The Australian cricket non-official thread!

Eels Guru · Jul 19, 2015

In 05

Matty76 · Jul 20, 2015

Mitchell Johnson is set to join Shane Warne as the only Australian in the 2000 run/300 wicket club when the Ashes battle resumes at Edgbaston. Mitch is currently on 1999 runs and 299 wickets (you wouldn't read about it, would you?!).

The end was swift and brutal last night. I had the foresight to record from about 2/40 onwards on my USB recorder thingy but never did I expect to wake to the news of 103 all out!

Australia lost 10 wickets for 820 in the match, England 20 for 415.

The Mad Hatter · Jul 21, 2015

I turned the radio off at tea and forgot to tape it (how crap are Ch 9 for not showing replays during the day on Gem or Go?)

Grrr....

Can't see Watto or Haddin ever getting back in TBH. And the only change will probably be Rogers.

Great win to us. Lords has always been a happy hunting ground except for the last 2 tours. Let's hope we keep this momentum.

And Mitchell Johnson despite being arguably at the crossroads a couple of years ago and much maligned has certainly shown what he is made of. Hearing English fans whooping and hollering when hit for 4 first ball at Lords, then having Balance look like he pretty much shat himself 2nd ball and bowling him out 3rd ball, the silence that ensued was magic. Then I think there was a ripple of "Oh...this is what Mitchell did in Australia 18 months ago - fast, ferocious, taking wickets - this is how he really plays. Oh shit!!!"

Brendan_B · Jul 29, 2015

Disappointed that Haddin has been dropped. I don't begrudge Neville, great cricketer but Hadfin does not deserve to go out like this. CA are saying his dropping is not form based, why drop him then? Haddin's batting has waned a bit lately but he brings such leadership and mongrel to the team, things that were missing when we slipped right down the rankings.

BoondasH1 · Jul 29, 2015

Brendan_B said:
Disappointed that Haddin has been dropped. I don't begrudge Neville, great cricketer but Hadfin does not deserve to go out like this. CA are saying his dropping is not form based, why drop him then? Haddin's batting has waned a bit lately but he brings such leadership and mongrel to the team, things that were missing when we slipped right down the rankings.

You always need a keeper that has a bit of lip, Haddin, has plenty of that. Not only that, but he does get under the skin of the opposition players which is always good.

The Mad Hatter · Jul 29, 2015

That said Haddin is 38 and his batting hasn't been much chop lately.

I think the selectors have done the right thing with Watson and Haddin.

Matty76 · Jul 29, 2015

I tend to agree @The Mad Hatter. Brad's batting has lost a lot of its lustre since the 2013/14 home Ashes series and 18 months is a long time to go - particularly as a 38 year-old - without any runs.

I don't expect that we will see Shane Watson in a Test shirt again either - I think he has paid an unfair price for being neither one thing nor the other. He has been up and down like a bride's nightie in relation to the batting order and was moved around as often as poor old Ian Redpath apparently used to be. I wonder if he'd been selected for his batting only - and to ignore the bowling completely - what Watto could have made himself into as an opener. This is where I think he was best suited. New ball, attacking fields, big off and on-side gaps.

Anyway, Test 3 is just an hour away. Cricinfo reports that Steven Finn looks certain to replace the injured Mark Wood. Chris Rogers passing a fitness test this morning is Australia's only concern - if he is not cleared to play, Shaun Marsh will surely be the man to replace him.

LET'S GOOOOOO!!

PS: Good luck to Mitchell Johnson, just one wicket away from being the 5th Australian to take 300 Test wickets. Injuries aside, he is a certainty to end up in 3rd position overall as he currently trails the great DK Lillee by 56 wickets. Go Mitchy Boy!

mounteverest · Jul 29, 2015

Matty76 said:
I tend to agree @The Mad Hatter. Brad's batting has lost a lot of its lustre since the 2013/14 home Ashes series and 18 months is a long time to go - particularly as a 38 year-old - without any runs.

I don't expect that we will see Shane Watson in a Test shirt again either - I think he has paid an unfair price for being neither one thing nor the other. He has been up and down like a bride's nightie in relation to the batting order and was moved around as often as poor old Ian Redpath apparently used to be. I wonder if he'd been selected for his batting only - and to ignore the bowling completely - what Watto could have made himself into as an opener. This is where I think he was best suited. New ball, attacking fields, big off and on-side gaps.

Anyway, Test 3 is just an hour away. Cricinfo reports that Steven Finn looks certain to replace the injured Mark Wood. Chris Rogers passing a fitness test this morning is Australia's only concern - if he is not cleared to play, Shaun Marsh will surely be the man to replace him.

LET'S GOOOOOO!!

PS: Good luck to Mitchell Johnson, just one wicket away from being the 5th Australian to take 300 Test wickets. Injuries aside, he is a certainty to end up in 3rd position overall as he currently trails the great DK Lillee by 56 wickets. Go Mitchy Boy!

It's always sad to see the older players get pushed out,I think back to Ian Healy who was denied that one last test at home,he finished his career in England,but time stands still for no one( I know)haha
I think Mitch is one run shy of 2000 test runs also
GO AUSSIES

The Mad Hatter · Jul 29, 2015

I'm dog tired and going to bed but at 3 fer, Australia is in liquorice all sorts.

The Mad Hatter · Jul 30, 2015

300 and 301 wickets to Mitchell in his first over.

