FOURTH TEST: HEADINGLEY

"Rapid".

Australia quick Brett Lee says he's ready to play fourth Ashes Test

Brett Lee has launched his campaign to be picked for the fourth Ashes Test by saying he is bowling "rapid" before the start of the Headingley clash on Friday.

"The pace has felt really, really good. 100 per cent ready to go."

When I heard that on the radio this morning, I thought he said "rabid".

Anyway, when faced with injury concerns, you may as well consult an expert, especially an expert with a sense of humour:

However his teammate and good friend Shane Watson was less confident of Lee's chances of being called up for the critical match without a practice game under his belt since the injury.

"From my experience of coming back from a side injury you normally need to have one game under your belt."

" ... I think at the moment there is probably less chance of him being picked because of that reason.

If you could guarantee Lee would bowl like he did in Worcester when he got his reverse happening, you would be mad not to pick him. But on top of the most recent injury, he hasn't played a Test since Melbourne and is notoriously toothless in England. It's hard to see how he can play. And yet. That spell, the static emanating out of the media, and Australia's current lack of tooth indicate why the selectors always seem so desperate to get him in the side. With the Oval pitch already looking like a road, it might be time to take a risk and pick Lee.

Yes, I know.

And then there's Klutzy. The selectors love him, too. Not for his keeping, obviously, but because he can bat. But at what cost? At what point do the selectors conclude that dreadful keeping costs more than excellent batting? Haddin with good hands - obviously not in the colloquial sense - is a rotten keeper. How bad will he be with a broken finger? His keeping was passable in the West Indies when he broke a finger there, but ever since India he has been rubbish behind the stumps. And how much will said digit affect his batting? You've probably got to stick with Manou, who is a far better keeper, and is reasonable with the bat.

So, you pick Lee, who goes out? Siddle? And what about Clark? If Manou stays, Lee might get picked because he can bat a bit.

Whatever the make-up of the side - and it will come as no surprise to read it here since every pundit has made the same point - we need to win in Leeds, because we are unlikely to win an Oval bat-a-thon.

Could it be that my churning guts which groaned "we've just blown the Ashes" after Fucken Cardiff were spot on? Unless our bowlers can find an edge this weekend we can wave the urn goodbye.

And then there's this:

Player		Runs	HS	Ave
MJ Clarke	352	136	88.00
AJ Strauss	309	161	61.80
SM Katich	248	122	49.60
MJ North	239	125*	59.75
RT Ponting	233	150	46.60
BJ Haddin	229	121	76.33

And this:

Player		Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
BW Hilfenhaus	122.0	32	395	13
JM Anderson	119.0	30	378	12
NM Hauritz	103.2	17	321	10
MG Johnson	103.4	11	423	10
PM Siddle	101.5	13	401	10
G Onions	55.4	6	223	8
A Flintoff	104.0	13	340	7

Superficially, the figures point to Australian superiority. Except one figure: England 1 / Australia 0. Like Richmond last weekend against Melbourne: are England going to win  by accident?

MORE OR LESS

Apropos the stats, just saw this in my reader:

The Ashes series that doesn’t add up

Cricket is a numbers game, yet this Ashes series doesn’t add up. Over the first three Tests Australia have scored more runs (1,933) and lost fewer wickets (41) than England (1,799 and 45).

LEE TIPPED?

If you know what I mean:

Clark in Lee gone forever

HERE’s two tips for you ... Stuart Clark will play tomorrow’s fourth Test and Brett Lee won’t play a Test on tour and could be finished.

LOAD OF PANTH

Give it a rest:

Pressure grows as urn comes into view

Should the hosts go forth and reclaim the urn, Andrew Flintoff's heroic effort in north-west London - in which he claimed five Australian wickets on a painful right knee - will ascend to a pantheon of national sporting achievements currently occupied by Geoff Hurst's hat-trick and Jonny Wilkinson's drop-goal.

Comments

[RT]

Selection nightmares. Headlines say it all - Lee '100% ready' | Keeper 'okay' after injection | Gillespie: Australia need Clark | North seeks consistency | Clarke treated for stomach strain | Is Onions married? |
Hilf the only bowling certainty. Keeping now an issue with clean keeping or clean hitting being the options. At least the batting is a bit more settled, for now. In a way you feel for Hilditch and co, Hohns' honchos never had it this tough.

Weather forecast looks pretty reasonable.

[os]

I was really pleased for Manou, a good citizen wins at last.
And just as I was revising my view that Clarke is a girl, he starts rubbing his poor lil tum-tum and sure enough, he's pulled his bloody g-string.
I loved the way Watson wore that whack from Freddy and didn't even ask for the magic spray. No arm guard or chest guard either. Maybe he'll do, though I reckon Hughes should still open - it's alea jacta est time.

