THIRD TEST: THE SCG

Can't believe the umpires, who appear to love a pause in proceedings, did not delay the start to the Test while I took my daughter to swimming lessons.

Comments

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Mizbah the greatest Captain i have ever seen
Imrahn , the greatest line and length bowler I have ever seen
Pakistan the greatest fielding team I have ever seen
SCG the greatest pitch I have ever seen

[Tony Tea]

Misbah should retrospectively retire.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Khan he do that?

[Christmastide till Candlemas]

Why are Warner's ton celebrations getting angrier, wilder and seemingly vitriolic?

Is it because Bill Lawry is commentating?

If so, I concur.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Imran Khan isn't the bowler he used to be. Surprised he can play test cricket when he is involved in Politics.

[Tony Tea]

He looks different too. Younger. Politics must agree with him.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Tony, I'm not surprised by the umpires' behaviour. In the past I've asked them to hang on while I get a cup of tea between overs -- but they flagrantly allowed the game to continue.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Two comments

The Paki keeper is lazy . He is rarely up to the stumps to recieve throws from fieldsmen so it the paki fielding is understandable.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

whoopsy the other comment is about the Umpires. Watch the Umpire at the bowling end, if there is a short run he wouldn't know as he usually always watching the ball!

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

I am sick of these pitches. Who wants to watch a test when there is only one wicket a session.
It ain't a good pitch it is a bad pitch.

By the way Nein commentators the people with the willow are batsmen not batters. The game is cricket not baseball!

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

I am tad surprised Starc and Hazelwood are betting before O'Keefe. Starc is a bid hitter the Former Berala wicketkeeper can hit sixers so promoting him makes some sense but Hazelwood?

good to see Kerry's brother playing though
The Pakis have brothers playing.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Just for both the Nein commentators and also for the ABC as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6n-rTFEdQI&t=5s

Too lazy to hyperlink

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

I would like to thanks all my friends on this site today. I treasure their friendship

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

if Khan gets a ton would Australia feel the Wrath of Khan?

[Tony Tea]

Homer, I hope you haven't been recycling that joke since Star Trek II met Imran Khan I.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

you have SPOCKen the truth Tonee.
It's cricket Jim but not as we know it!

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Nein is showing a previous Ashes test.
A couple of observations. The umpires were wearing ties for petes sakes. Why would anyone wear a tie in Sydney on a stinking hot day. They allowed the Aussie batsmen to run down the wicket.
Jack Richards was one hell of a Wickie. I can't even remember him!
The ball swung back then and the pitch a hellva lot better.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

A few more comments.

Love all those mullets.
Wasn't Sleep's nickname drowsy?
Those commentators were dead boring. I was one of those who hit the mute button and put on the ABC. Still do today and nothing has changed.

Tonee can you put a post on Indian implications/ forecasts/whatever please

[Tony Tea]

"Sounda" Sleep.

[Tony Tea]

All those people who currently pine for the old days of tv commentary probably never heard the old days of tv commentary. Bull, Tawny, etc were just as bad as the current plonkers.

[Philsgone]

I went to every day of the Peter Who? test match. Deano 180 odd, PT 6/87 I think. Dirk Whellam!Also Gladstone Small nickname of all time - Pearl.
And we won

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Doug Walters is possibly more boring than Mark Taylor. Tawny always knew where his bread was buttered. He was blatant in his plugging of Nein, Benaud not as blatant but plugged as much.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

I thought Gladstone small was known as no neck!

I remember Peter Taylor from Northern District days he was playing 3rd grade as a batsman and was regarded as a bit of a joke in attempting to be a spinner. Just shows what determination can do

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Having PM's on the commentary is simply embarrassing.

[Philsgone]

Gladstone Small = pearl ergo necklace

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

sorry matey your nicknames are way too subtle for me and my ilk.

[Big Ramifications]

Why are Warner's ton celebrations getting angrier, wilder and seemingly vitriolic?

He was doin' it for Jane.

[Big Ramifications]

Anyone else hear Warnie in the comm box say the first time he laid eyes on his baggy green he chundered on it. Coz he had a massive hangover?

I couldn't believe my farking ears.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Shane Warne is a classic example of a man who simply never grew up.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Surely Wade won't be selected to go to India.

must have been selected so Warner is not the only dickhead in the team

[Tony Tea]

Crooky talking lies about the Smith dismissal:

Yasir Shah to Smith, OUT, and again. Tries the paddle sweep, Misbah wants to review. Smith shakes his head to indicate no glove. Sarfraz was up immediately. Another flat delivery down leg, Smith gets his hands through the shot a tad late, the ball is very close to the glove. Does thee ball kiss the glove? A very very thin spike as ball passes glove. A flatline interspersed by one thin spike is enough for the decision to be overturned. Great catch from Sarfraz, moves well. Another quality Smith knock ends. A little mark on HotSpot too, good decision from the third umpire. SPD Smith c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Yasir Shah 59 (43b 8x4 1x6) SR: 137.20

[Philsgone]

If Wade was givn three tests to prove his worth, then on keeping and batting he has failed. Banter is irrelevant, so Neville back in.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Banter is a great player indeed the talk of the town!

