*Official* Third Test at the WACA

[pasag]

Australia pretty good value at 7/4 for this test imo. Sneaky suspicion we will be heading to Melbourne all square.

Would be the greatest atmosphere at the ground come boxing day, if that happened. Would be even more electric than usual.

 

[stephen]

Would be the greatest atmosphere at the ground come boxing day, if that happened. Would be even more electric than usual.

Yeah it would be awesome. Seems like wishful thinking at this stage though.

 

[GotSpin]

Yeah would be pretty amazing. Cannot wait for Boxing day. Somehow Johnson needs to find an inswinger and destroy these above averaging poms

 

[marc71178]

The thing with Hughes is that for the first time in his career he is having a bit of lean phase, and its just amazing that becuase of that all of sudden so many people are starting to have doubts over his ability.

To be honest I think it's a combination of the poor run of form he's in plus the fact that it was England who "worked him out" for the 2 games before he was dropped (although how much of that was Mitch's fault is also open to debate)

 

[GotSpin]

Will be interesting to see the pitch. Curator said that they're aiming to keep a lot of grass on the wicket and that it will definitely have a result. Surely logic would suggest that Beer must sit out then - What am I talking about though, these are our selectors.

 

[vicleggie]

was more replying to the other dudes comment saying that jacques should partner hughes at the top - ie that jacques is as deserving as hughes. i personally didnt agree but was merely saying that if that was the case, that may be the lineup.
personally i wouldnt have jacques in or anywhere near the team, and would definately have khawaja in the middle order

 

[vicleggie]

big warnie's done the aus team a huge favour by getting in the papers- a lot of scrutiny been taken off pontings men, should lessen the stress levels. They may come out reinvigorated and play with some freedom unlike in adelaide, where they were on every front page in the country

 

[Burgey]

big warnie's done the aus team a huge favour by getting in the papers- a lot of scrutiny been taken off pontings men, should lessen the stress levels. They may come out reinvigorated and play with some freedom unlike in adelaide, where they were on every front page in the country

Well if you're going to do the right thing by the team, then making the sacrifice with Ms Hurley is not a bad way to go

 

[Burgey]

was more replying to the other dudes comment saying that jacques should partner hughes at the top - ie that jacques is as deserving as hughes. i personally didnt agree but was merely saying that if that was the case, that may be the lineup.
personally i wouldnt have jacques in or anywhere near the team, and would definately have khawaja in the middle order

I think the ban was for your spelling of Jaques' name mate

 

[pup11]

For mine, I'm not doubting his ability, especially over the long term. He's probably the right selection. Just get the feeling though that we're picking him in a bit of a form slump, and that maybe him not succeeding here could leave us with a Bevan-style player, with an amazing FC record but maybe not the number of Test runs that his talent deserved.

Can't see that happening with Hughes, Bevan was playing in a different era where competition for places was immense, but in Hughes' case he is pretty much the only long term opening batsmen in Australia atm. So some of the other young openers from around the country would have to emerge from nowhere if Hughes is to completly go off the radar.
Anyways I think the kid has an excellent temperament, simply loved the way he answered regarding the possibility of him getting tested by the short ball at Perth, so won't put it beyond him to have a big impact in this Ashes series.

 

[pup11]

Pretty sure Hilfy is going to be carrying the drinks. Ponting hasn't said a word about him during the build up of this test, instead he has been trying to point out the positives in the bowling of Harris and Siddle after the dire performance at Adeliade, and the need to back Johnson as he is the guy with the 'x-factor'and also because at Perth he has taken a 8-fer....
Also found some of the statements Beer has made so far to be pretty negative, almost sounded like he himself believes he shouldn't be anywhere near this test side which is a pretty worrying sign going into this all important game....

 

[Spark]

Probably because he shouldn't be, I mean, there's only so much self-delusion that one can do...

 

[Spikey]

I hope he hasn't taken our attempts to destroy him too seriously....

 

[pup11]

Probably because he shouldn't be, I mean, there's only so much self-delusion that one can do...

Yeah... he shouldn't be there but all that is meaningless talk now, the fact of the matter is he is going to be playing a test match from December the 16th and this is a lifetime opportunity for him and he should be looking to make the most of it.
Lets not forget he was talked up to be a pretty confident individual who if nothing else atleast has the character to rise up to this big occasion, but haven't felt that confidence in his words so far.

 

[Prince EWS]

Probably because he shouldn't be, I mean, there's only so much self-delusion that one can do...

Yeah, didn't sound too bad for me. All but admitted he realised he didn't really deserve to be there yet but stressed he had confidence in his ability, which is the important thing. If he'd said he was ready and had the experience and performance to justify being picked he'd have sounded like an idiot.

 

[Spark]

What's worse than the Australian selectors?

The Australian media.

Hauritz story 'was not accurate' | Fraser Coast News | Local News in Fraser Coast | Fraser Coast Chronicle

 

[Ruckus]

What's worse than the Australian selectors?

The Australian media.

Hauritz story 'was not accurate' | Fraser Coast News | Local News in Fraser Coast | Fraser Coast Chronicle

haha that's great. "A COURIER Mail back page story panning Hervey Bay cricketer Nathan Hauritz for selling off his representative cricket gear at a garage sale contained a number of major inaccuracies......He also admitted that Hauritz was not in fact selling his gear at a garage sale"... Wasn't that the entire story!?

 

[Spark]

I'm rather disgusted at myself that I didn't question that. Looking back, very little about that story made any sense.

 

[Ruckus]

I'm rather disgusted at myself that I didn't question that. Looking back, very little about that story made any sense.

What I want to know is, if the entire premise of the story about the garage sale was false, what are they thinking before they write the article? Is it like a creative writing exercise, how do they expect to get away with it...ridiculous.

 

[Prince EWS]

I'm rather disgusted at myself that I didn't question that. Looking back, very little about that story made any sense.

That he was allegedly giving away NSW gear was the big red flag for me, tbh, given he still does clearly play for them. I actually harboured thoughts that he might have been retiring from all cricket, but then I realised that was clearly wishful thinking on my part.