Australia v India, 1st Test, Melbourne, 26-30 December, 2011

I do not believe that things could possibly get any worse.

As an Englishman, I can assure you they can.

Mullally
Tufnell
Giddins


That is all.

lardbucket wrote:I do not believe that things could possibly get any worse.

Is Skully going?

No. But it has been discussed. It may be a Bucket List entry to knock off each of the Test grounds in Aus. Bellerive is only the 2nd Test ground I've been to.

skully wrote:No. But it has been discussed. It may be a Bucket List entry to knock off each of the Test grounds in Aus. Bellerive is only the 2nd Test ground I've been to.

Even I've knocked off more than that. Done Wanderers and Centurion for tests, WIllowmore for an ODI and Kingsmead for a FC match.

Well done. I now have a taste for it, and hopefully the piefellow and I may have commenced a pattern.

skully wrote:No. But it has been discussed. It may be a Bucket List entry to knock off each of the Test grounds in Aus. Bellerive is only the 2nd Test ground I've been to.

Bellerive is the only one I haven't. I crossed Adelaide off the list last summer - a nightmare game for Oz but at least I got to see the place before the AFL concrete it in.

Henry wrote:As an Englishman, I can assure you they can.

Mullally
Tufnell
Giddins


That is all.

And Caddick batted 8, with Read and Irani above him I think...

Dark, dark days indeed.

Fred Nerk wrote:

skully wrote:No. But it has been discussed. It may be a Bucket List entry to knock off each of the Test grounds in Aus. Bellerive is only the 2nd Test ground I've been to.

Bellerive is the only one I haven't. I crossed Adelaide off the list last summer - a nightmare game for Oz but at least I got to see the place before the AFL concrete it in.

I haven't knocked Adelaide off yet ... or Darwin.

AB said on 'Inside Cricket' that he thinks of the older guys will go but he's not sure whether it will be Hussey or Punter. Not sure I'd be that sanguine. Gideon Haigh said tonight on radio that he was speaking to Inverarity the other day and he holds Ponting in very high esteem and considers that he's vitally important to the team. Ironically it's been the youngsters by and large pulling out the big performances. Certainly today the experienced guys let them down.

Watson and Marsh are also no certainties to be fit.

Forgot about Darwin - we may both have missed that boat.

That other place, which sounds like what Kiwis pack baked beans in, may also have hosted its last Test.

Red wrote:AB said on 'Inside Cricket' that he thinks of the older guys will go but he's not sure whether it will be Hussey or Punter. Not sure I'd be that sanguine. Gideon Haigh said tonight on radio that he was speaking to Inverarity the other day and he holds Ponting in very high esteem and considers that he's vitally important to the team. Ironically it's been the youngsters by and large pulling out the big performances. Certainly today the experienced guys let them down.

Watson and Marsh are also no certainties to be fit.

Like the chief selector is going to tell a journalist (albeit a respected one) that he thinks Ponting is a washed up old has-been who he intends to dump at the first opportunity....

Henry wrote:

Red wrote:AB said on 'Inside Cricket' that he thinks of the older guys will go but he's not sure whether it will be Hussey or Punter. Not sure I'd be that sanguine. Gideon Haigh said tonight on radio that he was speaking to Inverarity the other day and he holds Ponting in very high esteem and considers that he's vitally important to the team. Ironically it's been the youngsters by and large pulling out the big performances. Certainly today the experienced guys let them down.

Watson and Marsh are also no certainties to be fit.

Like the chief selector is going to tell a journalist (albeit a respected one) that he thinks Ponting is a washed up old has-been who he intends to dump at the first opportunity....

Trev you know Red believes that everything stated in the media is gospel truth.

BTW the ever hot Chris Cairns is convinced that Punter is not picking up the ball. He thinks we have to make the tough decisions but it may all come down to the fitness of Marsh and Watson. The latter may end up playing as a #6 batsman in place of Hussey if they're not ready to replace the ex-skipper.

taipan wrote:

Henry wrote:

Red wrote:AB said on 'Inside Cricket' that he thinks of the older guys will go but he's not sure whether it will be Hussey or Punter. Not sure I'd be that sanguine. Gideon Haigh said tonight on radio that he was speaking to Inverarity the other day and he holds Ponting in very high esteem and considers that he's vitally important to the team. Ironically it's been the youngsters by and large pulling out the big performances. Certainly today the experienced guys let them down.

