Will Cuckson's Roar Profile

I think he’d struggle to get a consistent shot at keeping for WA, considering they’ve got the likes of Whiteman, Inglis and Philippe already ahead of him. Wouldn’t be a bad idea though, as you’ve said because of his consistency in the middle order.

Cameron Bancroft keeps getting out in the same, weird way

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2019

Probably makes sense that he got a suspension considering he didn’t last week, but it seems like this has happened to justify giving Hawkins a suspension (i.e so he doesn’t have much of an argument regarding the lack of suspensions for Naitanui and Greene last week).

Toby Greene cops one-week MRO suspension

Except that Marsh is from WA.

The Australian cricket selectors are back to their ridiculous ways

I know we’re talking about whether or not he edged it (in which case I don’t think he did), but I’m not actually too sure about whether or not it hit him outside the line. Looks like it should be umpire’s call at least.

Did the third umpire make one of the biggest howlers of the Ashes?

And the AFL wonders why there are such high levels of umpire abuse. Absolute shocker.

Dylan Grimes comes under fire for staging to cost Brisbane a shot on goal

Why of all the other 17 AFL presidents/clubs should Eddie/Collingwood receive special treatment? It’s bad enough that the Cats had to play at the MCG after earning a ‘home’ final, what a joke. Collingwood won and he still found something to whinge about.

'We had an agreement': Eddie McGuire blasts Cats for wearing their home strip

I’d say it was intentional. You can see Merrett smile at 0:45 after he pulls Naitanui’s hair.

Nic Naitanui absolutely fires up after getting his hair grabbed

This stat alone speaks for Smith’s incredible batting ability – He’s only played 4 innings in tests this year, and is already the leading run-scorer and has scored the most hundreds in the world for 2019.

Australia dominate as England fall apart at Old Trafford

I guess that’s why there was such a strong case for Khawaja to open…

Warner has lost the plot – and his off stump

Getting the same feels as that Kohli net session before the Adelaide test last year, and we know what happened after that one! ????

Training vision suggests the Aussies shouldn't bowl short to Ben Stokes

“Very deserving winner of the Rising Star”
Then why didn’t you vote for him?

Luke Darcy reveals why he didn't give Sam Walsh maximum Rising Star votes

Hi Macca,
Whilst I don’t agree with everything Maxine has said I can concur on the award’s prestige – you’ve said yourself that the award is voted by the players who come up against him every week, and as far as the honour and esteem that comes with the award, being voted as ‘most valuable’ by your peers would be pretty hard to match. FYI the article also mentions Cripps’ views on the award – “Just to get voted by your peers who you play against – there’s probably not a more (prestigious award) in terms of respect.”

I do think you’ve hit the nail on the head though regarding what the award measures, as the players who vote see what kind of value each player has to their respective team.

Let’s also not forget that he polled 2nd in the ‘Best Captain’ award – another big achievement when the guy who won it is from the reigning premiers!

Cripps named AFL MVP

It’s testament to his ability as a footballer, considering how much he won by ahead of those players whose teams are playing finals.
Just goes to show how good he actually is and what he could be capable of when the Blues rise up the ladder and do start playing finals.

Don’t mind the sound of that actually.

Impatient Carlton risk derailing a great rebuild

Gil can mind his own business next time, shouldn’t have said anything regarding this in the first place.

Stephen Coniglio signs massive deal with GWS

I’d say Khawaja at the moment. It’s a bit harsh but makes the most sense given his inability to convert starts so far this series.
If they hadn’t dropped Bancroft before this test I would say drop Bancroft and elevate Khawaja to open but you can’t drop Harris after one test where the majority of the batting line-up flopped.

Australia need not panic, the Ashes are there to be won

As you said Josh, Rowell and Anderson are great friends and I think it’ll do wonders for the Suns and their chances of retaining the players if they are able to play alongside each other.
Since they’re the most likely to go pick 1 & 2 , I think the AFL need to have a look at that and for the sake of the club award the priority pick. Even if they weren’t the players most likely to go there, I think the Suns still need a priority pick because of the amount of time they’ve spent languishing at the bottom of the ladder (while GWS as a newer club have had more evident success).

Gold Coast will get a priority pick at the expense of 17 other clubs

Why not? In terms of team players, he’s the kind of guy you want, averaging 2 goals and 7 score involvements per game. I’d definitely take him over the other big forwards in the squad because of his ability to share the ball around as well as score himself.

AFL unveils 40-man All Australian squad for 2019

Fair inclusion, he’s equal third in the league for goals, equal second for score involvements and third for marks inside 50.

That was the good and bad thing about the whole ball tampering saga, CA stood up and had the nerve to ban the 3 players who infringed, where any other cricket board in the world wouldn’t have (and hadn’t previously) done the same.
The frustrating part about it is that if CA hadn’t have banned them, we wouldn’t be worrying about this to begin with. I think the whole year-long ban part of it only accentuated the ‘cheat’ taunts from other countries’ fans.

Stokes revives Ashes with extraordinary match-winning ton

Cummins hardly appealed, I think it was just Paine’s desperation for a wicket which led him to review.

Exactly. It’s a bit more common in fast-moving ball sports (i.e AFL/NRL) to say that the umpire is favouring one side, but this decision seemed strangely England-oriented.

How a botched run out, another umpire howler and a burned review cost Australia the Test

Would the selectors consider dropping Paine to keep Khawaja in the team? It’s a left-field option, but makes sense considering the Aussies’ desperate need for extra batting depth.
I don’t think Paine’s done much behind the stumps that Wade wouldn’t have done, and his batting has left a lot to be desired.
The main issue with this is who would captain, with Smith still banned from captaining, Wade and Head seem obvious choices. Khawaja could also captain but I doubt he would do so considering the state of his spot in the team. Otherwise, Cummins or Hazlewood could be considered but making a bowler captain doesn’t tend to be too common.
In the tour game, I’d give Wade the gloves and let each of those 5 have a shot at captaining to test the options ahead of the next test.

Australia third Ashes Test player ratings: Labuschagne and Hazlewood the best performers in stunning loss

Paine could always redeem himself by making a game-turning DRS review…

I’d love to blame the loss on poor luck and terrible umpiring, but that can’t be the sole basis of such a loss.

We ultimately lost because of the non-LBW decision, but before that it was Paine’s poor review which cost us the ability to be able to review that. The review came after half-hearted appeals from most of the team, but he seemed too desperate for a wicket and not willing to wait for the right opportunity to come. His captaincy has been bipolar, whilst it’s been excellent at times at other crucial points it’s been very poor.
It’s hard for the coaches to do and is a very left field call but I’d almost consider dropping Paine (he has been underperforming with bat and inconsistent with the gloves as well) to bring Smith back in and making Head, Wade or even Khawaja captain.

As for the missed run-out, there were a couple of basic skill errors – first the throw which should have been over the stumps to Lyon, and second Lyon’s fumble as a result of the missed throw. There were a couple of other tough fielding chances that went down too, but at such a stage in the game every player needs to be ready for whatever chances may come.

Australia’s batting had been poor throughout the test and there hadn’t been enough substantial contributions from other batsmen. The first innings needed at least two others to score at least 30 each, and the second needed another one or two fifties scored given the state of the pitch.

I’m hardly an expert and definitely can’t speak for how much pressure faces a team in that situation, but improvement in all of these facets could’ve been helpful in enabling Australia to win. Fortunately there are still 2 remaining matches and we only need 1 more win to retain the Ashes, but the third test should’ve been the opportunity to secure it.

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