[Nick]

I'm very happy to read the Crash article! Lee would be a shocking pick.

[The Don has risen]

Lee would be an enormous gamble given the lack of games he has played and the possibility of injury.

Australia must win as the Oval is a batting paradise.

We must pick bowlers who will get wickets.
Motels is first pick. He is our best swinger of the ball and the most likely to get wickets.
Mummy's boy also must be selected as his record over the last year speaks for itself. There is the possibility batsman have worked out how to play him ( wait for short ball to cut and play off the hip on the leg).
Clark must play as well. He bowls line and length and keeps the pressure on which bowlers such as Motels and especially Mummy's boy desperately need.
It then comes down to either Horrors or Bing. I favour a spinner.

In our favour is the fact that when the ball doesn't swing their bowlers are fodder. Our bowlers are used to this because of the disgraceful action of TV stations on groundsman here.

[Tony]

Flintoff out, Harmison in.

Pity about that. I was hoping they'd run him into the ground, or go the soft option and pick a batsman.

But Harmison can bowl, and has been bowling well. He's much more of a threat than Freddie at the moment and a much more attacking option than a replacement batsman.

[nick]

Not on Cricinfo yet - confirmed?

[Tony]

The Sun is pretty unequivocal (if you can be pretty unequivocal):

Freddie's out

ANDREW FLINTOFF is out of today's crunch Fourth Test at Headingley.

[Russ]

Fascinating few days. First the Slot media machine rolls in and he looks a certainty to play. Then Paper Cut bags him and he's now completely out of favour. Clark must surely come in, probably for Siddle who lacks supporters, but possibly for Ritz, who has maybe not quite done enough. And all the while they talk about how the current team "did the job" in South Africa, Despite being different in several respects - notably McDonald, but now also Our Phil and Klutz.

I have this feeling, that this will be the test that it clicks for Studs. Not that that means we will win, but I wouldn't drop him. Before Edgbaston, maybe, but not now.

As for Harmy. It is no bad thing when you need to take 20 wickets, to see only 5 specialist batsmen, two of whom are struggling a bit. Not that Flintoff has ever been that reliable, but he has done enough to be a scourge in the past.

I am dreading the idea that we'll do the same, drop North, and play five bowlers plus Paper Cut. Apart from being horrid overkill (neither PC or Krab bowled much at Edgbaston, so why add more armory), it is also terribly dangerous when you've made a habit of being bowled out for less than 300. The last test in South Africa, where we played five bats, was an out an out disaster. It is hard to believe we'd contemplate doing that again.

[Yobbo]

England leave themselves pretty exposed by not picking a batsman to replace Flintoff.

They only have 5 specialist batsmen in their team now, and 1 of those is Ravi Bopara.

Prior comes in at 6 and I guess now Broad will bat 7?

Collingwood, Bell and Cook are the other 3. They are basically putting all their eggs in the Andrew Strauss basket.

A couple of early wickets and it could all be over very quickly. Even more reason to pick Lee in my opinion, he swings it back in to the lefthanders and has a knack of picking up wickets very early in a match. He's got Graeme Smith LBW early a heap of times like that.

Get Strauss out early in the remainder of this series and we could easily win it 2-1 from here.

[Tony]

Hope you're right. It would be a similar situation to us in the third Test in SA.

That's if our bowlers can get their collective act together and put the heat on the Englands.

Got a similar gut feeling to Russ: Studs, come on down.

Adolphe out, Klutz in.

[Yobbo]

Update: England agree with me and it looks like they are going to drop Prior, play an extra batsman and give the gloves to Collingwood..

[Tony]

There is speculation Prior did a Klutz and got injured in the warm-up.

[Tony]

This morning England were ousted from their beds by their hotel's fire alarm.

[Tony]

Prior actually did a McGrath. He got hurt playing footy... sorry, footer.

[Tony]

Wait!!! England don't agree with Yobbo any more.

Prior's back and he's got his gloves on! This merry-go-round continues. Not sure what they've done to him, and he looks a bit tentative - so I imagine he has a couple of minutes to prove his fitness for a series-deciding Test match. What a total maelstrom of madness.

[m0nty]

The Croquet bloke is having conniptions.

[m0nty]

Good Lord, Fat Gat is an ugly man.

[m0nty]

Fat Gat is so ugly that he makes Boof look good.

[Tony]

The Crooky bloke will have a conniption if he keeps using panic words.

Maelstrom of madness. Utter chaos. Trouble at t'mill. What a morning. What a morning. Sheesh.

