A_S

Backyard cricket?

There is only one player running off his line and that is Ramires. Even then it's shoulder to shoulder so how in the fuck that can be deemed a foul against the West Brom player is beyond me. Anyway, at least I can somewhat enjoy the mancs v arse game tomorrow, as it is highly likely that both will lose ground on the reds IE I can't see either enjoying a 4-0 win or better. Especially after the chav cunts dodgy as fuck point and the shite also dropping points against possibly the worst team in the league.

I think the Warne-Cook thing is blown way out of proportion and is nothing more than two different personalities that subsequently see the game in different ways. Both can point to their own individual records plus their team successes as evidence of their way being perfectly acceptable. Funnily enough, Michael Carberry, Cook's potential opening partner for the upcoming series, has been singing Warne's praises for giving him his opportunity at Hampshire, which has allowed him to be in a position to play in an Ashes series. Not that you would read about it too much, doesn't make for a very interesting headline. Speaking of those two, I can't say I agree with the decision to play a 3rd/4th rate attack against the English batsmen on a flat deck in Hobart. Cook utterly destroyed Australia last time here, yet the Aussies kept him to a very modest aggregate in the most recent series (by his own high standards), so why you would give him glorified net sessions to allow him to find his feet well before a ball has been bowled is bizarre. I could list 10-12 bowlers that would be in for a Test call-up before any of those named for the A's this match. Even allowing for holding back the first choice bowlers and injuries, there was still 4-5 bowlers that could have played this game ahead of those selected, which confirms to me that this was some kind of tactic by CA. A shit one IMO. Finally, I feel like this Watson injury could be a blessing in disguise, as it means another allrounder in Faulkner will be selected to bowl some overs, as if either Siddle or Harris go down early, it would be a massive blow to Australia's chances. The kid is a bit brash for my liking, but he is a huge competitor and had a great FC season last year and has carried that on into some excellent performances in Australia's short-form teams. The sooner the entire selection process stops relying on Watson's dodgy hammies/ego/attitude, the better Australia will be for it.

Tell me about it. Their #2 keeper is a young Aussie, Mitch Langerak, who is now the first choice for the national team after Schwarzer retired from international football yesterday. So between him, Jones and Scwarzer, the top 3 choices for the national team are all sitting on the pine throughout Europe. Not a great preparation for a World Cup.

Interesting selections for this 'A' team. Given Australia's current issue is batting, they have put their best batsmen outside the national team in this game to see who can push for selection. The bowling isn't the next rung down though, probably the one after that.

Does anyone think Carberry could come into the team to open in order to allow Root to bat at 5 or 6? That one century aside (when golden gloves himself Haddin let an easy chance go straight past him when Root was in single figures) he wasn't entirely convincing as an opener at Test level yet. By which I mean the lad seems composed enough etc. (unlike say Bell who looked like a rabbit caught in headlights early in his career) but he really did get bogged down at times. That along with Cook's below-par series meant there were early wickets falling a bit too regularly for England's liking. Be interesting to hear some thoughts on this matter.

Correctomundo. Some even lift their game when they are sledged (Allan Border used it to motivate himself) so you have to pick your targets wisely.

Australia A v England game on telly here too, fucking get in there! I always find the first-class games in early November to be some of the best of the season, given all the Australian players are back with their states, plus you have the next rung down pushing hard for inclusion into the national squad. This is amplified by it being an Ashes summer. Whilst I don't agree with how the one-day competition was treated as almost an inconvenience (it's finished already!), it is nice to know that between now and Christmas is just a stack of good Test and FC matches to look forward to as the weather is slowly getting better (25, 24 and 29 the last 3 days ;))

You know, when diving is brought up, it seems that Suarez's name is the first mentioned almost EVERY SINGLE TIME. Yet of all the incidents involving him, the one at Anfield against Stoke is the only one where it looks like he has blatantly dived. Yet some can't make any distinction whatsoever between accentuating contact and going down under none. Still, I'm forgetting how many shocking dives I've now seen from Young, whilst Bale is ever the darling despite doing it multiple times last season alone. Just amazes me how people can't notice stuff with their own eyes and realise that these two aren't as talented, dive more yet get away with far, far more than Luis.

