Hahaha.... nice one HD


Merry Christmas to you all!

https://youtu.be/_ONV8JOJx3c
merry xmas 2 all  form tony
in this clip above there is steve wr , d man 2018 , dan d , & villi on the guitars  lol 

Tony...our favourite Cousin Eddie....have a good one son...and don't be a glum chum...we will do okay...

Remember old man Steptoe crimping the top of the pie with his..Not too bad thus far 28-29 max though out west add another 8 or so to that...

Hell Sonia Kruger has had a bit of work done...

I hope Santa was good to K Foran

Would love to see him have a kick arse 2019 season for us

There is not one thing...event....newstory...happening etc I give less schit about  than the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Best day of the year today!!! Hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday.

What the hell are the selectors doing to our youngsters...
How the hell do they change a winning side; and a side that probably should've won the first test???...
My question is, what does Mitch marsh offer that will improve the side, because form with both bat or ball is not it...
And don't anyone dare say his ineffectual medium pacers will be handy...

Dropped the equal best fielder in the team... Hannos catching form is enough to suggest he's not far off with the bat...

Wicket looks like a road... Wonder if it'll break up on us batting last...
Perth pitch was rates as bad as you can get yet seemed absolutely provided entertaining cricket...

I don't think Hanno's anywhere near with the bat, nor do I think he'll ever be close again. Look at the way he was dismissed in the last Test - plumb LBW on the back foot in front of his stumps. And how many times has he been out like that, or bowled. He's a standing target for stump to stump bowling.

His technique is ridiculously flawed and the world's best and average bowlers just lick their lips when he walks out to bat. I think he's only played for Aus recently because of lack of choice and as soon as Smith comes back or ANYONE else puts their hand up he won't play Test cricket again. In fact I don't think he ever will as of right now even if M Marsh goes 0 & 0.

You just can't stand on your stumps in Test cricket, barely in any other form either.

Don't be fooled by the tinge of green (you too ch7 commentators)...

Won't agree he can't find form again... If they were playing him cos there were no other options, there still isn'... And the other negligible options aren't in form either...
As for techniques, well Marsh has a great one and averages 29 in 30 tests against hannos 40 average in 15...
The fact we keep going back to m marsh is a greater issue for me than actually dropping hanno after batting just OK on two tricky batting pitches...

Yep but he needs to produce the goods.

I agree with Zef and also comments in the media from Dean Jones.

The first thing Hanno needs to do is reset his attitude and at least play positively.

What is more difficult is the next step, he needs to radically overhaul his technique and get further forward, or he needs a very good eye and great judgement, playing late with soft hands great head position.

In other words if his footwork is wrong, everything else needs to be 100% spot on.

Without changing his footwork, I can't see how he can safely score against a ball pitched up on the stump, in fact the needs to do a lot right to just defend that ball.
At test level bowler can put the ball in that spot time after time.

I think he will get another chance, and at a minimum he needs to reset his attitude.
 

Hanno averages more in test cricket than anyone who has replaced him did in shield...

Marsh test batting average 26 sorry... 40 with the ball... Why the hell is he anywhere near this team???...

There is something else wrong with Shaun Marsh, I agree his technique looks good.

Of the 2 I think Hanno is the better bet in spite of Marsh looking good, but both are not look like test quality batsmen at present.
  
If we had better option neither would be picked ditto for Mitch Marsh.

Hanno & 2 x Marsh are lucky they are playing in this area, if previous eras many better batsmen could not get a run in the Australian test side.

Curators at Melbourne fail to get it right yet again (no doubt the governing body will rate it highly as they have no concept of the fact fans want to see competition between bat and ball and not a runfest)... Zef could prepare a better pitch in his sleep...

The main problem IMO is he does nothing with the ball, I prefer Watto who was better with bat and ball, not that Watto was great with the ball.

If we just want someone to throw down a few lame overs, pick a batsman who bowls a bit.

If we want a genuine all rounder who can take wickets, that isn't M Marsh.

If Dman and I agree on something,we have to be right :)

Handscome's problem with his stance is magnified because he's predominantly, almost exclusively, a back foot player. So he's playing a lot of across the line shots right in front of his stumps.

There are other predominant back foot players but they stand on or before the crease so if they're rapped on the pads, there's a good chance the ball's going over, Handscome misses and he's plumb every time.

He's got two options IMO, if he's gonna play almost exclusively off the back foot, he's got to stand before the crease. If he wants to stand on his stumps, he's got to play forward the majority of the time. And the thing about either of those options - they're just masks really.

It'd be better if he stood on or before the crease and played forward and back like almost every other successful Test batsman the world has seen.

I'd just rather they picked someone else because with his current or even masked technique he's a free wicket. Runs of form may get him some runs on occasion but the norm will be out cheaply in front of his wicket.

I reckon they give Agar a go as all rounder. Sure he's not a great wicket taker but he can tie down an end cheaply for a day, get an edge here and there - and there's some class in his batting

I'd actually pick Agar as a specialist batsman in Handscomes spot, 

Merry Christmas all, hope you had a lovely day. 

Good suggestion, I lost track of Agar recently so I don't know what his form is like.

But IMO he is a genuine all rounder who is good with bat and ball.

I think he can chip in the the odd wicket, even better with more experience of playing in test conditions, and getting a few tips from the right people.
I think his height should give him and advantage in terms of getting bounce.

So far M Marsh hasn't bowled that badly, but I still think once the batsmen get set and used to his bowling they will just wait for the odd loose ball and score. 
So let's see how his figures pan out at the end a this stint, a wicket or 2 might help change my mind, it depends on how it gets it. Mostly it looks like he is hoping the batsman makes a mistake.  That is OK if he can tie up and end keep it tight, different matter entirely if he constantly leaks runs. 

You would think that at some time after last years Boxing Day Test somebody would have said to the MCG curator "Look, if it happens again............."

Boring pitch....boring Test match
This will come down to whether India has the guts to make Australia follow-on on day 4, otherwise, put your houses on a draw....

I'm assuming you've written off a first innings triple century partnership between the Marsh's...

Even if that happens....the scoring rate has been so slow, all they need is to lose abit of time with rain and there will be no result. 

Series will be locked at 1-1 and we head to Sydney.

Dman...... surely my bowling averages are better than your mate Mitchell Marsh’s aren’t they?


I’m voting for the great man..... Fawad Ahmed (what a name) to jag a spot at the SCG test


Best ever spin bowler to play the game was Mushtaq Ahmed.... Ol’ Mush