West Indies tour thread

[Matt P]

I think the declaration was just about right. 407 is tempting, especially if you're say 3-200 near lunch and it meant the Windies had to face a heap of overs on the 4th day instead of say just 10-15. We'll know in less than 24 hours if Wuagh was right.

Lara is definately the key. If the Aussies get him in the first half hour, I think the Windies could crumble and be all out just after lunch. I didn't see much of it this morning, but I hope MacGill and Hogg can actually bowl well for a change. They've been way too short or wide when I've seen them.

I think the Aussies will get there just before tea and win by 122 runs. Good to see Hayden get a ton.

 

[KingWilly]

Well, another win for the Aussies. I doesn't look like stopping either, with McGrath likely to return and Hayden finding some form.

Has there ever been a more reliable batting order. Even the tail can be handy at times of trouble. And the bowlers most always look like they can take the 20 wickets per test for a win.

Anyway, well done boys. Keep it up.

 

[Bose]

Hayden isn't quite back to his form of last year. It was a slow gutsy innings, but it is the mark of a champ that he can struggle and still get a ton.

They played awesomely, and i think one of the reasons we got them all out was that Waugh declared early to give them a sniff... they went after it... and hence we got wickets.

Well done boys. My two housemates are going over tomorrow for the last two tests and i'm jealous as hell!

 

[KingWilly]

A 6-wicket win over the University of WI team. MacGill taking 5 wickets in each innings. Looks like we'll see MacGill as the spinner for the third test. I can't see Hogg playing as well, so McGrath would probably be a straight swap.
Not even sure they'll keep the 5 bowlers in the line-up. Could they replace Bichel with Jimmy Maher or Clarke? We'll see in a couple of days, I guess.

 

[Bose]

I hope they keep the 5 bowlers in. As much as i like Bic, i would rather see the two wrist spinners in there to keep the variety. Both Lee and Giilespie are on fire so you can't really ditch either of them, so i guess Bichel is the logical pick if they want to play the two spinners. Do you know if this pitch takes spin at all?

Jimmy Maher can bat and seems to be in form, and we all know Love is a future test batsman, but realistically there isn't one Aussie bat that is going to be dropped anytime soon (excluding Waugh). Not a good time to be an up-and-coming cricket talent in this country...

 

[KingWilly]

One change to the Aussie team with McGrath coming in for Hogg.

No change in the outcome of the game it seems though. Aussies at 3/320 at stumps on the first day. Ponting scores his third century of the series and Lehmann on the verge of another. The Windies blowing a couple of chances. Look like another 500+ score for them to chase with Gilchrist and the capable tail still to come.

 

[Bose]

Don't forget Australia's newest All-rounder... Bichel! Go you good thing! He's gotta be worth 60 extra

Top marks for Punta, he's in the form of his life. Hope Lehmann gets his ton too. Good to see heaps of takes of Ricky's wife over there too... she's not very hard on the eye

See Hayden giving to that young bowler? "See you at 5 o'clock"... gold!

 

[Simon Darkshade]

9/605 declared after tea. Lehmann got 96, Gilchrist 65, Bichel 71 and Steve Waugh a tremendous 115. An innings win coming up here, methinks, unless Lara makes 250+, which is not out of the bounds of all possibility. But with McGrath back it should be even harder for the Windies to score runs and save wickets.
It was a pity that Lehmann got out LBW; he wasn't out.
Ponting is in amazing form at the moment - he's got over 500 runs for the series already from just three tests and 5 innings. Almost as good as what Lara did in Sri Lanka the other year, or Gooch against India in 1990.

Gillespie was robbed of a century though, left 19 not out at the end. Gilchrist was cruising for a ton until he got caught on the boundary, one of the few the Windies didn't drop.

Calypso calamity.

 

[Bose]

Good win by the Aussies, bit over-confident of Waugh to say before the test that 'the pitch is so bad only the Australians could win on it', but he wasn't wrong i spose...

MacGill got Man-of-the-Match, i spose he deserved it... still don't like him, but lets call a spade a spade, he's a very very good cricketer.

Anyone see that Wisden released their top 5 cricketers for 2002? It went like this:
1. Vaughn
2. Hayden
3. Hussain
4. Pollock
5. Hollioke

That is a ridiclous list. Adam Hollioke doesn't even play for his country. Pollock, yes, Hussain? Are they being serious? Vaughn: easily, Hayden: of course

 

[KingWilly]

Another win for the Boys. Takes them back to No. 1 in the Test Rankings. I thought it probably should have been a 10 wicket win though. The ball that got Langer was probably heading down legside. I guess it really doesn't matter now though, 'cause they got the job done (again).