A combination of the 2-new ball rule not being as effective in India, the extra fielder inside the circle outside of power plays, plus the simple part about India having a fucking awesome batting lineup.

Amazing game. Quite simply, it was a series completely and utterly dominated by the bat. Dharma scoring 200 in an ODI. 115 being scored off the last 6 overs of the Indian innings. The fastest ever 50 and 100 by an Australian in ODI cricket were in this game by different players. Incredible. Sadly though, the spite in this game will also be remembered. Now anyone who has read my thoughts on Australian cricket these last few years will know I think Watson is a bit of a twat. That said, Dharwan's mocking of his injury was in extremely poor taste IMO. Hopefully he'll be asked to explain his behaviour by the ICC. Not holding my breath though. This follows Michael Clarke making the 'T' gesture to an umpire in a domestic First Class game this week (where there was no third umpire available, he was clearly showing his dissatisfaction with the decision.) He was charged for dissent and rightfully so. Blatant acts like these need to be frowned upon and always.

So long as he doesn't fail dismally in a couple of first-class fixtures in the next couple of weeks (he averaged only 18 in FC domestic games last season), then I think he is a lock for the 1st Ashes Test in Brisbane late November.

RE: Wisden All-Time XI Great team, which also considers more than just statistics. That said, I'm a bit surprised Gilchrist didn't get the keeper's gig. Not only are his numbers very impressive, they were actually so impressive he changed the way we look at wicketkeepers in the game now. Both his keeping stats and his batting stats could stand up on their own and warrant inclusion in any Test team in the world. Yet he did both! Then there was his ODI record....

Virat Kohli has scored 17 ODI tons from only 118 games. 11 of them have come in run chases, of which India has won all 11 games. The guy is incredible. Who had this guy in his ODI Draft XI again? Yet all the plaudits went to the bowling attack!

'How much does 3 kilograms weigh?' asked the fit but clearly not very bright girl in the next office.

Spurs, Chavs and City away in a 2-week period. ouch. 3 points would be decent, 5 great!

Food for thought- T20 for Over-30s only? http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/681837.html

Just thought I'd say I've been negged for something a mere 19 months and 12 days after posting it! That's definitely my PB, what's yours?

The combined efforts of the 130M rated pair of Benzema and Bale was walking past one another for the sub and Benzema missing an absolute sitter. You'd have been hard-pressed to know either was playing had you missed those two incidents. .

Is it just translated that way or did he actually use the third person there? Fucking spanker, I am just waiting for him to play the race card any minute....

I don't think there is a team in world cricket whose best and worst performances are as far apart as these guys. A hot and cold team if ever there was one.

Who would you believe? The guy that claimed he was using a term quite common in his native country (also that he spoke in his native tongue!) or the guy who described what was said as a 'legitimate space tale'? I know who I'd be laughing my arse off at. And no Roy, the joke was fucking shit and overall downright confusing, given the task at hand! Seriously, when he starts talking about having an onion on his belt, as it was the style of the time, he needs a tap on the shoulder and shuffled to a press conference to announce his immediate retirement from all things football.

I'm seriously going to ask if Virat Kohli will be part of this discussion once he retires. He could be awesome. He has 19 international centuries and he is yet to turn 25 FFS. He's going to town on the Aussie bowlers trying to chase down the small matter of 359. Doing a fair fucking job too, 1-230 after 32 overs. For the record, you just can't ignore Tendulkar scoring runs everywhere for that long.

Panama! Fuck sake.

Perhaps not an overall performance but Coates' first and only goal for Liverpool A bicycle kick from a central defender isn't something you see everyday and it was set to be replayed for years on end. Then the reds gave up a 2 goal lead in the final 20 minutes and went down 3-2 to QP-fucking-R.