***Official*** 3rd Test at the WACA

[Groundking]

The Old Old Trafford wicket was so good, still pissed off they turned the wicket around

 

[LegionOfBrad]

The Old Old Trafford wicket was so good, still pissed off they turned the wicket around

Eh it was a nightmare for batsmen because of the angle of the sun. I don't think turning the wicket is the sole reason it's not got as much life in it tbh. More the improvements in drainage etc and modern curation methods.

 

[GIMH]

One good partnership and suddenly the pitch isn't considered quick as **** lol.

Are you new here?

 

[JRC67]

Not for the first time this series the English batsmen have a chance to take Australia deep in to the second new ball. To date the Aussie bowlers have come out really blazing. First 20 overs crucial if England are to stand a chance in the series and the match.

 

[wpdavid]

It is. It (Old Trafford) also used to have pace and bounce to start then crumble. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Quite. The match against Pakistan in 2006 is the classic case in point, where Harmison cleaned up in the first innings and shared the wickets with Pansesar 2nd time around.

Our quicks did well there against Australia in 2005 as well.

 

[CandyKane]

I thought that was an absolutely cracking day of test cricket The entire series up until now has been a pleasure to watch So, some random thoughts:

- Stoneman's innings was exceptional. Even if it was not as large as he would have liked. Early on, he played shots and got away with it. After lunch, he faced 40 balls of absolute venom. Yes, he was lucky! He could have been out several times over. But he wasn't. He absorbed what could have been a match winning spell. That blow to his head would have rocked the best. Smashed his helmet and cut him to boot. But he stayed and kept fighting. The kind of bowling he was facing could well have had England 7/250 at the end of the day. And he was very unlucky to get out the way he did.

- Australia's bowling was first class. I realize that at the end of the day, it is advantage England. But that was some exceptional bowling. The fact that England is on top has more to do with their competitiveness than it has with pitch conditions or bad bowling. For 2/3rds of the day, England looked like they were going to get out every second ball. But they persisted, and eventually dominated.

- How good is Erasmus!! He was excellent today. To have his decision regarding Stoneman overturned as quick as it was, reeks of insecurity. Called a no-ball on Hazlewood when everyone else had gone to sleep. And understands that anything over the knee-roll will never hit the stumps at the WACA. I thought he was outstanding today.

- I feel very sorry for Mitch Marsh... There, I have said it! I know everyone, on here and in the general public, hates him. But I always want to see young talent succeed. He really did have a shocker today at slip. And did not get to bowl as much as he should of. He must be feeling like a complete ass right now. Test cricket is an unforgiving mistress. I really do hope he manages to do something entertaining in this match. But what the hell was he doing at first slip??? Which brings me to my last musing of the night...

- I think S.Smith is not a very good captain... Yes, he can bat. Apparently he can bowl too... But, my god, he does not know how to Captain yet. (all you English fans, who are copping **** about Root, just think about the fact that he has come to Australia with a quite obviously dysfunctional side, and yet still managed to be more than competitive for 3 matches now). Smith let's large sections of the game drift by, while he takes orders from Soccer-dad "Lehman/Langer". Our slips cordon is a catastrophe, yet that is where most wickets are taken. Warner needs to pull his finger out of his arse and move to first slip. It is where most of the best fielders end up. And he is the only one after Smith (who wants to be "important-but-not-important") who has legitimate longevity in this side. Warner also needs to move to number 3 in the batting...

But that might be a post for another day

I hope everyone here enjoyed it as much as I did, at the very least. It was a fantastic day of cricket

 

[fredfertang]

I thought that was an absolutely cracking day of test cricket The entire series up until now has been a pleasure to watch So, some random thoughts:

- Stoneman's innings was exceptional. Even if it was not as large as he would have liked. Early on, he played shots and got away with it. After lunch, he faced 40 balls of absolute venom. Yes, he was lucky! He could have been out several times over. But he wasn't. He absorbed what could have been a match winning spell. That blow to his head would have rocked the best. Smashed his helmet and cut him to boot. But he stayed and kept fighting. The kind of bowling he was facing could well have had England 7/250 at the end of the day. And he was very unlucky to get out the way he did.

- Australia's bowling was first class. I realize that at the end of the day, it is advantage England. But that was some exceptional bowling. The fact that England is on top has more to do with their competitiveness than it has with pitch conditions or bad bowling. For 2/3rds of the day, England looked like they were going to get out every second ball. But they persisted, and eventually dominated.

- How good is Erasmus!! He was excellent today. To have his decision regarding Stoneman overturned as quick as it was, reeks of insecurity. Called a no-ball on Hazlewood when everyone else had gone to sleep. And understands that anything over the knee-roll will never hit the stumps at the WACA. I thought he was outstanding today.

- I feel very sorry for Mitch Marsh... There, I have said it! I know everyone, on here and in the general public, hates him. But I always want to see young talent succeed. He really did have a shocker today at slip. And did not get to bowl as much as he should of. He must be feeling like a complete ass right now. Test cricket is an unforgiving mistress. I really do hope he manages to do something entertaining in this match. But what the hell was he doing at first slip??? Which brings me to my last musing of the night...

