Reynard

If Australia can get a decent first innings score up then it will be a decent test match*. I reckon they have to bat first , as I dont think they want to be batting last on a pitch that is already dry and cracking three days before a test starts. * mainly because their bowlers are decent enough. It has been their fragile top order that has lost them the first two games.

It will be interesting to see if England go for a horses for courses team here. The word is that OT is going to be a raging turner which means Panesar must be in with a good shout if thats the way the England selectors decide to go this time (they havent really been doing it in recent times). Was looking to see if the Aussies had heard anything about the pitch but all I could find was this. And from what they have reported, it sounds like it has been deliberately prepared to turn at fucking right angles Panesar has a really good record at OT as the pitch turns but it has a bit of bounce as well which generally suits his style. I wonder if they would go for two specialist spinners or whether they will lean on Root again especially if the pitch IS a turner. Root looked reasonably decent actually as a bowler, maybe he can be persisted with and can become a genuine all rounder. Can't see Tremlett starting all the same. Although the extra bounce would help him and would maybe even make him a major weapon with the new ball. And KP did a fitness test this morning but they won't make a decision until tomorrow morning (he will play) apparently. Maybe Tremlett was just brought in to get him involved again, the selectors do rate him and if he can get a full season bowling this summer, he will be a big bonus on the faster bouncier wickets down under. I dont think the will rush him back....

no

I personally made sure the Canadian fuckers got on the ferry to Arran just in case they changed their mind. French Canadians are even worse than the proper European version.

House guests going away today. I utterly hate having people to stay. Although another squad of fucking relatives will be arriving on Thursday. f**k off.

Limited overs cricket is bringing money into the sport so I guess it will stay. As long as they protect the actual test cricket then I couldn't give a f**k what they do with the likes of 20/20. I have zero interest in that foirm of the game and as far as I'm concerned it bears no resemblance to proper cricket. BUT ots of people like it, so it should remain for those people. As long as test cricket is looked after then I'm not caring about 20/20, I don't watch it ever anyway, not even the international version of it. I barely watch the "full" version of limited over cricket either, But plenty of folk like it so let them watch it. If it brings folk to games then its a good thing. If it introduces people to the sport then its got to be good.

It will be a fairly big call to drop Bresnan for Panesar. They will need to be highly confident that the wicket is going to take spin early in the match to do that. Nice to see Tremlett back in the squad, if he is fully operational again then he will be a big asset, possibly not in this test match but he is rated highly by the England management. Finn needs to get his run up sorted, which is at the root of a lot of his troubles, once he does he will be back in the squad again. I cannot fucking wait for this test to start.

I hope you do. It won't be one I've had to give you though.

I just realised we never discussed the size of bottle. I bet he gets me a miniature.

I'm getting bottle of Lagavulin off Kiwififer next September when no wins the referendum. He has already changed his name in preparation for a swift exit and a welch.

I think Warne was probably distancing himself from the shambles. Johnston can be very decewnt on his day, but he isn't consistent and it would be a bit of a pick and hope job. He isn't the sort of bloke you can rely on to bowl dry if nothings happening for him. He is a wicketless bowling centurion on his bad days. Australia are reasonably well off in the seamer department anyway and they seem to be chatting about going with two spinners for OT which is known to turn anyway. Lyon will play the county game this week and will likely be in the side for OT and I suppose it depends on Agars fitness whether they stick with him or bring in that Fawad kid they have been rushing to give a passport to. Lyon has a good test record and I'm surprised they didn't go with him. I suppose Agars efforts in the first test justified that, but he doesn't look much like a test bowler yet.

Just checking the stats, Pattinson has their top batting average too.

What's Mitchell Johnson up to? Any chance of getting a bit of comedy bowling (and some randomly dangerous stuff) out him in this series?

Pattinson being fucked sort of puts Englands decision not to put them back in to bat in a different light. I reckon they might have been expecting to kill Harris, but Pattinson breaking down is a bonus for them as Harris will fall apart in due course too. When you see the workload Australias bowlers have had compared to Englands in this test as well, its no wonder. A shame for Pattinson as he eventually bowled a good line for a couple of sessions in Englands second innings and was quick on a wicket offering him f**k all. Fast bowlers need to be handled very carefully indeed. He won't be the first, or the last unfortunately, especially wit the amount of cricket these guys are being made to play.

