***Official Australia in India***

[ret]

Now that the ROI vs Del game is over, I would recommend the following squad for the first two tests

Batting ----> Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid [earns himself another chance], Tendulkar [declared fit], Badri [looked sharp in the Irani Trophy game], Laxman [for his ability to raise his game against the OZ. let's see if he can do that for one last time] and Chopra

WKeeping ----> Dhoni

Bowling ----> Zak, Ishant, Munaf, Bhajji, Nanda [was impressive in the Irani Trophy game], Kumble [captain]

 

[pup11]

Australians 218
RCA Centre of Excellence 38/2 (11.0 ov)
RCA Centre of Excellence trail by 180 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Stumps - Day 1

TBH not too surprised to see such a shoddy batting effort from the Aussies, most of them are suffering from rust syndrome and only guy who had some decent match practice under his belt leading up to this game was Katich and hence he scored some runs today.

 

[andyc]

It's the bowling in this match I'm most interested in tbh, with two spots (well, one and a half) up for grabs. Clark and Lee both got wickets early on in their spells, Lee getting his first ball. Looking forward to seeing how Johnson and Krezja go tomorrow, don't see either going that well unfortunately.

 

[social]

Dreadful performance by Oz against a barely fc standard side

As a sidenote, is Krezja now officially the worst performed player ever to have been gifted a baggy green?

 

[Mister Wright]

Surprised with Lee's figures. Didn't think he'd do well in India. Guess the tests are a different story, but he's proved me wrong plenty of times in the past. Interesting to see Katich ahead of Jaques, perhaps it's a sign for the series as the side seemed to be close to full strength.

 

[Polo23]

I don't rate Johnson as a test bowler. Seems unable to swing the ball and has no consistency.

It will be interesting to see how he goes in India...i'd suggest a poor performance in the series will see him dropped for someone like Bollinger.

 

[silentstriker]

Surprised with Lee's figures. Didn't think he'd do well in India.

Why? Lee will do just fine in India. He gets bounce, he is still speedy, and he has become a smart bowler. McGrath destroyed everyone in India, and while Lee is obviously no McGrath, he'll be just fine.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Is this one of those games where everyone in the tourning squad gets a trundle?

 

[pup11]

Why? Lee will do just fine in India. He gets bounce, he is still speedy, and he has become a smart bowler. McGrath destroyed everyone in India, and while Lee is obviously no McGrath, he'll be just fine.

I think what Wrighty was trying to say their was that on slowish Indian tracks Lee' extra pace probably makes shot-making slightly easier, but having said that in Caribbean conditions which are pretty similar to India Lee was simply awesome, agreed West Indian batting is nowhere near as strong as the Indian batting line-up, but Lee variations and patience in those conditions was refreshing to see, Lee has come of age and there is no doubt about it and one can be rest assured Lee would deliver the goods even in this series.

 

[pup11]

Is this one of those games where everyone in the tourning squad gets a trundle?

Yup, i guess so.

 

[andyc]

How are you guys following this?

 

[Jakester1288]

How are you guys following this?

In Australia, we have multiple options.

1 - Watch it on Austar or Foxtel, if we are lucky enough to have it.
2 - Watch it on live streams on the internet.
3 - Listen to it on the radio (if possible)
4 - Use live score sites, such as cricket.com.au, cricinfo, and many others.
5 - Wait for the highlights on the T.V and on the net.

So as you can see, we have limited opportunities to see the series. Whilst it may appear to be a lot, it isn't. Watching it on T.V is the only one which really works, because streams are always cutting out, radio is usually not on, the score sites are slow, and on the T.V and net, the highlights are just not enough for people who are cricket mad.

 

[andyc]

I meant the tour match, tbh. Am Australian.

 

[Jakester1288]

I meant the tour match, tbh. Am Australian.

Oh. In that case, just on cricinfo and reports on the forums. I honestly don't care about the match, it's just a warm up.

 

[pasag]

In Australia, we have multiple options.

