If Adam Voges, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ryan Harris and Michael Clarke are finished with International Cricket we will see conclusive evidence of it as the last Test and the ODI’s/T20.

If Watson and Shaun Marsh are selected for the Test then that would be a firm indication of their future requirement. Marsh is not in the ODI side which is amazingly poor.

Losing 1-4 or 2-3 doesn’t matter. We have lost. It’s time for Australian cricketers to face their short-comings and man up.

Steve Smith should bat 3 to show that he has no fears of batting anywhere for Australia and leading by example, and Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh should counsel him accordingly. And they should take control of the naming of the batting order. The Captain is a player with leadership qualities who helps call the shots on the park. He has 2 hour sessions in which to move his bowlers and fielders around. He doesn’t name the batting order. He is not the Manager.

A shaky leader is not needed now. As long as the expectations of Australians is high, then the players need to man up. I don’t see any point in farewell games. This is an opportunity to blood new players. It would be wonderful to see Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns, Cam Bancroft, Fawad Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins play in this game because they are part of the future. If you get to the end of an era and keep playing players who have not performed, you are showing endearing sentiment, but not showing the toughness that Australia as a cricket winning nation expects.

No one can say that like true Australians, we, rather the Australia Selectors and CA , haven’t given the older players a fair shot. Voges, Rogers, Haddin, Harris, Clarke, Watson , Shaun Marsh can have no complaints about what Rod and Darren and CA have done for them. They have thrilled us all….but no Test or One Day game can be treated as an exhibition of sentiment. We have many opportunities to thank these great players for their thrilling us down the years, including farewell dinners at CA and State Level etc.

The era of older coaches, older Selectors , older players is being perpetuated by old thinking people. Traditionalists. We need new blood at the Head Coach, Head Selector, Selector and Coaches level. The game has moved to another level. It has evolved into a new era.

The ICC has not moved with it. The BCCI, CA and ECB have attempted to hijack the future of cricket….and frankly, they are doing a very lousy job because they are not bettering the game.

If the BCCI, ECB and CA think there are only 3 countries in cricket…..then they should go and play a separate competition between one another.

If they think their opinions are the only ones that count, then they are not expansionists or inclusive enough. The game is staring them right in the face…and they cannot meet the gaze of the other nations. They are being spoken of in the harshest terms because they are failing over 90 cricketing nations.

The game is moving on, whether CA, the BCCI and the ECB move with it is entirely their lookout. But holding the game back from its’ potential because they want to control the filthy lucre will see them ostracised in the worst way when the crunch finally comes.

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

I have seen one million blogs and tweets lately on the Australian Cricket team. Everyone has made great points.

I submit to you that Australia does not just have a Test Team. It has a Squad from which 3 teams are picked.

If you show a profit of $300 -500 million dollars every year as CA apparently does, then money is no object.

So buying the best Head Coach, the best Head Selector, the best batting coach/es, the best Fast Bowling Coaches, the best Spin bowling coaches etc , you would think would be a breeze. Not Batting Consultants…that is insulting.

I think it is clear from the form of the current group on tour that they are not as skilful at their trade as others in world cricket. We have no shortage of bluff, bluster and bravado. We have no shortage of athletes. We have lost, or never fully explored, our ability to produce tradesmen at their art.

The Emu and the Kangaroo on the baggy green are blushing.

This is either negligence, arrogance, oversight, or laziness.

I think “negligence”.

CA may say they have left no stone unturned. Darren Lehmann can apologize all he likes. Rod Marsh may be able to justify his selections by saying these are the best guys we can pick. And they may defend their current skills coaches. But truly….a team with a road record of 1-12 v England, Pakistan and India is surely not acceptable to CA.

We are all wise in hindsight. But when Justin Langer starts questioning team selections, and every ex-player and Captain has an angle, I start thinking there is a fundamental flaw with the people who lead.

I don’t condone what John Buchanan has said about Michael Clarke, and it is largely irrelevant, but I do know this. Buchanan and Steve Waugh won on the road more than any other Australian team since the war.

That surely is the test of the best batting and bowling lineups. There has to be some secrets locked away in the selection of that team which has nothing to do with the names McGrath and Warne.

I don’t believe Australia’s batting and bowling coaches have understood the task, strategised the individual players role in the middle well enough, or worked on the key elements of their trade. If any of the current players have been lazy, the chances are they will lose their CA contract.

I will say this. It is hugely tough to prepare teams when the ICC scheduling is all over the shop like mad dog droppings.

The key to great form is knowing what the next Series is. Cricketers don’t have wives, they have widows. They and their husbands shouldn’t tour for 2 months, just 2 weeks. They shouldn’t sit on their butts for 10 days, they practise or play every day.

They are professional athletes making upwards of 1 million dollars per annum. They are not circus performers, on call when the ringmaster cracks the whip. When the ICC wake to this, they will have Member Nations play shorter series and forward scheduling for 12 months. I may well be dead by then…but it will happen.

Now. There are 25 young men, and I stress young men, that Australia’s coaches should sink their teeth into starting now.

If they keep them together, play them with equal workloads, have them coached by the world’s best… they will prosper.

And they will win on the road.

Bats: Steve Smith, Joe Burns, Ed Maddinson, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Stoinis, Cam Bancroft, Dave Warner, David Lynn, Glenn Maxwell (9)

Quicks: Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins, Pattinson, Behrendorff, Mark Steketee (7)

Spinners: Agar, Zampa, Lyon, Boyce (4)

Alrounders; Faulkner, Mitch Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile (3)

Keepers: Nevill, Wade (2)

That is the 25. Reserves might be: Travis Head, Sam Whiteman, Gurinder Singh, Jake Doran, Moises Henriques.

I would start by appointing Justin Langer as Coach and let him build and appoint his coaches from that point onwards. He may disagree with several of the above players, I have no idea. But he will, trust me…he will!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

Is it true that Adam Voges will be offered a further contract with Cricket Australia? Does Brad Haddin’s departure from England signal the end of his Australian team participation? Mitch Johnson is 34 in November..what will he do as regards playing on? Shane Watson wants to play on…will he at age 34? Chris Rogers has been such a success…will he stay and deny Cameron Bancroft a spot?

Shaun Marsh failed twice at Trent Bridge…will he play in the 5th Test and Tests in Bangladesh and against NZ seeing he missed the ODI Series In England?

It seems that Cricket Australia, right in the middle of the 3 Sultans scandal (ECB, BCCI, CA) , are intent on staying with Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh in their roles. That’s fine because we all know Rod and Darren are great guys. But I think England has shown that youthful thinking , well managed, can respond in months when an Ashes series is at stake.

Andrew Strauss had approached Justin Langer to Coach the English Team. Justin had family concerns and commitments to the WACA and Australia weighing heavily on his mind. Trevor Bayliss ultimately took the job and has prospered as a consequence of the terrific abilities of Strauss, Peter Moore, Andy Flower and the current English selectors to discover and re-discover the qualities of young men such as Adam Lyth, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali, Josh Buttler, Steve Finn, Ben Stokes, Gary Balance. Anderson, Broad, Bell, Root and Cook were/are fixtures…..even if Cook and Bell had considered retirement.

It was a master stroke to get this group together and Strauss was the hero. Do you realise he is only 38 years old and was born in South Africa? I think he could still open for England, or South Africa. Cookie looks like he’s 25…Bellie like he’s 55….but what a combination they have proved to be.

