I'm disappointed to see express bowler, Lochie Ferguson, break down.

It was good seeing the Kiwis with an express bowler. They had another in Milne, but I'm not sure he played Tests?

I was imposed with Santer the left arm finger spinner , when he bowled under lights. Also, Wagner's unique ability to bowl accurate short balls, at a much slower pace than many international  bouncer exponents, was interesting. Southee also got the new ball to move dangerously under lights.

Labu has been a godsend to Australia, as Smith is incredibly out of form. One TCA cricket expert, a former state selector and vice captain ( sick when Baggers visited), thinks Smith will  deteriorate very quickly as soon as he loses a fraction of his hand eye co-ordination, whilst more orthodox players will last longer as they age.

But its a question of when he loses his eye sight. Viv Ricahrds did the same planting of his foot outside off stump too, and his eyes let him down too, but he was still playing at 39 before being dropped from all formats. And they had a useful kid by the name of Lara demanding selection from domestic performances. That said, the decline in Viv's test output in his last 3 years is significant. (as his last 4 years of ODI) - he was done already. So 35/36 for Viv.

Sehwag was a hand eye slogger, different to Smith's technique, but his eye went earlier in his 30's. Last chance recalls over by 34.

Graeme Smtth is the worrying one for Australian fans - he also batted in front of his stumps looking to open up the onside, 32 - odi finished. 33 and 1 month. Test career finished. One horror series vs Johnson and Harris and he instantly retired. He was done. Being bowled and LBW in the second test. He couldn't see the ball anymore.

I don't think Smith's eyes are anywhere near gone yet. But I do think Wagner and later Boult will have a plan for him. And Southee is trying to tempt him by bowling very very very wide and not giving him his on side scoring shots.

Ferg's test career may be over. If he pulls out of this match, I possibly don't see him being trusted by the selectors again. While that may sound odd, same thing happened to Hamish Bennett in India, NZ was subequently in a match winning position, but Beenett had gone down lame, Harbijan Singh scored a century (India were 5/15 and 6/65), and India escaped with a draw. Bennett despite being the leading bowler domestically for the last decade, has never gotten a second test.

The one thing about Bond, is he would get through the game. And miss the next one. And next one. And next one. But he would get through the current game. Plus he was always worth the risk - DV could just bowl more overs.

Gday all
jaszyjim - finally managed to get some time to watch the cricket.
Due to other things happening, have seen very little over the last months, hence no posting.
Have read all the posts on this test so far & interesting to see a few rivalries already.
Envy you TBob that you are able to be there, would have been a great day's play to watch
in our balmy weather - don't know why so many are complaining, just a summers day for us.
To me our weather adds interest to the match, as a condition that has to be managed by the captains,
which I think NZ is doing well at so far.
Today will be interesting to see how the bowlers perform after yesterday's effort, especially being 1 down.
As most of you know, I always believe we need a pace allrounder at 6 and am amazed that with the forecast
we have gone in with only 3 quick's - could cost us the match as 3 quick's will not cope in 2 or more days of
Perth's balmy weather (add 5 to 10 degrees extra in the middle).
As I said, our weather adds a condition to allow for & the selectors have failed to allow for same.
I should add I am an ex Kiwi, been in WA some 30 odd years, now Aussie through & through but my siblings
are in NZ so will be some good banter between us.

The crowd was about 19,000 all told. Not bad for a work day. I think it did increase in the evening, but hard for me to tell for sure, because that is when I switched to the opposite end of the ground to the members' side. There was a good turn out in members for all of the sessions I think, which you would expect. I'll be at the stadium again tomorrow with my kids.

G'day JJ - who would you have had as your allrounder - Mitch Marsh? Hope you are enjoying your family NZ-Aus rivalries! :D

That's a bit harsh Paddles - surely they wouldn't drop Ferguson after only one chance?

