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

Anyone else breathe a sigh of relief when they saw Anderson, not Collingwood, stride out? Feel bad about myself for thinking this about dea old Colly, but you know.

Dello wrote:167-3, 113 behind at stumps.

I think England will be a bit disappointed with how the day went - allowed Australia 100 runs too many and rather gifted their three wickets with loose shots from Strauss and Trott and a typical Pietersen give-away.

Big day for Collingwood tomorrow, then. England need him to come to party or there's not much chance of a decent lead.

We've been gifting wickets all series despite England's bowling being better. Welcome to the club!

England would only be disappointed with the last wicket partnership given the modest credentials of Hilf with the bat and the fact that having the best of the bowling conditions you could easily have polished us off for under 200.

frickin' bowlers getting wickets off no-balls. Sack the bowling coach

Nath wrote:frickin' bowlers getting wickets off no-balls. Sack the bowling coach

In fairness, you shouldn't be playing professional cricket if, as a spinner, you can't work out how to not bowl no-balls.

Nath wrote:frickin' bowlers getting wickets off no-balls. Sack the bowling coach

Buchannen tried for years to stop them bowling no-balls in the nets and they all laughed at him. I haven't mgot much time for Ned but he was right on the button with that one. FFS! It's like they practice bowling the bloody things.

Bradman wrote:

Nath wrote:frickin' bowlers getting wickets off no-balls. Sack the bowling coach

Buchannen tried for years to stop them bowling no-balls in the nets and they all laughed at him. I haven't mgot much time for Ned but he was right on the button with that one. FFS! It's like they practice bowling the bloody things.

Greg Chappell has always been big on the fact that bowlers should practise bowling off their proper run-ups in training, not flirting with this aspect of their game. He said personally he never bowled a no ball because he always ran in from slightly behind his marker.

Dello wrote:I don't know how the Aussie media are bigging him up, but I do think there's certain players that just look at home in international cricket, and Khawaja exuded that confidence.

JP Duminy?

Big Dog wrote:The hype over Usman is a bit OTT. The dude only made 37 but the NSW cricket mafia are pushing him as the next Bradman. He did show some promise though. I'll put him down as a work in progress & hope the hype doesnt put an early end to his career.

A fair summary BD. Looks like he might make a player. Better news is that he looks like he may have some humility.

So, Aus 280 all out from 187/8 and England 167/3 from 98/0 then. I have an uneasy feeling about this - Perth revisited anyone?

Basil wrote:So, Aus 280 all out from 187/8 and England 167/3 from 98/0 then. I have an uneasy feeling about this - Perth revisited anyone?

It's not Perth Bas.

Dello wrote:

Nath wrote:frickin' bowlers getting wickets off no-balls. Sack the bowling coach

In fairness, you shouldn't be playing professional cricket if, as a spinner, you can't work out how to not bowl no-balls.

Why not, it worked for Murali.

I was there today. Bresnan was the pick of England's bowlers. First time i've seen him bowl in the flesh. He looks a better bowler when you see him 'live'. Seems to glide to the wicket and definitely quicker than he looks on TV.

Yeah, England may be a fraction disappointed. At least the pitch is showing no signs of breaking up and Beer looks pretty ordinary. Should mean we can chase anything under 300.

Hoping for a 100 run lead tomorrow. Dunno if Colly will come to the party but i've got a feeling about Bell.

Henry wrote:I was there today. Bresnan was the pick of England's bowlers. First time i've seen him bowl in the flesh. He looks a better bowler when you see him 'live'. Seems to glide to the wicket and definitely quicker than he looks on TV.

Yeah, England may be a fraction disappointed. At least the pitch is showing no signs of breaking up and Beer looks pretty ordinary. Should mean we can chase anything under 300.

Hoping for a 100 run lead tomorrow. Dunno if Colly will come to the party but i've got a feeling about Bell.

The outcome of the match may well hinge on which Mitchell Johnson turns up tomorrow - the mega-talented incisive quickie, or the testicularly challenged, pea-brained dolt.

An entertaining day at the ground. Even the BA shut the hell up for much of the day. it was almost like they gave a stuff about the cricket.

