The Cricket Thread

[i_amtrunks]

Nothing against Siddle, what little I have seen of him I liked, and unlike with "all-rounders" the Aussie selectors do a good job with our pace bowlers, but why skip over Noffke and Bollinger?

Siddle is injury prone as well, I just hope he can keep fit for as long as possible so he gets a real good go at trying to stay in the Aussie side, I doubt he can remove Clark (and sure hope he doesn't) but if he bowls very well then perhaps Clark can rest up and get a chance to fully recover. Might also be good to replace Lee if we have a dud/result not matter test later on.

If Kumble plays and still shows signs of an injury, or plays bad, expect him to be ripped to shreds by the Indian press. There's been a bit of a push for a 3rd Indian Seamer. I doubt they will pick one, as India's bowlers have a terrible over rate as is, losing a spinner for a seamer would only worsen it.

[i_amtrunks]

India's captain Dhoni won the toss and has elected to bat on what is being called a "batsmen's pitch" with some good advantage for spin bowlers later on.

In other words a beautifully doctored pitch for the Indians. Amazing how in the last test the groundskeeper was a Kiwi, and the pitch was not tailored to suit the Indians, now that the groundskeeper is Indian, the pitch is the usual sub continent rubbish.

Kumble is out, replaced by Mishra on debut keeping with India's tired 4 bowlers, 2 spin, 2 seam, when they had 3 seam bowlers all in good form. Siddle debuts for Australia, making 2 Victorians in the team, and 2 Vic debuting in a row.
Looks like Vic is missing White and Siddle too, SA not collapsing as they normally do.

[optimus1]

We'll see how Siddle goes in his first match, its always good to see someone under 30 yrs old get a go!

On a sidenote, Bangladesh are 1 wicket down for 4 Runs after 12 overs against the Kiwis in the 1st Test of the series

[i_amtrunks]

63/0 after only 13 overs.

Dravid should be watching Ghambir and Sehwag to learn how to score runs quick.
Siddle and Johnson have started to peg back the run rate though.

[Borgeman]

got back from cricket earlier today, my body was totally unprepared for any form of warm weather, i was buggered :/ better now though than on a 35 degree day....

anywho 2day game, they batted, we got them out for 180, my figures read 19.1-3-3-47, one of their openers was dropped 4 times off my bowling early on (keeper(no attempt to catch), slip(hardish), gully(easy), mid off(imagine dropping a slow underarm throw...)), but i got him caught behind the ball after the drop at mid off....

also i am currently 4 not out after one of our openers fell, i had some nightwatchman duties to do hopefully i can make a nice score next week

we are 1/43 in reply off our 8 overs

George

[Soundwarp]

Man we are in big troubble

[jacksplatt11]

We're in a spot of bother yeah, if we are to get out of it, Hussey has to stay around for a while and keep up the scoring, and the other batsmen just have to not go out haha...

Seen whats happening in the Bangladesh/NZ test? wow...

[i_amtrunks]

Hussey is all we have, and he needs to be the aggressor and score runs, if its left to Watson Haddin and White we won't make the follow on target.

Clarke deserved to get out last night, wasting time and all. I think he needs to be dropped and given some time in Pura Cup (plus NSW are struggling with injuries), it worked out for him last time.

Lee needs to watch how Khan and Sharma are bowling and replicate it, he is really having a bad tour.

[STL]

Hussey is indeed all we have. If we had both Husseys in the team, we'd have a lot more.

I think Hayden deserves to be given a chance. Katich as we've said is a temp and he's done what he can. Watson didn't do half bad today with the bat. Symonds though is better. I watched a bit of the Indian bowling over the weekend at my mates (wish this was free to air) and they're bowling much fuller and straighter, attacking the stumps. Sharma seemed to get some late swing with the old ball that was hard to read. But that aside, it really came down to the spinners that was the difference

Lee's split webbing might give him an excuse but Johnson just doesn't hold up. His figures are appalling and his wickets are too expensive. Siddle shows promise on this pitch. I think he's done astoundingly well for a first gamer on a batsman's paradise. Deserves a chance in Australia. I'd like to drop Johnson and give Nofke a crack at this point and maybe play four quicks. Or even Bollinger who I felt badly for when he missed last year's Pura Cup final. Let's admit it, we don't have a spinner. Period.

I think the Aussies have to bite the bullet and realise that the era's over and look to the future. We need two openers. I don't mean I want Hayden gone, I respect him and i believe all old stagers deserve to be given their last rights to walk away with dignity. But the top of the order is shaky. 5, 6 really need to be looked at. Clarke again crashed and burned under pressure. Watson showed promise but he's a poor man's Symonds. Symonds brings an impetuous confidence to the team in the field. Clarke's throwing at the stumps is off too. Not sure if we should read much into that. As for a spinner, well, I'm as stumped as I'm sure the collectors are. McGain might be a Victorian but he's 37.

[i_amtrunks]

I think this will be Hayden's last summer, and going out against South Africa in Australia is not a bad final series. His body and reactions aren't what they used to be, a bit like Kallis.

Who will replace him is the big question, Jacques, nor Katich are going to be long term replacements, and moving Hussey to opener like I have suggested earlier would leave a gaping hole in our middle order, D. Hussey is good, but he is a bit like Symonds, he is not the kind of batter that holds the team together for an innings.

Clarke again failed when he needed to prove the selectors faith in him, he only seems to be somewhat competent when the rest of the team has batted well, and his bowling is abysmal. Watson has earned his place thus far, he has bowled decently and batted fairly, but he really is only holding Symonds seat warm.

Lee needs to be rested from tests, and turned into a one day only bowler when Australia tours, he has had a woeful tour, and the split webbing is a poor excuse that can only be used for this test, Johnson has always been iffy, but has been the dominant bowler this series, Clark is often so very good and economical but he has been out of form as well (the elbow injury explains it though).

India have shown the Aussies that while the pitch is extremely batter friendly, it is also more than capable of helping the bowlers too, Sharma is having a blinder, and Mishra on debut has perplexed the Aussie middle order. Kumble might not get to return to the Test side if Mishra has another blinder in the 2nd innings. Nice that the mongrel Singh has not had much success.
Why India have been scoring so easily at 4 an over and the Aussies so poorly at 2.6 I do not know.

India would probably be fine to declare with a lead of 400 (at this rate it'll be after an hour of play today) and be safe from an Aussie victory, but I expect them to be ultra conservative and go for a lead of 550-600 and declare around tea today to give themselves 110-120 overs to bowl the Aussies out. India deserve to thrash us, but if they play too conservatively it may bite them in the bum if Australia can hold it together in the 4th innings.