So what do you think should be our target here?
Get to 400 ahead would be ideal. Bat out majority of tomorrow, Throw England in for 1.5 sessions. Get some wickets, put on a show for McGrath day. Really, we'd have to be pretty bad to lose it from here. Might as well put on a show, drag it out...
Nah, prepare the entire team for bowling/fielding today, except for the two out in the middle. Instructions T20 mode. First wicket, declare. England are so mentally fragile that quick runs then unexpected declaration could see everyone out by tea.
CA must have lost a fair bit of moolah this summer... not one test has gone to 5 days. And some of the 4 day ones had free entry, didn't they?
Marcus, I see you got picked in the old bloke dream team by foxsports.
How did you celebrate?
Went to the SCG tonight. Flippin heck Aussies made it good for the TV networks. Slow as.
Mind, the fielding was top notch. Good day. Give me a test match any day though.
saffers cheating. morkel off the ground for 75 minutes, comes back on and bowls 15 minutes later. umpires somehow convinced that a heavy landing during a fielding attempt is an "external injury"
OK so now what? (paging Hawk).
Doolan has enough buzz about him and has backed it up with an impressive debut to start asking what about Watson?
You aint moving Smith, Clarke or Marsh on this form are you?
Is his only chance to open with Warner (two sloggers isnt a stereotypical pairing). Or do you move Marsh up to open and put Watson at 5?
If fit, his bowling has been great, and there is no way in hell Johnson is going to keep tearing through everyone (regression to the mean etc etc etc).
Got home and watched most of Doolans knock last night. Am yet to be convinced. Did stick it out and post a score but not exactly sure how he does it. Doesn't seem to have any shots that he owns ( hard to remember a couple of blazing on drives or great square cuts etc) and looks pretty iffy on the pull.
Good on him for getting in there and taking his chance but at this stage I have some concerns about him long term particularly at 3
Great observation Member. He doesn't have the classic style or technique of your great #3 like a Lara or Tendulkar. He seems to see the ball really late but middles it nonetheless. He does hit that back foot pull shot in front of square quite sweetly (the shot he got out in 1st dig) that's a Ponting special that shot.
To me Marsh looks to have the best technique out of all of them, bloke just doesn't look like getting out but then does something daft.
What's the thinking, bat til lunch today and ask them to get 500 in 5 sessions?
Theres just something about Doolan that concern me. If he does what he done in this test all the time he will be an effective test cricketer. There isn't though signs that he is a class act though for my liking that you usually see in Aussie batsmen at a young age ie Clarke Ponting Smith etc
I feel they already have enough runs. History suggests they do being this would be a world record chase.
Feel we should come out and play some 20-20 cricket for an hour and 15 mins. Seriously go the tonk. **** worrying about losing wickets. Actually try and strike some physiological blows for the rest of this game and the series. Cart a couple of their bowlers hardcore and see if they go to water like Anderson Swann etc did in the Ashes,
Come out and have a 30-40 min session at them where Mitch can tear in for 4 overs and give them heaps and then go off for lunch and then tear in again first up after lunch
carn straya
Johnson, geez. One busted grill, one busted ear. These guys have to learn how to duck.
five stars
great stuff. beat no1 (maybe on the slide down) on home turf. nice to see some real feeling of wanting to win too