That ol' Chestnut

It's on again over at "The Corridor". Warne vs Murali - and they beat me to the punch with a poll I was planning - so get on over there and vote for Warney...

A couple of sensational results

Darren Lehmann proves yet again, this time in his last game that he is a true champion who never got the opportunities he deserved. He just scored 126 from 104 balls in what is his final domestic limited overs game! (His side, South Australia - chased down WA's total of 305, losing just 2 wickets, with 3 overs to spare!)

"Boof" is purely a victim of timing, and perhaps the some dreaded bias in the Australian cricket selection ranks. Had he been born in any other Test playing nation, he'd most likely have been a Test Captain with a far longer and more illustrious record than he has - and it's not that bad anyway!

And the Vics!  After a great start to the Pura Cup this season, the wheels apparently fell off when the were dismissed for 113 and trailed on the first innings of their match against Queensland by 228. In a complete and utter form reversal, the Vics managed 5 declared for 581 in a second innings led by Brad Hodge (a couple of weeks late you could say, showing again, he can perform when the pressure is off, having missed out when it counted) who scored 286 not out. It must be said, by this stage, Queensland were the walking wounded missing 3 front line bowlers including Noftke who took 6 for 33 in the first innings. Anyway, after the declaration Queensland were rolled for 77 handing the Vics outright victory by 281 runs.

Shane Watson for Queensland, did not bowl, and managed a pair - 4 balls faced in each innings - it looks like a long way back for the golden boy of Australian cricket.

Class Act!

Kumar Sangakkara's - 192 was not only a brilliantly entertaining knock to end a fairly boring Test Match, but what a class act he showed he is, when offered what appeared to be an apology from umpire Rudi Koertzen after the game (for his incorrect decision to rob Kumar of a well deserved double ton) - he simply tossed his head back as if to say. "yeh, you get that" - he was 192!!! Well done Kumar.

Can't wait to watch more of him in the ODIs this season.

That knock (and then reflecting on some similarly aggressive and dominant Pietersen and Flintoff innings in 2005) really brought home to me how entertaining it is to watch really dominating performances.

I've often disagreed with people who say they tire of watching the Aussies dominate opposition sides so regularly. While it is true that the continued one sidedness of all these matches it's bad for cricket in general I can say honestly - to me at least - there is an attraction of watching purely dominating performances. It's just that most of these - lately, have been by Australians. I loved to see Warne or McGrath return ridiculous bags of 7 or 8 wickets for next to nothing, Ponting return strings of 100s, Hussey average over 80! But equally, Pietersen's two memorable 158s (The Oval and Adelaide), Flintoff's amazing power with bat AND ball in 2005, the West Indies frightening pace quartet of the 80s, and this latest addition - Sangakkara's spectacular double ton (almost - I'm gonna credit him with it anyway)  are just brilliant to watch.

Granted, English supporters will tell me, when it's your side on the receiving end again, and again, it wears thin.  I am old enough to remember the days though, when the West Indies used to tour Australia nearly every summer, and regularly wrap up the first two tests in a total of about 6 days, and that's if we were playing well!

So, what are some of your most memorable displays of individual dominance? I'm thinking, McGrath at the Lords - 2005 - 5 for 20 odd late on the firs tday, McGrath at Lords, 2001....just McGrath at Lords really.  Shane Warne's arrival with 7 wickets on the final day vs the West Indies, at the MCG. Malcolm Marshall terrifying the Aussies out in the mid to late 80s. Curlty Ambrose, 7 wickets for nothing in a Test somewhere, can't recall where...there are bound to be heaps of great memories...let's have 'em.

Australia vs Sri Lanka - Second Test - Day 1 - 5!

So the second test of the token two Test series gets underway in Hobart, on a pitch that commentators feel, batsmen should pay a toll to bat on - "a road", in cricket vernacular. 

If Jayawardene was possibly on the wrong end of a "bad toss to win" in Brisbane, he was most definitely on the wrong end of a "shocking toss to lose" in Hobart. Ponting bats and after two days it's more of the same. Australia amassing a huge total - Sri Lanka on the ropes and look like following on - and it could've been, but Ponting was obviously keen to bowl last on this track - if it was going to do anything, ever, it might just be on day 5, so why expose your batting to it. As it turns out, they could play 12 days before this pitch cracks.

Anyway, Australia poured on more runs, and declared with plenty of runs in hand, just enough to tempt Sri Lanka to dream of a historic victory, and also, just in time to deny Murali, the wickets to break Warne's record on Aussie soil - saving the Aussie fans from being forced to publicly acknowledge his milestone.

As the game appeared to be fading, in front of a small, quiet crowd, devoid of atmosphere - we slowly started to witness the freak ability and run of form, from Kumar Sangakkara. As his partners tumbled around him, to soft dismissals, stupid run outs and the like, Sangakkara turned on a display of batting that showed all present, just why he's made just so many runs this year. Amid the collapse, the Aussies spread out to give him the single, yet still he found boundaries. He looked impenetrable. Storms closed in on Hobart. Sangakkara continued to score at will and closed in on his third double century - awesome batsman.

Sri Lanka lost any chance with soft dismissals early on day 5. Australia of course outplayed them and Sri Lanka's inevitable collapse simply provided us what we've come to expect in Australian Test Matches - but with some resolve, they could've escaped with a draw here. With some support for Sangakkara, both from his team mates, and umpire Rudi Koertzen, who knows what could've happened? As it was, Australia run out easy winners.

What do Australia take out of this match?