Gday TBob,
jj - there has been so much discussion re an allrounder previously & I am not up to speed with what is happening now.
M, Marsh has been played & I use his inclusion as a bench mark of the quality of our side. ie he is not good enough,
hence our side comprises of B grade players = probable loss.
The young WA player (name escapes me) has good creds but probably needs more shield matches.
Others will know if there are any promising ones out there.
Many on the forum do not like an allrounder inclusion, to me if we can produce a quality one it really helps round out the side.
Last time we played 3 quick's on a hottish day - below our Perth balmy weather temps they struggled.
This will be particularly noticeable if the pitch dries & flattens out into a batsman strip - do not know if it will crack
up like the WACA used to, which then makes bowling interesting.

They did Bennett. What's worse, Ferg wasn't impressing me. He was bowling far too much full rubbish, in between good and short balls, and was leaking runs, plus he was slowing down too - understandable given the heat blah blah, but it was his debut. He should have been popping with adrenaline. 

We'll miss him blasting out the tail, and we will miss being a bowler short. But I think Boult back next test, bye bye Ferg. Go back to white ball. It didn't work out. Maybe in a year or two or if we skip a spinner altogether. But then - it may as well be Kuggelijn, who is 150 and bats well.

Look out my front door and there's smoke coming from the direction of Optus Stadium, which is 5km away. According to the incident website there's a small bushfire right next to the stadium, but the smoke seems to be lessening now.

Smith just said on his tv interview that he "lost his hands" and only found them again towards the end of his innings. He also said the pink ball was soft and coming on to the bat like a tennis ball, it required a lot of effort to hit it past the infield.

Watching the tv now, and fine cracks are already appearing. In an interview with the curator a day or two ago, he indicated it would crack more like a "dinner plate" rather than big wide cracks that the WACA has.

No chance of seeing you in your wide floppy Bobbie as the cameras never showed the scoreboard.. sorry once that I recall. How was your day.

Labuchagne keeps going on his merry way. 100 Test runs.. fourth fastest too. he has taken over from Smith as our team anchor. 

Marnus misses one on his legs and is bowled by Wagner. Head keeps wafting at everything. Someone tell him he is playing Test cricket not T20. Good chance for Timmy to get a decent score.

Good day, JJ. 

I agree about only three frontline quicks. 

I’d like to see Neser in the eleven. 

I’ve been out on the turps and have just tuned in. 

The strike rate for Paine and Cummins has only been circa 33 and 25 respectively, which is really slow scoring. 

So the pink ball could be an issue to strike cleanly. 

Some nice power hitting from Starc - 27 runs off 24 balls faced! 

Raval drops Starc at mid on off Southee with a regulation catch. 

Aus 7-403. 

The worrying thing, is Raval has better bowling stats than Santner. Now Santner bowled far more at the top order.

But its a worry...

Young for Santner when fit? 

Srsly?

Hazlewood bowls Raval leg stump with a right arm Outswinging delivery, swinging in to the  left handed batter. 

Kiwis 2-1 run after 2 overs. 

Hazlewood gone - injured, something like a hamstring. 

This is going to change the match! 

Australia down to three specialist bowlers. Wade has bowled medium pace for Tassie. 

This injury is really going to cost Australia. 

There is no 5th bowler like De Groundhomme to bowl Ferguson’s overs for Australia when the Kiwi express bowler was injured. 

The workload on Starc and Cummins will be phenomenal now. 

LOL! 

Wade is faster than Chadd Sayers and De Groundhomme at 128kph! 

A massive blow losing Josh. A pearler to remove Raval and two balls later he is likely out of the match.

Cummins induced the faintest of snicks to dismiss Williamson caught Paine - but NO from umpire and no DRS. 

Terrible, Baggers. 

Wade  has swung the ball more than any other Aus bowler though! 

LOL! 

This is the point I have been trying press upon Paddles and the other Kiwi boys over on the other forum.. Oh how we 'd like a Mitch Marsh now eh DC.

He is a bit of an unknown quantity DC. Tassie have been using him so he must add some value. It is nearing dusk my grandmother can swing the pinkie at that time.

NZ would have loved a 6th batsman instead of Ferg...

One more before stumps.. Williamson preferably.

Smith takes a screamer! 

Nicholls, next in, has an impressive average of 43.