A_S

The Greek. Always gave 100% and made the big blueshite/manc cunt Screech fucker bleed in a derby that the reds won.

There is still plenty to play for in this series. Boxing Day is a massive occasion and the locals will be loving giving the Aussies a heroes' welcome. This side looks like it will be unchanged for the 4th consecutive Test. Has a team ever gone through a 5-match series both with an unchanged XI AND had a clean sweep, as is still a real possibility? Loving the 'Improbables' moniker, but achieving those things also could land this team a special place in cricket history. As for England, it is fair to say that quite a few of them will be looking a little nervously over their shoulders. I'd be surprised if Prior plays in Melbourne, he has been well below par, not to mention dropping a big name like him will put the other senior players on notice that nobody is safe. Again I will ask, can Bresnan and Stokes play in the same team? It didn't work in Perth and you can't possibly drop Stokes now after playing the innings of his life, albeit in a losing cause. Finn in for Bresnan, surely?

So 10,000 runs in Test cricket puts one in the elite batsmen of all time. 300 wickets puts you in the elite bracket of bowlers of all time. Jacques Kallis is 11 wickets away from achieving both. I honestly hope he reaches this incredible milestone against Australia next February. Legend.

Considering you can just about count their wins this season on one hand, and he has played a major part in 2 of them (in huge games for them too), I'll bet some Sunderland fans are starting to also wonder why he isn't starting. Come on Gus, help the boy (and yourselves) out.

Fuck yeah, get in! Mitchell Johnson may as well retire now. He won't get a better moment in his career. Take a bow, son. I was like many others that thought you were well and truly finished in the long form of the game.

Just waiting for someone to tweet in to the commentators on the huge $$ win they had on putting Stokes as first centurion for England this series.

Could do worse than get the run rate under control for a bit. Fuck sake.

Did I just see Bresnan mouth the words 'Well in, you cunt' to his partner? Might be the last time he plays a Test, if you get my meaning.

Stokes has been impressive. And although he hasn't made a load of runs, Root seems to have the appetite for it. The elder statesmen of the team could do worse than note these two.

Adelaide. Day 1. Fielding.

I saw a thing on telly last night that not only did England have no centurions in this series thus far, they've only managed a single century partnership. Dave Warner has made nearly half the runs (457) that the six of England's top 7 that have played every game so far have made combined (938). As was the case with Australia during their recent shit run, the batsmen are consistently under-performing, which not only gives the bowlers less runs to defend, it also has the added bonus of giving them less recovery time between innings. Thus, the bowlers are the ones 'rotated' and the batsmen seem to be given far more chances. Bell summed up England's current plight well- they know they can play better. They just aren't. Or being allowed to.

Pretty incredible this: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/is-this-real-sachin-tendulkar-being-chased-by-clarke-and-cook/439776-78.html

Wow.

500 to win, 5 sessions to get 10 wickets and the Urn. Let's fucking do this.

29, 83* Australia v England Adelaide 5 Dec 2013 Test # 2105 49, 124 Australia v England Brisbane 21 Nov 2013 Test # 2103 52, 21 NSW v Queensland Brisbane 13 Nov 2013 FC 104, 51* NSW v Victoria Melbourne 6 Nov 2013 FC 21, 15 NSW v Tasmania Sydney 30 Oct 2013 FC 14 NSW v Queensland Sydney 27 Oct 2013 LA 197 NSW v Victoria Sydney 24 Oct 2013 LA 32 NSW v South Aust Sydney 22 Oct 2013 LA 138 NSW v Victoria Sydney 20 Oct 2013 LA 139 NSW v Queensland Sydney 17 Oct 2013 LA FC = First Class Domestic, LA = One-Day Domestic Indeed. His Australian summer thus far, plus his current 50no.

A bit unlucky Rogers there, the slightest bit of hesitation and he was gone, thanks to some brilliant fielding from Anderson. It takes some doing to get your body shape right and throw with power and accuracy back the other way like he did. Watson just carrying on being Watson. Some nice shots, big drives, gives wicket away cheaply. Amazingly, there have been as many calls for Rogers to be dropped after Adelaide as there were Watson. Staggering.

Can England play Bresnan and Stokes in the same team? As for Australia, I am just a little concerned about the way this Test is being spoken about as if it were a done deal already. Harris is on a dodgy knee, his back-up in Faulkner is already ruled out, having broken his thumb in the nets a day ago. And as well as Johnson is bowling, I still have enough memories of his Jekyll & Hyde show to not completely trust him yet, although his record in Perth is excellent. I'm quietly confident, as I'd have never dreamed of a 2-0 lead going into a place where England have traditionally struggled. As a lot of locals (Rogers, Hussey, Langer) have said about batting there though, get through your first 20-30 balls to adjust to the pace and bounce and it can become the best of batting conditions very quickly. Long batting periods also means keeping the fielding side out in the scorching sun. It is the key to both sides, which has also cost both sides in both Ashes series to date. And finally the time zone for this is fucking ace, sorry lads! Starts at 1:30pm AEST, so we on the east coast get prime time Test cricket! Loving it.

A wise man once said... This.

I've got day 3 tickets for Melbourne. We have a picnic horse race meet at our local track (which circumvents our golf course, can't be wasting space in Australia!) on Boxing Day, just byo booze, bbq, boobs and burn. And shit horses. Cracking day out though! Boxing Day. It's like trying to pour a litre of beer into a pint glass. There just isn't enough space to fit all the good stuff.

So Napoli get to join the might of Viktoria Plzen in the EL, who scored their first and only points of the entire group stage with a last-minute winner against the next worst team that only had 10 men (later 9). The Europa League needs a fucking overhaul.

IIRC he took a bag of wickets a couple of tours ago when Gilchrist went on a rampage in Perth Could be an option. .

Tuna. Asparagus. Fuck right off.

I'd say part of Root handling the short stuff well is the fact that he doesn't get sucked into responding to the chat, which is exactly what Johnson and co want him to do. Regardless of the result, this tour will be invaluable for him and he looks to be learning quickly. Carberry has actually been solid so far too, yet these were the two with the biggest question marks hanging over them coming into this tour.

You're forgetting the double-footed lunge onto the prone Ferdinand/Terry's achilles. Winning.

I'd have thought Finn is an absolute must for Perth.