Two interesting Tests and an interesting development down under...Clarke named the aussie captain for the T20....I like the way the aussies groom their skippers...

For India, Zaheer, RP Singh, Munaf and Sreesanth are all out of the 3rd Test against Pakistan...not sure how many of them will be fit for the Australian tour and even if they do go, how long they will last down under ...maybe we will surprise you folks by opening the bowling with Sourav Ganguly and 3 other spinners

Well, what do you know...a Faggot can also be bundle of sticks or branches!

Diamond Duck. Does anybody else have a problem with this expression in reference to getting out without even fscing a ball. I can't stand it, some commentator made it up and now its creeping into the the language of cricket as a legitimate term. Boo Hiss I hate it.
And while I'm on my tirade, when will commentators stop calling a yorker that doesnt take a wicket an attempted yorker? It is a yorker it just didnt get through. It's not an attempted bouncer if it doesnt hit the batsman is it!
Sigh Ok I feel better.

Australia won the 20-20 against New Zealand. No real surprise there I dont think, nor was it a big surprise to watch the performance of Jacob Oram fast becoming one of my favorite players. He must have an eye like a dead fish as they say.
Good to see some young(ish) blood being introduced to the Australian side too.

LOL poor bugger, it'd be bad enough doing it once let alone twice

My father, whenever we did something stupid like that, would take us aside and say "What. Were. You. Thinking. There?" and puncuate each word with a bounce of his hand.

Sri Lanka/Enlgand match ended in a draw due to rain but I think it was heading that way anyway.

ODI today Aust/NZ - I have the house to myself today so plan on doing nothing else this arvo than plonked in front of the TV for that. Hope the Kiwis put on a good showing.

I can't stand commentators fullstop Let alone when they make up things like 'diamond duck' and then keep repeating them over and over and over. Is there any better commentary than ABC radio?

I actually like Michael Clarke. Pity Hussey is getting on a bit as I think he'd have made a great captain but Clarke isn't a bad choice either. (and he's a West Tigers fan too! )

Thought this was good - the first test since the Boxing day tsunami started in Galle today ... they've come quite a long way since then.

BBc pictures

Excellent, good on them. The state of the ground after the wave gives some kind of an idea as to how much water went by; a lot. Good to see the Sri Lankans not chucking it in.

Sorry about that.

Another win for Australia in a Boxing day Test....India were hopeless after Day 1

It looks like it will be a pretty loooonnnggg tour down under already for us

Anybody thinks West Indies can pull off the first Test against the South Africans?

West Indies didn't go quite so well in the second innings but really South Africa have been pretty dire. Windies are nearly four hundred ahead and I don't think SA can get it on a day4/5 wicket.

As for India - I dunno, is it a confidence thing? There seems to be good games when I watch the overseas games and then the teams come here and just flounder. Do they just think they're gong to get beat and try to overthink everything instead of just playing their normal game?

And how about Shane Warne gonig on about the Australian team becoming arrogant if they aren't careful? Huh?? That's gotta be the pot calling the kettle black!

I owuldn't write India off just yet, they get to play at Sydney and Adelaide and if they very lucky Billy Bowden wont be one of the umpires.
Good to see the chinaman getting amongst the wickets too, hope for us all.

What a day of cricket that was in the Aus/Ind game. Bad decisions, early wickets, little run of wickets and a slog fest. It swung to each teams advantage at different times. Loved it

India could so easily have been on top

Symonds was out a couple of times...umpires didn't give him and he cashed in....India as usual, make or revive the career of one cricketer in every tour/series and looks like Hogg's going to be the beneficiary this time around

How do you feel now, Srini?

This has been one of the better tests I've seen for a long time .. and despite what they say I think a bit of controversy makes it all the better. Can't wait for Symonds to come onto bat now and face up to Harbhajan.

How abou tthe arrogance of Symonds admitting that he was out but didn't walk. I can understand that they don't walk, I'd prefer if they did but can see why they don't, but to go out and admit that was just a dickhead move.

