Submitted by rickeyre on
There's no honour in any Test team conceding 450 runs in an innings. The West Indians pushed on to 451 in their first innings, with some admirable work at the end by Brendan Nash (92) and Ravi Rampaul (40*). The feeling in recent years is that anything the visiting team could do, Australia can do better and in spades.
Submitted by rickeyre on
And so it was on Friday that for about two hours we had the exhilaration of simultaneously following: Day Three, India v Sri Lanka at Mumbai; Day Two, New Zealand v Pakistan at Wellington; Day One, Australia v West Indies at Adelaide. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Just exhausting. Three games of wildly varying textures, each one with that joyous "Let's See You Do That In The IPL" feel about them.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Umar Akmal and Adrian Barath. Cricket's players of the week. Both scored centuries on their Test debut. Both in losing causes. And significantly, both at the age of 19.
Submitted by rickeyre on
One would have to wonder about the tactics of both captains in the half-hour or so before tea. Ponting gave a rather surprising declaration with the total at 480 as soon as Nathan Hauritz brought up his fifty. Such an odd total at which to declare...
Submitted by rickeyre on
Amid the dog's breakfast that is the international cricket schedule these days, I still get a thrill at the arrival of the Australian Test cricket season, heralded every year since 1974 by the opening day of the Test match at Woolloongabba, Queensland. It's an even greater thrill to see Australia facing the West Indies - or at least it used to be.
Submitted by rickeyre on
The complete text of Kevin Rudd's apology, delivered in Canberra yesterday morning, follows (on the "read more" link). It can also be found on the Prime Ministerial website. Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's speech of apology is also noteworthy and can be read in full at malcolmturnbull.com
Debate on the motion carried in the House of Representatives, led by Jenny Macklin and Tony Abbott, can be read at openaustralia.org, with further debate later that day in the House of Reps and the Senate.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Quite simply, Performance dictates dismissal. Ponting's performance as Test captain in recent years dictates that. The only real argument against Ponting's removal as captain would be the TINA factor - There Is No Alternative. However, there is an alternative, an able, intelligent, mature one by the name of Michael Clarke.
Submitted by rickeyre on
The 2009 Ashes series couldn't have swung around more if half its surface was plastered with vaseline.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Despite all the "Australia on top" rhetoric on Thursday night, the first day of the Fifth Test at The Oval was about as close to a statistical "honours even" as you can get. Then came the seismic shift on Friday afternoon.
Submitted by rickeyre on
