Cricket Season

[Marshall_magic]

Another strike against Ponting's name as far as his captaincy goes. No doubt he'll have plenty of excuses though.

 

[Jazza]

Another strike against Ponting's name as far as his captaincy goes. No doubt he'll have plenty of excuses though.

He was probably worried about Edgbaston 05, but the greenness of the pitch, what was he thinking? It was a no brainer for me, as soon as i switched on at 0/2 i could see it was going to be very hard for the batsman.

 

[NJLM78]

Hopefully for Hughes sake he can come up with something in the second innings or he wont be seen in the test team again. They pass 100, but maybe Pakistan don't really want to bat today. Wait till the sun is out and they could go a long way past Australias total. Having said that 8th wicket just fell.

 

[Geo]

Another strike against Ponting's name as far as his captaincy goes. No doubt he'll have plenty of excuses though.

He was probably worried about Edgbaston 05, but the greenness of the pitch, what was he thinking? It was a no brainer for me, as soon as i switched on at 0/2 i could see it was going to be very hard for the batsman.

Well I was there…...and we where all scratching our heads.....One can only think he didn't want to bat last........

The pitch was juciest and greenest from the Paddington end.......9 wickets from that end...........

Even so the batting was atrocious........Hughes looked nervous from the time he walked out.......bloody lucky to get 0....

Ponting was set up delux....Watson was lazy......Clarke got a good one but it exposed his weakness of playing down the wrong line.....Hussey.......has become very painful to watch and I think even a liitle cheer went up when he went......North looked good but then had a Brian explosion.......Haddin was going for the fastest ton and was on target after 3 balls shame he got out...thank god for the bowlers at 7 for 60odd we where lucky to get past 100....

Funny though as we where sitting there waitin through the drizzle...we knew we where in for something special ...not often an Australian side gets rolled in 40 overs in a test match....If early wicket don't fall tomorrow....Pakistan can really take control....Ponting may end up batting last anyway......... :brick:

 

[Jazza]

Another strike against Ponting's name as far as his captaincy goes. No doubt he'll have plenty of excuses though.

He was probably worried about Edgbaston 05, but the greenness of the pitch, what was he thinking? It was a no brainer for me, as soon as i switched on at 0/2 i could see it was going to be very hard for the batsman.

Well I was there…...and we where all scratching our heads.....One can only think he didn't want to bat last........

The pitch was juciest and greenest from the Paddington end.......9 wickets from that end...........

Even so the batting was atrocious........Hughes looked nervous from the time he walked out.......bloody lucky to get 0....

Ponting was set up delux....Watson was lazy......Clarke got a good one but it exposed his weakness of playing down the wrong line.....Hussey.......has become very painful to watch and I think even a liitle cheer went up when he went......North looked good but then had a Brian explosion.......Haddin was going for the fastest ton and was on target after 3 balls shame he got out...thank god for the bowlers at 7 for 60odd we where lucky to get past 100....

Funny though as we where sitting there waitin through the drizzle...we knew we where in for something special ...not often an Australian side gets rolled in 40 overs in a test match....If early wicket don't fall tomorrow....Pakistan can really take control....Ponting may end up batting last anyway......... :brick:

Yeh i felt for Hughes, his captain certainly didnt do him any favours, thrown in at the last minute on green juicy deck at his home ground.
Ponting's shot was attrocious, a half hearted lofted pull shot. Watson got squared up with a beauty. Clarke got a good un'. Hussey pulled a full ball and Haddin was out softly too.
But really it wasnt as if the pitch played different to how it looked, just looking at it and you felt the batsmen were gonna struggle.

I actually have flashbacks of the 4th Ashes test last yr just the scenario is on the other foot, rain affected first day, England got bowled out for a 100 odd, then we came out and belted England out of the game.
Im worried if this heads to a decider we might not bounce back.

 

[citizen_cub]

Another strike against Ponting's name as far as his captaincy goes. No doubt he'll have plenty of excuses though.

mate, your a [This word has been automatically removed]en legend!! you've got it right on the money pal. he'll make excuses for his batting and then blame our bowling when we lose the test match :laughing:

 

[Marshall_magic]

Come to think about it, it was a toss to lose. Double edge sword. Bat first and risk being humbled like that. Bowl first, and if it rains a little more (and say 30 overs are bowled), then Pakistan come back tomorrow on a beautiful day and put on 400\. Although he probably should've sent them in. Lets just hope Mitch, Dougie and Pete can fire up tomorrow and roll them for under 200.