[m0nty]

Perhaps they can draft a Triffid to keep wicket.

[m0nty]

Prior apparently passed fit now. Can we get the English to play more sports prior to the toss in future? Maybe jai-alai, a bit of Greco-Roman, perhaps some UFC?

[Tony]

Ponting lost the toss - again! Call tails, ya peanut!

The one time he won the toss the match was rooted by the weather.

[Tony]

Fingers crossed Klutz doesn't drop any catches in this first session. Same goes for the rest of them.

[Throbber]

THAT WAS PLUMB!!!!

[Tony]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First ball dudded by an LB.

Get Rudi back.

Fvcken Bowden!

[Yobbo]

Jesus Christ.

First Ball, plumb, not out?!?!?

[m0nty]

Billy, Billy, Billy.

[Throbber]

Bowden is an idiot show off and incompetent with it.

[Bruce]

WHERE THE FUCK DO THEY GET THESE IDIOTS!!!!

Hatstands with a camera - it's the only way.

[Tony]

That's it. We're gawn.

Screwed by Billy in 2005. Screwed by Dar in 2005. Screwed by Rudi in 2009. Screwed again by Bowden first ball here.

You watch when we bat. The maggots will fire us like machine guns.

(Although I agree with Athers. I thought he hit it.)

[Throbber]

There are too many wrong decisions against Australia by too many umpires to be a coincidence.

[m0nty]

The only query Billy might have had was that it was too high, as it often is early in a Test match. He's just off the plane, I presume, so he hasn't seen much of how the ball is acting in English conditions on local pitches lately. A conservative decision that was wrong but understandable.

[Throbber]

You can't deny that one Bowden you cheat.

[m0nty]

Justice done.

[Tony]

I'll put that on a placard round his neck as I drag him round the streets of Leeds behind a taxi.

[Tony]

Snorter from Snorter!

Klutz tackled him like a madman!

[Tony]

Love Warnie:

"Billy Bowden's started with a shocker," says Warne. He's right, too. Strauss had practically tucked his bat under his arm!

"Come on, Billy," spits Warne. "I thought Rudi had a pretty ordinary series but..." and he trails off into disgust

[Tony]

Hit the bricks, Bipolar! Club cricketer.

[Yobbo]

How does Bopara get a game, honestly. He's got no idea.

[Throbber]

BiPolar lives up to his ability.

[Tony]

38, 39, 40: I think that's what you call "consensus".

[Yobbo]

"1 brings 2" has never been more apt than when talking about the current England top order.

[Yobbo]

Ian Botham is so flustered he forgot the no ball rules.

[Tony]

He wasn't flustered; he was trying to beat up a dodgy wicket for Straya.

[Throbber]

Sir Ian is a buffoon of the highest order.

[Tony]

Hilfy is really tempting them to reach for hit outies.

Noice.

[Yobbo]

Siddle's last over was a smorgasbord.

[Bruce]

Well done bumble for shutting down the no-ball talk. He actually seems to understand the rule, which I'll admit I didn't until the Hauritz one in Cardiff.

Where it lands and his heel did indeed touch down behind the line - just.

[Tony]

Couple more for Siddle, at most, unless he gets it on the spot.

[Tony]

Blowers: "Strauss palpably out first ball."

The radio blokes have absolutely been laying into the pre-match shenanigans.

[Tony]

Hope Studsy going for four first ball isn't an omen.

Although.

With a little luck we'll have Bell out slicing into the off.

[Samir Chopra]

Rauf will do a decent job in this test, I think.

[Tony]

Samir, I hope so. It would make a change from the other clowns.

[Bruce]

Geez Bell misses a lot of straight ones.

[Tony]

Paul Harris is in the top ten bowler rankings. Test cricket is a shambles.

[m0nty]

Carn Stuey, swing that sucker. Good lad.

[SaggyGreen]

oh Sarfraz, I've missed you

[Samir Chopra]

Both these batsmen are prime LBW candidates.

[m0nty]

Gah, Bux interviewing Juddy on Seven. I am sick of hearing both of their voices.

[m0nty]

Clark is swinging it but it's pretty easy to pick. Has he got Aldermanesque variation?

[Tony]

Come on, Stuey! Duck one in.

[Tony]

Go you Studley!!

Get trudging, Bell. Best forget about today's innings.

[Samir Chopra]

OK, fine, Bell is a caught-behind candidate too.

[Yobbo]

I think my comment at #9 is doing pretty well so far.

Strauss out all out?

Collingwood might scratch around for a few hours but I think England will be lucky to get 200 from here.

[Yobbo]

England will be lucky to get 200 from here.