And here is Strauss, a spring chicken, out-foxing Australia’s brains trust!!!! Did he have a lot of things go his way? Absolutely, but I think everyone was surprised by how well England has done, even allowing for the 2 lowest totals being 60 and 136 by Australia at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

It proves conclusively that England are out-thinking Australian cricket with younger men at the helm. They have realised their mistakes.

I’m not sure Australia has even now.

Now, do England have the depth of talent that Australia has? No, they do not… and that is another feather in England’s cap.

Let’s lay all cards on the table. Australia believe that they should be the ones up 3-1 in this Ashes Series, 2-2 at worst, in their hearts. The Ashes is everything, and we haven’t done everything to win!

Rod and Darren know they blew the toss at Edgbaston, and the team selection at Trent Bridge. They know that more so in hindsight. They had the chance, but didn’t take it. We’re not expecting them to go down on their knees and apologise. We all lose, we all make mistakes. They are great men of Australian Cricket.

I still remember the dark clouds gathering over Edgbaston and seeing Michael Clarke win the toss , and say clearly, “We’ll have a bat,” and I nearly screamed at the Big Screen. I did scream when we lost the toss at Trent Bridge and Cookie sent us in. I screamed even louder when I found out that Australian batsmen were so poor against swing and seam. Having not been coached to any great degree to cover the movement of balls through the air and off the seam was painfully obvious. About as obvious as our problems with spin on the Subcontinent. Our away record on recent tours of England and the Subcontinent reads 1 win, 12 losses and 4 lost Series in the reigns of Mickey Arthur, Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh.

Australia have always had the horses, but it’s the jockey that needs to steer them to a win. Nothing personal Justin…size doesn’t matter in this case, and Boof might not really make a great jockey. Might have to shed too much! Something about the fight in the dog, not the dog in the fight comes to mind.

I think that had Justin Langer taken Australia to England on this Tour…. 1) we would have won the series 2) the team might have been a little different in personnel 3) Michael Clarke wouldn’t have retired 4) most of the older players would still be part of the programme.

Of course, selecting Justin was not possible at the time when the Windies/Ashes Tour was being prepared, but now that we have failed in England again, and Cricket Australia have renewed their faith in Darren and Rod, we are in this holding pattern while personnel are being sorted out….including Rod and Boof.

Time sorts all these matters out, and in CA we are forced to trust. I admire organisations who place longer term faith in their people, after all CA’s board has selected Rod and Darren to hold their roles….and sometimes defeats of this nature are good for the team’s future structure. There is excitement in the air about the changes that are coming.

So clearly, you can see I feel Justin is the best man for Darren’s role. No apologies from me for that.

We all have the opportunity to express our views in this wonderful country. CA have expressed theirs. I’ve expressed mine.

Again, I don’t believe that 5 Tests in a row in one country gives the visitors a fair chance to win. Steve Waugh’s winning in India, Windies and England, Mark Taylor’s team winning in England…they are small comfort now, and marvellous achievements it must be said. But that was about 20 years ago.

Eventually when the 3 Sultans respect the right of every cricket nation to be treated equally, when we have an Independent Commission running the ICC on behalf of the Member Nations, when we have a World Cricket League with 8-11 teams in place…all this will change. Between 14 and 20 Tests per year can still be played by each nation. They’ll just be played 1 at a time….not 5 over 2 months. And there is an opportunity then to still allow Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide to get the lions share of Tests each year, while Perth, Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra will also have a taste.

Home and Away Series, with one Test, perhaps 1-2 X ODI and 1-2 X T20 games as a Series…then we will have the fair and equal opportunity for the visiting team to win games, and the Home Team to go to the opponent’s country at a later date and win as revenge!

When we have Domestic Competitions where National Leagues are formed, with Series of 1 x 2 day game, 1 ODI and 1 X T20 are played Home and Away…then we will have fair and equal competition and a true opportunity for City Based Franchises to employ large numbers of cricket people.

Cricket can be all of these things and more. World Member Nation Cups. World Affiliate Nation Cups. Olympic Games status for Cricket.

It is all possible if Cricket wants to go down the path that the rest of world sport has laid down as an example for them.

Australia’s 14-man ODI squad for this Tour of England : David Warner, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (capt), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson.

Aaron Finch (injury), James Faulkner (brain fade), Moises Henriques (injury) were not available and we understand that.

Shaun Marsh(resting), Mitch Johnson (resting), and Mitchell Starc not resting are interesting points. Marsh is the best one day striker of a cricket ball with Warner. Johnson is more durable and fit than Starc, but I’d rest both because they are our Test aces.

The selection of the above team may not offer hope to many fringe players, but that has been the pattern for as long as I can recall from Marsh and Lehmann. I don’t like that attitude….there are too many equally good players who are younger who will be hurt by their non-selection. Fear of losing or being beaten does not enter into this equation. Australia needs players for Bangladesh and NZ who will play in those games. Nobody should get a free ride, and I will pick a team which offers the chance of Test Selection to all players from this point on.

There is no point picking George Bailey .He will not play Test Cricket for Australia again. It is reward by Marsh and Lehmann for long service, and patently that attitude hurt us in the Ashes. He should not play.

Matt Wade is problematic. Wade is 28, has captained Victoria, is a tough young individual at 27 years of age but is not as refined a cricketer as Sam Whiteman. He is a little slow to learn to my way of thinking, but okay…. Tick him in to the team though!

Watson is 34 and past his used by date if you take a line through form. HE may want to play…I thought it was their job to pick players who will benefit Australia from this day onwards. I don’t see Watson doing that. His fielding and bowling are very ordinary. His batting is in decline. The future is James Faulkner and Moises Henriques, and when they cannot play, Gurinder Singh or Kane Richardson, given that Mitch Marsh will bat 6 and Stoinis perhaps higher up. I’d pick both because they have performed fabulously with bat, ball and in the field..and both give 1000%. Singh toured India when Richardson did not, which speaks to the Selectors thinking. Watson does not, or cannot give 1000% anymore.

Nice to see Cam Boyce in the T20 side. What’s going to happen with Adam Zampa? And where does Usman Khawaja and David Lynn stand? All 4 are Test candidates on their selection for India recently so they will feel left out with respect to the ODI’s. No one likes being left out of anything when they have had success as they have in India.

It is a question of policy. If you are going to pick players for the ODI’s, they must have the ability to play Test Cricket and ODI’s for Australia. That establishes 15-20 people who can fit into the prestigious Baggy Green.

My Squad for these England matches is : David Warner, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Gurinder Singh, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson.

Emergencies: Mitch Starc, David Lynn, Usman Khawaja.

Lovely that Ash Agar made it, nice to see Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson back from injury…hope they kick some butt!

Also, let’s also see if Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Fawad Ahmed, Shaun Marsh play in the 5th Test because on form, age and the performance of those in the Test team, they sure could do with a test of their capabilities again at this level.

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

Swans will finish ahead of the Bullies. The Eagles might scrape away with 2nd but their draw is far harder than Hawthorns. So 2nd and 3rd is problematic. No one with the possible exception of Geelong can upset the applecart of the top 4 who meet Hawthorn this weekend.

So logically Freo, Hawthorn, Eagles , Swans in that order will be the 4. Geelong have peaked beautifully..and the clash with Hawthorn might be the shock of the decade, but 7th or 8th for them. Richmond 5th. NM and the Bullies 7 and 6.