 

[Jazza]

Looks like he had no excuses so he threw Mike Hussey into the press conference instead.

Ponting claimed he had the support of the dressing room. ''It is always my preference to bat and the guys inside are happy with that decision as well,'' he said at the toss. ''The bowlers will be disappointed I won the toss and batted, they would have liked to have got out here and had a crack on this sort of wicket. It's not often these days you get to bowl in these sort of conditions. But hopefully the batting group can do the right thing.''

I dont understand how he went totally against what was in front of him (The green pitch) for something that he was hoping would happen (The batsman surviving), that to me almost shows that he cant back himself when it comes to reading the pitch and so its just easier for him to bat and hope his batsman can back him up.

I also dont understand how the guys can be 'happy' with the decision, but at the same time the bowler's are 'disappointed', a bit of a contradiction there.

 

[Peaches]

Punter really likes to bat 1st and get runs on the board, so I wasn't to surprised when we chose to bat. What was surprising was the shot selections. Hughes, Hussey, Ponting, Haddin and maybe even Clarke threw their wickets away trying to score quick rather than working hard. Katich would have been perfect. Watson got a gem and Clarke got a good ball but has got out like that before. I'm surprised more teams don't target that area. Batting was going to be tough but 127 was still a below-par score.

Asif and Sami did bowl very well in those conditions though. Hilfenhaus instead of Siddle would have been very handy.

 

[alien]

A miracle is happening at the scg. looks like we might win after getting only 127 in the first innings. Unbelievable!!!

 

[alien]

ITS A MIRACLE! WOOOOO \(^ - ^)/

 

[Jazza]

Unbelievable victory!

Hussey and Siddle were superb.
And Haury for the 2nd match in a row getting 5 wickets in the 2nd innings.

For me the difference in the match was epitomised with Haddin taking a 1 handed horizontal screamer, and Akmal dropping Hussey 3 times, and Siddle as well. It couldve been a 10 wicket loss, instead a great win.

We were questioning Ponting's tactics earlier, while I still dont think he made the right decision, Yousuf's tactics today were a million times worse then what Ponting did.

 

[stryker]

I'd like to give a big, open ended <big>"GET THAT UP YA"</big> to all the Mike Hussey bashers on this forum. Today proved why he is given the benefit of the doubt for a few sub par performances. The bloke is all class and as tough as they come…quite frankly, the only other player in this current line up that could have played that innings was Punter himself - another of this forums whipping boys.

Great win by the lads, experience won that test match today.....

 

[TheSunTanSuperman]

I'd like to give a big, open ended <big>"GET THAT UP YA"</bigto all the Mike Hussey bashers on this forum. Today proved why he is given the benefit of the doubt for a few sub par performances. The bloke is all class and as tough as they come…quite frankly, the only other player in this current line up that could have played that innings was Punter himself - another of this forums whipping boys.

Great win by the lads, experience won that test match today.....

This is where Hussey supporters lose it. A few sub-par performances? In the last 18 months he has been Australia's worst batsman. Yeah he did a great, great job this test, but it doesn't take away from the justified calls to sack him over the past 18 months.

 

[TheSunTanSuperman]

Good job from the bowlers again, well from Bollinger, Hauritz and Johnson anyway. Siddle continues to show he just doesn't have it for test level. 6 wickets at 68 for the summer is unacceptable. Brett Lee can't get fit quick enough.

 

[softlaw]

lucky Hussey was dropped 4 times! Good innings apart from that though.
Top effort by the 3 bowlers.
Rather incredible win. The Pakistanis will be shattered by that loss.

 

[Jazza]

I'd like to give a big, open ended <big>"GET THAT UP YA"</bigto all the Mike Hussey bashers on this forum. Today proved why he is given the benefit of the doubt for a few sub par performances. The bloke is all class and as tough as they come…quite frankly, the only other player in this current line up that could have played that innings was Punter himself - another of this forums whipping boys.

Great win by the lads, experience won that test match today.....