See comment #9.

[Tony]

Studs!!! Big inny. Pad up, Pies.

[m0nty]

Even Studsy is getting some shape.

[Tony]

Flatty is all about "stepping up" and "skill sets" on Radio Internet. Apart from that he goes alright.

[Bruce]

This is the anti-Lords.

Nothing given away. Good areas. We don' need the ball hooping around to be dangerous. We just need to get it right. Nothing more than a first day wicket and a new ball so far from the conditions and we are in amongst them.

[Tony]

Pies gawn!

STUEY! Clap. Clap. Clap.

[Samir Chopra]

Clark gets on the board.

[Yobbo]

If Bill Lawry was commenting here he might say "Dear Oh Dear".

[m0nty]

Having said that, Bruce, it is hooping around a fair bit. Not that I'm complaining.

[Tony]

Thankfully, Ponting's given away that farcical business of catching low chances with his fingers pointing up.

[Samir Chopra]

That Prior flier through the slip-gully gap suggests an obvious comment: four wickets down before lunch on the opening day, an all-pace attack on, why not pack that cordon a bit more?

[Tony]

Indeed. They had a fourth for Clark, but not for Johnson who slides across the righties.

[Tony]

Cook gawn!

STUEY! Clap. Clap. Clap.

[Samir Chopra]

Or you could just edge it to first slip.

[Yobbo]

They've got a short leg and a deep fine leg for Johnson though. They could easily get rid of the guy on the hook.

5 down now, 200 looking a long way off.

[Bruce]

Broad batting before lunch on day 1.

Let's see how breezy you want to bat now son!

[Yobbo]

Draco Malfoy's in. Probably better at Quidditch than batting.

[m0nty]

42 runs in total from the five recognised batsmen.

[Tony]

Gotta get through Prior, Broad and Swann. It will give me some ferocious shits if they hang around for good runs.

[Tony]

Broad gawn!

STUEY! Clap. Clap. Clap.

[Tony]

Ooooo. Looks like there will be some issues with the Katich take.

[Yobbo]

Clark 3/7.

[Samir Chopra]

Tony: Its clean; fingers under always create that impression.

[Tony]

I forgot what I was going to say. Oh, that's right:

Bowler		O	M	R	W	RR
Stuart Clark	6.4	3	7	3	1.05	
	

[Yobbo]

But no Hauritz. That could come back to haunt us!

[Bruce]

100 is looking a long way off now.

Haddin and Broad had some sort of altercation there. It isn't the first time Broad has made contact while running between wickets.

The only blemish on my night so far is the cats.

God I've missed Clark and everything he brings to the attack.

[Tony]

Yep. At the risk of wearing an accusation of double standardization... it looked like the ball was going to drop and hit the ground, but Katich's fingers looped around it.

Still, there will be the odd comment.

But not from Will Luke, who's English:

Clark to Broad, OUT, great catch! What a pickup from Katich at short square leg, Broad has clipped that off his pads and Katich has to go low down and gets his fingers under the ball, very quick reflexes

[The Mongrel]

In June 1989 I was at the SCG to see the Mighty Blues beat the Swans.

Simultaneously Steve Waugh was scoring 177NO in the Ashes.

20 years later. The Blues win by 6 goals against the Cats, and England is 6 wickets down at lunch.

Shame I can't bottle tonight and sell it. (I know, you'll all say - but who would buy it?) ;-)

[Tony]

I tipped the Blues.

[Tony]

Funny time for Blowers and Tuffers to start talking about Australia's weakness against swing.

[pat]

"Cadel on Tour 2008". Watch him crash then bitch and moan his way through the Pyranees, hire a security guard to harass anyone who comes near his delicate shoulder, not win a stage all tour and then come 2nd overall without ever in all reality ever challenging, especially after the most hyped and deflating penultimate stage time trial.

Compelling stuff.

btw. Has anyone noticed the way Strauss likes to wear his shirt sleeves halfway up his hands like some emo nancy boy, or coy girl in the midst of puberty? He also wears his cap pretentiously popped up on his scalp. He's too contrivedly cute by far to hold these Ashes.

[Tony]

Upon Broad's dismissal, a text arrives: "Take your teddy and piss off, Sebastian."

[Yobbo]

Footy hasn't even started on TV here yet. Oh well, wasn't going to watch it anyway.

[m0nty]

Gerard Whateley's pomposity really shits me. Deserves a knee in the cods, that weed.

[Yobbo]

I wonder what the score would have to be before Ponting would risk going with a full slip cordon. 8 for 12? 9 for 2?

[Throbber]

Brilliant selection having Sarfraz as drinks waiter in the first three tests,