I’d love to see a Freo/Eagles GF…but hard to go past Hawthorn and the Dockers again.

Edgar…you weren’t sloshed when you wrote this were you? No…. pretty good team in many respects! But try this….

Bancroft, Warner, Smith, Khawaja, Burns, M Marsh, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins, Zampa. Hazelwood 12th

2 left arm quicks, 2 right arm. I leg spinner. Burns, Warner bowl medium pace. Smith extra leggie.

7 right hand bats, 4 left hand.

Great wicketkeeper. Excellent fielding team. the future is now.

Doubt it will happen Dave…Rod and Boof will pay old-fashioned lip service to tradition. Clarke, Rogers, Voges, Siddle all should make way for younger men if they are retiring after this tour…and if we lose 4-1, will anyone remember? Will we die if it does happen?

The key question for Cricket Australia is ….do you want Rod and Darren to keep taking this team down the “experience plus youth” path, or do you want Justin Langer to make a young team into winners as he has with WA?

Do you believe that Rod and Darren are going to move Australian Cricket forward with the talent available? Would Justin do a better job? I think Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Fawad Ahmed and Pat Cummins should play at the Oval….because we have nothing to lose.

So S Marsh, Warner, Smith, Watson, M Marsh, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood, Ahmed would be the most youthful and aggressive team for the 5th Test….but I doubt it will happen.

aha…a bright man….and the batting coach can’t teach how to play swing, seam, spin either….which leaves us vulnerable on every overseas tour we make. Australian batsmen have been underachievers because of their defensive and offensive liabilities and coaching. They need to be men for all seasons and wickets…and they aren’t. Also our spinners need Warney, and our quicks need Pidgeon, David Saker or Troy Cooley to enable them to move the ball both ways.

Australia’s 14-man ODI squad for this Tour of England : David Warner, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (capt), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson.

Aaron Finch (injury), James Faulkner (brain fade), Moises Henriques (injury) were not available and we understand that. Shaun Marsh(resting), Mitch Johnson (resting), and Mitchell Starc not resting are interesting points. It may not offer hope to many fringe players but that has been the pattern for as long as I can recall. I don’t like that….there are too many equally good players who are younger who will be hurt by their non-selection.

Fine alround squad….but Rod Marsh and Boof Lehmann are at it again. There is no point picking George Bailey .He will not play Test Cricket for Australia again. It is reward for long service, and patently that attitude hurt us in the Ashes. Adam Voges, or Shaun Marsh might have been considered….but again, let the kids play.

Matt Wade is problematic, so is Shane Watson. Wade is 28, has captained Victoria, is a tough young individual at 27 years of age but is not as refined a cricketer as Sam Whiteman. He is a little slow to learn to my way of thinking, but okay…. tick!.

Watson is 34 and past his used by date if you take a line through form. HE may want to play…I thought it was their job to pick players who will benefit Australia from this day onwards. I don’t see Watson doing that. His fielding and bowling are very ordinary. His batting is in decline. The future is James Faulkner and Moises Henriques, and when they cannot play, Gurinder Singh or Kane Richardson, given that Mitch Marsh will bat 6 and Stoinis perhaps higher up.

Also nice to see Cam Boyce in the T20. What’s going to happen with Adam Zampa? And where does David Lynn stand? Usman Khawaja?

Other than those few things…nice, most boys named themselves. Now let’s also see if Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Fawad Ahmed, Shaun Marsh play in the 5th Test because on form, age and the performance of those in the team, they sure could do with a test of their capabilities again at this level. Lovely that Ash Agar made it, nice to see Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson back from injury…hope they kick some butt!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

What about Fawad Ahmed for Lyon, Ronan? He surely can’t do any worse. He deserves a shot in a dead rubber. But yes, I agree Cummins and Mitch Marsh should play. What about Shaun Marsh?

Warner, Rogers, Smith, Voges, Clarke, Marsh m, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins, Ahmed???? with Siddle 12th man.

Dear Reader.

People who love Cricket in this country and around the world love to see it grow. They love the 3 forms of the game. They want to see Cricket played anywhere…India, Australia, England…China, Russia, Europe, the Americas…anywhere!

That is not possible under the current regimes of cricket.

And the Political World and the Heads of Business and Media in this country and those of all cricketing nations, all 100 of them, cannot turn their heads and fail to act upon the corruption and collusion of Cricket Australia, the BCCI of India, the ECB of England and the body known as the ICC, the International Cricket Council.

The 4 sultans of cricket have effectively bowed to India’s financial powers. India’s threat to withdraw from the ICC is a poker bluff, played by a man who knows all about gambling.

Nara Srinivasan has bought Cricket Australia and the ECB into an unholy mess. The BCCI has the power of a billion people.

But there are 2.5 billion people who follow cricket worldwide, according to ESPN’s ICC Cricket World Programme.

There are 100 countries currently playing Cricket. 3 of them hold the power of the future of cricket in their money grabbing hands. This is completely wrong and a stain on the great game.

Governments who turn blind eyes to the scandal and corruption are complicit by inaction! Business and Media organisations who fail to act are also complicit by association with the scandal and corruption. Money cannot be all there is to this sordid picture.

Cricket may be a business. It may be a sport. It may be the love of 2.5 billion people. But it is not a Merchant Bank for 3 National Cricket Bodies. And Cricket in India, England and Australia should not be financially assisted with grants and subsidies when these scandals are hanging over their heads.

Cricket in Australia, India, England and the ICC must be run by people who show character, class, foresight, business acumen and the ability to bring the whole world of cricket into an Independent and Inclusive body under the control of an Independent Commission of highly regarded judiciary, business leaders and the like.

This, unfortunately, is not the case currently.

There is no room for debate here. Governments, Media and Business entities have the power to speak to the ICC, ECB, CA and BCCI.

If they fail to do so, they will feel the wrath of Cricket Lovers world wide.

So arrogant is the pressure from the 4 bodies mentioned upon smaller Member Nations of the ICC, and the Provincial/State/County boards in each of the 3 countries that there has developed a “Cricket Cone of Silence”. Like many of these scandals, the instigators rely on the silence of the lambs under their control.

Ex-players and greats of the game know exactly where the fault lies. They are not fools!

The current ECB, BCCI and CA and ICC administrators and boards are totally aware of this situation, and speak about it openly between one another. Some of them are deluded by the volumes of cash flowing into the bank accounts of the 4 bodies, and they are reluctant to go to the media. They think making money makes it right! Mr Srinivasan has run an iron clad monopoly of the running of the game illegally and against the good principles of the original ICC Charter.

Several of the Board Members and administrators, CEO’s etc with consciences, have expressed disgust at the money grab at the expense of the game worldwide.

While the ICC is run this way, Cricket as a clean and attractive sporting recreation and business is seriously wounded.

I urge you all to act now to restore the great game of cricket to a truly independently run sport with regard for every nation who wishes to play the game.

Cricket’s gambling and financial corruption has shocked world sport as much as the IOC and FIFA’s financial misdealing and inbred corruption. Cricket is clean as far as we know as regards drug and alcohol mass-abuse, and that is a saving grace.

But nothing will save Cricket from worldwide exposure unless Governments, Media and Business act to clean the cancer of money grabbing by the ICC, ECB, BCCI and CA , now!

Yours sincerely, a lover of the great game of Cricket.

English reporter Quention McDermott got a front row seat on “Four Corners” last night regarding the scandal involving India, Australia and England’s ongoing monopoly of the ICC.