[Carrot]

I'd go with Paine over either Wade or Neville. Proper keeper, good leader, and has scored runs lately.

[Tony Tea]

Surely Paine is in the frame.

[Carrot]

Boom, *tish*, Tones!!

[Tony Tea]

But it's a serious statement, too.

[Carrot]

No-one's talking about him, though - I wonder why not?

[Tony Tea]

He is certainly playing under the radar.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Warney really doesn't want O'Keefe in the Oz Test team.

His commentary of O'Keefe's overs his peppered with naming all the other Oz spin bowlers he rates way over and above SoK, how O'Keefe is not turning the ball, and you'd expect him to turn the ball on this surface, and that pretty much anyone but O'Keefe should be in the team.

One wonders what O'Keefe has done to deserve the obvious dislike Warne, Clarke and the rest of the 9 cognoscenti have for him. It's certainly not his first class average which is even better than Warne's and it's not his Test average as it is on par with Lyon's.

[Bill O'Reilly]

O'Keefe gets the wicket and Warney says SoK "has turned the first one he's turned for the match." Nice.

One wonders why such a deadbeat dart thrower hasn't been carted to all ends of the ground in Tests or First Class. Since deadbeat no hoping dart throwers keep such exceptional statistics way ahead of any other competitor for their position perhaps the Oz Cricket Academy should invest more in deadbeat dart throwers who can't turn the ball?

According to Warne, O'Keefe is bowling for his position on the Indian tour yet was spruiking for Mitch Marsh to return the other day. Gotta be in the mate's club I guess as far as Warney is concerned.

[Philsgone]

H Hopr Hilton Cartwright enjoyed his only test. Clearly his bowling has made all the difference in this game

[Bill O'Reilly]

End of SoK's over and Warney reminds us that "O'keefe's on a bit of a trial for India, there's plenty of up and coming spin bowlers around." Thanks Warney.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Maybe 9 could introduce a scrolling ticker tape along the bottom of the screen whenever SoK's having a bowl:

"O'keefe on trial for India. Plenty of better spin bowlers in Oz."

"O'Keefe's no getting much turn. Plenty of up and coming spin bowlers in Oz."

"What I'd like to see is O'Keefe really rip the ball. Agar rips the ball. Plenty of up and coming spin bolwers going around in Shield."

"O'Keefe keeping the ball at the stumps not doing much. Zampa, Agar even some guy in Qld who I forget his name right now."

[Bill O'Reilly]

"O'Keefe just needs to turn one." Thanks Warney.

[Bill O'Reilly]

They're gonna have to take Warney off soon before he has a chimpout in the commentary box. Did O'Keefe root one of Warney's moll patrol at some stage?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Gee what a shame to see Misbah get out to a shit O'Keefe ball like that. Lucky Lyon was under it otherwise it would've gone over the Victor Trumper stand into Warney's windshield.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Oh, great, now we have Healy on to continue the anti-SoK sledging from behind the stumps: "Gets him with the sucker ball."

[Bill O'Reilly]

New ticker tape for Lyon when he gets hit to boundary:

"He won't mind that. Getting the batsman to hit across the line/come forward is exactly what he wants."

SoK gets hit to boundary:

"He just needs to turn the ball. That ball's doing nothing."

[Bill O'Reilly]

Snicko!

Warney is smashing shit up at the back of the comm box as Heals is furiously chewing on his cud fuming.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Chappeli now on to continue shitbagging SoK from the Randwick end.

SoK's 3/45 and Lippy's 2/74 *not* an accurate reflection, he repeats *not* an accurate reflection of their contribution. Lippy super awesome and SoK a PoS who should never be anywhere near the 9 team's company when they're all talking each other up at after match piss up.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Slats only gets one over in the comm box duo after the gaffe and fauz pas of saying "O'Keefe could get a five fa here."

Warney brought back into action. Two shite spinners working in tandem now in the 9 comm box.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Lovely interview by Slats of SoK who speaks well, is courteous and humble.

SoK's a really decent bloke who me and the boy met a couple years ago at Manuka when NSW won the Shield. (So is Lippy for that matter, and it was great to see SoK so appreciative of Lyon.)

