I expected him to make that decision before he did so.
As the captain, he had done the right thing in supporting Patterson to his hundred.
If he had gone on to make his fifty before declaring he would have been roundly criticised as looking after himself & not the team.
The only realistic, logical call he could make, at least he had the sense to do so.

Lankans have no one to blame but themselves for their predicament. They have no idea against the short ball.. wickets fell mostly to poor execution.

Starc gets 5 .. 3 were gifts. Still not in my Ashes squad.

No follow on. that is a surprise. We have them on the ropes. Only thing I can think of is to give the quicks a rest as it is stinking hot in Canberra today.

Usman has already played some classy shots. I hope he can stay there.

Dreadful batting from Burns, Harris and Labu!

Good pitch against a mediocre Test attack - no excuses!

JJ

Whatever Paine does you will find fault!

He is the best keeper we have had since Healy, and best captain we have had since Mark Taylor.

The only reason he hasn’t captained the Shield more, is because he has had George Bailey as captain.

I’m really enjoying Test cricket at a venue outside the five big mainland venues.

It gets monotonous after a while.

England has a lot more Test venues. So does India and even New Zeakand.

What an awful attempted off drive from Head!

He has looked in good nick apart from it.

Good pitch and no pressure DC.. certainly no excuse. Labu is a puzzle. He probably has the best technique out of those three yet can not get into an innings. He did throw it away this time but usually falls to a good ball. He needs some more time in domestic cricket. He does have potential. Khawaja starting to look like his old self. 

Those calling for Starc to be dropped must feel embarrassed!

I’ve missed a bit this afternoon.

I’m assuming Usman got a century.

So what you are saying, is that he wasn't even any good enough to captain a state side & now we expect him to be our saviour at a test level.
In his defence Dc, if he was hurt and couldn't play, there is no one else to take over.
We have this ridiculous policy of 2 VC, neither of whom could captain.
When are the selectors going to put in a VC that is a captain in waiting and being groomed for same.
CA & the selectors have a lot to answer for, because whilst he may not be my choice as captain, there is no one else & he was injured
we would be worse off.
So I will give him credit for doing his best under very trying circumstances.
Does this pacify you a little?

Not in the least. Three of his wickets were gifted thru poor execution. The other two were tail enders.

No I'm not.

I'm saying  the  state selectors in Tas were idiotic not selecting Paine as keeper .

They thought not enough runs were being scored by the Tassie top six, so they used Doran and Dunk to keep wickets instead of Paine. Greg Chappell urged  Paine to stay involved. As soon as Dan Marsh was sacked as coach and Adam Griffiths replaced him, Paine was told he was a big part of future team plans.

We also have  new selectors. The last idiotic selectors also gane Alex Doolan the captaincy when George Bailey was absent. He  really struggled. Paine would have been the perfect Tas captain, as well as the best keeper in the country in Bailey's absence .

Under the tutelage of  Griffiths, Tasmania has improved immeasurably.

That was pretty fiery bowling and extremely fast from Starc.

Yes very fiery from Starc DC. It was tho a month too late. We needed him to be doing this in Melbourne.. when India took away the series from us. Then back it up in Sydney. But he went missing in action. Lets face it this is being termed the weakest Lankan team to ever tour our shores. They certainly have no clue against the short ball.

So I will give him credit for doing his best under very trying circumstances.
Precisely. They did put in a v/c with an eye to the future..Mitch Marsh.  He did skipper the 2010 U19 to a WC victory and has done a good job with WA this year. Until he finds a way to use what is between his ears when batting he will continue to languish in the mediocrity category.

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Thanks for that DC,
These are the stats that we are often not aware of & can change your perception knowing them.
Sorry to see Baggy Greens go, hope he will be back

state of play. Australia is a country mile in front of the game. Lankans again with huge scoreboard pressure plus a fired up (all too late) Starc. I am tipping Richardson to have a big day.

sorry been non stop travelling for my job

starc is getting better speed, bounce and swing which is his job. Accuracy is a bonus

hopefully he's getting his tail back up

could be our most lethal bowler ever. Already has 2nd highest strike rate

I have been looking at Ashes probable selections and wonder how much attention
we give to the stats coming from this match, in picking players.
Bad stats are very bad & how much weight do we give to players scoring tons.
I assume that players ignored in the India & Lankan test series are out.
1 & 2 - Warner in; other opener; Harris not done enough & Burns 1 good innings & 1 failure,
Renshaw does not seem to be in consideration.
3 - Khawaja; will probably go, but has only had this 1 ton? and would need to perform.
4 - Smith
5 - Head; has consistently put together partnerships.
6 - Open for an allrounder or does Patterson slot in - If Khawaja fails, then Patterson or Head would go to 3.
7 - Paine
8 - Cummins
9 - Starc; I still see Starc going.
10 - Lyon
11 - Hazlewood will be selectors favourite over J. Richardson
12 - Labauscane
13 - J. Richardson

reckon warner burns khawaja smith patterson should be undropable. All have 40+ averages both in tests and first class

Wish the 6th batsmen could be maxwell or white for a batting allround but perhaps head can keep an end tight for 5 overs an innings?

Don't forget Smith can bowl a bit as well as Head. I agree that that looks like a good top 6. Harris has lost his way and probably will give way to Warner.

Dont apologise. You are in another country.. so different time zone too.

Makes you think what the outcome could have been against India had Starc been in this type of fettle. He was not..we lost a series we could have won.

He still does not make my Ashes squad.

This is all supposition. CA is not picking the side until after the A tour..such is its doubts over our incumbents. So as I see it there are no certainties at this stage.
Renshaw still in my reckoning.. CAs too I am thinking. If he handles the Dukes in the final Shield matches and ends his long form loss then I see him making the A side. Warner and Smith will be picked on white ball form unless both are picked in the As.  I like Patterson.. reckon he will be a long termer.

Who will be in the A side that can put a in strong claim for Ashes selection. I would also be taking note of those that perform best against the Dukes in the remaining Shield matches...and those that have previously performed well with the English pill. Would like to find some stats on this.

I did not know much about Patterson before this & am quite impressed.
Does anyone know how tall he actually is.
I think of Hayden taking that huge stride down the pitch & nullifying any spin.
My question is, with Patterson's height, stride & reach would this help him nullifying swing & seamers in England?

One scribe said 6'-5. Doubt that.. he is shorter than both Starc and Hazlewood.
Yes he does have long levers. Expect it helps to nullify spin. As for pace his greatest attribute is he plays very late.. has so much time. Bowlologists will tell you that is the best way to play the moving ball.
Patterson announced himself in 2011/12. when he became the youngest century making Shield debutant. Not long after he was one of our best in the U19 WC in Townsville. Has up till three years ago. been in and out of the Blues side. Mostly thru poor selection policy imho.

Aussies just mopping up now. 

Not a lot should be read into this series win. 

A confidence building win all the same boys. Starc should be MOM as this was more a batsman's deck.

Cummins named Man of the Series. Starc MOM

Series Report Card.
Burns 7
Harris 3
Khawaja 6
Lubuchagne 6
Head 9
Patterson 7
Paine  8
Starc 7
Cummins 8
Richardson 6
Lyon 5

Good win to Australia.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game being played at Manuka Oval.

We had something like four centurions for the game - amazing!