Absolute brutes if balls; uncannily similar dismissals.

Brendan_B · Jul 30, 2015

We need to roll them for under 200 and wrestle that momentum back

Matty76 · Jul 31, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: This is a Matty76 exclusive!

I have obtained secret footage of the pitch that will be used for the Trent Bridge Test:

An ECB official was quoted as saying "Nothing to see here!"

The Mad Hatter · Jul 31, 2015

I had hoped to wake up to find us having lost by an innings so I didn't have to sit up and watch the carnage tonight.

Our batting is quite insipid really. HAs to make you wonder where our next 18-25 year old bats are because I can't see them in Shield.

Fark...might as well play Maxwell and let him try and do his thing...lol. Actually, he has been getting better in Shield.

But still. Where are the future bats?

My cousin has tickets for Day 3. It'll be over by drinks 1st session IMHO.

Matty76 · Aug 1, 2015

The Mad Hatter said:
I had hoped to wake up to find us having lost by an innings so I didn't have to sit up and watch the carnage tonight.

Our batting is quite insipid really. HAs to make you wonder where our next 18-25 year old bats are because I can't see them in Shield.

Fark...might as well play Maxwell and let him try and do his thing...lol. Actually, he has been getting better in Shield.

But still. Where are the future bats?

My cousin has tickets for Day 3. It'll be over by drinks 1st session IMHO.

It is the generation below that which I am most fearful for mate. Kids these days are obsessed with T20 as "that's where the money's at". Cricket Australia will breed an army of front-foot, hit-through-the-line batsman who are incapable of handling the moving ball effectively, or for long periods. It is no coincidence that this current tour may result in a FOURTH successive overseas Ashes series defeat for Australia.

The pendulum - as it does in most sports today - favours the "Fancy Dan/Razzmatazz" approach. This is why as a 39 year-old I have no interest in the T20 format as it is so far removed from traditional cricket as to be almost classed as another sport entirely.

Still, CA will rake in their millions so who am I to complain. I'm probably yesterday's man in the eyes of the marketing department.

BoondasH1 · Aug 1, 2015

So what do the arm chair critics have to say about Clarke? Surely he can't go on for to long?

The Mad Hatter · Aug 1, 2015

I enjoy T20 and I love ODIs and I cherish tests. But each has its place and I treat them as separate entities completely, even stats wise.

You're right about patience part though. It's all smash crash wallop. No respect for the ball. With three wickets yesterday, Australia still threw the bat at everything and finally fell. Oh well.

I had to laugh. 136 and then trying to bowl to survive is how our 6th grade team played all last summer. That the end was inevitable didn't shock me one bit. And you can't blame the bowlers when the bats give you nothing to defend.

As for Clarke, he has till the end of this tour for mine. That Ponting didn't lose the captaincy after 2005 will forever stick in my craw and if they do it to Clarke, well...

And for those who say "oh poor Watto got turfed", I wouldn't even put Clarke and Watto in the same class. Watto was always adequate. A player who played and when he's gone, it's c'est la vie. Clarke has been all class. Carried the team for a while too. He looks tired. And with a baby on the way, once you have kids, it all changes. Too many cricketers these days seem to think they deserve to chose when they go out. I remember a time when Australia's selectors were ruthless and just cut players. They did it with Haddin and I applaud that. But at the moment it's not like there's a queue of batsman knocking down the door either.

Matty76 · Aug 3, 2015

To that end, it is going to be really interesting to see what the selectors do with Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh. There is a push from the media to replace Voges with Shaun Marsh and I see that Robert Craddock has suggested a move for Mitchell Marsh from #6 to #7, raising Peter Nevill up one spot.

I would keep Voges for the Trent Bridge Test. He had played County cricket for Notts and I reckon at this stage of the tour experience counts for everything. It has been no coincidence that Chris Rogers has been Australia's most consistent and hardest-to-dismiss batsman so far.

There is a vicious, personal edge to the media reporting of cricket these days and I'd like nothing more than this Australian team to stick it right up the noses of the News Limited gossip columnists.

The Mad Hatter · Aug 3, 2015

Sports reporting in the major codes - cricket, NRL and AFL - is all vicious disgusting stuff.

I emailed a fellow at the SMH and said to him I keep two links of his.

One for when Australia win a test and the other for when they lose a test. Otherwise I don't need to read his dribble because it's always the same.

Funny how after Cardiff Australia were the worst ever. Win at Lords and it's game on. Lose at Edgbaston and Australia are shite and Clarke must go.

Who'd be an elite sporty in this country?

Matty76 · Aug 3, 2015

That's why I do like Crash Craddock - he's been around the traps for years, earned his stripes doing daily write-ups, knows a lot of current and former players. Michael Horan and Ron Reed in Victoria are/were very similar.

What annoys me greatly is the "after the event" hypocrisy of the media. Following Charlotte Dawson's death there was much "tut-tutting" about being "kinder to each other". Apparently those rules don't exist in the print media - or if they do, only for a week or so.

Matty76 · Aug 6, 2015

Rightio folks (and folkettes) - England have won the toss and are bowling first! Mark Wood replaces the injured James Anderson in the England team. Shaun Marsh comes in.....for Mitchell Marsh. Adam Voges retains his spot. Stuart Broad starts the Test with 299 wickets to his name.

Play ball, gentlemen!

EDIT: Rogers c: Cook b: Broad 0....... it's 1 for 4.

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