The programme was essentially a rehash of the corruption cases involving Nara Srinivasan, BCCI former Chairman and now Chairman on hold at the ICC.

Ian Chappell, Michael Holding and Gideon Haigh spoke forcefully and eloquently about the Money Funds Takeover by the BCCI, ECB and CA which is damaging the ICC’s reputation as a body looking to expand and develop cricket all over the world.

The over-riding debate seems to centre around the fact that India were sick and tired of bankrolling 75% of the costs of running the ICC. They proposed that they wanted the ability to corner the scheduling of tours, World Cups and matches involving India. Then Chairman Srinivasan enlisted CA Chairman Wally Edwards, former test Cricketer from WA, and others to appease some of the Member Countries with promises of funds via tours approved by the ICC. The message apparently was crystal clear. Support the ICC’s proposal that India, Australia and England arrange all scheduling of matches…or face the prospect of not having any of these 3 nations tour their country, or the 3 countries. Further, scheduling involving Member Nations of any kind might be with-held.

By cornering the market in T20 via the IPL, Indian Cricket was able to build a war chest of what former BCCI VP, Lallit Modi says amounted to almost 8 billion dollars.

Srinivasan and his son-in-law were then banned from the BCCI and cricket in general via findings of an Indian Anti-Corruption body. Accusations that Srinivasan, Owner of India Cement, has pocketed millions, if not billions from the various arrangements since 2008 have cast his ICC Chairman’s role in a preposterous position.

Modi has proposed an opposing Test Match and Limited Overs World Cricket regime with world wide television rights and multi million dollar player contracts, but is scarce on detail.

The ICC, he says has, 3 snakes…India, England and Australia, and Chappell went as far as to insinuate that all 3 had their “snout in the trough,” a reference to the inferred amounts of $700 million that India has made out of the 2014 “treaty of cricket”, which also guaranteed England and Australia some 300 million each.

As long ago as 2008, and between 2012 and 2014, several Reports commissioned by the ICC had recommended an Independent Chairman and 3 Commissioners be appointed to run the scheduling and overall expansion and development of Cricket under the ICC’s banner. This move was quickly opposed by Srinivasan and defeated in such a way that the voting power of each Member Nation was effectively overturned.

Last night’s report is damning of Edwards, Giles Clarke and Srinivasan as head of CA, the ECB and BCCI at the time.

There were strong inferences of collusion, forceful treatment of smaller Member Nations…and dismissal of any thoughts that the ICC might start a World Cricket League whereby Member nations played Home and Away series in 3 forms of the game.

Pakistan, South Africa, NZ, the Windies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe are said to be totally against the new Regime of the Snakes as Modi put it.

So as the Ashes departs our shores, Australian cricket is again being cast in a negative light. Instead of agitating for an Independent Commission to run the game, Australia has sided with India and England so it can dominate the scheduling and the distribution of funds. By doing so, that cartel is trying to appease the BCCI so it will continue to devote IPL revenues to the ICC, and so the BCCI will not pull out of the ICC itself.

It would seem quite stupid for India to do that. The IPL and BCCI make several billion dollars minimum per annum from IPL, World Cups, Tours and Television rights.

The exit of 8 Member Nations from the ICC would leave the 3 Major Nations with only themselves to play against.

The only way that Cricket can go forward with every Member Nation in agreement is if an Independent Commission is charged with creating a schedule for home and away Series for 8-11 Member nations (World Cricket League), and expands the game in the 90 Affiliate Nations so that T20 and 50 over Leagues are created.

Anything less than that would see the cricket world in turmoil between now and 2019 when only 10 nations are due to attend the ODI World Cup. On the face of it, the Four Corners Report and recent ESPN revelations show that cricket has some 2.5 billion followers throughout the world, and tens of millions of players in men and women and children’s ranks. Spreading of the wealth to ensure these 100 nations develop cricket within themselves to the maximum would seem to be the logical path for Cricket to take.

It would seem that ICC Cricket is standing on the abyss with the Unholy Triumvate pushing the game over the edge, and tripping in after it! It is to be hoped that the Member nations can convince England , Australia and India to come to their senses and put the game, all Member Nations and the games’ expansion on an equal footing.

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

There is no point in anyone, John Buchanan included, airing their grievances about Michael Clarke or anyone else who retires now from the Australian Cricket Squad programme. I know John personally, and he is a genuine man. Michael Clarke has done his very best in the way he saw as being the correct path for a team he considered was his. The issue of Australian Cricket’s unofficial heirachy says that the Captain has ” a say” in a whole lot of areas concerning the team picked, the team on the park, and a whole lot of areas which are grey. I think that culture has to change.

The Captain is an extension of the team, a player with onfield responsibilities and the Team has to be picked, coached, guided by the Head Coach/Manager and the Head Selector/General Manager.

There is no room for debate on this.

Often the Captain is younger than 30 years, some are as old as 40, and so the level of maturity of individuals differs radically. I think that respect is the key. If the Captain has respect, age does not matter. He needs to be a performer. He has to produce. All the key decisions on the field, plus his own personal form is a huge responsibility. Some major decisions may include him, if the Head Coach and Head selector WANT to include him, but other than that this expectancy that the Captain “runs the show” is crazy. It CAN breed disunity such as is being discussed by people such as Buchanan openly in the media at the moment.

Equally, the choice of inclusive Head Coaches and Head Selectors by Cricket Australia is paramount….and that requires investigation right now. Cricket is a Squad game and requires the best Man Managers money and respect can buy.

The maturity of the Captain and his ability to respect the Head Coach and Head Selector is paramount. I often have the feeling about Australian Cricket Captains that they did not respect either of those people, or ACB/ Cricket Australia officials, or the other Selectors….and with the recent goings-on with India, ECB, CA and the hijacking of the ICC by these nations, respect is very much a key word indeed in Cricket around the world.

England’s magnificent efforts on the park by Andrew Strauss and the team and coaches has been tarnished by the ECB’s money grab through the commandeering of the ICC and the minor Member Nations. The ICC is actually the BCCI.

This impasse where the BCCI, CA and ECB determine ICC policy, funding, scheduling is a cartel effect which takes the game into a very dark place. It is as if these 3 countries have legislated to pay themselves four fifths of the profits of the ICC, simply because the ICC has been bankrolled in the past by the BCCI. It is going to cause a revolution within cricket which will clean out all the bad air…and that is a good thing.

The game is for the nations of the world…not just 3 countries, 100 or more.

The game needs a strong Independent Commission to set respected rules for the scheduling and conduct of the game world wide…now!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

It’s interesting how Patrick McGinnity was out on the break and had to convert the goal from 20m out directly in front with the Eagles leading by 13 points in the 3rd quarter against hawthorn. When he couldn’t, the Hawks took the ball down the other end and scored….and that was the beginning of the end. Interesting too that lesser lights such as Lycett, Schofield, Hutchings, Gaff, Sheed, Yeo, Masten, Selwood, Wellingham, Ellis, Hurn, Hill have all bobbed up occasionally to kick goals this season.

Similarly the Dockers are giving a lot of people a chance in front off goal. Ibbotson, Danyl Pearce, Crozier, Suban, Griffin, Mizungu, Mundy, Yaberner, Barlow, Alex Pearce, Sandilands, Clarke, Neale and Spurr have all taken pot shots.

Those players who show most calm, most form, most certainty about their kicking will play forward in the finals.