- I think S.Smith is not a very good captain... Yes, he can bat. Apparently he can bowl too... But, my god, he does not know how to Captain yet. (all you English fans, who are copping **** about Root, just think about the fact that he has come to Australia with a quite obviously dysfunctional side, and yet still managed to be more than competitive for 3 matches now). Smith let's large sections of the game drift by, while he takes orders from Soccer-dad "Lehman/Langer". Our slips cordon is a catastrophe, yet that is where most wickets are taken. Warner needs to pull his finger out of his arse and move to first slip. It is where most of the best fielders end up. And he is the only one after Smith (who wants to be "important-but-not-important") who has legitimate longevity in this side. Warner also needs to move to number 3 in the batting...

But that might be a post for another day

I hope everyone here enjoyed it as much as I did, at the very least. It was a fantastic day of cricket

You brought us some luck mate!

 

[Red]

Actually, I doubt they took a single 49 into specific account.

And just because he's been successful doesn't mean that the logic behind his selection does was not flawed. How hard is this for you and a couple of others to understand?

Hard to understand the batsman they selected because they knew he was good turned out to be good and play a series defining knock? Not hard at all to understand.

 

[TheBrand]

Re: Stoneman dismissal.

I've watched this a bunch of times and I still struggle with how the commentators decided with the other angles it was out.

-The straight on angle, even with frame by frame, still clearly shows a gap between ball and glove yet commentators said they could see it touch the glove. Also the depth perception of the straight camera angle is deceiving as well as the ball could still hit the hand off the bat and look like the front hand.
-Commentators said you could see a hotspot on the zoom, as far as I can tell there is no mark on hotspot after the ball passes that wasnt there before it passed
-Yes there is a mark on snicko, but definitely not conclusive enough to overturn imo.

The annoying thing was that Clarke straight away said that he didnt think there was conclusive evidence to turn then a couple of more angles showed up and he changed his mind.

Definitely agree that Aleem Dar made his decision far too quickly. I think the match referee has to intervene in situations like this (maybe that's why they reviewed it again?)

 

[Starfighter]

Hard to understand the batsman they selected because they knew he was good turned out to be good and play a series defining knock? Not hard at all to understand.

So they knew he would definitely score more runs that batsmen with similar or better domestic careers and in far better form like Ferguson? And he'd do it then? Remarkable clairvoyance. This level of genius could change the world.

You keep missing my point so it's not worth arguing any further.

 

[howardj]

Hot on the heels of the betting scandal, comes another off-field scandal, involving GOAT's middle stump.

 

[stephen]

I've always said that test match cricket is at its best when batsmen make runs in spite of good bowling and not because of bad bowling. In that regard, yesterday was a cracker of a day.

Stoneman vs Hazlewood was the contest of the day and Haze was really unlucky to have him dropped twice in three balls (especially given how good Lyon's fielding has been so far this series). Full credit to Stoneman, he kept his wicket long enough to prevent any other batters having to face Haze.

And we dropped 3 catches today. Catches win matches, especially on bouncy wickets (and this one is very bouncy). England are in a very good position to upset us here. 4/200 was even. 4/300 puts England ahead by a fair bit.

 

[Starfighter]

Hot on the heels of the betting scandal, comes another off-field scandal, involving GOAT's middle stump.

 

[Red]

So they knew he would definitely score more runs that batsmen with similar or better domestic careers and in far better form like Ferguson? And he'd do it then? Remarkable clairvoyance. This level of genius could change the world.

You keep missing my point so it's not worth arguing any further.

I’m not missing your point, I’m disagreeing with it. At international level, SMarsh when fit is clearly in our top 5/6 bats. It’s not complicated.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Hot on the heels of the betting scandal, comes another off-field scandal, involving GOAT's middle stump.

Can't wait for the Barmy Army song later.

 

[stephen]

I’m not missing your point, I’m disagreeing with it. At international level, SMarsh when fit is clearly in our top 5/6 bats. It’s not complicated.

I disagree with you that Shaun Marsh is in our top 6 best international batsmen.

 

[Burgey]

Hot on the heels of the betting scandal, comes another off-field scandal, involving GOAT's middle stump.

All Australian spinners really do aspire to be Warne.

 

[Gnske]

I disagree with you that Shaun Marsh is in our top 6 best international batsmen.

Warner, Smith, Usman, Maxwell (theoretically) for tests and who else?

 

[Burgey]

Fmd can we let the Marsh stuff go already? I didn’t think Darsh should have been picked either, but he’s been fantastic in the first two tests.

As for MMarsh, if they’d picked him for anywhere else but perth I’d have thrown toys, but I can get them not wanting two spinners on that deck, so if they wanted a fifth bowling option, l suppose it made sense.

 

[Gnske]

Hot on the heels of the betting scandal, comes another off-field scandal, involving GOAT's middle stump.

Chicks can't resist a successful bald guy.

Thanks to the Daily Mail for this excellent piece of journalism