West Indies v Australia, 1st Test, Roseau, 3-7 June, 2015

A pitch that they say is gonig to take spin yet both teams only go with 1 frontline spinner each. Bit odd.

Good first over from Haze.

Mitch not exactly letting it rip just yet.

Maybe Hope pullngi him for four will fire him up. From the Eng series I think Hope's technique is more than a little suspect outside off.

Oh yeah, why is this test starting on a Weds? Empty venue, save for what looks like an outing for the Australian branch of the Darby and Joan club. Oh for the days of full to bursting Caribbean venues, with atmospheres that ranged from celebratory to febrile. I'm sure Brendon Julian as fond memories of that kind of crowd involvement. :-)

Not a lot of luck for Oz in that first hour. 

Haze continues to impress.

Bravo has the concentration span of a gnat.

So, observations on the morning's play.

1. Pudding of a pitch.

2. WI right handers - Hope, Brathwaite and Dowrich look way dodgy outside off.

3. Mitch talked Hope into that dismissal - he'd been chirping at him for a few deliveries, giving him the good old f and c type sledging that we've all come to know and love. As long as it pays off then I guess he'll keep doing it.

4. Lamentable over rate. And would have been worse if the umps had decided to call the numerous front foot no-balls that were being sent down, even Lyon was over the line.

5. Speaking of Lyon did they drag him out of a skip or waste bin. His kit and his whole demeanour is redolent of a bloke who's been sleeping rough for weeks.

Oh dear. They have as much clue outside off as England. Still can't see why Shiv wasn't given one last try....

Collapsing like a fan in a gale.

Twatto's on
Pressure's off

Huh. 144/9. Dear oh dear oh dear. Has anyone seen demons in the pitch? From where I'm sitting, it looks a piece o' piss. Horror session.

That is some of the weakest batting I've seen in a long, long time.

Both Mitches and Hazelwood bowled well after lunch - but they weren't 148 all out good.

Warner will have that deficit knocked off by stumps. Get 300 ahead during tomorrow. Declare and wrap it up early Friday.

A 3 day test watched by a grand total of 500 Aussie tourist and a handful of locals.

Good stuff.

That's a fair woof.

The force is strong with this one.

Well, I'm happy enough to wake up to that match score. Didn't look like the Ganjas had much stomach for a fight.

Looks a good team bowling effort.

Warner & Marsh go early. Might be something in the pitch afterall.

Seems to me to be crap-shottery

Clarke gone too, but Voges away on debut.

vilkrang wrote:The force is strong with this one.

I'll see if I can keep it up for the Ashes Vilks - but I make no promises.

Interestingly (well to me anyway) I think that Warner has a problem with the ball around his hip area. When he pulls or aims to clip he seems to get really tucked up and occasionally spoons it in the air. I'm sure England will have noticed this flaw and as a result will cunningly double bluff him and feed him a diet of half volleys outside off in the hope that he carves it to the man on the point boundary. Which he eventually will after a 78 ball double hundred.

And what was Clarke up to today - he looked so frenetic. Unnecessarily so I'd suggest.

Lindsay no.2 wrote:
Interestingly (well to me anyway) I think that Warner has a problem with the ball around his hip area. When he pulls or aims to clip he seems to get really tucked up and occasionally spoons it in the air. I'm sure England will have noticed this flaw and as a result will cunningly double bluff him and feed him a diet of half volleys outside off in the hope that he carves it to the man on the point boundary. Which he eventually will after a 78 ball double hundred.

Won't we give him wide bouncers to start off with, when the ball is swinging, then resort to half volleys 50 overs into the innings?

13 wickets and 233 runs for the day. wtf is going on there? pitches dont get that bad without landmines

So Pup was on blow, ay? Bit disappointed to see we lost 3 after Tea. Oh well, DGB Smitty is still there.

but is struggling to score...

horace wrote:but is struggling to score...

What do you expect form a specialist fielder.

I expect he will reprise that role against England

horace wrote:but is struggling to score...

Steve Smith has a lot on his plate in this innings. He knows that if he makes a big score, it will cement his place as our #3 & we all know what that means ........



........... yes, that's right. It means that we don't require Shane Watson to bat at first drop anymore and we can finally drop him and bring in Mitchell Marsh as the batting allrounder.




As long as Watson doesn't make runs today.