And the same principles apply to the backline. Players are bobbing up down there from both teams who have an opportunity to play regularly for the rest of the season and they may even crack a spot in the finals. This is the versatility that the Eagles and Dockers have. The question mark is, can those players stand up under finals pressure?

So far the Dockers and the Eagles have answered positively in games that count against Sydney, Richmond, the Hawks to a degree, Geelong, North Melbourne, Bulldogs, Collingwood and Adelaide.

I doubt that Steve Smith has learned anything since his failures at Trent Bridge because he hasn’t walked out in the middle with Australia one down for not many yet. He’ll certainly get some opportunity in the 5th Test at the Oval. Then, and only then will he know if he can control his nerves and play a relaxed innings. And yes he should captain the team…and yes, Boof and Rod Marsh are to blame for some of the predicament we are in. So are the players.

Now Steve is no orphan. Dave Warner and Chris Rogers have found some form and some calm, but neither can be actually depended upon to have another century partnership at the Oval…or can they?

If Michael Clarke plays, nor can he. Nor Adam Voges. Nor Shaun Marsh. Nor Pete Nevill or Mitch Marsh. Trent Bridge made all the Aussie bats think they are vulnerable…when in fact it is the conditions which made them more vulnerable.

The only batsman in world cricket who has ice-water in his veins is AB De Villiers. Amla, Du Plessis, Joe Root, Kade Richardson and Brendon McCallum are as close to calm as you can get.

The others are just human. Kohli, Cook, Bell, all the Aussies bar Rogers and Warner, Rohit Sharma and the rest of the Indians, all the Pakistanis, all the other Poms bar Root, Stokes maybe at times… all have been seen to falter when the blowtorch is applied.

This is human nature when you are under the pump, the conditions suit swing and seam, or spin…and 20-100,000 people are baying for your blood. It takes rare qualities to stay calm.

This is especially interesting now that the Ashes are lost. When we needed someone to stand up in the first innings at Cardiff, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, no one could. That is almost certainly due to the conditions, IF YOU TAKE A LINE THROUGH AUSTRALIA’S FORM AT LORDS ON A BENIGN PITCH. In other words, pitches that do anything bring ALL Australian batsmen undone!!!!!

With the future in mind, and trying not to LOSE, Australia will pick what it calls its’ best 11 for the Oval. I don’t care who England picks but you can be sure they will want to rub our noses in it.

So given who is on tour, our best lineup might be Rogers, Warner, Smith, Voges, Clarke, Mitch Marsh, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins and Ahmed. Hazelwood looks tired. So does Lyon. Shaun Marsh is a big question mark. Pete Siddle will be considered, but the future beckons. The good part is that they have time on their hands…like 10 more days.

The 5th test lineup is as pressurised a selection for Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh as any I have seen!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

clutching at straws Steve. Voges would make a great Captain is he were 30 and knew what he knows now. But the captain won’t matter too much if we have warner, bancroft, smith, Burns, Maxwell, Nevill, Johnson, Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood, Zampa with M Marsh 12th man.

They will take a while to gel. But Warner, Bancroft, Smith, Burns have all scored double hundreds or been very close, Maxwell is capable of it, and Australia will need that. The above team is based on attack. Justin Langer should coach it. We need 4 genuine quicks. We need great fielding. We need a leg spinner with a future. We need to get better technically as batters and bowlers.

But we can win very quickly with that lineup.

The Umpires have definitely started to transition towards finals footy. The umps who did Freo/St Kilda overdid the whistle, but all other games appeared to be very sound.

You have to admire all of the top 4 clubs currently. The Dockers signalled that they are over their mid-season drop-off and actually played so hard in the first quarter against St Kilda that the Saints knew they were cruising from that point on. At half time the Dockers had kicked 12.2, and I think they kicked just 4 more the rest of the way. The Eagles would have beaten Hawthorn at Domain with Sinclair, Natanui and Lycett in the 22 and McGovern fully fit. He needs not to play again until he is FULLY fit. That is something that the Eagles have not addressed yet. Le Cras did nothing to warrant suspension…the vision shows the player cannoning in to him. He did his best to avoid it and braced, which made it look worse…but he is no thug, and the player bumped was fine thereafter.

Hawthorn are a fantastic club under Clarko and they will be tough, but I have seen enough to know that the Dockers and the Eagles can beat them, and Richmond have already. The Bulldogs are the new Eagles. GWS aren’t at all far behind. Sydney lack 2 pacier midfielders. Richmond are capable, but whether they have enough depth in 2015 is the question. Can’t see Adelaide, North, Bullies, Geelong, GWS winning away from home in the finals if they make it.

Might be tough on the 17 man touring team to go get Glenn Maxwell , Alexander. How about this for the 5th Test.

Rogers, Warner, Smith (c), Voges, S Watson, M Marsh, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins, Ahmed. Siddle 12th man

Looks to me like Shaun Marsh won’t be picked. He might play One Dayers.

Rogers and Watson and Voges require swan songs. If any of the quicks is sore or overdone…pick Siddle.

Mike Clarke should be left to assist Steve Smith for the last test.

Maxwell, Burns , Khawaja, Lynn, Mitch Marsh, Cummins, Singh, Abbott, Shaun Marsh, Whiteman/Wade/Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Smith, Warner, Watson, Ahmed can play in the One Dayers.

In light of the “stunning” Ashes win by England there has been much hand wringing in Oz. Here’s why!

1) People in Oz will not accept that if we bowled first at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, we, Australia, might have won the Series by now. That’s just not possible in many Aussies minds. Not mine of course….I’ve taken many a beating from critics about that statement! I stand by it…we could have won the Ashes!

2) People in Oz will not accept that this Australian Squad of 17 is just as good as Englands’, even though our squad thrashed the Poms in Australia 5 nil and 6 members of that England squad in Australia were also in this Ashes Series. When I say “just as good”, I mean athletically and generally, not that we are better than their bats in England, or better than their bowlers in England….but that if we bowled first in the better bowling conditions with 4 fast bowlers, perhaps including Ryan Harris, but not necessarily…we could be the ones dancing all over Nottingham.

3) People in Oz will not accept Australia getting beaten AT ALL! That is just head in the sand stuff, and tells you people in Australia do not understand what Andrew Strauss has done to pull off the coup of all time in world cricket. It should be acknowledged that Strauss got 5 quicks who could destroy Australia and got lucky with the weather and the tosses. And he got Justin Langer, almost… settled for Trevor Bayliss, and tripped Australia up by a combination of good management and good luck…and good luck to him! England has needed some ex-captain to do more than just talk for 10 years now! And their players, once much maligned, are now standing 10 foot tall!

Now that is all well and good, us not accepting losing I mean…. but if we are to be the No. 1 Country in all forms of cricket in what is essentially a 5 or 6 team Competition between ICC Member nations, it surely can’t be that hard to fix????

Can I take you back to the days of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards and the 4 fast bowlers teams of the 70’s, 80’s and into the 90’s. They had 4 quicks who came off long runs, took 5 minutes to bowl an over, and they scythed through everyone like a knife thru butter. In India, Pakistan, the flattest Aussie wickets, England, New Zealand, anywhere…on tracks that turned sideways, on bouncy tracks, on anything…they were murder!