Once again Australia's tail came to the rescue. I'm starting to think Pup should reverse the batting order in the 2nd innings. It may mean someone in our top four gets a ton.

Bowden is an attention-seeking show-pony, no doubt, but I think this being the second match in a row where a dismissal has been reversed on video no-ball calls raises the question of just how many no-balls are going unnoticed. Maybe it's time to go to a back-foot rule to reduce the number of blunders and what will become an increasing number of reviews.

The pommy fans in front of me didn't like it much when their first two Jaaps had been dismissed in quick succession only for me to comment as the third one came to the crease that I was thinking of asking for a refund because I wanted to see ENGLAND bat. One of them said "Oh, but you've got Khawaja now, and he was born in Pakistan", so I said "and you've got Prior, which makes four" to which there was much laughter. Said dickhead then turned around very red faced and shut up. Score.

Had a lash on the TAB on Mitch (when he was on about 12) top scoring for Australia. Backed him at $5.50. Score.

Reinvested winnings on an Australian win. Fail.

But did put a saver on Bell top scoring for England. Got 6-1. And if Cook hadn't been saved by Beer's foul-up, I'd be starting to think I was a big chance to get that one too. As it is, Cook will go on to three figures and set a record for the highest ever average for an Ashes series by an Englishman. Bell will be second highest scorer, just to rub it in.

England on top at the moment, but not by a huge margin. Of course once Anderson bats out an hour tomorrow, and Collingwood rediscovers how to use a bat, it will be game over. I'd like to say that the Aussies are a chance if they bowl the right line and length, but that doesn't seem to be part of the Nielsen/Clarke plan.

In the Members' tomorrow. Have the pink tie ready for Jane McGrath Day. Please give if you can tomorrow.

Henry wrote:I was there today.

Too scared to meet up for a beer?

No, not too scared. I thought no one could do the end of today so I made other plans. Where were you sitting?

Trumper stand today. You going tomorrow?

Nah, not going tomorrow. Are you going to all five days? I dunno if I can make it up there for a beer tomorrow, but i'm free Thursday and Friday.

It really sucks that there are no pass-outs at the SCG. Wandering off to a nearby pub at lunchtime, and then lazily strolling back for the second half of the second session after a few pints is ideal.

Better than I feared, though could have done without the KP wicket at the close. I farkin hate seeing a nightwatchman come to the crease because it means an early wicket and if Aus then take anotrher quick one we could be 100 behind with 5 left.

England need the lower order to come to the party 2009 style. Looks like being the close match the series needs...

I reckon Trembers would be a better night watchman. At least he could get the scoring moving the next morning.

I suppose I did okay then, bit pisspoor of me to let them get from 180-8 to 280 but could have been worse.

Henry wrote:Nah, not going tomorrow. Are you going to all five days? I dunno if I can make it up there for a beer tomorrow, but i'm free Thursday and Friday.

It really sucks that there are no pass-outs at the SCG. Wandering off to a nearby pub at lunchtime, and then lazily strolling back for the second half of the second session after a few pints is ideal.

You can do that if you are a member

As for the state of the game, Poms are ahead but would be pretty even if not for the Wozzie-Vixen imposter,s no ball.

Average captaincy from both skippers today as well. By the end Clarke had a leg slip but should have had one almost from the start for Cook. And the fields he had set foe Beer initially defied belief.

I think Aus were slightly lucky to reach 280. True, Johnson got away from us, but he would have run out of partners if one of Hilfenhaus's eight million or so play-and-misses had been edged.

Colly's match d'you think? Bound to scrape some runs somewhere this series and he's already got Hussey's scalp.

I've come to the conclusion that KP should be kept in the team on the strict conditions that
a) his mouth's taped shut when not playing, and
b) the others are allowed to slap him about in the dressing room when he gets out being an ar5e.
Do you think he'd sign up for those clauses?

Taping his mouth closed wouldn't stop him talking.

How could his team-mates tell if he got out, being an arse? On those terms I would have thought they'd have to beat him up after every dismissal, so he might not sign up for that ... but in view of his staggering ego and lack of insight, you never know.