Cna't find the article where Harbhajan said that he didn't know what it was like to bowl to Ponting becuase he had't done enough of it So Ponting gets all huffed up and to paraphrase says "Oh you fogot about that innings where I got 147" . First ball that Harbajan gets to bowl to Ponting today and he's caught. teehee.

Australians love to give it but they really need lessons in how to take it.

That was a close one. Feeel sorry for India actually, especially the new fast bowler. Might be in some real strife now that we go to Perth though the wicket aint what it was.

Realllllllllly feel for India - to have so many decisions go against them is just kooky. I've always been agianst the whole technology thing in cricket but these last five days have swung me around ... and I now like the idea of captains being able to appeal three times an innings. Especially things like that Dravid one yesterday: that was just woeful.

Harbhajan suspended for three tests for the comment he made to Symonds. I wonder would Ponting have been so gung-ho about it had it been Yuvraj ... or any other player that didn't keep getting him out on the first ball .....

Well, at least the game was rather memorable, but sadly for mostly the wrong reasons. I think Mr Buckner is getting a wee bit old, at 61, and think he should be put out to pasture.

I vehemently oppose the intrusion of technology because of what I see has happened in other sports (tennis is a prime example- a sport full of prima donnas), and also do not like the idea of the captain being able to go over a field umpire's head- it just does not feel right to me.

I do agree with the Bucknor remark but he wasn't the only one who stuffed up ...

Quote:

---

and also do not like the idea of the captain being able to go over a field umpire's head- it just does not feel right to me.

---

If players were a tad more honest than it wouldn't need to be done. I reckon it just makes them look bad by staying on when they KNOW they've nicked the ball or whatever. With all the technology they have to know it's going to be shown a million times and everyone knows.

"It's just not cricket" can almost be changed to "It just IS cricket"

Right now, I guess ALL India is angry....cricket's the only thing on TV since the Test ended...."Umpires have cheated India" seems to be the cry...

Not crying sour grapes, but I honestly think it seemed the umpires were bent on ensuring India lost the Test! I can understand one or two bad decisions, but 8 in one Test?

And I love the Aussie cricketers and think they are just great, but for the first time I felt they are bad losers...don't think they can take it as good as they give....wanting to win is fine, but at what cost?

Harbhajan being banned also seems like the whole thing was "set up"....India can appeal the verdict within 24 hours, but Procter does not even give the report for 13 hours and more!....

I personally think India should just walk off from the tour and come back....does not matter if people call them bad losers. There's not much cricket being played down under right now ...unfortunately, BCCI is more worried about the money they will have to pay as fine and lose if they call off the tour, so they will continue. Players still get paid and they have no say anyway, so they will continue to play....

It's just not right.....what a pity a good series turned so bad so quickly

Dead right. It is a pity.

india have suspended the test until the appeal is heard.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/india-suspends-test-tour/2008/01/07/1199554559214.html

I can only think of two terrible decisions in this test, Symonds edge and Dravid's pad. I didnt see Pontings edge.
Harbhajan's racist slur, well he has to wear it I'm afraid. Talk the talk then you walk the walk, its not on at all, and it applies to everybody.
We should keep in mind also that Ponting turned down a catch he knew he hadnt taken.
All this talk of walking is crazy, one person in world cricket walks, Gilchrist, and I dont think I can recall ever seeing anyone else walk without it being obvious. THe last wicket of the test match, the batsman didn't walk either, in fact any number of Indian batsman seem to have trouble leaving the crease, all be it for good reason sometimes, hardly in the spirit of the game I wouldn't have thought.
But just imagine if footballers got up and admitted they dove and it shouldnt be a penalty, its the job of the umpire to make the calls nobody else, otherwise why have them at all.
Leaving Australia would be a case of badsportsmanship, what else could it be.Frankly Indian cricket has grown bigger than that (and better), you just get back on the horse and try again

Why call it a "gentleman's game" then? OK, I agree most batsmen don't walk these days and rightly so, because the umpires are there to judge whether you are out or not, but what happened in this Test is way too blatantly obvious for all to see.

8 or 9 bad decisions and all but one are against India! You want them listed?