1 - Watch it on Austar or Foxtel, if we are lucky enough to have it.
2 - Watch it on live streams on the internet.
3 - Listen to it on the radio (if possible)
4 - Use live score sites, such as cricket.com.au, cricinfo, and many others.
5 - Wait for the highlights on the T.V and on the net.

So as you can see, we have limited opportunities to see the series. Whilst it may appear to be a lot, it isn't. Watching it on T.V is the only one which really works, because streams are always cutting out, radio is usually not on, the score sites are slow, and on the T.V and net, the highlights are just not enough for people who are cricket mad.

He means the tour match.

Edit: Beaten.

 

[inbox24]

Will these test matches be on ABC Radio or any other English radio service?

 

[NUFAN]

In Australia, we have multiple options.

1 - Watch it on Austar or Foxtel, if we are lucky enough to have it.
2 - Watch it on live streams on the internet.
3 - Listen to it on the radio (if possible)
4 - Use live score sites, such as cricket.com.au, cricinfo, and many others.
5 - Wait for the highlights on the T.V and on the net.

So as you can see, we have limited opportunities to see the series. Whilst it may appear to be a lot, it isn't. Watching it on T.V is the only one which really works, because streams are always cutting out, radio is usually not on, the score sites are slow, and on the T.V and net, the highlights are just not enough for people who are cricket mad.

How could you consider that limited? It's pretty much the same for any sport that is too far for you to go and see live..

Disappointed to see both Ponting and Clarke make low scores, both would like some time in the middle before the first test I suspect.

 

[pup11]

Oh. In that case, just on cricinfo and reports on the forums. I honestly don't care about the match, it's just a warm up.

Well the tour games are important from the player and team management' POV and its also interesting for us fans to gauge that what kind of form a particular player is in leading upto the all important 1st test, so i am pretty interested to see how things go in these games.

P.S: Nice to see you back Jake.

 

[pup11]

How could you consider that limited? It's pretty much the same for any sport that is too far for you to go and see live..

Disappointed to see both Ponting and Clarke make low scores, both would like some time in the middle before the first test I suspect.

Yeah and that' a huge concern, if Australia are to do well in this series then these two would have to play really responsibly, being the captain and vice-captain their performances have an effect on the team morale too.

Ponting is rusty and is feeling his way back into the game, but in Clarke' case he genuinely seems to be out of form, he is being troubled by spin bowling (left-arm orthodox to be precise) for sometime now and that' not something you associate with him, so both these guys need to buck up and as you said a good hit-out in the middle would do wonders to their confidence.

 

[pup11]

RCA Centre of Excellence 1st innings R M B 4s 6s SR
S Vijay lbw b Lee 0 1 1 0 0 0.00
VA Saxena b Clark 0 11 4 0 0 0.00
GK Khoda c Haddin b Siddle 33 109 63 5 0 52.38
Y Venugopal Rao lbw b Lee 20 89 63 3 0 31.74
R Bist not out 16 0 64 1 0 25.00
A Menaria c Bollinger b Krejza 5 68 42 0 0 11.90
RB Jhalani lbw b Bollinger 0 6 6 0 0 0.00
Pankaj Singh b Krejza 0 1 1 0 0 0.00
SO Mathur not out 2 0 13 0 0 15.38
Extras (b 9, lb 1, nb 5) 15

Total (7 wickets; 42 overs) 91 (2.16 runs per over)


To bat SG Gehlot, Mohan Singh, G Singh, NS Doru


Fall of wickets1-0 (Vijay, 0.1 ov), 2-2 (Saxena, 1.3 ov), 3-53 (Venugopal Rao, 20.5 ov), 4-57 (Khoda, 21.4 ov), 5-82 (Menaria, 35.5 ov), 6-86 (Jhalani, 37.6 ov), 7-87 (Pankaj Singh, 38.3 ov)



Bowling O M R W Econ
B Lee 9 3 17 2 1.88 (1nb)
SR Clark 9 2 23 1 2.55
MG Johnson 8 1 21 0 2.62 (4nb)
PM Siddle 6 3 7 1 1.16
JJ Krejza 6 0 12 2 2.00
DE Bollinger 4 3 1 1 0.25