worst part was when they were telling Warnie that he and Ussie had something in common. A commentator said 'you both have the same favourite food'
Sorry you are right, it is Liverpool. It is former Prime Minister (and genuine legend) Paul Keating that is from Bankstown.
I was all ready to spray Channel 9 for harping on the "Muslim" fact a lot, but I actually thought it wasn't too bad. And I think the showing of the parents was light-hearted and with good intentions, rather than to exploit the fact he's Asian.
Yeah mate, and you need to reach back a year and a half to "prove" your point.
Fair call, but his dismissal was still pretty much according to type. Fenced at a wide one he could easily have ignored.
I think the Hilfenhaus issue is a very interesting one and I can understand both the 'pro' Hilf camp, and those against his selection. Prior to this series, I definitely thought he deserved his place in the Aussie XI, his performance in India was respectable, despite the figures not backing that up. He can bowl to a plan, he does extract swing from the conditions, and is generally pretty accurate. With a lack of genuine quality quicks around Australia, from what I've seen, I thought he was a certainty for the near future.Yeah mate, and you need to reach back a year and a half to "prove" your point.
I did look at Hilfenhaus' stats though and he is not as bad as I had thought (over 50 wickets in 17 tests at >30 average). I do tend to exaggerate a little when slating a player, but I do think that Hilfenhaus is over-rated by some. I also think all this talk of "pressure" and "disciplined" bowling from Hilfenhaus is nonsensical as his bowling usually demands little more than the easy leave from good test batsmen. (Tremlett, for example, giving away 12 from 7 overs is a pressure spell but Hilfenhaus giving away 70 odd from 30 overs is not.) But he is not one of the most innocuous test bowlers around, that was going too far, but he is an ordinary test bowler who just occasionally bowls a decent spell. I certainly don't think he should be in this Australian side at the expense of Bollinger.
Looking at his performances before this series, he probably did deserve selection. But I struggle to see how he can continue to merit selection right up to the fifth and final test match of the series. I did watch most of the 2009 Ashes though and he did, from recollection, seem to be a better bowler than he is today (although he did leak a few runs and was not penetrative in the match turning sense). I did not watch the India tour so I'll take your word that his bowling was better than his (poor) figures indicate.
Perhaps with more penetrative bowlers around him, he could perform an important role for the side, but there isn't the balance in the attack. I don't like when he bowls a spell of outswingers well outside the off stump in order to control the run rate, it's pretty negative, but that's obviously plans laid down by him and more so from his captain. You can be economical but probing at the same time, especially when you get decent swing like he does.
Evening Mr.Z.