I suppose being a decent stand-up sort of bloke must really irk some of the 9 team.

[Philsgone]

Nein doesnt have commentaters, it has biased, opinionated, high quality has-beens.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Since the commentators are getting stuck into one of the spinners, I'll pass remark on the other. I don't mind Nathan Lyon, and his stats have shocked me, since I didn't think he was particularly good. But over many matches, he's taken wickets at a reasonable rate. However, I would rate him as the worst bowler I have seen at taking returns from the fielders. It rarely costs runs, so is a niggling point, but most spinners don't have the luxury of someone going up to the stumps for them, when the ball is returned. They usually end up as adequate, but I would say Nathan Lyon could do with a few sessions on this this aspect of his game.

[chrisl]

I was a bit disappointed that Steve Smith didn't bowl himself more. Out of all the leg spinners getting around he at least can turn the ball. It is a pity his batting is going so well.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Nice one. chrisl. You should apply to 9 comm box.

[Carrot]

Nice to have you back, Pat. It hasn't been the same without you.

[chrisl]

Are you still in sunny Germany Carrot?

[Tony Tea]

Warnie needs reminding his average in India is a pretty average 40-odd.

[Philsgone]

I wonder if Warney is told to bag the spinners just to give us all the shits. There is no fast bowling equivelant on the comm team, so we will never know. Ooh Aah seemed to treat the fast boys pretty weel, but he is only a guest. Waqar doesnt count as he is the opppo commentator.

[Carrot]

Yep, still here, chrisl! Although it's not very sunny at the moment - it's been hovering around zero and below for the past few days. I've been in Europe for nearly fifteen years now (eek!) but it never fails to appal me when it gets like this. Even 5 degrees or so I can handle - but freezing? Nup. Does not compute.

[m0nty]

SOK would get carted in India. Mind you, Lyon will probably get tonked in India too.

[Big Ramifications]

That was fantastic bit of "live tweeting" by Bill O'Reilly. The 'Warnie 'mates club' indeed.

[Big Ramifications]

What really sh1ts me is that entry into his 'mates club' doesn't have anything to do with superior statistics or on-field heroics. See: 'Warnie's manifesto' for further details. Wasn't that a head scratcher.

[Carrot]

It's possible that EVERYONE will get carted in India. That said, I like the fact that we actually have two established spinners lined up for the tour, as opposed to Lyon and some guy no-one's ever heard of who disappears into obscurity until the next doomed subcontinental tour comes around. England did exactly the same thing before Christmas with exactly the same results. There's a reason why they're not in the team very often, guys - they're not good enough!

I actually feel better about this Indian tour than previous efforts. I think we're a better side than 2013, and a lot of senior players have been there before. If we pick Maxwell at 6 (and surely he can't do any worse than any of the other guys lately), then we have a genuine third spinning option, and someone else who was there last time, too. Wade's a real worry, though.

[m0nty]

Is Marcus North available?

We may be the first nation to lose a four-Test series 5-0.

[Philsgone]

Anyone kmow exactly how many chances MMmarsh has had to play for Austalia, and how many he has fluffed? All of them is the corret answer. Piss him off and back the big show

[Carrot]

Absolutely. And it's just hilarious how many free passes he seems to get, from everyone, let alone the selectors. We just heard Mark Taylor talking about James Faulkner and how he's a decent shout for Test selection, probably not good enough to bat in the top 6 or be a first-change seamer, and yet his record with both bat and ball is significantly superior to Marsh. The stuff really shits me, not only as a cricket supporter but in general. I see it all the time in music, where it's just decided that a performer belongs in a certain quality bracket, and is given chances accordingly, for really arbitrary and inconsistent reasons. You've got the data, you've seen/heard the results - use them!!

[Professor Rosseforp]

Carrot -- on the zero temperature, that is what you are genetically designed for, not the 40 degrees + we are experiencing here.
On music, you may be thinking of real musicians and singers, but I agree in the pop/rock realm, where Elvis Costello gets to play with everyone as if he has something to contribute other than a semi-physical presence.

[Tony Tea]

Elvis Costello is possibly the most overrated artist in popular music.

[Professor Rosseforp]

I keep wanting to click "like" on the comments section, especially the one denigrating Elvis Costello, who may actually be a nice chap. Still not sure how he ended up with Diana Krall.

[Tony Tea]

Still not sure how he ended up as everyone's musical guru.