Fast forward to this Series in England. England maintained 4 quicks for every one of the 8 Aussie Innings. 3 of the Poms quicks come off runs of no more than 10 paces and complete their overs in around 3 min. to 3m.30 secs. That would be Anderson, Wood and Stokes. Finn and Broad take closer to 4 mins. So they meet the standards of overs for time set by the ICC easily…especially if Ali bowls 10 overs in an innings. Just like Viv came to bowl a quick 10 overs at 2 minutes 30 sec. per over.

Now comparing Holding, Garner, Roberts, Croft and Marshall with say Daniels, Walsh, Ian Bishop, Curtley Ambrose, and others is not necessary. They were awesome, no matter what the combination. There were different ICC time-laws then. But if you sent any combination of 4-5 West Indies bowlers out against the 4-5 English seamers from this Series…in England…it would have been a great contest, no matter what the batting lineups of either teams were.

And if Australia took Lillee, Thomson, McGrath, Johnson, Gillespie, Starc, Reid etc it also would have been wonderful.

Can you imagine facing any combinations of those quicks…anywhere???

Yet if you take Broad, Finn, Stokes, Anderson and Wood to any country in the world, other than England…what would happen????

They would be nowhere near as effective, surely??? We’ve seen everyone but Wood get smashed by NZ and Australian and Indian teams away from England lately…. Wood of course hasn’t toured yet!

So, if we look very closely at Australia’s contingent of fast bowlers, what are their weaknesses?

Well, for starters I do not know what instruction they have had from Craig McDermott about technical matters such as being able to bowl inswing and outswing! I don’t know exactly what policies he had as regards bowling full on this tour! I do not know how good a tactical coach he is…but I do know that none of the Aussie quicks can swing the Duke ball quite as well as the English quicks in England, with the occasional burst by Mitch Starc notwithstanding.

It is almost the case that the Duke Ball would be better suited in Australia, and the Kookaburra in England, to give more swing in Australia and less in England…given the way the ball has hooped about in this Ashes Series at Cardiff, Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

Australia can bounce England out in Australia. England can swing and seam Australia out in England.

These are incontrovertible facts!

Also, the weather in England plays much more of a role in the result…as does the Toss! Australian wickets are a grind for all fast bowlers whoever wins the toss. In England, the games have been over in 2-4 days…none have gone 5 days….and the team that bowled in the best conditions for swing and seam has won the 3 Tests they needed for victory. That would be England I am told!

So the quicks are able to get thru Tests in England better due to the mild sun, cloud cover, softer wickets and grounds. The sun and the wickets in Australia are back breakers and the games are decided by bounce , attrition, intimidation, physically out-lasting the opposition.

It is what it is when it comes to these factors in each country…and for 100 years now it has been pretty much the same.

I think that various Coaches and Players down the years from Australia have been able to find bowlers who could match or better England in English conditions. John Buchanan and Steve Waugh’s teams, Mark Taylors’ teams, Ian Chappell’s teams… had seamers and spinners of the highest order…and they won a lot of Test matches.

Now the Buchanan /Waugh combination had McGrath and Warne, plus some wonderful backup in Gillespie, Bichel, Kasperowicz, May, McGill. They were perhaps the perfect team for all seasons and countries.

I think the key to Australian efforts from now on in are 3 fold.

1) Get a Bowling coach like David Saker, Troy Cooley, Glen McGrath…or all 3, to teach Johnson, Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood, Pattinson, Coulter-Nile, Behrendorff, Stekete, Abbott, Rainbird, Faulkner, Mitch Marsh, Singh, Richardson how to bowl line and length and swing the ball both ways. Include Shane Warne to teach Agar, Zampa, Lyon, Boyce and Ahmed how to take wickets at Test level.
2) Get a Batting Instructor like Graham Gooch, Mike Hussey… or both, to teach Bancroft, Warner, Smith, the Marshes, Khawaja, Burns, Lynn, Stoinis, Nevill, Whiteman, Finch, Maxwell, Hanscombe, Marcus Harris, Maddinson, Head, Doolan, Carters, Doran, Faulkner, Abbott others how to strategise, defend and attack equally.
3) Make Justin Langer Australia’s Head Coach.

Tomorrow might be a good time to start!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

The interesting roles in cricket are being questioned. The Australian Captain, the Australian head of Selectors, the Australian Coach/es. Cricket Australia and James Sutherland have done a good job in making cricket a game of the people, and not just for men.

Christina Matthews , CEO of the WACA, perhaps the most influential State Programme with NSW in the country, spoke on the ABC this morning of the excellent Australian Cricket Programme for men and women and the fact that Australian Cricket is in a very good place. She is right…but the International Men’s Programme at Test level needs a re-think.

The Aussies won the ODI World Cup. They beat South Africa 2-1 in Tests in South Africa. In my mind that made them World Champions in those 2 forms of the game. The one thing that Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh have not been able to do is match England in England. The Ashes is everything. And for 2 tours of England under Lehmann and Marshn now our record is 1-6. This would seem to indicate a weakness in the approach to being as aggressive and dominating in England as we are in Australia. Also tours in India and Pakistan have seen us lose 0-6 under Marsh and Lehmann. Wins in the West Indies and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and at home, in various forms against England and India have been predictable , and understandable, given the events of those tours and the calibre of teams those nations put up.

The reasons for our failure overseas are really quite straightforward…

1) Australia’s batting instructor and its top and middle order bats have been flawed mechanically defensively and mentally for 10 years now. They simply cannot defend good seam and swing and spin bowling…. and Marsh and Lehmann have presided over that.

2) Australia’s fast bowlers also have failed to heed the skills of the top English quicks, Broad and Anderson. They cannot swing the ball both ways…only 1 way…and they have very little variety or tactical confidence or game awareness. The bowling instructor should go.

3) Australia has been a defensive nation when it has had some extraordinarily good leg spin bowlers in Agar, Ahmed, Zampa and Boyce. It simply has not given time to Shane Warne to develop these 4 leg spinners into wicket-takers. It has made Nathan Lyon a defensive stopper and not put time into the 5 of them to become bowlers with variety and tactical aggression.

4) Englands’ coaches Peter Moore and Andy Flower have outworked their counterparts and delivered Andrew Strauss a 3-1 Ashes win in a matter of months. It has little or nothing to do with Trevor Bayliss from a technical point of view and I am sure Trevor would agree. His strategical and personal guidance has helped. But it took years of training people such as Stokes, Root, Buttler, Ali, Wood, Finn, Balance, Fottit, Lyth and the veterans to get to this level. Australia under Lehmann and Marsh have not been able to change the negative culture in batting and bowling to where Australian players are willing to change their games to suit the environment. In other words they acquire skills to play everywhere around the world. Anyone can play on Australia’s flat and pacy tracks, but spin and swing/seam tracks defeat us.

The time for Justin Langer as Head Coach and a new Head Selector is now…. as we have a brand new group of young, upwardly mobile people ready to come through!!!!

Players such as the 2 Marshes, Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Coulter-Nile, Voges, Behrendorff, Agar and many others have come thru with JL at the WACA, and he has the ear of the young players from other States such as Lynn, Burns, Khawaja, Maddinson, Henriques, Hazelwood, Abbott, Nevill, Hanscombe, Zampa, Stoinis and co…and he speaks the same language as Lehmann, Rod Marsh and all the Australian ex-players including Greg Chappell, Gilly, Tubby, Ponters and co.

The difference is he actually gets down with these guys and works them hard at grass roots level and knows the way to get most out of them on the field, without upsetting the Captain or anyone in the ranks.

