Watson belts Australia to close win

No problem reading. No problem understanding what I'm saying either. You're saying Melbourne isn't a cricket town. I'm saying over 50,000 people turn up to watch state matches. There won't be many English or interstate visitors there. So perhaps more than 6 of them will in fact be from Melbourne hey? Highest test crowd at the MCG (or anywhere) is from 1961. 2nd highest is from 2006. 85,824 at a T20i in 2008. Tell me which grounds around the world currently attract more people for cricket? (they'll be in India btw) No argument about the handling of the members areas during the test, I said that. And yes, the MCG has more football on during the year than cricket. You want to schedule more cricket at the MCG? Sounds good to me, I suspect we'd still get a better crowd to two test matches a year than any other ground.

As I said I have been a fan but did you honestly have the feeling that he would have made any difference if Watson had got out & left him to steer the ship home ?

Do you have a problem reading? Out of that 84,345, of which I was one, there were 10,000+ member seats left vacant even though all public tickets were sold which is an absolute disgrace. How many member seats in the M.A. Noble, Members stand and Ladies Stand are left vacant at the SCG? I flew down the morning of the 26th and the plane and Sydney airport were packed with cricket fans. Everyone I spoke to on the 26th in the ground was either from England or non Victorian. Out of that 84,345 people who turned up to the MCG on the 26th maybe 6 were from Melbourne. So what if 58837 people turned up for the T20? Melbourne has 4x the population of Adelaide and the the Adelaide Oval is smaller. When was the last time the MCG was completely full for a cricket match? Yeah, the 1960's. And the MCG only has a "drop in" pitch now because the AFL players cried because the centre was too hard. The MCG is basically an AFL stadium that plays a little cricket in the summer. Once the SCG is fully redeveloped and has a capacity of 50,000+ it will be undoubtedly the the premier cricket stadium in the country and the most profitable since tickets for the SCG cost more than the MCG. And unlike the MCG it will actually get sold out AND have all members seats taken for cricket.

Really Brendon? I'll happily bet you a shiny new sixpence that more people turn up to the M.C.G. either this Saturday or next Friday (or perhaps both) to watch Victoria in the T20 games. There was 29,449 there on 2 January vs. Queensland. Also, did you even notice the crowds across all the days of the Melbourne test? 84,345 (Day 1), 67,149 (Day 2), 68,733 (Day 3) and 19,889 for the hour or so of the 4th day, which was probably only the Barmy Army. Still, hardly a poor effort is it? No other state would get 68,733 on day 1, let alone day 3. The AFL members has been an issue for years and as an MCC member I've already let the club know what I think of their performance of handling visitor's tickets on the first two days. Day 3 was packed in there though so it wasn't all bad. The reason nobody goes to the ODIs any more are that the matches are insanely boring. It's not just Melbourne either, check the figures around the country. Clarke did his best to ensure it was boring again on Sunday but fortunately Watson took care of that for us. Compare that with South Africa's performance in their recent ODI where they took the power play during the middle overs, a much better idea than Ponting's usual wait until they're already going the tonk policy. Anyway Brendon, perhaps check your facts before pulling comments like that out. Btw, you know the T20i crowd in Melbourne on Wednesday was more than the Adelaide oval can hold, right? 58,837 vs. 34,845 for the ODI. Maybe compare apples with apples next time.

2. Boos all round to Ch 9 - And people wonder why ratings are falling for cricket in Australia. Tony Greig's solution to cramp: drink Gatorade, which just happens to be a sponsor. Oh, what a subtle plug. 5. Re the small crowd – Melbourne just isn't a cricket town. I flew down for the 1st day of the 4th test and between all of the out of towners and English supporters I doubt there was hardly a person from Melbourne in the ground. On top of that the Melbourne Cricket Club and (mainly) AFL members wasting 10,000+ seats was disgusting and shameful. All public seats were sold but there was still massive sections of the stadium with no one sitting there. Compare the crowd for the Adelaide Twenty20. Adelaide with barely 25% of the population can get people to turn up to the Adelaide over. I guess Melbournians can only understand 1 sport.

