Some of those players have been loaned out from their European clubs to clubs in the A-League say, so I am still counting them as playing in Europe.

Williams is playing in a second division club in Europe, and Milligan isn’t playing in Europe. I am setting a standard which I expect players in this country to aspire to.

Hello WoobliesFan,

I agree with most of what you are saying, and England were definitely not the next dominant side in world cricket, and you could argue that no side has been dominant since that great Australian side. I don’t necessarily think that Lehmann is a legend, but has got Australia back to the attitude they used to have. However, Lehmann has shown everybody that Mickey Arthur was not a good international coach at all, not allowing players to reach their full potential for both South Africa and Australia. Arthur I think is better coaching children rather than adults because that was the way he treated adults involved in both the South African and Australian set-ups.

without basis instead of with basis.

I am not trying to belittle Jonathan Agnew, or anyone else for that matter. The view that he had, and what others have had on exactly the same issue has not been based on true logic, and that is difficult for some people to understand and comprehend. I have written real stories before, and many people could argue that this is a real story. I am just very disappointed by someone who I respect saying things about a player who has achieved so much in his career that is completely without logic, and with basis in trying to solve the problems with the England Cricket Team. I think the truth of what has happened on this tour for England is too hard for him and others to take, and they all had a bad day at the office, and are getting their just deserves in terms of criticism.

Hello Sheek,

You are 100% correct about the attitude and approach from the Australian team, and that England need to find a group of players that can play the game with the right attitude and approach to be successful at this level. As for Carberry, he needs to find the guts and determination required to succeed at this level. At the moment, I cannot see that through his eyes.

Carberry may have shown a lot, but at this level, Test Match Cricket, you must show a lot more than a lot to succeed at this level, and so far he hasn’t. You may say he is unlucky, but luck can determine whether you have success or failure. This can be determined by technique, attitude and approach among other things. So far, it is obvious just by his technique, attitude and approach that his so called ‘unlucky dismissals’ are no fluke.

Kev, I can understand your view and your frustration, but it does not answer the question on where England are at as a cricket team, and how Pietersen fits wthin this picture. Pietersen has always been aggressive as a batsman. He has taken on Warne, McGrath, and others, and he challenged them to raise their games to a higher level. You might say that this resulted in Australia winning 5 – 0 in the 2006/07 series, but the reason why England lost that series was because the other players in the team couldn’t match the guts and determination of Pietersen, and that is why they are in this situation now, with the weakness finally being seen by some people due to Australia’s ability to shut down Pietersen with such tactics, which has been executed with A+++ perfection. It hurts to face the facts in such a brutal way, but they all must be faced.

I do too, and I think that Smith will become less fidgety, and as a result, his batsmanship will become one of less risk, resulting in a career average of around 50.

Your 100% right Chris, and I thought that three simple and easy to follow formats were enough, but it seems as if they want to confuse everyone, including themselves, which is very disappointing.

In terms of batting position, it is mental. There should be little difference in batting positions, particular No. 4 and No. 5, where it is generally a similar role.

If Football Federation Australia could attract Arsene Wenger to coach our national team, he would be a fantastic choice due to his ability to get every bit of talent out of players, and his playing style is certainly what we are looking for.

I think Volvo Polestar Racing will actually surprise the V8 Supercars pit lane next year, and I think they will be more competitive than what Garry Rogers Motorsport has been so far this year. They now know how to best exploit the new technical regulations, which Nissan Motorsport and Erebus Motorsport didn’t know with their new marques in relation to their previous marques that they were with, and they have got full factory backing from Volvo, so from a financial side, they are very much a top team now.

They also have a very good driver line-up, with Scott McLaughlin, who is already one of the best drivers, in terms of driving ability in the V8 Supercars pit lane, and Alexandre Premat, who although on ultimate speed is definitely not the fastest, he is one of the best drivers in terms of developing a good race car, and building a good team environment. Premat has played an integral role in turning around the fortunes of GRM after the rather dismal 2012 season, which reached rock bottom when Premat was selected not to do qualifying at Bathurst, and was left out for the Gold Coast event, which at that event after the start carnage on the Saturday, Rogers was selling old and broken parts of his cars the next day in the paddock area, and the horror season came to a close with Premat being dragged out of his car due to severe dehydration in Sydney.

Premat has had a massive influence in developing the car for 2013, and his experiences with top teams in Europe, such as ASM, ART Grand Prix, and Audi has enabled him to bring that successful culture with him to implement into GRM. He also has experience driving with top level young talent, such as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the GP2 Series in 2005 and 2006 respectively, so he knows how to mentor top talented younger drivers, which has benefitted McLaughlin and will continue to benefit him. It is these strengths that will see Volvo Polestar Racing be a success next year if Premat has anything to do with it.

In terms of the car, the aerodynamics should be very strong, and I believe the engine factor is overrated, and if there is a deficiency with the engine, it can be compensated in other areas, such as superior car set-up.

