Oh, no. Already? What a bunch of BS.
There was an article by Robert Craddock I think as well, at the conclusion of the fourth or third days play saying much the same thing. I did not bother to read it. Premature, much (?) just about begins to cover it. Australian dominance to probably continue (dont see anyone yet consistently having their measure).
Quite right.
The stupidity in these articles is the bollocking given to the bowlers. I had to go through the card for CW purposes - Australia's bowlers took 20 wickets here on a flatter-than-expected track for 624 runs. It's not a pizzling, especially given the attack proved unsuited for the pitch on offer.
I feel desperately sorry for Tait - here he is bowling great early in the season, they pick him as 12th man (no drama there per se) then keep him around the team doing no meaningful bowling for 6 weeks before getting called up. No lessons learned here from the Bichel/ Kaspa/ Lee mistakes in the past. He should miss out for Hogg in Adelaide, but I frankly have no more idea as to whether he's a test prospect now than I did four days ago, as his chances of producing his best at that level is severely limited by his being picked with no work under his belt.
Frustrates the crap out of me - they manage Ponting, Gilly, Hayden et al by giving them time off so they're at their best - ffs, send a bowler to get some work at fc level and use Gary Pratt as 12th man!
The problem in this test was, as almost everyone here has said through the match, the 1st innings batting. Aside from that it was a line ball test match. India bowled very well in the first innings and full credit to them. The real difference was, however, that Tendulkar and Dravid selected their shots much better than our upper and middle orders did. I thought India's 1st innings bowling shaded ours, but it was not like it was many times better. Rather, their batsmen responded better to the challenge than ours did. It proved a crucial difference.
The media are big time lookign for controversy after the game. I heard Ponting on ABC being asked about whether, after Sydney, he considered the Indian celebrations today OTT. He handled it perfectly - said no way - people don't realise how much hard work it is to win a test, and they can celebrate any way they want. He said there was nothing wrong with the celebration, but that "No doubt someone in the media will try and make something out of it" Then he finished with a cracker "I always say that winners have a celebrations, losers usually have a meeting. I'm off to a meeting". Was very well handled.