Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test, Melbourne, 26-30 December, 2019

I'm guessing Aus will play Patto as replacement for the injured Purple.

Will the Kiwis bounce Jeet Raval? Who have they got for the lame Lockie Ferguson?

Puddle in ...surely

What drugs is Langer on?

"Passing over James Pattinson and Michael Neser to recall Peter Siddle for the Boxing Day Test would be sending the wrong message, former Australian captain Mark Taylor says.

Australian coach Justin Langer flagged the surprising prospect of a Siddle call-up as his team won the first Test against New Zealand in Perth.

Josh Hazlewood was injured in the match, meaning he must he replaced, and Langer also claimed that the Aussies may select four quicks at the MCG, should the venue deliver another lifeless pitch.

"We've started to think about (a squad replacement for Hazlewood), the obvious one would be Peter Siddle, actually," Langer said.

"He did a really good job in the Ashes, he's bowling very well for Victoria and it's at the MCG where he's played a lot of cricket."

Pattinson and Neser should be the next quicks in, by virtue of having been selected for the Test squad to face New Zealand, but Siddle is now in the mix off the back of three Ashes appearances. Siddle would be coming in from outside the squad and has also been branded yesterday's man by Test greats Shane Warne and Michael Vaughan.

"If you go on what the selectors have done so far, James Pattinson would have to have the inside running," Taylor told Wide World of Sports."

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One minute Langer is talking about the value of a stable XI, the next he's talking about recalling Old Man Banana.

Dear God in Heaven.

Insurance against a lifeless pitch with a workhorse perhaps?

skully wrote:I'm guessing Aus will play Patto as replacement for the injured Purple.

Will the Kiwis bounce Jeet Raval? Who have they got for the lame Lockie Ferguson?

Boult.

Ah yes.

Fat lot of good he'll do them on a flat deck.

Les Burdett has come out of retirement to help supervise pitch prep for Boxing Day. Interviewed on the ABC he expressed confidence in the pitch.

Link

Interesting what he says about pitch prep techniques and how to avoid a repeat of the shield disaster.

Bradman wrote:Interesting what he says about pitch prep techniques and how to avoid a repeat of the shield disaster.

Yes.

The weather pattern leading to the Shield game did not help (it was cool) and the curator had over watered as he admitted. Burdettt's observation about the start of thee game needing to be put back was also interesting. That day was a lovely sunny high 20's and it dried out the pitch by lunch. Unfortunately as he describes, the damage had been done.

Is the regular curator new? I remember the gabba curator, who had been doing the job since he could walk, just driving the covers on whenever he knew it was just about to piss down without reference to the umps.

Bradman wrote:Is the regular curator new?  I remember the gabba curator, who had been doing the job since he could walk, just driving the covers on whenever he knew it was just about to piss down without reference to the umps.

Yes, there is a new curator. He was previously employed by the Wozzies. There was some irony in Bog and Stoinis copping a heap of bruises in the abandoned Shield game.

I wonder whether with the removal of the concrete slab, the MCG pitch will be both truer and develop characteristics that become specific to the G. I hope so.

Have other drop-in pitches employed concrete slabs? If nothing else slabs would over time affect the ph balance of the sand and soil on top of it. This is on top of the barrier to roots.

It is interesting that the new WA stadium and the relatively still new Docklands stadium have been criticised for their hard surfaces. The provision for underground parking at Docklands and I guess at the new WACA, mean the underground base of both is concrete, with soil dumped in on top. Even with wonderful drainage systems, curators at these grounds face big challenges not faced by groundsmen at standard grounds.

AFL players have complained about the surfaces of both. Both WA AFL clubs have expressed concern about the ground surface of the new ground.

The drop-in pitch in WA for First Test was not great. In combination with the day-night conditions, whoever won the the toss had a massive advantage. IMLTHO the Snoozies had zero chance once they lost the toss.

Loss of the toss for visiting teams in any country and on any ground makes winning a real challenge. In day-night conditions loss of the toss is probably fatal. I believe the only way to redress this and the behaviour of the Poms dialling in pitches is for the visiting team to be automatically given the right to decide whether they will bat or bowl.

Traditionalist that I am I would wear that and with the tendency among captains since time began to bat first would also see less roads.

Forecast for Melbourne Test:

Day 1 - 23C - fine
Day 2 - 27C - fine
Day 3 - 41C - fine
Day 4 - 32C - fine
Day 5 - 39C - cloudy

Possibly a good toss to lose.

Dark you Mexicans have some weird extremes.

Dark indeed.

Bradman wrote:Dark you Mexicans have some weird extremes.

Always bring a cardy.

The Kiwis have indeed flicked Jeet from an opener spot for reserve keeper Tom Blundell.

skully wrote:The Kiwis have indeed flicked Jeet from an opener spot for reserve keeper Tom Blundell.

Not surprised. He struck me as a lower echelon Shield opener or as a Jordan Silk type. He did provide them with a decent spin option and is an excellent fieldsman. With the name Blundell I expect he will become a member of our NSP, once he retires.

Weather today is fine and mild and will be pretty much the same for the next few days. This will be a "We'll have a bat wicket".

The Grub looked very flinchy in the nets today after being struck on the hand yesterday.

Apparently* he's in no doubt for the Test.

Might be a tough track, what'd you expect.

Cloudy and mild in Melbourne this morning. It is quite humid. The first session will be tough for whoever is batting. The clouds should disappear for the lunch to tea Session.

Apparently* the pitch has a good covering of grass but should be hard. It could be a good toss to lose.

Seems Oz is thinking about a 5th bowler. This is crazy, unless they drop Paine and get Wade to don the gloves. However the blather is that Head will be dropped for a fourth quick. The chatter is of course nonsense. Even cbnlg is not so stupid to drop a batsman from an already unreliable batting line up.

They are expecting 70K at the G today. I am unable to go to my chagrin. Autobahns aside, the Boxing Day Test is the biggest and most popular match on the annual Test calendar. Long may it remain so.

My BD wishes are for:
1. The match to go to the fifth day and the result to be decided late.
2. The gcspoc to make single figures in both innings.
3. The pitch to be fair to bat and ball.

BRING.IT.ON!!!!