I thought Bresnan bowled well actually. H e was blowling to a plan, he was asked to bowl "dry", which he did very well indeed, lots of maidens, bowled to the field, tied up and end and also got four wickets. That's fine, he did his job well. I thought Broad actually boweld well too even though he got no wickets. Bresnans batting with Root was a bonus of course, but he has done enough to stay in the side and he showed he had enough cricket in him to bowl to a team plan. That is valuable to a captain. I didn't really want him in the side at Finns expense mainly because I thought Bresnan had been fairly ordinary in recent times after making a good start at test cricket, but I'd go with him as long as he is contributing like that.

I think there is actually. It was more pronounced in this test match and, frankly, the rest of the series is going to go in much the same direction. Australia have a few good players, a bit of potential and a whole lot load fucking shite. England have utterly thrashed them in this test. That was an absolute trouncing.

Yesterday sounded like the dullest day, and that is normally the case when a side are simply piling on a score and are under no real pressure. But watching the Aussies buckle and crumble is never boring ever

A comment from Cricinfo.... "Poor Agar. For the second test in a row he's been robbed of a century by the English, falling 2 short of one with the ball..."

Pattinson seemed to bowl well in the morning and afternoon yesterday, although the batsmen were simply grinding at that point. I would persist with him as he is quick and he CAN be a good test bowler if he keeps his line. He will learn and get better.

The general view now seems to be bat til Root gets his double century and then make the declaration. Id probably bat til half twelve and give the bowlers a half hour or so at it, then some lunch, and then back out for another go. I'd expect Swann to clean up out there once Jimmy and Broad have had a muck around with the new ball. If Smith could manage to take wickets bowling utter filth like that, Swann, and even Root , should manage fine. Sad to see Agars bowling is fucking shite, he seems like a nice bloke but this is test cricket. Any technical flaws at all will be brutally exposed. I hope he can sort his bowling out, but he will be dropped for the next test for certain, as he was picked for his bowling.

What made you think they'd decalre so early? There is still two full days to go when play begins this morning. Plenty of time.

Only saw the highlights yesterday, but that was a total grinder of a performance byt he look of it. Its never pretty watching a team simply bat a bit of time rather than chasing/forcing the game but Root has ended any discussion about his place as an opener with this knock. I think this shows England were right not to declare, Australia will be utterly humiliated and looking at the bowling stats, Australia's bowlers have had to really toil hard in the sun, look at the respective number of overs bowled so far, Australia are being put right through the wringer and this will take its toll. Hopefully Root gets the double hundred and then England give themselves an hour or so at Australi before lunch and start knocking them down. Australia have been abject. Its hilarious how bad they are just now.

Oh me too, but IF they could, they may make a bit of a game of it. As ti stands, right now, they won't get Englands total on a decent batting track. I can't really understand how both sides have found batting so difficult, it hasn't swung, it hasn't moved much off the pitch and while it is starting to spin now, it isn't scary yet. You could see that England were having a few batting problems in the series agains the Kiwis, but I thought it was a blip. Maybe not.

England are already out of reach in this test match, a few of the guys that got out could have done with making runs, but they will come. I think Root badly needs to make some runs as he has looked gash opening the batting so far, not sure Compron would have been any more comfortable but this mornings session will be a big deal for him. Hopefully Bresnan manages to last more than a ball as he could nail down a place in the side if he has a reasonable time of it with the bat, I thought he bowled well enough yesterday to be worth another pop. This Australian batting line up is horrible, and is visibly wilting under any sort of pressure so England will know that another hundred or so is going to be more than enough to win this test, although they will be wanting to bat as long as they possibly can , but with three down already, you can probably see the Aussie bowlers (who are a decent attack) getting them out reasonably cheaply. This will be the first days cricket I will have missed "live" and I wont get it on the radio either as I will be somewhere out around the Mull of Kintyre in a fucking boat and the digital signal is shit there. Australia can give themselves a shout if they can knock down England by mid afternoon. They will still lose of course, but they could make it interesting.

I got us off the Nelson page