1. Ponting inside edges Ganguly on 17 to keeper (offset a little by givenm out LBW to an inner edge on 55)

2. Symonds snicks to keeper on 30

3. Symonds stumped off Kumble....third umpire also rules not out when it was clear even to TV viewers his foot was off the ground (and remember the crease belongs to the umpire and the batsman has to be grounded behind the crease, not even on it)

4. Symonds stumped again off Harbhajan....Bucknor does not even refer to third umpire this time.

5. Sachin is LBW on 30...umpire says not out....a rare decision that went in favour of India

6. Jaffer bowled by Lee off a no-ball that is not called/seen by umpire

7. Dravid given out caught behind when bat is nowhere in picture.

8. Ganguly given out based on word of fielder/Ponting when Clarke was not even in control of catch as he completed it.

I am not listing Hussey's second innings here because I did not see it on TV myself and will not comment on what I did not see but just read...

I have always been a fan of Australian cricketers (much to the chagrin of my colleagues here who accuse me of not supporting my own team), but what I saw at Sydney has only lowered the esteem of the Aussie cricket team in my eyes.

And Bucknor will not be replaced for Perth. How can the Indians go on the field knowing he will give right decisions this time and why should they believe him? How can Bucknor himself stand and do a fair job knowing the Indians no longer trust him?

Playing cricket right now can only lead to more bad blood....both teams know it will no longer just be a game played on the field. The ramifications go far beyond that now. "Bad sportsmanship" or not, India should call the tour off.

Here's a link you may want to see:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...h&plindex=3

In the days before snicko and the rest of the technology i can see why walking wouldn't happen but now that everyone and his dog knows why don't they just own up .. we're constantly told how much noise is in the umpires ears and so we have to understand that he may not hear a nick so why is it undermining the umpires authority if the batsman owns up and walks?

off topic, and firmly taking off my cricket hat and putting on my frilly girly dress, Srini .. is Kumble considered a bit of a sex-symbol in India. And if not why not???

Cricket hat back on:

Quote:

---

(offset a little by givenm out LBW to an inner edge on 55)

---

This one has to count in favour of the Indians! Sure mistakes are made but for it to be so far in favour of one team was just incredible.

Bucknor won't be umpiring in Perth

http://news.smh.com.au/bucknor-wont-umpire-third-test-in-perth/20080108-1ktq.html

Quote:

---

Meanwhile, a racism hearing against Australian spinner Brad Hogg will also go ahead, after the Indians alleged he called captain Anil Kumble a "[censored]" in Sydney

---

huh? Since when is '[censored]' racial?

oops, got censored ... okay, obvioulsy it's not nice but it's not racial .. it's what you call someone whose parents aren't married ...

Ok now we are venturing into the world of sore-losers. The Symonds stumping was far far from conclusive, benefit of the doubt goes to the batsman the first unwritten law of cricket.
If we wanted to get really pedantic the last wicket would have been given Timed Out. Australians choose not to apppeal. Did the batsman not realise he had two of the same gloves? Or was he eating up the clock. Why did he wait til he walked all the way out into the middle before trying them on. Was he rushed? Did he expect the number ten batsman to play it out no problems?
All those other decisions aside its really only the Symonds and Dravid ones that were outrageously poor and in themselves cost India the match.
Bucknor shouldn't have been umpiring for a number of years, once he was good, hasn't been for years.
As for bad blood it seems to be all one sided doesn't it? Australia hasnt said a word outside of being racist abuse being directed at one of their number.
Seems to me that the great hope of an Indian cricket victory here has evaporated and its leaving an unpleasant taste supporters mouths.
A similar taste was in Australian mouths when we lost to England, talk of doctoring the ball with lollies and exploiting the substitute fielder rule left us disgruntled at best, but to call of the tour..
Sounds like an exercise in powergames by the ICB as much as anything, I would be very surprised if the players wished to go home. I'm sure they feel they have a point to make.
The Indian team almost without exception is very respected by the aussie public, in fact probably more so than any other side in the world. Australian public would hate to see them leave, a what a way for some of India's all time greats to finish a final tour of Australia. Non Australians may be interested to look up letters to the editors in Australian papers, the public here is on India's side. Wonder if that would happen if the roles were reversed.