Watson and Marsh are also no certainties to be fit.

Like the chief selector is going to tell a journalist (albeit a respected one) that he thinks Ponting is a washed up old has-been who he intends to dump at the first opportunity....

Trev you know Red believes that everything stated in the media is gospel truth.

Haigh's a highly respected and knowledgeable journo though. The way he conveyed this piece of info. suggested that the thought it highly unlikely that Punter will be dumped.

And let's not forget that the journos do generally get it right. There's never a tour or a test match where they don't publicly divulge the team before the game.

When I was a kid you were often surprised when squads were named but these days you rarely are. The journos have pretty good networks.

"Like the chief selector is going to tell a journalist (albeit a respected one) that he thinks Ponting is a washed up old has-been who he intends to dump at the first opportunity...."

If he did, I'd read it as an last-ditch attempt to get Ponts so crapped off that he couldn't GAF any more and dummy-spits himself back into form. Not that you'd recommend it as a strategy.

It might work. Ponting's whole career has been driven by anger.

Fred Nerk wrote:Forgot about Darwin - we may both have missed that boat.

That other place, which sounds like what Kiwis pack baked beans in, may also have hosted its last Test.

Did you get there?

Naah - furthest north I've been is just past Mackay.

It's a fine ground, quite beautiful really, and ideal for Tests in June-July. I hope there will be more.

Aus must surely be due to host the Bangers again.

Henry wrote:Aus must surely be due to host the Bangers again.

Yep, just after the Bangles go to India.

Captain Obvious makes a selection call

NOT even Michael Clarke can defend Phil Hughes any more.
Clarke has long been a supporter of his NSW teammate but after Australia's loss to New Zealand, the skipper said it was time for Hughes to go back to state level.

Hughes was caught by Martin Guptill in the slips off Chris Martin's bowling - the fourth time in the two-Test series he had been dismissed caught Guptill, bowled Martin - without adding to his overnight score of 20.

Australia went on to be bundled out for 233 and lose by seven runs in what was the Black Caps' first Test win against the Australians since 1993.

NZ's victory squared the series at one-all but Australia, as holder, retained the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Hughes ended the series with 41 runs at 10.25 and will not be a part of the Boxing Day Test against India.

"He needs to find some runs. It is as simple as that," Clarke said.

"If he's not making them for Australia, he is going to have to go back and score some for NSW."

But Sheffield Shield cricket goes into hibernation now to make way for the Twenty20 Big Bash League - certainly not the ideal preparation for an inconsistent Test side.

"We go back and play Twenty20 cricket so, yeah, if that's the case for people who get dropped from this team, they are going to have to go back to Twenty20 cricket and score some runs," Clarke said.

"He needs some runs, no doubt, but he's not the only one though - let me make that very clear."

With an innings built around opener David Warner's brilliant maiden Test century, Australia was coasting at 2-159, chasing the victory target of 241, before raw Kiwi seamer Doug Bracewell triggered a collapse of 7-40 either side of lunch.

In just his third Test, the 21-year-old Bracewell finished with 6-40 to go with his three first-innings wickets, a performance that should have given him the man of the match award.

He dismissed Ricky Ponting (16), Clarke (0) and Mike Hussey (0) - the last two in successive balls - as Australia lost 3-0 just before the break.

The tail followed in quick succession before Warner and Nathan Lyon dug in, whittling the target down to just eight.

Fittingly, it was Bracewell who ended the 34-run stand and the game, bowling Lyon.

But Sheffield Shield cricket goes into hibernation now to make way for the Twenty20 Big Bash League - certainly not the ideal preparation for an inconsistent Test side.

"We go back and play Twenty20 cricket so, yeah, if that's the case for people who get dropped from this team, they are going to have to go back to Twenty20 cricket and score some runs," Clarke said.

Oh dear. So the Argus report was a complete waste of time then? Seeing as the BBL is likely to take place at the peak of the Australian Summer for the next few years at least, no State player pushing for test selection will be able to show form while the tests are going on.

It's all very 90s England stuff, I must say.