Coming in late but having seen snippets of the day, good to see it’s well balanced. Both sides have had their moments and as some have said, the weather may make the biggest statement. Onwards & upwards.
Can't see them getting a lead of 150, but if they did it would take them into session three. I reckon they might be bowled out for a lead of 20 or 30 half an hour or so after lunch. England would then need to bat for three full sessions to set them something like 370 on a pitch likely to be doing plenty for the spinners. Assuming no time lost to weather, the Aussies would have plenty of time to get the runs - but would they have the minerals?
Hey Stroller mate. Australia's built on minerals. Everywhere you look, gold, silver, tin, nickel, aluminium, copper. Just ask the Gina or Twiggy. Unless weather intervenes, I reckon Oz will cruise this one. Just a feeling mate. Could be wrong. Maybe even "cocky", but feel it in my boner, ....er, BONES (farkin' autocorrect).
Unfortunately it looks like rain there from about 1pm till stumps tomorrow and Tuesday looks like rain all day ! If those predictions are correct then it's gonna be a draw.
And the kiwis sent Brendon to attempt to take revenge. Ohh, you guys. You'll never forgive and forget. You've probably written that into your constitution. "Thou shalt NEVER forget February 1, 1981. Thā convict demons, Greg and Trevor Chappell, along with sē befouled centuries old practice, deprived our most prolific batsman, thy Kiwi Cricket Colossus, Brian (Sir Garfield Sobers) McKechnie, the opportunity, nigh, the lay down misère of hitting a six off the last ball, in order to win the third match in the World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Hole Ground. On top of þys, we must never forget the preposterous earlier decision to NOT dismiss sē evil Greg Chappell when our Saint Martin Snedden LEGALLY and HONESTLY caught sē devil when he was on 58. Even their own Richie Benaud proclaimed, "That is one of the best catches I have ever seen in my life". 'Nough Said!"
Are talking about the English, Australian or the New Zealand crims who wished they were playing an Ashes series?
Facts are, every country cheats, but we Aussies are an honest bunch who fess up to it. ( we’re still learning ) The English dismiss any attempts to lay blame at them, the Indians, Pakis and South Adrian’s cheat in their sleep and the NZ’ers have come from nowhere to be level pegging with all. Have l missed anyone? To all & sundry, as you were……
I don't disagree with any of that apart from the Aussie mentality. Don't forget that, as long as they don't lose a test they don't have to win any to retain the Ashes. For that reason they will bat as long as possible. If they need to win a test then that attitude would change imo. It is hugely enjoyable already, but I just find it hard to completely commit to Bazball, even though I have seen the remarkable results it has produced thus far. Maybe I need it to work against the Aussies before I'm fully converted.
Alright Didley, that's more like it. I like your spunk. Back in your seats guys, the boldness kind and not the other. P.S. Just don't mention Sandpapergate. I just mentioned it, but I think I got away with it.
A short history of Aussie cheating From 'sandpapergate' to that underarm delivery, we assess the scandals that have belied the gent The history of Australian cheating at cricket is short. In general Australians have played hard and fair. They have set the global standard for excellence in cricket and also for being gracious in defeat. Yet there have been some spectacular lapses from grace, and the rest of the world might as well make fun of them, in addition to understanding the serious point: there is a line which should not be crossed, whether the Laws apply or not. The recent accusations by former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis of long-held suspicions of Australian cheating during the 2018 sandpaper scandal raises the question: how many times have Australia gone too far? The most famous cases 1. Greg Chappell ordered his younger brother Trevor to bowl an under-arm delivery for the last ball of a one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1981, when New Zealand needed six runs to tie, in order to prevent Brian McKechnie hitting it for six. Prime Ministers were quickly involved. NZ’s PM Robert Muldoon spoke for many when he called it “the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket.” He added: “I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow.” What the two Chappell brothers did was unethical - against the spirit of the game - but it was not illegal. The laws then did not stop the bowler switching to under-arm at any time. The loophole has since been closed so that both captains have to agree before the start of a match for under-arm bowling to be used. please log in to view this image 2. Sandpapergate. A national outcry within Australia joined the chorus of disapproval from around the cricket world in March 2018. While fielding during Australia’s third Test match against South Africa at Cape Town, the short-leg Cameron Bancroft was seen to be using something to alter the condition of the ball illegally: a piece of yellow sandpaper. All hell broke loose. Bancroft received a nine-month suspension from “all international and domestic cricket”; Australia’s vice-captain David Warner was suspended for one year from international and domestic cricket, and never to be considered as an Australian captain in future, although this ban may soon be lifted; while the captain Steve Smith was suspended for one year, and lost the captaincy, but has since been re-appointed on a one-off basis when Pat Cummins had to be isolated for covid last winter. Bancroft later suggested that the Australian bowlers knew what was going on, but as these bowlers included Cummins, and were irreplaceable, the lid on that investigation was lifted no further by Cricket