Firstly, Stuart MacGill - struggling most probably due to a knee injury, bowled full toss, after no-ball after full toss after long hop, and showed us just how brilliant Shane Warne really was.  MacGill suffered like leg-spinners around the world can suffer, it's the hardest art in the game to perfect and control, MacGill lost that control (on a pitch giving him nothing) - he's human! but Warne...perhaps wasn't. Has MacGill just given selectors the excuse they've been looking for, to squeeze Brad Hogg into the side against India? Time will tell - at this point, I suspect so.

Secondly, Brett Lee - for years the tear away quick, the young buck, with the wise old bull, Glenn McGrath standing over his shoulder steering the ship - so to speak. Now, as one of the seasoned campaigners Lee bowled with pace for sure, but with control and maturity - he looks like he wants to pick up his old mates role and lead the bowling into the Aussie's next era. He took crucial wickets during this match, and, contrasting many previous outings, kept the runs down.  He's got a couple of mates too! Mitchell Johnson came of age, with two crucial wickets in two balls in the first session of day 5, and Stuart Clark just continued to look more and more McGrath like as he went.

Under the pressure of the Sangakkara onslaught and some swashbuckling tail-end fun and games, we did start to see some chinks? The game plan seemed to disappear. A hint of that "Ashes 2005" desperation started to appear. I really think this was just anxiousness to wind up the game however - when the match was there to be won, the Aussies came up with the goods. Tendulka and his fellow Indians will have noticed with interest though, the Aussies bowling performance on the last day, when really, the pressure was on for the only time in this series.

Maybe it should be called, the Warne VS Muralidaran Cup

Murali and Warne in a slanging match - this ought to be fun.

Murali is obviously still very sensitive about the chucking issue - which is natural especially while he's here in Australia where the general public and even the press aren't as careful not to offend him, as they are elsewhere.

In a comment that is more typical of Warne, than anyone else, he used the phrase, "I am very disappointed"... a line Warne has trotted out plenty of times in the past. Interesting, but all Warne actually says is, an "in-match analysis" would "offer peace of mind" - an excellent point if you ask me. What has a laboratory test got to do with anything anyway? - a test which the doosra failed first up anyway.

I'm all for it, take random samples of "in-match" bowling, over the next 12 months - if he passes all of them, I'll stop banging on about this, but until then, in mine and many others minds, the record Murali is about to obtain, will always be tainted.

Australia vs Sri Lanka - First Test - Day 2 and 3

Nassar Hussein eat your heart out. At one point on Day 2 - just before Michael Hussey fell, Australia were 3 for 461. Jayawardene was most probably ruing even winning the toss in the first place. At least if he'd lost it, this would've been a little more out of his control. But rest assured Mahela, you're not the first and won't be the last side, to watch Australia amass such a total.

At tea the stage was set for a Symonds/Gilchrist cameo, and a 600 plus first innings total, but as it turned out, Gilchrist wasn't even required. Symonds definitely turned up for his part of the bargain though! 53 not out, while Clarke went about knocking up his second highest test score, and you'd have to say, there was only going to be one winner in this match.

Then, in their reply, at 2 down by the end of the day, Sri Lanka were all but out of it.

An early wicket on Day 3, a small fight back then a predicable collapse saw Sri Lanka following on. Ricky Ponting keener to fight for an extra day's rest, rather than rest bowlers for awhile as he has in the past.

By the end of Day 3, Sri Lanka had dropped another 5 wickets, still 122 behind, and in real danger of not taking the game past lunch on Day 4.

With more signs of the off field trouble in Sri Lankan cricket emerging, I guess it's a credit to them they put up this much of a fight.. Let's hope that nonsense is put to bed quickly, because as the West Indies can tell you, off field  unrest will soon rot away at the team's on-field performances. (I know very little about these off field problems but it doesn't sound good does it?)

Australia vs Sri Lanka - First Test - Day 1

CricInfo reports that Sri Lanka are optimistic and that they "had reason to feel pleased" - Frankly, I can't see why - warning, blogger's curse coming up!

Sri Lanka dropped three catches, two at least which were crucial. Catches will go down, of course. I'm not knocking them for that, but to feel pleased, when you've dropped Mike Hussey on 13 (and he's still there mind you), and helped a rookie opener on his way to his first test ton (more on that in a second), well, it's ridiculous.

Sri Lanka won the toss and put Australia in - that in itself quite acceptable given the conditions, in fact Ricky Ponting may well have done the same thing. (I heard reports that said he would have.) But to end a shortened day, where you've put the opposition in, with the side 3 for 242 isn't great. Hussey and Clarke are in,  with Symonds and Gilchrist still to come! Sri Lanka have to bat last now too - my money is on Australia to win comfortably from here. They are by no means out of this match, and Murali will be a big factor in the first session on Day 2, so they needn't be disappointed, but not "pleased".

After a little conjecture over just who would take the vacated opening spot, Jacques, in the true opportunistic fashion that has characterised all of the holders of recently won Test spots in the Australian side, grabbed his chance with both hands (if the same could be said for first slipper Mahela Jayawardene, I might not be writing this right now) - like Symonds, Hussey and Stuart Clark before him, Jacques rewarded the selector's and captain's faith, with a test century! People will say it wasn't the best 100 ever made, but I say, there's no such thing as a bad one. He fought hard early (in fact 34 balls to get off the mark), then slowly, his natural game took over - in fact 14 boundaries I believe. I caught the highlights and there were some classic shots amongst them! So Australia's formula, for turning out Test players, strikes again. A good long apprenticeship, a taste, support from the skipper, then perfect timing on the part of the selectors, and he we are, a replacement for Langer is in place - now, it's on to Johnson & MacGill to hold up their end of the bargain.

=====================

I see too, where the Kiwi's have the Saffas on the ropes after the first day of their Test Match in Johannesburg. Let's hope they don't find a way to lose this one...

It's on again

A two year old post on this site, is seeing a bit of action again recently - Murali's in town I guess...