If everything goes to plan, Volvo Polestar Racing should be winning races in 2014, especially with McLaughlin, with a potential championship challenge there for the taking. It would be great for the sport if this happens, in terms of getting more manufacturers into the sport, and make every other manufacturer work harder in developing their equipment.

Have you actually watched him play?

I disagree with you. The small things in a young player are the difference between challenging for slams, and not challenging for slams. Remember that he is a tall man, and that he can use his height and reach to return difficult balls, and if he gets a body serve, he can block the serve back, and then use his great baseline game to win the point more often than not, due to his better court position.

Remember that is still 20 years old, about to turn 21.

Agree, and I would be willing to sign a petition for that to happen.

I think all fast bowlers are physically fragile to a certain extent because of the job they do. I feel that they would remove Watson from the side, if they had another all-rounder with a good batting record.

It is probably too late to fix things dramatically for the Test series over in England, hopefully we can avoid a 5 – 0 series loss, but England definitely won’t be winning 5 – 0 in Australia, especially due to our great records in Brisbane and Perth.

However, we need to make some changes for the home series against England with our batting for sure.

Opening Batsman: I feel the openers should be Phillip Hughes and Jordan Silk. Hughes has been muddled about for quite a while since he made his Test debut, and people saying opening the batting isn’t his best position, but he is very much suited to opening the batting. And, when he makes runs, he make plenty of runs. Silk has shown a good amount of promise, and although I haven’t seen him play, he does seem to place a high value on his wicket, and is willing to bat for a long time, which he did in this year’s Sheffield Shield final, making 108 runs from 358 deliveries. I feel he could be a good choice for Australia.

No.3 and No. 4: The batsman at No. 3 and No. 4 should be Usman Khawaja and Michael Clarke. Khawaja has a good solid batsman on paper, good defence and he can hit boundaries, but he needs to learn how to rotate the strike better, so the bowlers can’t execute their plans on him effectively, thus placing a higher value on his wicket. Clarke is the best batsman in this side by a country mile, and since he is the best player of spin in the side, Clarke should bat at No.4.

No.5, No.6, No.7 and No.8: This section is a tricky one to select on. The wicketkeeping spot is between Brad Haddin and Matthew Wade. Then the other spots are between Steve Smith, Ashton Agar, James Faulkner, Ben Cutting, and the loser in the wicketkeeping battle.

The fast bowling battery is world class, and anyone that the selectors select should do a great job.

This is going to be a tougher task for Nadal than most people think or believe. Nadal has to overcome history to win his 12th Grand Slam title. He is attempting to become the first man to win a Grand Slam tournament 8 times, and he is attempting to become the first man to win at least one slam for 9 consecutive years. Of course, people may say records are meant to be broken, but there has to be a reason why in the long history of the game why these records haven’t been broken. Ferrer will definitely fight very hard as this may be his only chance of winning a Grand Slam title. He will play out of his skin, and will give a great account of himself. Ferrer has got nothing to lose and must play that way to win against Nadal.

I was making light of Singo’s behaviour today, not on Cox Plate day, or before that.

It is Gai’s choice to select a barrier that would suit both horses, and she obviously felt that Pierro needed the inside barrier more than More Joyous, and she felt that she could overcome a wide barrier. If she had the opportunity to put them next to each other, she would have.

However, what is even worse is that you are seemingly promoting Singo’s behaviour today and in the recent past as acceptable. I just don’t get it.

John Singleton’s claims are beyond outrageous. This was all started when Pierro got the barrier that Singo wanted for More Joyous in the Cox Plate. It is just bad luck, and I don’t think she would have finished third like Pierro did in that race. He just lost it. More Joyous was nowhere near her best today, she was given a perfect ride, and she finished second last. She should be retired and sent to stud to make babies.

However, what Singo said about Tom Waterhouse was disgraceful, and Singo should be severely fined for bringing the sport of racing into disrepute, and for defaming Tom.

Singo deserves to be in the position that he is in now, and should have a very long hard look at himself. He should know better.

GROW UP!!!!!

I think she would have been spelled after the TJ Smith Stakes, the question was whether they, or specifically Moody wanted another campaign from the horse. This, along with his reluctance of wanting to go back to England were the determining factors in the decision. In saying that, I would have gone one more run to equal those records listed in this article, which would have placed Black Caviar in my mind as the greatest horse of all time.

A great article. I think you were Nelly’s best friend, and I am sure she would recognise you as her greatest friend. All the charcteristics that you have described about her off the track is what made her an unbelievable success on the track. Nelly never wanted to get beat, she always wanted to win, she wanted to know what was happening. It is a quality that sets the true champions apart from the horses that are great, but not up to the extraordinary level that Nelly operated at. You, Nelly, Moody and Nolen are true legends of the sport, there is no doubt about that.

You forgot Doomben.

Yes, players should be playing in high standard leagues, or footballing countries if we want to be successful at the very highest level. I would select my national team by first selecting players who are playing in what I consider high standard leagues or countries, whether that includes the A League or not. After this, I will select youth because you can push them easily to higher and higher levels of play.