This skill alone makes him the best Manager of cricketers in Australia currently…and by some distance. We must have the best…and England actually picked him first to coach them in this current Ashes Series.

Great announcement from CA this morning that Steve Smith will captain Australia in the 5 th Test and the foreseeable future.

Michael Clarke was the best thinking captain Australia has had since the war. He did not have the Laws of the Game that Bradman, Benaud, Lawry, the Chappells, Alan Border, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Yallop and Ponting have had to deal with. He has not had the teams that they had. He has had to deal with T20, ODI’s and Tests. He has had to deal with the breakway of Cricket Australia and the centralisation of power to CA where Mickey Arthur was appointed to coach Australia. He has had to be saddled with Selectors and Coaches galore, many of whom were intent on stamping their authority on teams he believed were his.

This is one misconception that people have. Cricket is Australia’s national summer sport in teams. It is iconic. It is quirky. It is full of tradition. It has an audience worldwide of 2.5 billion people according to the ICC Cricket Programme on ESPN. It has morphed into 3 versions with World Cups and Tours containing the Tests and Limited Overs forms. There is still a mindset that longer versions of the game are the future, and that the Ashes and other tours can never be changed. Clarke worked in that environment with 30 , then 25 contracted players every year. And Australia was always competitive in every form, which for a nation of only 23 million people out of 2.5 billion is amazing. New Zealand are similarly amazing.

Michael played when Australia reigned for 20 years. Alan Border, Bob Simpson, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh and John Buchanan had a terrific influence on him, as did people such as Mark Waugh, Mike Hussey, Adam Gilchrist, Rick Ponting, Matt Hayden, Justin Langer, Glenn McGrath, Dizzy, Warney and all the lads. Now Steve Smith is going to require Michael’s guidance, and the rest of the coterie of greats mentioned above will help too.

Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh have done a terrific job in stabilising the national team scene. There is a heirachy. It is that the Head selector is a General Manager. it is that the Head Coach is a Manager. It is that they should select the teams and the coaches who coach the team. There is no need for James Sutherland or Pat Howard to do anything other than administer the Australian Cricket scene for man, woman and child away from the International programme. How many bosses does one need? The Captain at the end of the day is a man-servant of the Manager and Gen, Manager and should carry out their beckoning.

Ideally, people such as Justin Langer, Ponting, perhaps AB, Gilly, Pidgeon , Warney, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Greg Chappell, and others can take the New Breed Australian team and create another Dynasty like Stev Waugh’s teams.

But we are now very aware that England, South Africa , New Zealand and India, perhaps even Pakistan will trouble us for years to come because Australia has set the fundamentals and principles of International Cricket in place for other Nations to follow. We are the trendsetters, and we need to start setting new trends with new and fresh thinking people.

Points to note about losing the Ashes.

• I think Australia as a nation should remember that this is the same Australian Team which won the World Cup earlier this year. I was very proud of all the Oz players, even the ones who committed hari kari, because I could see the strain on all their faces. They were the best Australia had for the situation…and they failed as a team, and there is no dishonour in trying your guts out and failing as a team. This applies to Mike Clarke and the whole 17/18 players. In fact, I think all the boys have learned a hell of a lot about themselves and the guts and maturity they have showed as a team… and the wonderful performances they have given down the years.
• However, we cannot let the old chestnut, “They are better in England than we are!” get in the way of improvement.
• I like the English mentality to improvement of batting and bowling. They want to explore every avenue to make their players better in every way…and every Australian must have noted how well people such as Cook, Lyth, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, even Buttler, Ali, Finn, Wood have ALL IMPROVED AS THE SERIES HAS GONE ON.
• We knew about Anderson and Broad and feared what they might do if conditions suited them…and we have not been surprised that they have a kit bag full of wickets.
• We laughed openly when Andrew Strauss took over. We laughed when England failed in games in the World Cup, the West Indies and against New Zealand. We laughed when we got to Cardiff and told everyone how we were going to crush them…and then WE got crushed.
• It’s time for Australian Cricket to see the light, forget playing the game by old axioms and chestnuts, seek a Head Coach /Manager with ability to mould experience and youth, and a Team General Manager/ Head Selector who, with the Manager, will pick Coaches they want to mould a great squad of Australian cricketers.
• I don’t think we should assume just yet that names like Clarke, Rogers, Haddin, Watson, Johnson, Harris, Voges, Siddle, Shaun Marsh, Lyon, Ahmed are gone from Australian Team participation in some way.
• I don’t think we should ever denigrate these players just because this tour went completely the opposite to the way we planned. That is to forget their magnificent efforts down the years. I think we should honour their service to Australian Cricket and if they want to put their hand up for Australian and State and Franchise honours, I would encourage them to play on if they are comfortable doing so.
• 7/241 after scoring 60 in the 1st innings is a great improvement, especially as conditions have been problematic from the first ball bowled. How many Tests do you recall that have ended in close enough to 2 days. It was frightening how much bounce, swing, seam and up and down movement the bowlers got.
• Notice that 3 bowlers have gotten better than 5 wickets in each innings played. 26 wickets have fallen and Broad, Stokes and Starc have 19 of them.
• I was especially proud of the intense fight put up by Adam Voges, Dave Warner, Chris Rogers, Mike Clarke and Pete Nevill. They fought with all their being. England definitely have had the rub of the green at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge….and therein lies the Ashes series. 1-1…and then the Toss hit the fan.
• I would like to see a New Guard at the top of Australian Cricket. Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann have been fantastic, but we need to move towards modern thinking and new processes which ensure we can bat and bowl like England can, in English conditions certainly, but such that the batting and the bowling excels all over the globe…and not just in Australia.
• Just think of these names. Justin Langer, Rick Ponting, Mike Hussey, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, perhaps Steve Waugh…and add some of the recent 34 to 38 yo’s above. That coterie of support of these type of people around an Australian team will breed confidence and excellence of performance.
• Then think of players such as Warner, Smith, S Marsh, M Marsh, Pete Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood, Lyon, Coulter-Nile, Bancroft, Burns, Khawaja, Behrendorff, Agar, Zampa, Whiteman, Stekete, Pattinson, Abbott, Faulkner, Singh, Boyce, Ahmed, Lynn, Stoinis, Hanscomb, Maxwell, Richardson, Henrqiues, Finch, Wells, Rainbird, Maddinson and so on. 40 players…teak tough Aussies!
• I hope you’re feeling better about yourself, about Australian Cricket and about the Australian team…rrrright now!

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA
PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874
SKYPE: apagonis2
WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com

It was Australia’s morning with ball in hand but too many runs were lost. Mitch Starc did all he could, Hazelwood and Lyon were ineffectual, and Mitch Johnson was hard at it. He did not bowl well with the old ball but looked great with the 2nd new ball.

The conditions were the issue. The ball swung beautifully from the first ball for Starc , but the boundaries came far too rapidly. Michael Clarke kept an attacking field , but lost a lot of runs through 3rd man and cover where England would not have done the same in the same position.

This is something that Australian captains will learn. It is not ALWAYS all or nothing in professional Test Cricket. You need to restrict sometimes, take wickets sometimes and both as often as possible. Australia played like millionaires when they needed to keep the lead as small as possible.

9/391 declared on a field as big as a T20 field, a lightning fast field at that, required a little more care and attention and thought, and Starc especially would have had far better figures than 6/111 if his captain had given him extra support at cover and 3rd man.

