**Official** Australia in West Indies

[aussie]

Career Pprospects as a result of this Test:

Katich - gold watch (unless Hayden is still injured)

As T_C rightfully said should never have really opened. If Hodge plays a superb innings second dig & Hayden & Clarke is ready for the next test. It could be a really has way for him to exit after a superb domestic season. But haha, it continues to show to with the Aussie team when you get a chance hold on to it with your dear life until you get injured.

How to do personally think of Shuan Marsh as a future opener?

Johnson - under real pressure. Is he really the 3rd best quick in Australia?

Ha, don't think their is a clear cut winner for the position really. He is probably the most talented along with Tait, based on what i've seen on Noffke he looks like he me a good line & lenght bowler but not much a wicket-taking threat but i'd love to be proven wrong if selected soon, not sure about Bollinger given i haven't seen him (if picked though i hope he turns out to be another Hussey or Clark or not a one-season wonder) & Hilfenhaus is still a work in progress.

You really have to say only Lee/Clark are the dependable bowlers for Australia now which is really worrying.

MacGill - still doesn't look fit; needs to improve quickly

Dam straight yo & even if he does i really worry that he would be absolutely smashed in India.

Hayden - shares in Haydos Inc have gone right off the chart

Also as T_C rigthfully said, the big Matt in this transition period is really an indispensable player.

 

[chaminda_00]

Depending on what happens in the fourth innings, Johnson and MacGill have to go, as SST said for Noffers and Bollinger. Clark and Lee just can't carry those two and if they don't perform they will lose us Tests.

Might be in a bit of a bad mood for staying up till 8am and feeling a bit knee-jerk, but that's one of the more insipid displays of cricket I've seen from this side and not what you'd expect from the world number one ranked side against the world number eight.

How confident are you that Noffke and Bollinger in particular could perform better. You got to remember that Bollinger is coming back from injury and has never performed well in his career coming straight back from injury. He really is one of those bowlers that needs 2-3 matches to get back into things. Bollinger back from injury will lose you more Tests then MacGill or Johnson.

IMO this Test just shows how hard it is for touring sides to complete at their full potential on overseas tours. With the lack of preparation and often going straight from one form to another. The first Test just becomes another practice match and if they get a result they are just lucky.

 

[Top_Cat]

Dunno, seemed to be two pitches, the 'minefield' when we batted and the one the WIndies used, where they never really looked that troubled at all. Can't remember Chanderpaul having too much trouble in his epic innings besides the one or two times and the other batsmen who got out yesterday were to silly shots more than anything else. Ominous times ahead.

Anyways, great match and all, but Australia has made a real fist of it. The opening pair have been woeful, really goes to show how much we miss Hayden and what a champion he is.

In all honesty, I'm running out of patience with Jaques, had a brilliant start to his career, but has been doing sfa since then. I'd consider opening with Katich and Hodge in the next Test. I know it's not perfect and I know it will annoy the purists, but I'd imagine they'd be more productive than Jaques and whoever.

Depending on what happens in the fourth innings, Johnson and MacGill have to go, as SST said for Noffers and Bollinger. Clark and Lee just can't carry those two and if they don't perform they will lose us Tests.

Might be in a bit of a bad mood for staying up till 8am and feeling a bit knee-jerk, but that's one of the more insipid displays of cricket I've seen from this side and not what you'd expect from the world number one ranked side against the world number eight.

You'd seriously drop three guys from the side? Bit de-stabilising, don't you think? Dropping two front-line bowlers for two debutants is madness no matter how poorly they bowled (and in the case of Johnson, at least he was economical). Not to mention, Magill still hasn't bowled in the 4th innings yet. The WI are looking to go after him and in a chase, that could work against them on a wearing deck. Depends on how Ponting uses him; if he gets frightened at the first signs of attack from the batsmen and goes ultra-defensive, well Magill will look pretty impotent. Leggies in particular are heavily dependent on how their captains use them. I get the feeling that Punter's defensiveness was why Warne took control and started to set his own fields.

If you have to drop a bowler for the next side, drop one of either Magill or Johnson but not both especially for two uncapped players, particularly one just coming back from injury. And (I can't believe I'm saying this...) Jaques does deserve a bit more of a chance than the first Test. He's gone early in both innings but that's nothing new; everyone knows once he gets past 20, he's good for a big ton more often than not.

Relax people, no need for panic. WI did well yesterday and probably won all three sessions. This is nothing new for this team. It's winning the whole game which they've struggled with for the last couple of years. Fiddie, for example, came off well yesterday and it's much easier to bowl when you know you only have 5 over late in the day to go hard but with the Test up for grabs, it'll be a decent Test to see how he does. For all we know, he could get pumped up and go the journey tomorrow morning. The game is far from over and Australia still hold the advantage.

 

[Top_Cat]

IMO this Test just shows how hard it is for touring sides to complete at their full potential on overseas tours. With the lack of preparation and often going straight from one form to another. The first Test just becomes another practice match and if they get a result they are just lucky.

Yup. Johnson would be well short of work and even Lee looked a bit under-done and he at least played a few IPL matches.

