Spark
Global Moderator
His confidence looks completely shot. This is probably the first time I've ever seen where he has contributed precisely zero to the team's performance - zero runs, zero wickets, zero catches. I said at the end of the first innings that the true test/examination of Johnson's form would come second dig when the pitch had quickened up to a more "normal" Gabba surface and he could extract pace and bounce from the deck. Well, he was tested, and he failed dismally. There was just no fire or spark today, and his pace was down.
And as such should be turfed out on the quickest opportunity. Bring in Bollinger, please. Hilfenhaus's spells with the new ball were pretty good without being overly threatening - too many pressure-releasing balls, but in between there were good tight lines/lengths. Siddle was a shade too short or a shade too full (again).
Doherty as stated kept it reasonably tight, but short of a slog (which Strauss's shot was, really) the only way he's getting someone out is beating them for pace. Redefining the word "dart".
Here's a funny thing with North. If only he could get his feet moving better at the start of his innings - I actually thought he was looking good first dig, usually with North you can tell by how scratchy he looks, how fidgety his feet look, but until the offie that he nicked he looked positive and definite in his foot movements - he would probably be close to first name on the teamsheet. He's a decent bowler, I like the curve he gets on the ball.
Clarke's back looks better. Much, much freer in the field today than on Day 1. That's a huge positive for us as if Clarke AND Hussey are in form then our middle order suddenly looks so much stronger. They're both superb partnership players, and are definitely capable of a few 200+ run stands between them. Hell, even first dig where Clarke couldn't get bat on ball at all we got a 40-run partnership or so. That might've been quite important in the end as might have stopped England getting on a complete roll, and prevented a loss of a few wickets from turning into a disastrous collapse.
That's the difference though. He was bad to watch, but he's even worse on paper. Zero runs, zero wickets, zero catches. The definition of a passenger.
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