West Indies tour thread

A reasonable start to the tour. 1/120 chasing 237... not too bad at all. I woke up and watched half an hour at 3am this morning when Chanderpaul was spanking McGill around the park, and Jacobs was struggling to walk... looked like they might make 300. They probably would've if Chanderpaul wasn't given out in an extremely dubious decision...

Punta and Langer look like they plan to be there for a while...

Sorry, but : what sport it is about ???
(I'm French, and I think you're speaking about a sport that is not popular in my country, but which one...?)

Cricket, loverly, Cricket.

OK !
I do not understand anything to this game/sport !
I let 'professionels' speak about it.
Bye-bye.....

9 wicket win to the World Champions. Better get onto whoever the captain is of the Proteas and tell em to FedEx our trophy back to it's rightful owners

Originally posted by Gingerbreadman
9 wicket win to the World Champions. Better get onto whoever the captain is of the Proteas and tell em to FedEx our trophy back to it's rightful owners

Click to expand...

Well done to Punter and the boys. Gillespie shows us why he is rated as the number 2 bowler for Australia (behind McGrath) with an awesome display early on day four. Just about unplayable - although it was to the Windies tail.

Langer and Ponting looked in perfect touch. Hayden looked a bit out of form - might be homesick as he didn't really play that well in the World Cup either. Gilchrist put in another crushing performance to keep his average well above 50 and Bichel didn't do his chances of keeping his place in the team any harm with 39 runs and a few wickets.

All in all, an easy victory for the Aussies. The world Test trophy is as good as ours once again. Though I don't think it should have ever left our shores in the first place.

Hayden was painful to watch in the 2nd innings, he never stays that way for long though.

I don't think we'll see the windies get 3 different century makers again in this series... it could get ugly for them from here on in. Although, they are assured of winning the last test, we always give away the dead rubber...

Great win by the Aussies (again). It looked a bit hairy for a bit when Lara and Ganga were at full throttle in the second innings. Gillespie showed how much of a champion he is with a great effort and Langer looked in real good touch, as did Ponting and Gilly.

On a side issue, I think Bichel has to be moved up the order. There's no way Hogg's a better batsmen than him. Still, a good start to the series and it looks like the golden mace will be back home to stay. Thank heavens for the cricket. It helps me forget (at least temporarily) about the state of my football teams

Tell me about it. On Friday night i watched NSW lose to Wellington, turned over and watched Essendon lose to Carlton, then turned it back over to the NRL replay and watched Newcastle beat Canterbury. I lost local footy to Moama on Saturday, locked my keys in my car, eventually driving to Melbourne to watch my mate lose 42-10 to Vic Metro...

Thank god for the cricket!

A good win. It was good to see Lara get some runs - if he fires, they can make a fight of it, and it will be alright to watch.
Haydos will come good, and Punter just continues to dominate.
Next test, Steve Waugh to make 250.

Should be an interesting 2nd test with the Windies bringing in some exciting new bowlers... pity they'll be launched out of the park! Still, will make for interesting viewing...

Today's longshot: Look for Steve Waugh to put Gilly in before him to help ease the burden on his injured hand...

Originally posted by Bose
Today's longshot: Look for Steve Waugh to put Gilly in before him to help ease the burden on his injured hand...

Click to expand...

That'd be good to see. We'd see more of Gilly batting and less of Steve batting. I'd prefer it if Gilly batted at 4 and Clarke came in at 6, or even the other way around.

Bose, a mate of mine went through a similar sorry tale last Friday as first his Bulldogs went down , then his Bombers lost to Carlton. He was pretty down in the dumps Friday night.

Could be a tougher test for the Aussie boys this weekend. I hope Hayden can come good and Lehmann can finally crack a big score. He really needs it. How Gillespie and Lee hold up in back to back tests will be interesting. Should be over in 4 days though.

So here I am, stuck out in the desert on the road to Maralinga, logging on to Baggy Green early this Easter Sunday and hoping for a competitive 2nd Test Match.

Mmmm... 2/333, Lehman and Ponting both on the way to 150.

Sorry Matt - I don't think its going to last 4 days. Time to look forward to the Third Test already.


Seff

3/391, Boof out for 160, Punter 146 not out, Gilly 11 not out. This could get ugly.

Well, it got ugly, but to WI's credit they batted pretty well. Ganga seems to have become the thorn in our side hasn't he...

That PoS pitch is starting to resemble a goat track, i wouldn't think this run-fest is going to continue. I'm glad they're batting on it on the last day...

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
A good win.....
Next test, Steve Waugh to make 250.

Click to expand...

He'll be struggling to even get a bat. Gilchrist shows everyone that he can bat anywhere in the order and still pummel the opposition. 101 in 104 balls - outstanding.

Well done to Ganga - two centuries in as many tests. Only a decent batsman could do it against the current Aussie team - albeit without McGrath (and Warnie).
At least he and Lara have made it interesting. 3 days gone and the Aussies have a lead of almost 200 - and only 1 wicket down. If Hayden finds some form and with Ponting and Gilly in their current form, the Windies could be in trouble by stumps on day four. Looks like it will go into the fifth day though - for a change.

McGrath back for the next test. Bichel could be the unlucky one if he doesn't take any wickets in the Windies 2nd innings - although the spinners haven't done much in either of the tests so far.

I reckon pi$s MacGill right off. He taken bugger-all-for-lots and he's only troubling the tail-enders, even when the pitch is taking spin. Keep Hoggy and Bic in... you need workhorses.

Hope Haydos goes crazy tonight, look for him and Punta to still be in when the declaration is made. I really can't see this WI line-up taking 20 wickets in any of these matches... not enough variation

Very lucky wicket for MacGill when he got Hines in the 2nd last over...

How about Lee dropping Lara when he was on 6! Tough chance though, i just hope Lara doesn't make us pay for it. 300 on the last day of a test match on a crumbling wicket with only 7 wickets left against 5 specialist bowlers is a big ask... but the man is a freak

Call me a pessimist, but I though Waugh declared a little early. A target of 450-500 would have made it hard for the Windies, whereas 400 with plenty of time gives them a chance (at least they'll think so)

300 on the last day is a tough ask though, but Lara could be just the man to do it. Get him early and the test is as good as gone for the Windies. The Windies long tail isn't gonna help at all.

Gotta agree with you Bose on the issue of MacGill. I'd personally drop him in favour of Bichel or Hogg when McGrath gets back, but will the selectors drop a spinner for a fast bowler?

Dunno about that one. They seen to like him, and seeing he has 100 more wickets of experience than Hogg they very well may give Hoggy the drinks. Its not that i think MacGill is a bad bowler, he was turning them in right angles in the first innings, it's just that he appears to bowl too short too often. It may be just that Ganga is just good against spin, but when a right-hander is consistently hitting your leg spinner through cover without fear, then you have problems, especially when playing a team full of lefties.

Depending on the pitch in the next test, i reckon they'll go with two spinners and leave Bic out. Hard call but it'll have to happen. I also think the 5 specialist bowlers are the go, our top order is playing as good as it has for decades so i see no reason to bat Gilly back at 7.

Mabey the declaration was a bit early, but Tubby used to do that alot and i liked it. If we set them 450 with only an hour to bowl at them they may well be only 1 for now and have every intention to bat it out. It seems to be playing low which means they would just plonk the front foot down all day... With 300 to get i think they'll swing the bat for at least the first session which will bring the wrist spinners into it more... it's made it very interesting, that's for sure