What are the odds on a draw or Windies victory in the final Test. The Aussies have been known to relax a bit in Tests after the series has been decided.

 

[Matt P]

Great win by the Aussies. Good to see we're back at #1 in the rankings. The whitewash is looking a good bet. I wonder what the Windies could do to ensure they don't lose the last test ?

 

[KingWilly]

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
Ponting is in amazing form at the moment - he's got over 500 runs for the series already from just three tests and 5 innings. Almost as good as what Lara did in Sri Lanka the other year, or Gooch against India in 1990.

If he keeps his current form up, he'll go past Waugh's new 30 century record in the next couple of years. If I remember correctly, the Aussies have got some matches against Bangladesh in Darwin and Cairns (or somewhere). That should give him a couple more hundreds.

 

[Bose]

Your right, but i don't know if the pitches are going to be good... although it's probably all academic

 

[Bose]

Anyone know if the squads changed for tonights game??

 

[Bose]

Good to see the Aussies are up to their old tricks of dropping the bundle in the last test of the series.

Should make for interesting veiwing tonight. I'd rather not have Chanderpaul still in, even if he is on 99...

 

[Matt P]

Looks like Love might have dropped the fourth test for us with that miss off Banks. I'd be backing the Windies in for sure from here. The Aussies might have to turn the sprinklers on the pitch overnight or spike Chanderpaul's breakfast to be a chance.

 

[Bose]

Well done Australia for having no idea how to bowl to tail enders.

Great result 3-1 though, and breaking that record might help jump-start WI cricket again, which is all good.

Lets start a 'I hate Stuart MacGill club'...

 

[Bose]

Well, i'm gunna take this oportunity to get the soapbox out...

About this whole McGrath/Sarwan thing... I noticed on last night's news that a number of players, including Lehmann and Hayden, went to Ramnaresh Sarwan and personally congratulated him when he made his hundred on day 4. Even the Iceman, Steve Waugh, shook his hand and congratulated him after he was dismissed. Am I to believe this is the same Ramnaresh Sarwan who stood accused of delivering an outrageous sledge to Glen McGrath about his sick wife? A more likely scenario is that Glen McGrath (not for the first time in his career) threw the toys out of the cot when things weren't going his way. Unfortunately, this is what the wider cricketing public (including fans in other countries) have come to expect from the Australian cricket side. I heard on radio laast night that James Sutherland made a call to Glen and told him to pull his head in. Give me strength. When will the ACB realise that pathetic reprimands are not going to help change the behaviour of a side that has been progressively losing supporters both at home and abroad? And how do I know this is happening? Because when I woke up this morning and listened to the news, I was hoping like mad that the youthful West Indian side had set a new world record to defeat a side that I believe could do with a healthy dose of humility. And that's saying something...

 

[Matt P]

Interesting points you raise there Bose. This morning's paper (The Courier Mail) mentioned the same thing you did about Glenn being the instigator and Sarwan simply getting caught in the crossfire. Apparently, sarwan did say something, but didn't mean to say anything offensive, but Glenn was having a bad day and had to let some steam off.

This side is developing a bad reputation for being very sore losers and behaving like children when things don't go their way. Maybe the loss will be a good wake up call. I didn't watch a lot of this match so I don't know how Glenn bowled but by all reports he hasn't done much in his 2 tests. I hope he calms down and gets his act together for the one-dayers.

As for the result, I've gotta say Love's dropped catch, some poor bowling and ordinary captaincy led to the Aussies downfall. To come back from 3-74 to get 418 is amazing and considering we had 5 bowlers and could still not win is incredible really. I don't know why Steve chose to bowl Macgill at the end - we needed to keep things tight for as long as possible but the introduction of Macgill just gave the Windies tailenders a free swing and they took full advantage. Well batted to Banks and Drakes but we should have pushed them harder and really should not have lost that match.

 

[Bose]

They played well, both sides did actually, and you really can'y win them all can you... congrats to the young WI side, i hope it's all up from here.

As for sledging, I remember a few years ago we played the Kiwis in a test over there not long after Chris Cairns's sister died in a train accident. In one particular over the slips cordon was heard making puffing sounds and tooting as the bowler came in while Cairns was batting. In my opinion that's much worse than anything Sarwan could've said... the Aussies claim to be the best in the world at the 'mental' side of the game, so even if Sarwan started it (which i really don't think he did) the Aussies should just take it on the chin, to which i think 'most' of them do...