***Official*** West Indies in Australia

[Prince EWS]

His control over that shot known only as the Bravo-flick really impressed me.

He played it WAY too often against Giles - he tried to play it when it was either far too short for the shot, or when it was pitching in the rough, and Giles exploited on several occassions having him bowled.

But he showed more patience this time, against better bowlers, making sure he got to the pitch of the ball before attempting to play it, and holding himself back if he wasnt quite there, which he wasnt doing at all last time I saw him.

Hes turned a weakness which bowlers targeted into a strength, which really shows that he is maturing as a cricketer.

 

[Nate]

Stuff Bravo, great innings.

 

[andyc]

Stuff there by Bravo and Ramdin, good to see a bit of a fightback even if it is only delaying the inevitable. What I saw of Bravo's innings was really good, while Ramdin seems to be pretty good with the bat and behind the stumps, so hopefully both will manage to play for quite a bit.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Actually, the last word on this belongs to Peter Roebuck who neatly summed it up in a column late last year:

Adam Gilchrist's problem has been that he wants to walk but to leave the rest of his game untouched. He wants to leave of his own accord whenever he feels an edge, yet is prepared to appeal for catches behind the wicket when the ball has blatantly missed the bat or else for leg-before-wicket when the ball has been snicked. Often he leads the appeal and sometimes the charge, though he is hardly alone among wicketkeepers in that regard.

Opponents argue that Gilchrist cannot have it both ways. From their point of view his sense of fair play must be applied across the board or not at all. Anything else, they are convinced, reeks of hypocrisy. Truly sporting cricketers, they point out, stifle false appeals and hold their tongues in adversity.

Well, if Peter Roebuck says it....then I guess I'm sold!

 

[howardj]

Well, if Peter Roebuck says it....then I guess I'm sold!

Yep. Pretty much case closed

 

[Pratters]

The problem with Gilly is not that he walks off when it edges but appeals on ocassions when its not out (because he is unsure or maybe despite knowing its not out) but that he expects other players to follow his example while batting.

 

[Pratters]

The Windies have talent. There is no doubt about it. Also many of these youngsters would not get the vital experience they are getting had they been playing in a stronger international side.

Augurs well for the future of Windies cricket.

 

[Pratters]

Two LBW decisions with Brett Lee coming around the wicket, one freak catch off Bracken's bowling and that decision without an edge.

The lbw against D.Powell was dodgy as well.

 

[aussie]

Agreed.

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Hodge
Clarke
Hussey
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
McGrath
MacGill

I'd expect, with Adelaide so unhelpful for seamers, that Bracken would miss out.

i dunno, i think their is a strong chance Australia may play 5 bowlers, the top order would have learnt from how wellthe two trini boys played & may well bat better at adelaide, so instead of retaining either Clarke, Hussey or Hodge when Langer returns i would pick the extra bowler in Bracken.

 

[marc71178]

And bat Warne at 7 and Lee at 8...

 

[Pratters]

The question of playing the 5th bowler is a dicey one. Without the support of a Gillespie in good form, it can be tough to get 20 wickets against good opposition. The batting is not that weak considering you have Gilchrist at 6 and Lee is playing quite well nowadays.

So do you go in with 5 bowlers for the time being until you find a good support bowler or go in with 4 bowlers.

Mark Taylor reckoned there is a case for 5 bowlers while I heard him during the test. Certainly you cant win a test until you bowl the opposition out.

It really is a bad problem when you dont have a batsman who can bowl as a support option. Watson may have fit that role. I am not too sure about Symonds doing it at the moment. Spells which are poor can mean the pressure is relieved off the opposition - some thing you dont want while you are bowling.

The thing with playing 4 bowlers with a poor support bowler as the 5th right now is: If you go with 3 seamers and a spinner you get situations where the 5th bowler has to be called upon more than Australia would like.

Two pacers and two spinners would mean the ball not being exploited to its fullest while its fairly new - a real disadvantage.

Its a bad situation over all really showing the role of the 5th bowler so well.

 

[Slifer]

The lbw against D.Powell was dodgy as well.

I just read CRINFO this morning, havent seen ne of the series yet. I was under tthe assumption that Lara was just out of form or suffering from his injured finger didnt realise that 3 of his 4 dismissals were so questionable. Time for technology to step in??? Maybe not i guess its an inevitable part of sports.

 

[marc71178]

The question of playing the 5th bowler is a dicey one. Without the support of a Gillespie in good form, it can be tough to get 20 wickets against good opposition. The batting is not that weak considering you have Gilchrist at 6 and Lee is playing quite well nowadays.

It's far from strong - longer tail than a lot of sides.

 

[Top_Cat]

dunno, i think their is a strong chance Australia may play 5 bowlers, the top order would have learnt from how wellthe two trini boys played & may well bat better at adelaide, so instead of retaining either Clarke, Hussey or Hodge when Langer returns i would pick the extra bowler in Bracken.

Why is everyone panicking? I mean, yes those two players did well but aside from them, there wasn't much and there is still very little wrong with the deck. The bowling attack did the job and Australia only need 78 today. It's not as if they both scored 200's and the Aussie attack looked completely unable to take a wicket.

 

[Jason_M]

Bravo reminded me of a right handed Brian Lara especially with those defensive shots against the spinners. For the next test i would bring in Dwayne Smith who was excellent in the field and is a handy bat as well.

Slow Love, i have nothing but contempt for the Aussies, throughout their era of domination they have displayed terrible sportsmanship with vicious sledging and in your face tactics that resembled more a football match than the game of cricket. They'll go to any lows to win a game of cricket even if that means pressuring umpires with overzealous appealing and just downright poor sportsmanship which is what we witnessed yesterday.

 

[Pratters]

It's far from strong - longer tail than a lot of sides.

I didnt use the word strong though.

Its a question of what you want. 5 bowlers and not as strong batting 7-11 or 4 bowlers - less probability of taking 20 wickets but more batting assurance.

When Symonds has to be selected because he can bowl a bit it does show the problem. Really all options Australia can go with are poor.

 

[Top_Cat]

Slow Love, i have nothing but contempt for the Aussies, throughout their era of domination they have displayed terrible sportsmanship with vicious sledging and in your face tactics that resembled more a football match than the game of cricket. They'll go to any lows to win a game of cricket even if that means pressuring umpires with overzealous appealing and just downright poor sportsmanship which is what we witnessed yesterday.

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

 

[Son Of Coco]

Bravo reminded me of a right handed Brian Lara especially with those defensive shots against the spinners. For the next test i would bring in Dwayne Smith who was excellent in the field and is a handy bat as well.

Slow Love, i have nothing but contempt for the Aussies, throughout their era of domination they have displayed terrible sportsmanship with vicious sledging and in your face tactics that resembled more a football match than the game of cricket. They'll go to any lows to win a game of cricket even if that means pressuring umpires with overzealous appealing and just downright poor sportsmanship which is what we witnessed yesterday.

You've got to admit though, Ponting's tackle which cut Lara down just short of the crease when a quick single looked a foregone conclusion was spectacular.

 

[Pratters]

This has been superb commentating by Holding and Greig touching on so many subjects.

 

[Pratters]

Darren Powell is indeed a very talented bowler. I hope he sorts the weaker links like think a wee bit too much which Holding pointed out and delivers the goods in the future.