 

[pasag]

How confident are you that Noffke and Bollinger in particular could perform better. You got to remember that Bollinger is coming back from injury and has never performed well in his career coming straight back from injury. He really is one of those bowlers that needs 2-3 matches to get back into things. Bollinger back from injury will lose you more Tests then MacGill or Johnson.

IMO this Test just shows how hard it is for touring sides to complete at their full potential on overseas tours. With the lack of preparation and often going straight from one form to another. The first Test just becomes another practice match and if they get a result they are just lucky.

Honestly, would be better than some of the rubbish seen in this Test and I'm not sure we could do worse. Would rather either of them to MacGill by a fair margin, though if someone would argue to keep Johnson in, that would be one thing, but I don't think bowling like that should be rewarded with another match. I'm confident he'll be a star in the future, but he needs the obligitory time on the sidelines with the soul searching and all. In short, I don't know that they could do much better, but they certainly can't do worse, in this series anyways. We need to get our best team together pretty quickly as we have two very tough series against India and South Africa coming up.

Ponting's captaincy last night was pretty poor as well. Clark was woefully underbowled and why Katich didn't get any overs after MacGill got smacked for boundary after boundary is beyond me. The guy took six wickets in the warm up match, yet nothing.

 

[Top_Cat]

Ponting's captaincy last night was pretty poor as well. Clark was woefully underbowled and why Katich didn't get any overs after MacGill got smacked for boundary after boundary is beyond me. The guy took six wickets in the warm up match, yet nothing.

Personally, you've hit upon the bigger reason for the malaise here. Punter is fast gaining a Cronje-like aversion to losing and consequent defensive captaincy.

 

[pasag]

You'd seriously drop three guys from the side? Bit de-stabilising, don't you think? Dropping two front-line bowlers for two debutants is madness no matter how poorly they bowled (and in the case of Johnson, at least he was economical). Not to mention, Magill still hasn't bowled in the 4th innings yet. The WI are looking to go after him and in a chase, that could work against them on a wearing deck. Depends on how Ponting uses him; if he gets frightened at the first signs of attack from the batsmen and goes ultra-defensive, well Magill will look pretty impotent. Leggies in particular are heavily dependent on how their captains use them. I get the feeling that Punter's defensiveness was why Warne took control and started to set his own fields.

If you have to drop a bowler for the next side, drop one of either Magill or Johnson but not both especially for two uncapped players, particularly one just coming back from injury. And (I can't believe I'm saying this...) Jaques does deserve a bit more of a chance than the first Test. He's gone early in both innings but that's nothing new; everyone knows once he gets past 20, he's good for a big ton more often than not.

Relax people, no need for panic. WI did well yesterday and probably won all three sessions. This is nothing new for this team. It's winning the whole game which they've struggled with for the last couple of years. Fiddie, for example, came off well yesterday and it's much easier to bowl when you know you only have 5 over late in the day to go hard but with the Test up for grabs, it'll be a decent Test to see how he does. For all we know, he could get pumped up and go the journey tomorrow morning. The game is far from over and Australia still hold the advantage.

Honestly, not sure if you watched it mate, but it was ugly. You talk about destabilising, which is a fair point, but it really doesn't come in to play when the performances are that bad. As I said, Lee and Clark can't do everything and any more of this will lose us more Tests and possibly the series. It's really not about them bowling well and just ending up with poor figures, they were woeful.

Wrt to Jaques, how much longer does he deserve? When Clarke comes back, Hodge doesn't deserve to go and Katich deserves more than one Test. He has looked pretty shoddy since his Sri Lanka heroics. You talk about destabilising, having him get out for nothing and Pontng come in so early is the real instability in the side.

As I said, I'm pretty cranky, sick, on no sleep and feel like ranting and possibly going over the top here but that really was as poor an effort as we've put out in recent times. I'm not expecting the world ala Warne and McGrath, but that was just really, really bad.

 

[chaminda_00]

Honestly, would be better than some of the rubbish seen in this Test and I'm not sure we could do worse. Would rather either of them to MacGill by a fair margin, though if someone would argue to keep Johnson in, that would be one thing, but I don't think bowling like that should be rewarded with another match. I'm confident he'll be a star in the future, but he needs the obligitory time on the sidelines with the soul searching and all. In short, I don't know that they could do much better, but they certainly can't do worse, in this series anyways. We need to get our best team together pretty quickly as we have two very tough series against India and South Africa coming up.

Ponting's captaincy last night was pretty poor as well. Clark was woefully underbowled and why Katich didn't get any overs after MacGill got smacked for boundary after boundary is beyond me. The guy took six wickets in the warm up match, yet nothing.

Reckon Bollinger coming back from injury could do worse then both, considering his track record of injury comebacks. Noffke is worth a shot though. If Clarke is back for the next match I would consider dropping MacGill. With no Clarke you need some spin options, as Symonds is better seamer at Test and FC level. Katich took six wickets against a grade standard side. If Hogde got a bowl, I reckon he would have taken wickets as well.

 

[Craig]

The way some people were raving about Mitchell Johnson when he came into the Test team almost gave me the impression that he is the next Alan Davidson.

