***Official*** Sri Lanka in Australia

[Johnners]

Go for broke after Tea, declare at 550 and leave 45mins to an hour to bowl this evening.

 

[Top_Cat]

Murali to finish with 5-200 or something like that, picking up late wickets when they have a go at him (just like in the 2004 series in Sri Lanka).

Yup.

 

[aussie]

Australian batsmen since that 99 series in SRI have really played Murali well in test cricket & ODI's has well. Even though they may not read him they really don't let him settle & Murali really doesn't like that.

 

[JBH001]

Yeah, thats a fair call. The constant quick singles and rotation irks Murali no end.

Pity really, I dont think he has bowled badly in this test at all.

He bowled very well yesterday, and bowled well today, but with little reward.

He may end of with a couple of late innings wickets if the Aussies go for it and declare with about 30 - 45 min left today and the score between 550 - 600.

 

[JBH001]

One more thing. I have been very impressed by Clarke v Murali.

He is almost always either well forward or well back, watching the ball onto his bat.

 

[JBH001]

Is it just me, or has Murali's action straightened up some since 03/04? Have just seen a few slow mo's of his bowling today and imo the "bend" in his arm doesn't look as bad as it used to.

Its been getting better for a while now. You will notice that he runs in a lot straighter than he used to which also means that he can regularly bowl around the wicket. Something he once found difficult to do. He has put in some work on his action, especially after some marked deterioration a few years ago.

 

[Pratters]

Symonds playing beautifully here. If you offer so much width against Symonds, you will be punished.

 

[Johnners]

Bah, you watch, he'll get all the poo bowling, punish it, and get more wraps than Clarke & Hussey.

 

[JBH001]

I think on his stock delivery it is less pronounced, but on his doosra/topspinner I notice a significant naked eye difference.

 

[pup11]

Clarke and Symonds are probably gonna push the tempo of this innings even more now.

 

[Pratters]

What a shot by Clarke. Always a joy to watch.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Huss: what a ****ing star.

 

[burr]

Clarke's all class, I could never tire of watching him bat. Reminds me of a young Slater sometimes, with all his energy. Still dissapointing not a few more wickets, it feel like this is the way every aussie summer always starts in the last 10 years: home team bats first, gets huge total and the rest is history.

 

[burr]

What a shot. And you can tell he (Clarke) has so much joy in batting, it makes you smile lol

 

[pup11]

One thing that has really impressed me about Clarke's innings is the way he has played Murali without any fear, the way he has used his crease and danced down the pitch to counter Murali's bowling has been top class stuff.

 

[Pratters]

Current partnership 51 runs, 8.1 overs, RR: 6.24 (Symonds 26, Clarke 21)

 

[JBH001]

Yeah

*sigh*

 

[pup11]

Huss: what a ****ing star.

100% AWTA

 

[burr]

One thing that has really impressed me about Clarke's innings is the way he has played Murali without any fear, the way he has used his crease and danced down the pitch to counter Murali's bowling has been top class stuff.

Yeah, like that debut test in India when he scored that century against the Indian spinners. That was amazing. He's just about my fav player to watch play spin.

 

[JBH001]

I'm depressed.