*Applauds* – Best articles in forever! To be fair, in working my way ban with the intention of reading some sense about his amazing debut. One thing about cricket is, the longer you know her for, the more she teaches you. This was a proper test match! I loved every second of it, and Renshaw got hammered in that first night. If you look at stats and his him out for ten, and then look at his strike rate, then in my opinion you don’t know test cricket. As Ryan says of course… I thought he was incredible! His best trait was his ability to play the line and allow the ball to miss. He wasn’t urgent to feel the bat on the ball. I think he’s special…

Nothing to argue about…

Disagree about Marsh with the ball, he’s so disappointing with the bat and I keep waiting for him to flourish (He will) – But he has taken a tonne of key wickets at sticky points in big test matches and he seems to always be the one that gets the breakthrough in hopeless feeling situations. That’s a massive trait…

Ronan, I love your articles. The nostalgia that you brought back for me watching Warney bowl as a kid was breathtaking. Judging by your timeline we are roughly the same age and all I ever wanted to do was bowl leggies like him! – I have to agree that he is not the sort of bloke that is going to be best mates with everyone, but I think you have to realise that you need to be an egotostical, self-centred cockhead in order scale the lofty heights that he has. Even if you aren’t that way as a kid growing up – When the whole world is bowing at your feet and telling you how good you are for a decade you are bound to come out a different man at the end. Ever listened to Elvis? Of course you have – Absolute turd of a man, punched more women than he did hamburgers, but he’ll always be the king because of his music. I still think Warney is one of the most insightful brains to listen to when he’s actually talking cricket. And if you haven’t seen the Master Class he did for SKY UK during the 2013 ashes then you really need to do yourself a favour!!!

Early this summer, one of the channel nine commentators opined that he thought smith was a fast bowling captain. As opposed to Clarke who would always turn to his spinners early. I think he has full confidence in Lyon (As he should) but his only weakness that I can see so far, as a captain, is that he is too stubborn and puts on the blinkers when it comes to having to change tactics. Also his dismissal was a shocker, I’m really surprised at his ego in that attempted innings. He is so much more effective and fun to support when his mind isn’t clouded by the power he has. He’s Anakin Skywalker…

I have to disagree wholeheartedly there. With the red ball he probably isn’t the best in the country, but he has so much upside. His problem is that he tries to do too much. Always trying to hoop it a mile or bowl a miracle ball. If he just used his attributes and reigned in the control when the opposition started to get their tails up then he would be a nightmare to face. He’s so quick and tall that he really just needs to bowl on a line and length if the ball isn’t swinging and his pace and bounce will give anyone grief. Especially over the long periods that you have to face certain bowlers for in test cricket. I feel like he had realised that and then got injured. I think you’ll find he is going to decimate all comers in the years to come.

I completely agree, I do have Foxtel at the moment and watched most of the game. I don’t think there was anything wrong with their tactics. They kept tempting us to pull and we infallibly hit it straight to their fielders on at least four occasions. The balls were in no way dangerous and could have been left alone if they wanted to. No our boys took on the short ball and a lot of those leg side catches came from balls that were smashed out of the middle, straight to a fielder. It’s not like they were fending for their lives and popping up dollies. They were attacking the ball so you can only say that their placement was poor. Nothing more.

Trains are full of people that have no understanding of the concept of happiness. You should do it more often, laughter was most likely an alien sound to them and they were merely frightened and slightly intrigued. There is nothing happy about people, whenever I’m out and about I love to shake up their lives by interacting with them passionately about whatever mundane event had just occurred. Laughing is good, screw their hypocrisy and gloomy outlook on life. Keep on laughing!!

Calm down, there’s nothing wrong with Pauline Hanson or The Offspring!

You actually didn’t read what he posted did you?

The Kiwi’s hardly let it slip, McCullum used 7 bowlers trying to pry out Ussie and Davey, it was out of their hands and only ever our game to lose.

It’s his opinion, so not really possible to lie. However it is also a rubbish opinion. We had more than half the runs at the 22 over mark, it’s difficult to lose from there – As was demonstrated, the middle order did their best to lose but alas, it was to no avail. We were too far in front.

lol Calm down! He’s easily the best batsman in his family but lets not get too excited!!

How is it Bancroft’s fault that he was selected as the Keeper? Haddin has retired so if he is whinging due to a broken heart then that’s just not cricket. Nobody forced him to retire from international cricket, I get the impression when he says “Tim Paine” and “Peter Nevill” he actually means Brad Haddin.