[Carrot]

Prof, re: the weather, that's actually the thing that I can't get my head around. Yes, as someone of Northern European descent - and being a redhead there's probably some Scandinavian in there somewhere - I am genetically designed for this sort of weather. Furthermore, civilisation as we know it came from Europe in just about every sense, and they put up with this stuff all the time. My question is: how did they survive it? We're reading about people dying because of the cold in Eastern Europe at the moment, but only a hundred years or so ago there were no gas pipelines and central heating. I guess they burnt coal and wood and before that wore fur the whole time, but the question remains, how did entire cities and towns not just die en masse? Your answers on a postcard, please....

[Big Ramifications]

We're getting softer, Carrot. It doesn't take long for SOFTNESS to get back into the gene pool. Entire towns WOULD die en masse in extreme conditions without heating / aircon.

Imagine how hard it would have been in Australia up until Federation and beyond? Think of the breeding stock that would have survived by the end of the great depression. I think it was Prince Albert in 1923 during a visit to Manly beach, who exclaimed upon seeing a local lifesaver: "Christ on a bike would ya have a look at the size of that prick!"

[Big Ramifications]

Actually it was more along the lines of "I've never seen a more impressive example of bronzed Teutonic manhood."

Wish I could find the exact quote online. I read it in a history book when I was a teenager.

**The royal family member / year / beach / quote keywords could be completely wrong. Rememberin' stuff is an inexact art.

[Tony Tea]

Growing up we never had air conditioning. Not at home or at school. It's hot - get on with it, boy.

[Big Ramifications]

Yep. Demountable classrooms. Come back from lunch ROASTING - coz we were all out in the sun playing cricket. I distinctly remember the first 15-20mins after lunch on a hot day.... that's when I'd occasionally throw a jealous glance at the fan the teacher had plonked on her desk.

[Big Ramifications]

Having considered it for an hour.... SOFTNESS can very much be very much learned, as well as genetic. I'm not wild about this idea of kids being attached to water bottles at school. Who's brilliant idea was that? Backed up by what scientific study?

[Big Ramifications]

On music, you may be thinking of real musicians and singers, but I agree in the pop/rock realm, where Elvis Costello gets to play with everyone as if he has something to contribute other than a semi-physical presence.

~~~

Elvis Costello is possibly the most overrated artist in popular music.

I'm not familiar enough with Elvis Costello's work to even have an opinion. Both well past their prime, but it's Tom Waits and Bob Dylan, for me.

These guys might have a catalog of songs that hold their own against the finest poetry, with insights into the human psyche up there with Donne and Shakespeare. But I absolutely CANNOT get past their horrible caterwauling to even begin listening to what they have to say. And who in their right mind would PAY MONEY to sit thru a live performance? Freaken nightmare scenario! It's a double whammy for Dylan, coz his stuff is horrible WHINY caterwauling.

....Although I do have a lot of time for Dylan's Lay Lady Lay. Interestingly: not delivered with his signature whiny caterwauling.

[Big Ramifications]

Saw the Elvis Costello comments a fortnight ago. Reading this random album review inspired me to finally put finger to keyboard.

I have long detested the phrase "guilty pleasure," especially when it is applied to music, art, films, books, TV shows, and other cultural ephemera. It presumes that the user has to feel bad for liking something; it assumes that a person believes their friends will think less of them if they admit they listen to something.

Listen: It's O.K. to like BTO's Greatest more than Amnesiac. You don't need to make excuses to me, or anyone else. History has taught us that the only thing any music fan should feel guilty about is not outgrowing Elvis Costello by the time you finished your junior year at SUNY, New Paltz.

Boston isn't a guilty pleasure. It's one of my 50 favorite albums.

Boston's debut album, which turns 40 this month, is an absolute treasure of melody and architecture. It has the immediacy of pop, but also the deliberate intricacy of prog rock; it has California pop's attention to zealous sweet harmony, yet it also has some of the heaviest and most memorable guitar riffs on the planet. Until the day Fu Manchu and the Moody Blues get together to re-record Days of Future Passed, it is sui generis.

Like the debut albums by the Ramones, the Velvet Underground and Neu!, it's difficult to know where the hell Boston came from; it is so staggeringly unique, but also deeply rousing, resonant, aurally sensuous and pleasing.

And do not let its extraordinary commercial success (or our desire to confine it to the trash bin of '70s nostalgia, alongside Jimmy Carter, Chevy Chase and Mark Spitz) distract from its innovation or originality. Boston is a spy, a vastly unique spy in the house of memory, virtually as original and as individual as any of those more "credible" acts I just mentioned.

How do you describe Boston's stunning, heavy/light planetarium bubblegum, this mix of garage rock memes and pure FM Valentine? I mean, it's like freaking Paul Revere & the Raiders recording Dark Side of the Moon.
http://observer.com/2016/08/bostons-debut-album-isnt-a-guilty-pleasure-its-one-of-the-best-records-ever/