Hmmm. Craddock works for Fox who just spent over a billion dollars buying cricket... they need to sell some Cricket signups to Foxtel somehow...

I think Paine is a good player, and a funny sort who is good for the culture of the team. Tactically - I am undecided as I have not watched enough.

But I was astounded when he brought Lyon on early instead of Cummins with Richardson. Astounded.

DC I read the same article. Expect TF that Robert Craddock knows something about the sport of cricket.. is one of the most respected cricket writers in this country.

Give Tim the job as long as he wants it. I loved Langer's description of him.. the "tuffest pretty boy he has seen". When Smith is again allowed to coach give him the deputy reins and he can watch a true professional at close hand.

One can only beat the opposition  in front of them.

Robert Craddock wrote an article in the Murdoch press about what a good captain he is.

Smith doesn't have the maturity or body language to take over whilst Paine is doing the job.

Gday DC,
Paine will never - never be a good test captain.
He has won against a side that makes test cricket a joke.
My dog Scruf could go out there, captain against Sri Lanka and win.
The sooner Smith qualifies to captain & takes over the sooner we can start winning against quality opposition.
Do agree I think he is a great keeper - just let him keep.

Wow!

The speed gun doesn't lie.

The SL batters seemed to have a lot of time to play shots against him, and most of his balls hit the middle of the bat. Neser's bowling  caused more hasty and uncomfortable shots.

DC I have seen Tremain's speeds. He regularly averages 135/139kph. That is not plodding speed. You are comparing a bloke who bowls regular pace speed against one who bowls express speed. They are all too rare..not necessarily better. We may have to agree to disagree over this one. Not often we do.  My question is why did CA bring Tremain into this squad and then send him back to other forms. 

Of course third Indian test. Then we went pear shaped. Bloody Melbourne is a jinx match for us. 

After seeing him at Bellerive against Tassie and particularly Sri Lanka, yes, Tremain is a plodder.

Lakbal, the Sri Lankan, who bowls 129-130 kph, really swings the ball in comparison.

A month ago

Yeehahh. Our first since when.....?

I so hate it when we purists are denied two days of cricket when there is an early finish. Further pain in the bum for those lucky to purchase tickets. It also denies our blokes vital match practise with still a test to go to round out the summer. What is the answer to appease all.. Play a two dayer between the opposing sides?

Im not a fan of going for the guy because bowls faster. Give me the guy that bows 130-140 and does gets the ball doing as much as Richardson was getting it to do as opposed to the guy who bowls 150. Furthermore, with the balance of the team we have one bowler that can get a bit wayward in Starc. You really need the other two to have great control and thats that Cummins, Hazlewood and Richardson give.

With you RedKat. To me a bloke that builds pressure with nagging areas is a far more vital commodity. That is not to say that an express man such as Meredith  does not have  a place in our attack. He is ideal for extracting something from dead tracks. I am also very impressed with what Richardson brings to the table. He is multi skilled. Swings it, seams it and mixes his varieties cleverly.. and he is not short on pace. Reckon he could be the trump card in England for us. He is in my Ashes X1 for Starc. 

You misunderstood DC. I was saying that Paine opted to open the attack without Starc. is that a message?
You keep maintaining Tremain is a "plodder"  Does this speak of plodding. He has earned his chance.

Most wickets

Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
CP Tremain	10	20	349.4	83	1075	51	7/82	10/143	21.07	3.07	41.1	2	1
(Victoria)

I am with you DC. Pucovski must be blooded in Canberra. The Aussies hold all the momentum after that thrashing.. the Manuka deck is flat and made for a good batsman. perfect place to debut.

For mine Harris has  to prove that he is able to concentrate for more than 40 runs.

No mention of canning Starc and bringing in Tremain. Mr Teflon survives again.

Ussie needs a big score otherwise he could find himself left off the plane to England. 

Much more erudite people than me are calling for Pucovski's selection.

He looks very good, better than any other Aussie, apart from playing short pitched balls. Steve Waugh wasn't a good player of short pitched balls either in terms of attacking them.

I think seeing bowlers live makes the difference.

Everything you say about Richardson makes sense. We have only seen him on one pitch though.

Sayers only bowls 120 kph, even though he has a very economical action. At his slow pace, he has little margin for error in length.

Im not a fan of going for the guy because bowls faster. Give me the guy that bows 130-140 and does gets the ball doing as much as Richardson was getting it to do as opposed to the guy who bowls 150. Furthermore, with the balance of the team we have one bowler that can get a bit wayward in Starc. You really need the other two to have great control and thats that Cummins, Hazlewood and Richardson give. Ive been very impressed with Richardson in the ODI series and now and I definitely think hes a good choice at fourth seamer. If Sayers gets a county deal and does well there I think hes perfectly suited to English conditions and would much rather take him than a 150 tearaway type bowler. 

Youve been very vocal about Pucovski but I dont think its happening. Khawaja is too good a player still to drop and muck up his confidence before the Ashes and if anything he needs to bat and get a good knock. 

Harris, to me, need a big one in Canberra. Hes great at starts but not sure hes got the technique and temprament to make a big ashes knock.

Terrific catching from Burns and Patterson too.

Test Fan

 I disagree about Tremain. He is a plodder. Sri Lanka handled him easily at Bellerive.

 Starc is very fast, with a current loss of radar , but is a threat in comparison.

Some of the blokes on here need to get along to see live cricket. Averages are one thing, but performances against higher level opposition are paramount.

 I still want Pucoski to play in Canberra. He is a class above anyone in the top six ATM, based his performance  on Bellerive against SL. Richardson is undoubtedly good, but Meredith is more lethal with 10 kph more velocity on each ball bowled.

For mine, keep Hazlewood out of the team ATM, as there are better options. Selectors have selected him based on what he was in 2017, not 2018. His strike rate of 72 is ordinary for the whole of 2018.

I might be biased, but the last wicket was a superb stumping from Paine.

He is one of the best keepers in the world and emerging as a terrific Test captain, even though he brings on the spinner too early for Baggers’ liking!

We have easily beaten a very weak Sri Lankan team, especially the batting in Australia conditions. Good to see Cummins and Richardson take wickets, however the most telling thing to come out of the test to me is the inability of Starc to take wickets. This is a opportunity to take a lot of wickets cheaply, his failure to do puts a huge question mark over his place in the side for the second test and the Ashes beyond. Time to give Tremain a shot in the second test.
The batting is still a concern but the top 6 does not need to be changed for the 2nd test. For the Ashes there is sure to be changes, perhaps Warner in for Burns and Smith in for Patterson.

A win by an innings and 40 runs margin to Australia.

Some impressive debuts from Richardson and Patterson.

Great bowling from Cummins, and good batting from Labuschagne and Head.

We’ve won a Test!

Amazing!

Did you see Lakmal try to take on Starc at 145kph plus!

Brett Lee did a technical review of Cummins now, compared to his debut when he was quicker.

City Sam

He seems to have improved by dropping his pace.

Cummins is so damn good

Given the pace of Starc, he is struggling!

Sad to see Kumara out for the series.

He has bowled very fast at times.

Last night, Kurtis Patterson looked impressive.

Add Pucowski, and the best Aussie batters from Bellerive, play in the Aussie team.