The cloud cover that had persisted all day this morning and created massive swing was worrying as England’s declaration had Australia thinking the worst even before they went in to bat.

Rogers and Warner slunk away to lunch, forever grateful that Aleem Dar had taken an extra over to put Warner thru misery when lunch should have been called. Warner was stoic in the face of the other major wicket-taker in this game, Stu Broad. He faced the last over, 6 balls, hit one and 5 beat his bat. Rogers’ clip thru midwicket was morale boosting…but England knew that getting balls in the right areas is something they do far better than Australia…and it works very well that they have 4 quicks who can put the ball at pace, and with accuracy, swing and seam , just where they need it. This is something that Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Marsh and Watson have only managed infrequently this series.

After lunch Rogers and Warner prospered, by the skin of their teeth. Things were happening with the Duke Ball that defied logic…yet the odd bounce, the alarming swing, the dropped catches all came and went and the 100 partnership appeared at the end of a long trial. Gone from the memory was the 60 run first innings, for which Australia at least had some excuses, so violent was the swing and seam…but England were just seducing Australia into a false sense of security in the 2nd dig.

The run rate was almost 5 runs per over, yet there was drama with almost every ball. Cracks in the wicket made the ball do odd things via up and down bounce, including a catch to third slip off Wood which was rejected via a no ball. No matter, Rogers was intent on destruction and he holed out to third slip in the next over from Stokes, wafting at an away swinger. Careless after such a great start.

Worse was to follow. Warner showed he does not have the technique to play the Duke Ball in England , holing out off his favourite hip flick to Broad off Stokes. He had been dropped twice, played and missed many times…and did not look like he had any idea of defence. Shaun Marsh came and went like he was intent on retirement from Test Cricket, again in the slips, again to Stokes. 0/113 to 3/136, then Broad rolled Smith like he owned him. It was simply diabolical batting, no technique, just wild-uncultured cricket from players who simply have not taught themselves defensive batting like England’s batters. Australia just have ignored how to play the percentages and how to defend the swinging and seaming ball in England by letting the ball come to them. For too many years this unprofessional attitude to defence has made Australian batting a laughing stock against good swing bowling and good spin bowling. It must change, and so must the batting coach.

The 4 batsmen who got out prior to tea need to take a long hard look at what they are doing with their defensive and offensive game. They play like world beaters on flat, unresponsive decks, but this was a good deck for batting, if you had any knowledge of how to leave the ball, to go WITH the spin and swing, and how to let the ball come to you. It was like throwing the Ashes into the sky.

The pattern of woe continued for Clarke, caught on the crease and edging to Bell via Cook’s hard hands. Then Voges and Nevill worked hard for a 50 run partnership, but Nevill never looked comfortable and was plumb padding up to Stokes. The Poms had 4 bowlers able to get prodigious swing, uneven bounce and seam…and it was a lot to ask of Australia in gloomy light under darkened skies with the lights on full blast. Johnson looked relieved when he had to leave after presenting Stokes with his 5th wicket.

The Duke has swung, bounced and seamed, at times alarmingly, throughout this series, none moreso than here in Nottingham…and games are ending in 2-3-4 days. If that was Andrew Strauss’ s plan, it has worked too well. The gate receipts are in danger of getting cut by one quarter. And the umpires seemed intent on making the batsmen play in what were gloomy and very difficult conditions for batting and seeing.

Thankfully at 7/241 the umps gave Voges ( 48*) and Starc (0*) the light and brought the crowd back for day 3. Stokes had almost single handedly broken Australia’s batting down, but it helps when Broad, Anderson, Finn and Wood can keep things tight and dangerous. Australia never had a moment’s respite, and while they were brave…they were well aware that the 1st innings had destroyed their chances…and the collapse from 0/113 to 4/136 broke the camel’s back.

The Ashes sad to say look gone…and the conditions in England have suited the home team as much as bouncy wickets have suited Australia down under.

ARTHUR PAGONIS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD
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Calmness Patrick. Calmness! You’ll have a conniption!
I defy you or anyone to face the English bowlers in the conditions presented last night, if indeed you or the knockers have the ability to hold a bat, and to score runs.
The facts are plain and clear and not contradictable. Australia won the toss and batted at Edgbaston and lost by a long way…and we lost the toss last night and were bowled out for 60.

There is no one in Australia, those who make wild statements or those who do not, those who can bat or who cannot, who could have prevented that batting collapse…or they surely would have been in the team!

Sometimes it hurts like hell to get beaten…but give credit where it is due. Andrew Strauss has picked a very good 16/17 players and I think used 13 of them in the Series only. Correct me if I am wrong, but only Balance and Anderson have had to miss Tests.

This test is not over…and the batters for Australia hopefully will get to bat again today. The wicket was rolled after Australia batted, the sun came out and baked it further, the clouds only once or twice came over and caused the sideways movement thru the air or off the pitch that was so alarming when we batted.

Also Mike Clarke is a hero, not a heal as you have painted him. He spoke honestly and openly. He tried his heart out to attack when those who had poked and prodded had fallen before him. He judged the situation correctly, but just failed by inches to get the ball over the slips. The catches of Stokes and Cook to remove Michael and Voges and the balls that got Voges, Pete Nevill, Dave Warner, Chris Rogers were beauties. Even the ones that got Shaun Marsh and all the tail moved off the seam and thru the air. We don’t see that in Australia often.

No, you were a little too strident in your criticism Patrick…but then so was Ian Healey…so you are in good company!

I announced my team for Australia in this Test at Trent Bridge and at Edgbaston prior to the game. My belief is that by not naming it, by not bowling first at Edgbaston, Australia are in a very, very deep hole trying to save the Ashes.

The team was…Warner, Rogers, Smith, S Marsh, Clarke, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins, Lyon. Mitch Marsh could have played at Edgbaston and batted at 6 after Lords because he did quite well, so Cummins could have missed out at Edgbaston legitimately….but I preferred him to Mitch because I thought he would create terror, and Mitch wouldn’t.

Is this a case of wise in hindsight? Not at all! The clue to this is aggression. Australia haven’t been as aggressive as I would like, or as aggressive as their captain wanted to be!

Michael Clarke has no say in who bowls or bats. He can call correctly as he did in Edgbaston, but if the selectors have told him to bat, as they did , then he had to bat….Game over!

Last night we had no option. We had to bat and Alistair Cook looked like a genius in sending Australia in after winning the toss. Game and Ashes almost over!

Remember the result at Lords? So we follow up that pizzling of England at Lords by not attacking with 4 genuine quicks and bowling after winning the toss at Edgbaston in perfect bowling conditions…and we fall in a horrible heap.

We did that because Australian Selectors and Captains always bat first. They very, very, very rarely even consider bowling first. And because of that quirky taboo…we go down the gurgler????

Either Michael Clarke learns to judge the spin of the coin in the air and call correctly, or we lose the Ashes…..wow, some responsibility!

And remember this. Australia has dined out on Stu Broad and James Anderson in Australia…and believed that the England quicks could not hurt them too badly in England. They didn’t count on the weather or the magnificent expertise of Anderson, Broad, Finn, Wood and Stokes…not to mention the work of all other England players.

England have used the conditions and the rub of the green perfectly…and we can’t change that now. We just must battle on with pride and purpose….as hard as that may be!

PS I would hate to have faced England’s quicks at Edgbaston or Trent Bridge in those conditions…and if our best bats can’t score in them, what chance would you or I have, or any other Aussie bat for that matter?