Archive for the ‘Michael Hussey’ Category
Is Ponting era bygone ?
He doesnt play ODIs. Clark(e) wins 3 out of 3. So is Ponting misfit in the captaincy plans for Australia ?
He has already quit T20s. That means he wont return for IPL. Would he ?
Australia are no more a force in ODIs now. This is a separate story that they are 3-0 up against England, who are anyways crap in ODIs.
So whats the future for Ponting, the batsman and the captain ? He has easy meat in Tests down under this summer — West Indies and Pakistan. Australia would brush this two teams up. Pakistan havent won a test against Australia in 15 years and WI havent won a test in Australia in 13 years.
So this 2 series wont be a true measure of his captaincy. Besides Australia would need to take a call on the likes of Mike Hussey and Ponting himself in the Tests. Ponting besides a 100 wasnt very successful in Tests.
The Ashes is over and till 2010-11 they have no bigger assignment coming up their way. So would Ponting be continued or sacked ?
Run up to Ashes — English Way
Every time we hear the same crap from English that they are well placed to win, every time they are thumped royally. 2005 was an abberation(*). Performance against Warwicks doesnt inspire much confidence. Whereas in the enemy camp, Mr Cricket has got some sort of form back.
Cant wait for 6 more days to see Ashes kicked off.
England feel they are Ashes favorites
True, the selection of Andrew M over Andrew S is a dampner, but they have got enough selection headaches in bowling department. And they would also mull over Mr Cricket. Do they play him or dont play him ? Average drop from 80 to 54 in a year.
English cricket is very fickle. One good performance and they feel they are best in the world. And then the next game, they are ruthlessly brought down to the earth 10 feet deep under.
Aussies on roll, Saffers on hiding
Live blogging, Mohali Test, Day 3, Session 1, Hour 1
. Here is a go at live blogging watching 1st session live on webcast……-
Its great to see quality commentators in the test series with the likes of Sunny Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, easily India’s best , Ian Chappell and Mark Nicholas along with Allan Border. Still pity to see likes of Shivramkrishnan out there in the middle with ever boring Arun Lal.
-
Ishant Sharma is a delight to watch, he is superb in run action. Thumps in, the ball zooms inside the batsman and he gotta be careful to make sure that he doesnt get LBW!! Good 2nd over of the day by Sharma….
-
Surprisingly its Mishy continuing in place of Zaheer and he is looping the ball well.
-
During India s tour of Australia earlier this year, Australia had Symmo at 6 and Gilly at 7. Now they have Watson at 6 and Haddin at 7….Huge quality gap isnt it. Would Australia gamble for Symmo as jacques replacement ? They should.
-
Play held up for sight screen problem…..
-
We need a wkt now..And who better than Hussey…Ishant Sharma still able to extract bounce out of a 3rd day pitch….
-
Zaheer comes back. It would be great if he could do a Hayden to Hussey. You see H…..:)
-
NZ are in shambles. Dumped and bumped for 171…..Ridiculous!!
-
Harbhajan is missing from overall picture. Hasnt having a great of series though…
-
Hussey gets another 50…..Whata player….
-
And he is out………..huge wicket………….Hussey c Dhoni b Sharma……..Aussie in troubles!!!
-
In comes Haddin and mind you he is not Gilchrist. A max good for 40. Not more than that…A follow-on looms large…..
-
Aussies still need 140 to save follow-on. They missing the experience of Symmo and Gilly….Whats more imp ? Personal ego battles or team victory ? So Symmo should be rushed in….
-
Wonder what happened to Sreesanth ? Lost to stardom ? He is not even in challengers team
End of first hour….36 runs and 1 wicket with Sharma being the star……
End of Symmo ?
Barring Symmo out of the Indian tour, the gloss of the series has been lost. I fear the next generation of players from both teams wont be able to sustain the intensity and passion we have seen in the series in this decade. The classic tag might soon be archived. The maverick nature of pros like Bhajji and Symmo is essential to keep the flare alive for the series. Would you shell out hard earned money to watch McGain bowl to Rohit Sharma or a Suresh Raina ?
Aussies have chosen a weak team, which gives India an edge to start with. Experience is the key in crucial series and India has aplenty of it. Even if you take out 109 out of the cumulative experience, you got 150 from Tendulkar, 132 from skipper, 97 from VVS, 125 from RD, 70 from Bhajji and 60 from VS + 53 from Zaks. Stack that against Aussies and you see India way ahead of the fiercest rivals.
Only 4 players — Ponting, Hayden, Katich and Clark(Pup) have played a Test in India before. And Hayden, Ponting are injured. Aussies lack a genuine spinner. Ok McGain is a M, but he is not Mendis or a chuck, so Indians wont submit to him. Krezza is a rookie, Boulinger and Siddins wont get a game. So its more or less in the hands of Lee, Johnson and Clarke to share the load of bowling.
Jacques and Watson/Katich/Hayden ‘s opening pair doesnt look as intimidating as Hayden and Langer. Batting looks a bit settled with Clark and Hussey as main anchors.. It would be the last time the Fab 5 of Indian cricket would take on the Aussies home or away. And nothing short of classic series win would suffice for the greats of Indian cricket.
Whatever be the team compositions, the series promises to be a cliffhanger and close one. Depends if it would be classic as 2001, 2003 or 2007. Wish that Symmo is out for now and would be back soon. He would be certainly missed, after all we have not forgot that he took the Test away from us in Sydney no matter riding on luck and bad umpiring.