 

[tooextracool]

Shouldn't have been opening anyway. Don't necessarily think Huss should have opened either but he was set up to fail a bit. Openers aren't generally the sorts of blokes who are nervous starters and Kat has always been one as he tends to feel for the ball early on. Good ball that got him, though.

Agreed with most. Not sure how anyone could possibly think that he would be successful as an opener. However, rather the ball that got him being anything special it was a very very poor position to be in. As soon as he shuffled across the stumps he had essentially set himself up for that dismissal.

As far as the WI pace bowling is concerned, yes they have bowled quite well and Powell showed exactly what I've known him capable of doing when accurate (bowling outswingers at pace). But such a scenario is always likely when you have 2 bowlers capable of bowling at nearly 90 mph on the odd occasion that they both get their radar right. Edwards, when accurate is always going to be a handful because of his ability to generate natural outswing with his slingy action.

 

[tooextracool]

LOL @ Colin Croft summerising for Sky TV

I will give you a quick summary of what was said:

Host: Did u ever KO any batsmen
Croft: Yeah Knocked Out Bruce Yardly with bouncer to the temple in 1978. He spent 2 days in intesive care.
Host: Did you check on him?
Croft: No
Host: Why not?
Croft: I'm not a doctor I couldn't do anything.
Host: What did you do?
Croft: Went back to my mark waiting for the next batsmen.
Host: Where you concerned for Yardly?
Croft: No I knew he wasn't dead.
Host: Did it affect the way you bowled for the rest of the match?
Croft: No the next batsmen got some bouncers straight away.
Host: Would you have checked on Chanderpaul if you where in Brett Lee's position?
Croft: No I would have sat at my mark waiting for him to get up to bat. Once he was up & ready to bat I would have bowled him another bouncer from around the wicket hopefully hitting him in the throat.
Crof finishes with: Test cricket is a tough game.

No wonder it wa sscary facing the West Indies in the early 80's Imagine Croft & 3 others coming at you.

Not sure if i would have done the same, but its probably the right attitude for a bowler unless you are bowling to a tailender IMO. Test cricket is a tough game and as a batsman you should know what you signed up for.
And was i only one who laughed when they showed Stuart Clark's pitchmap (where essentially every ball he bowled landed on a good length) and Croft suggested that he was "too accurate" and that he needed to try something different once in a while?

 

[social]

Johnson has been the biggest disappointment for mine.

Seems to me that he's trying too hard to swing it when he should keep it simple - run in, hit the deck hard and aim at middle and off.

If it swings, adjust your line.

If it doesnt, bounce, pace and angle will make him a handful.

As it is, he's bowling more round arm in an attempt to bend it and starting it well outside off. Because it's not swinging, batsmen are then simply leaving it or cashing in on the width whilst the round arm action produces less bounce.

MacGill looks gone but he deserves a couple of games as he's been injured for so long and a drop here would mean back to square one for everybody

 

[Laurrz]

Depending on what happens in the fourth innings, Johnson and MacGill have to go, as SST said for Noffers and Bollinger. Clark and Lee just can't carry those two and if they don't perform they will lose us Tests.

MacGill has to go for mine, the warm up game was obviously misleading, he hasn't improved from what i saw.. but i'd keep Johnson.. whilst he is hardly threatening, atleast he can dry up the runs, and he has time on his side. This is his first test outside Australia.
IF Ponting will finally make him first change, a lot of pressure will be off him and that will be much better for him. He cannot bowl as accurately with the new ball than old. Stuart Clark must bowl in tandem with Lee with the new ball.

I'd bring Noffke or Bollinger for MacGill... any will be fine... Noffke would be the more reliable i suppose
Sadly, i can't see us not playing a spinner and MacGill will continue on...perhaps Symo is good enough? 11 overs 0/15 ..he can play a holding job

one feels if Ponting goes to Symo for his offies in the 2nd innings before MacGill.. that things will change for the 2nd test

Might be in a bit of a bad mood for staying up till 8am and feeling a bit knee-jerk, but that's one of the more insipid displays of cricket I've seen from this side and not what you'd expect from the world number one ranked side against the world number eight.

yep i stayed up till, felt very ****ty and couldn't be stuffed going to bed (i did in the end lol)

 

[NZTailender]

Play Katich as specialist spinner imo.

 

[Craig]

Bryce McGain after this series FTW. So what will happen to Beau Casson now?

 

[Nate]

He'll get eaten up by AARON HEAL.

 

[chaminda_00]

Aaron who? Stevie Smith ftw.

 

[SJS]

Has anyone ever claimed T20 > Test Cricket. It is One Day Cricket that is boring as bat ****. This Test Match just shows why we need more Test matches and no more boring 7-Match One Day series. Would love to see and six Test matches just like this to follow tbh. Feeling short changed there is only two more after this this. Then the boring ODIs start.

YES

 

[chaminda_00]

YES

Well they are an idiot then.

 

[Son Of Coco]

****TT !!

And I missed it

The highlights are on Youtube if you want to catch up with what happened. Lee's blow to Chanderpaul's head was pretty vicious.