I have always been a Clarkey fan. I’m quite surprised at the percentage of people who can’t stand him. I mean nobody knows him do they? Everyone just forms an opinion based on hearsay and what they are fed. I don’t think he’s the sort of bloke that I would enjoy to hang around for any extended period, but it’s only because our lifestyles simply don’t match and my flippancy would frustrate him to the point of murder I’m quite sure. This is not the point, from the first day he became an international cricketer he was all class and you can’t deny that. He had his slumps but every player does. How can you deny his tenacity as a captain? He made something from nothing so often when he first took over, he’d knock out 150 on his own while the world collapsed around him and then set ridiculously attacking fields. He was always trying to force a result and wasn’t afraid to lose doing so, in my opinion it doesn’t get any more Aussie than that! I’d love to see him in the BBL and I think he would be the first one to insist that he was only there on merit and not reputation…

100% – It makes perfect sense if you think about it. One thing that is an issue for us is that our locked players do not play anywhere near as much T20 cricket as they would if they were in the domestic system, so we are basically selecting them because they are who they are, not because of any recent proven form in the format which is as worry. Although in saying that you would always select people like Warner and Smith etc,,. I would be interested to see how a BBL all stars team (Limited to Australian players) would fare against India in a T20 – I mean a team made up of the best players from the BBL this year not necessarily the players who are automatic selections. I dare say they would flog them…

That comment by Rod Marsh at the end is one of the dumber things I’ve ever seen quoted. If he actually believes that then he needs to get off the hooch pronto. The guy’s invincible at the moment. He is our best off spinner EVER! A professional cricketer mind you, who never bats an eyelid or conveys frustration even when the conditions are completely against him. Yet you’re worried about denting his confidence when blokes are going the tonk at him trying to score quick runs? Please, he’d be licking his lips even the night before. Time to buy a caravan Geoff.

The one thing about Smith is that people keep claiming that they have worked him out, that they have identified a weakness, but they haven’t. I only ever see him get himself out, no team that I can remember has put sustained pressure on him and found a way to slow him down for any period because he can manipulate the ball in to almost miraculous areas from balls that have no right to be going there. I had the same thought about him being an ‘eye’ player but someone else made a good point that if you take note of his position at the moment he strikes the ball he is perfectly balance and still. That will always put you in good stead to get the most out of your chances.

I think they looked a much better team today and yesterday. Because they showed some fight and looked like it mattered to them for once. Of course once you feel that way, you play better. So I’m looking forward to the next match because that west indian team surely feel they can beat the aussies if they play like that from ball one.

They might as well have cancelld this tour as well… They are here in body I suppose but their spirit is elsewhere, very sad, you wanna shake them so they snap out of it…

But WHY don’t they care?? Even if we flog them by an innings and 300 within 3 days I really truly have no problem with that. As long as I feel like they fought all the way. I don’t know what the average Windies test cricketer gets paid but it’s waaaaaay too much. They are like kid in P.E. that doesn’t want to be there… It’s actually infuriating! – This is the Boxing day test match at the MCG and they rock up like they have been on tour with the rolling stones all week and are spewing that they are missing the next leg of the tour.

Haha I totally agree I didn’t last more than two hours that was more than enough to see that they don’t even want to be here and that their heart isn’t in it… Very sad.

I feel like, whether it is a bowler or batsmen that in theory it is a bad idea. It’s a bad idea for different reasons though. Young bowlers need time to grow in to their bodies. Most adult males are still growing until they are 21 and that’s why Cummins has had so many issues. You can’t rush that no matter how much you want to. As a batsmen I feel like the risk is more mental with them, and if you throw them and the cauldron and they don’t survive well that can be a long road back to confidence and self worth, but ultimately they will come back and be better for it. In the case of bowlers surely by now we have learnt that you have to be patient and not rush these things? Their workloads need to be managed and their physical development is crucial. If Paris and Stanlake are good enough then all good for us. We have a healthy stream of bowlers coming through it’s like an evolutionary accelerated production line. Let’s not waste them 😉

I agree mate Warners dismissal was absolutely infantile but I actually think they inadvertently lulled him in to a false sense of invincibility by accidentally bowling him complete rubbish, whilst attempting to bowl quality. So Davey I think had decided that everything was going to disappear from that point. Hard to blame a guy like him when he had already faced about 9 belated, but welcome xmas present… The sad thing is that I was actually happy he got himself out cause I thought the windies might find a bit of confidence and then develop some pressure… It was short lived 🙁

So not only is it a known fact that Holder doesn’t trust Roach’s bowling but Roach has to answer questions about it in the media? My goodness that is disgraceful. By all means tell the selectors you don’t want him but when you have him you surely have to at least pretend that in your eyes he is the best bowler you have ever seen and make him believe you. No wonder he was all over the shop this morning. If I was Holder and was captaining that team against us I’d be saying to them. Look nobody expects anything of us at all, so what do we have to lose? All we have to do is go out there and believe – Truly believe we can win, as individuals and as a team and if they kept feeling and thinking like that all day then they would all of a sudden be a huge handful.