White may not have an attractive batting style but is still the most astute captain around. He also scored at a run a ball, unlike Clarke, who seemed to be trying to play himself into form.

Thanks Koops, must have been the bottle of red. So it was on? I was only able to find it on radio. Must have been me then? You will recall though, that we got the 20/20 in a delayed transmission and got me started...

I think i have worked it out. Soon as the players put on the green and gold they rise to the occassion. What is it with all this blue crap ? I thought only the poms wear blue !! It is not called a baggy blue is it ?

Say what !, i thought it was live in Perth, are you sure, caught a bit on the radio, and that seemed to be the same as the tele.

I cannot for the life of me understand how in this day and age we weren't able to watch the match live on television in Perth. And then we wonder why we are called a backwater... Hopeless!

Well done Watto one of the best ODI knocks by an Australian ever and agreat all round performance to boot. Unfortunately it also told a tale - apart from a lot less leaves this innings was very reminiscent of his Test match innings', spectacular but chancey. In ODIs you can get away with a few things whilst in tests the smallest loss of concentration can lead to your downfall, thus Watson's dismisals in the 50s. Hopefully Watson learns to differentiate between the needs of the two formats quickly - if he does he can be Australia's next test match great. Clarke is in absolutely woeful form. If he wasn't the skipper surely he would be dropped from both forms of the game.

I have been a fan of White & felt he would have done better than some or at least just have really tried in the Test series but his batting technique just seems to be symptomatic of the shambles, it is hard to believe that he even knows what cricket batting is as he looked to be a baseballer thrown in to a new sport. The contrast of Watson's straight bat boundaries hit with ease to the cross-bat slogs going no-where of White made me cringe.

The whole shenanigan was summed up when the "provisional squad" of 3000 players was shown during the telecast. Add to that the fact that some players seemed to be getting an audition for the actual squad shows the selectors really aren't sure who should play & who shouldn't even be in the squad to begin with. If Brad Hodge can't get a game then I ask who should ? What troubles me the most is the sheer lack of technique displayed by players such as Smith, who was sent out to have a slog as far as I could tell & yet his definition of even that lowly aim consisted of closing his eyes & swinging so hard that he may well have fallen over. No point slogging if you can't get bat on ball in any meaningful manner & yet he is regarded as a talent !? I thought Clarke was just backing his captain when he spoke so highly of Ponting during the Test series ( as you would expect) but he is quickly showing that he has learnt all his small bag of tricks from "Ricky's Book of How Not to Do It - Cricket Tactics" . The saddest thing of all was that it isn't a big leap to think that the Ch 9 commentary team would give a better account of themselves than our boys.

Tait, whilst being very exciting to watch, has always been a thrower to the naked eye ( in my modest opinion) but we have seen how world cricket deals with such instances & I doubt an umpire will ever call a bowler again.

Pavillionopinions, I can see Greg chappell's work in Watson's innings. He has so much time to play his shots and he has been building to this. Good signs for australia. With katich back for the next Test series it looks good at the top. Now it needs some young guns like Khawaja and maddinson to set the shield on fire with big double tons and put pressure on the incumbents.

Watson has been promising an innings of world beating proportions like this all season. It's good that he finally delivered and hasn't allowed his career best form to go completely to waste. Like Symonds in '03, he may just be the x-factor that propels Australia to a respectable showing at the World Cup. By the way, great write up 'pavilionopinions', thoroughly good read all round.

Haddin's addiction to playing loose shots when not needed make me opt for Paine - he's technically better & last night's shocker with the gloves can't be put down to 'confusion' about his spot in the side. I'm another who couldn't believe Clarke bringing Johnson back on when Smith had 2/12 off 3 overs. Cam White is far superior in the tactical stakes & should lead in Ponting's absence - won't happen though.

Watson was good, very good - but, a sad reminder of his inability to translate good starts into big scores in the tests. Looking back over the years, nothing sets you up better than a 160 odd by an opener in the tests. England got that over and over - Australia didn't. The question is - Watson was knackered after 35 overs last night. Is he actually fit enough? or, is his repeated failure to push on at test level simply proof of hitting the wall and losing concentration?

Michael Clarke was rubbish, again....he just doesnt have the power to hit the big boundaries...