

Watson got a good start and then surrendered his wicket,

You are clueless. Show us your own tits.

And surely Haddin's promotion in the order is an admission by the selectors that they're not picking the best six specialist batsmen in the country.

Although I do agree with this bit. Does anyone believe that Not Paris wouldn't be a better batsman/part time spinner?

Just home from the SCG and some observations on the day:

Clark, a good move to give the honour of handing out the baggy greens to a past player and moving Haddin ahead of Smith in the batting line up.
Less said about the batting the better, way to close to the body to cut. Wonder when that last person was to be made captain and then dropped the next test.

Hughes, showed signs of coming out of his slump played a very patient innings, until leaving the bat out at one he had been leaving prior to that.

Watson see above, more controlled then what he has been in past and again a concentration lapse when he look set,

Usman, Out to inexperience but definitly looks like he could develop into a long term option in the Test side.

England bowlers for the most part early on thought they bowled to short and wide, it wasn't until Collingwood was introduced that a bowler hit the right line and length which the bowlers picked up on after the tea break.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Watson got a good start and then surrendered his wicket,

You are clueless. Show us your own tits.

Sorry, he got off to a good start and then his positive and precise footwork and steely concentration meant that he pushed on to a big score.

Khawaja's first two balls brought the biggest cheers from Aussie fans this Summer.

England have just shaded the first day though, despite not bowling all that well.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Watson got a good start and then surrendered his wicket,

You are clueless. Show us your own tits.

And surely Haddin's promotion in the order is an admission by the selectors that they're not picking the best six specialist batsmen in the country.

Although I do agree with this bit. Does anyone believe that Not Paris wouldn't be a better batsman/part time spinner?

Definitely like to see Brazen giving the nod ahead of Smith, if they are picking him for the batting.

Sorry, he got off to a good start and then his positive and precise footwork and steely concentration meant that he pushed on to a big score.

Red, talk, cut & paste all you like. Throw in words like "resolve", "concentration", even "character" if you see fit. With all that done you probably feel quite chuffed with yourself. If you don't understand that the ball only has to move 7 centimetres off line in the last 7 metres of travel to get a nick, then you are a clueless twat.

Was at the SCG today and would be interested what our Aussie friends think of it as a ground. The two most striking things are you can't leave the ground and return during a days play (!) and you can't really go walking round the ground as the circuit's blocked off by the member's area. Not that you'd want to mind you, it's an ugly unwelcoming place. Nowt to see apart from concrete and piping. It's comfortably the most charmless cricket ground I've been to.

The MCG on the other hand is fab. Sh*ts on the SCG from an almighty height.

Mick Sawyer wrote:

Sorry, he got off to a good start and then his positive and precise footwork and steely concentration meant that he pushed on to a big score.

Red, talk, cut & paste all you like. Throw in words like "resolve", "concentration", even "character" if you see fit. With all that done you probably feel quite chuffed with yourself. If you don't understand that the ball only has to move 7 centimetres off line in the last 7 metres of travel to get a nick, then you are a clueless twat.

I think I know that. The bottom line though is that Watson keeps going out after getting a start. He was annoyed with himself too. Whether he 'surrendered' it or not, or surrendered his wicket on other occasions this summer is a moot point, and that's the word you seem to have an issue with. No doubt he put a price on his wicket today but once again he slightly lost concentration and missed the opportunity to press on.