*Official* First Test at Swalec Stadium, Cardiff

[TT Boy]

Wireless suggesting England are playing two spinners...

 

[superkingdave]

Just got woken up by a phone call from dad...phew was in danger of missing the build up. My dad was waiting at Abergavenny station to get the train to cardiff (he stayed at my uncles last night) but when he got to the station there was a train on fire there so he's been waiting there an hour and a half and is now sat on a bus. Hope he manages to get there in time for the start, would be absolutely gutted.

 

[TT Boy]

Corky just had a look at the pitch, said it looks flat and will play slow.

 

[wpdavid]

Wireless suggesting England are playing two spinners...

Swann & Pietersen?

 

[Scaly piscine]

If Donkey Panesar plays I will have to kill someone or something.

 

[TT Boy]

Swann & Pietersen?

No. The guy averaging over 80 with the ball in second division cricket.

 

[inbox24]

Muddy Panesar!

Despite being hauribly out of form, Australia have a weakness against left arm spin of any variety.

 

[superkingdave]

Gotta love the Poms - many English experts are installing them as favourites

Can someone please explain to me how a team that recently lost to the dismal WI can be rated as favourites to beat a team that most recently beat SA in SA?

The only thing that I can put it down to is that they havent seen many of the Oz players and are basing their predictions on the fact that the new guys arent as good as Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist etc (no ****, Sherlock) and therefore will be easy to beat

Supporting your team is one thing, being completely delusional about it is another

Is Ian Chappell delusional?

Cheerleading is bound to happen, but most have just been saying we have a chance from what i've seen.

Anyway the betting markets still have Australia odds on favourites even with the patriotic pound so it doesn't look like the general public is under any delusions.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I love the club house there, feels like a proper cricket ground.

Yeah, it's nice...just realised the pitch I was talking about was Clyst St George, just out of Exeter haha They're the biggest bunch of hackers I've ever played against (Clyst that is, not Exeter SJ), although they did have probably the best batsman in the comp playing for them. He was surrounded by a bunch or agricultural strokeplayers though. The leg-side boundary is about 30metres away too

The nicest clubhouse I saw was at a place called Shobrooke (or something like that), little hut with a thatched roof.

 

[Richard]

You're kidding. If Aus pick Hauritz, he's going to bowl 20+ overs a day. No way would they pick him and bowl him as a part-timer.

Not the intention, obviously, but it might well turn-out to be the outcome if he gets "pnwed", and the seamers are obviously better.

 

[Richard]

Good omen?

8 of England's squad got dusted 5-0 last time.

Good for England you mean, obviously, given they can now put the hurt of that defeat to use.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Looking forward to this myself. Some proper, competitive test cricket and its on the box here. I'll watch at least the first session.

 

[Richard]

Yeah there's a cracker in Devon they could play on...the name of the club escapes me at the moment, but they were the worst team in the Premier League in 2002. We played a foreigners vs them match there and the ground slopes a hell of a lot, so much so that if you were standing at gully on the bottom side of the wicket anything more than 6 inches off the ground at the wicket would probably clear your head by the time it reached you. The pitch was in tune ith the rest of the ground, meaning in helped my off-cutters considerably. Difficult to hit the stumps though when you're aiming a foot and a half outside off and missing leg.

Another cracker is Plymouth Civil Services. Slopes from the top end of the ground to the bottom. So at one end you're bowling into the slope running up the hill and at the other you're running down hill. There's a nice little surprise at the popping crease too, as your front foot lands it then drops about 20cm so you're next stride is that much lower than where you landed. It takes some adjusting to hit a spot a foot and a half below where you let the ball go.

The pitch at Exeter St James has an elephant buried around about the second step after you let the ball go...great for the body.

Never troubled me in my under-14 games. And BTW, Plymouth Civil Service now have a new ground, with the most uneven pitch and outfield even I've ever played on... and better still it's a school meaning the changing-rooms are 10 minutes' walk away from the field.

As for the ground with the slope, there are any number of them - far too many in fact. Played on two last season alone.

 

[Richard]

I love the club house there, feels like a proper cricket ground.

When did I take you to St.James?

 

[NUFAN]

In Oz, they are saying Hilf looks like playing ahead of Clark.

 

[Richard]

The nicest clubhouse I saw was at a place called Shobrooke (or something like that), little hut with a thatched roof.

I've only played there once, back in 2003, and the fact that we were bowled-out for 46 batting first meant I didn't have much chance to admire the pavilion.

 

[Richard]

In Oz, they are saying Hilf looks like playing ahead of Clark.

I'll believe all these nonsenses (Clark dropped for Hilfenhaus, MSP playing ahead of Onions, etc.) when we've actually got confirmation.

And on other news, Phil Hughes sounds remarkably like Adam Gilchrist.

 

[wpdavid]

In Oz, they are saying Hilf looks like playing ahead of Clark.

Is Clark reckoned to be not fit or not picked then?

 

[Scaly piscine]

BBC says it's a sellout.

On so many levels. The turds that took this series off terrestrial TV and the turds that chose this venue.

 

[NUFAN]

Is Clark reckoned to be not fit or not picked then?

Fit I believe, just sticking to the 3 quicks who performed in SA.

They just said Hilf was warming up while Clark was there with a baseball glove. This was Julian and Border saying this, you never know.