Australia. Such was the overall condemnation within Australia that the Board commissioned a review of the culture of the national cricket team to sanitise their image. The Wade incident suggests that work remains to be done. The oldest case In the third and deciding Test of the 1882-3 series at Sydney, Australia’s number one bowler Fred Spofforth inserted metal blades in the heels of his boots and ran down the pitch in his followthrough. Having cut up the pitch, Spofforth switched ends and bowled into the rough which he had deliberately caused. England were incensed: their captain the Honourable Ivo Bligh wrote a letter to his father saying Spofforth “cut up the wicket more disgracefully than I have ever seen done before” and “our fellows were naturally very angry about it.” Officially he made no complaint as he did not wish to antagonise his hosts, the Melbourne Cricket Club, who had funded their tour. As so often, there are two sides to this incident. The Australian players felt the England bowler Dick Barlow had started this practice of cutting up the pitch on their tour of England the previous summer. Tempers were so heated when the England players came off the field after winning that Sydney Test - and the inaugural Ashes series 2-1 - there was pushing and shoving between them and Spofforth who had just been batting. Advertisement The biggest exponent Former Australian Test captain Warwick Armstrong, who weighed 20 stone when he led the 1921 tour of England. “He cheerfully played as a professional when it suited and was not averse to overt gamesmanship, verbal aggression, intimidation of umpires, disputation over playing conditions, even cheating the odd batsman out,” according to Armstrong’s biographer Gideon Haigh. Australia’s answer, in other words, to WG Grace. Ugliest case When supposedly throwing the ball to the wicketkeeper, the fielder would aim directly at the batsman and force him to jump out of the way. Steve Waugh’s Test team made a habit of this practice around the year 2000, to cause physical as well as “mental disintegration”, before the ICC banned it. Most blatant case Matthew Wade takes first prize for obstructing the field in the T20 international at Perth, even though he got away with it. He looked to his left then stuck out his left arm to stop Mark Wood reaching the ball. The Australian television commentators made no criticism of Wade, but Telegraph readers say the vast majority of Australians who saw the incident disapproved. Wade, however, was not dismissed for obstructing the field because England’s captain Jos Buttler did not appeal to the umpires. These “optics” were so bad - a batsman getting away with obstructing a fielder forcibly - that the Laws must be updated. Umpires are the sole judges of unfair play in certain specified circumstances: this has to change so that umpires adjudicate in cases like Wade’s whether there is an appeal or not. Millions were watching: what happens if everyone starts doing what Wade did? Cricket ceases to be a non-contact sport, and the worldwide damage to its popularity is incalculable. England – and others – have also done their fair share of cheating But let us not get on too high a horse. England too have had their inglorious moments. Australians can justifiably argue that WG Grace started cheating in international cricket when he ran out Sammy Jones in the Oval Test of 1882 when the ball was dead: Jones had just completed a run and walked down the pitch to pat down a piece of mud. This perceived cheating incensed the Australian team, especially Spofforth. Most players are tempted to explore the limits of legality when they are desperate for their country to win, then the Laws play catch-up. Thus England ceased to bowl Bodyline after intimidatory bowling was made illegal. After Mike Brearley posted every fielder, including the wicketkeeper, around the boundary in the Sydney one-day international of 1979-80 - when West Indies needed three runs off the final ball and, like Greg Chappell, he wanted to stop it going to the boundary - semi-circles were introduced, within which a certain number of fielders had to be placed. Throwing has been another cause of worldwide controversy, provoking charges of cheating. Ball-tampering began when bowlers in Pakistan, dismayed by the lack of bounce and lateral movement, pioneered reverse-swing - and techniques of roughing up the ball on one side (Shahid Afridi tried biting it). Post-war Mankading - running out the non-striker for backing up too far - has become the speciality of Indian spinners. Of all the Test-playing nations, relative to the length of time they have played, the award for the cleanest record arguably deserves to go to West Indies.
Moeen Ali fined 25 per cent of match fee after spraying substance on fingers during first Test against Australia; off-spinner took two wickets on Saturday….
England are already paying dearly for the decision to not pick Foakes. I really like Johnny, but he is really struggling with his keeping now, apart from that excellent catch to get ****mychain. It remains to be seen whether Johnny's extra runs make up for the missed chances that Foakes would probably have taken. Lots of spin already this morning. Aussies now only 63 behind after 20 minutes.
Well farkme Kiwi. Been doin' a lotta research there. And a bit of cut and paste. Probably couldn't be bothered to read it though, eh? Just like me then. When you've lived through it, it gets humdrum and only a worth a look in when you've obviously still got an axe to grind. The underarm incident was quite unsavory and I hated that Greg gave little bro. Trev. the rough end of the pineapple by ordering him to bowl underarm, even though a highly unlikely six would have only resulted in a replay. I reckon 99% of Aussies were with NZ on that call. Let it go mate. Move on and please take back Rusty. There's something to Crowe on about. (Bugger Carey out, please check front foot ump.)