This is where Hussey supporters lose it. A few sub-par performances? In the last 18 months he has been Australia's worst batsman. Yeah he did a great, great job this test, but it doesn't take away from the justified calls to sack him over the past 18 months.

Yeah I agree STM, its been more like a couple dozen sub par performances.
Still, he's done well, and he certainly deserves to be in the side now after a good Summer.

I'm still worried about this middle order though. After a great start a collapse of 8/152 yesterday, 10/127 in the first innings, 8/220 in Melbourne (Watson scoring 120 of them), 150 all out in Perth and 10/265 against the Windies in Adelaide.

I still wouldnt mind seeing Ponting shift down the order, avg of 39 I think last year, 3 years in a row he's averaging below 50, he's overall average has dipped below 55 for the first time in 5 years, it just says to me that he's in decline.
I still would like him to go down the order. There are many options, but I would like an opener coming in for North and having Katich or Clarke at number 3.

So its either:

1\. Katich
2\. Opener
3\. Clarke
4\. Hussey
5\. Watson
6\. Ponting

Or

1\. Watson
2\. Opener
3\. Katich (His normal position for NSW)
4\. Hussey
5\. Clarke
6\. Ponting

 

[stryker]

This is where Hussey supporters lose it. A few sub-par performances? In the last 18 months he has been Australia's worst batsman. Yeah he did a great, great job this test, but it doesn't take away from the justified calls to sack him over the past 18 months.

Yeah I agree STM, its been more like a couple dozen sub par performances.
Still, he's done well, and he certainly deserves to be in the side now after a good Summer.

I'm still worried about this middle order though. After a great start a collapse of 8/152 yesterday, 10/127 in the first innings, 8/220 in Melbourne (Watson scoring 120 of them), 150 all out in Perth and 10/265 against the Windies in Adelaide.

I still wouldnt mind seeing Ponting shift down the order, avg of 39 I think last year, 3 years in a row he's averaging below 50, he's overall average has dipped below 55 for the first time in 5 years, it just says to me that he's in decline.
I still would like him to go down the order. There are many options, but I would like an opener coming in for North and having Katich or Clarke at number 3.

So its either:

1\. Katich
2\. Opener
3\. Clarke
4\. Hussey
5\. Watson
6\. Ponting

Or

1\. Watson
2\. Opener
3\. Katich (His normal position for NSW)
4\. Hussey
5\. Clarke
6\. Ponting

Man you two are joking aren't you? The bloke has had a quiet spell but he also has two of the last three centuries hit by Australian batsmen. You can manipulate the statistics all you want to confirm your argument but it never tells the full story. Hussey contributes far more to the team than just being a run scoring machine that he once was. His fielding is world class and his knowledge of the game is up there with some of the best captains/tacticians in the game. He is also still ranked the number 2 batsman for ODI's in the world - I know that its not test cricket… but dont you think it shows that he can still handle high pressure situations with the bat? If he could no longer do this we lose this test.

It seems to me that a lot of people who comment on here come from this greedy, i want everything now generation that has to have results always ending in their favour ....or else.

Im prepared to bet a fair bit that you guys were preparing most of the day to come on here and tear this team to shreds calling for mass sackings and a captaincy change....Im so sorry that they let you down.

Btw Suntansuperman can you confirm/deny whether or not you are a pom? Its just that I've never seen an Aussie attack his national side as much as you do....

 

[alien]

the lineup i'd choose for the hobart test

1\. Watson
2\. Hughes
3\. Katich
4\. Clarke
5\. Ponting
6\. Hussey
7\. Haddin
8\. Johnson
9\. Hauritz
10\. Hilfenhaus
11\. Bollinger

12\. North

 

[Juro]

Yeah, Hussey did well, but largely thanks to the Pakistan team giving him so many lives. It was only thanks to this that we had any sort of lead to defend.

And does Australia winning justify Ponting's decision to bat first? It is like saying that the Australian rugby league selectors are justified whenever Australia win, regardless of whether they pick the best team. The unanswerable question of course is what the result would have been if we had bowled first. I would reckon we would have won far more comfortably…

I don't know. Whenever Pakistan lose from such a strong position, I always have that nagging doubt in the back of my mind. Amazing that Australia's 9th wicket partnership almost scored more runs than the entire Pakistani 4th innings...