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Cricket VI


Stubby

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So, Harmison rips out both Aussies openers* and Ponting goes for 1. Happy days. Of course, on the downside, Pietersen was also out for 1 in Engalnd's warm-up game.

*Alright, Katich did get 95 before he went, but I'm sure that was all part of Harmy's plan.

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He could make a good argument for trying to destroy him mentally by allowing him to come so close to a century and ripping it away from him, rather than let him go out in the 10s or 20s.

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And another failure for North. That is a bit of a concern from a West Australian perspective. On the bright side Hussey has found some form...and we just signed Chris Gayle.

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*Alright, Katich did get 95 before he went, but I'm sure that was all part of Harmy's plan.

He was obviously just lulling Katich into a false sense of security.

And another failure for North. That is a bit of a concern from a West Australian perspective. On the bright side Hussey has found some form...

Neither the English or Australian batting line-ups were particularly impressive, both relying heavily on a couple of players for most of the runs. I suspect England will be disappointed to see Hussey apparently returning to form, other than that it is difficult to tell how much the performances in the warm-up matches mean. So far I don't think we've seen anything likely to change any plans about the potential test line-ups.

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Paxter,

They're merely examining the possibility - with the kind of negative backlash it's generated, I daresay, it's not going to happen - at least for the forseeable future.

Ultimately, though, I don't have a problem with it provided the number of overs isn't reduced.

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Ultimately, though, I don't have a problem with it provided the number of overs isn't reduced.

I wouldn't have a problem with this, but it means that any rain-affected or heavily light-affected game would automatically be a draw.

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Quite a contrast in the warm-up matches today: Warwickshire have lost all of their top 6 batsmen within 30 overs to Anderson and Flintoff, whereas England Lions are happily chugging along at just under 4 runs per over and haven't lost a wicket. Mitchell Johnson is going at over 5 runs per over which is rather uncharacteristic.

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As for the England Lions, I really would like to see Denly replace Collingwood. We need another strokemaker.

:lol:

For a second I thought you were being serious for a change Hereward...but then I noticed Denly's scintillating strike-rate of 38.35 ;)

ETA: Well, that's it then. It's very clear to me now that Lee and Clark must play at Cardiff. Those two have been far and away the best bowlers on show in this game - Lee in particular is probably bowling as well as I've seen him bowl since before the India tour last year. Johnson and Hauritz have not troubled the batsmen at all.

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Johnson going for 5 an over isn't actually that much of a surprise. He's never really struck me as Mr Economy, and he does bowl a few bad balls. The thing is he usually manages to mix a few wickets in with it but it hasn't happened yet.

Good to see Lee back in form, that'll make it more obvious for the selectors. A four-man pace attack of Johnson, Lee, Clark and Siddle should be reasonably clear.

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Johnson going for 5 an over isn't actually that much of a surprise. He's never really struck me as Mr Economy, and he does bowl a few bad balls. The thing is he usually manages to mix a few wickets in with it but it hasn't happened yet.

What was surprising was the fact that he didn't swing the ball at all. Lee was reverse-swinging the ball all over the place, whereas Johnson didn't get the ball moving conventionally or irish throughout the day's play. I would have thought that with Johnson's relatively lower arm at the point of delivery, he would be more likely to reverse-swing the ball than Lee. Troy Cooley needs to get his thinking cap on.

Part of the problem was Johnson's reluctance to pitch the ball up. He continually pounded the ball into the deck just short of a good length and was getting little or no response from the wicket. He needs to watch a few tapes of Lee's bowling yesterday - Binger was consistently bowling a much fuller length than the other Aussie bowlers, and only used the shorter ball as a surprise tactic (this worked to great effect when he dismissed Moore with a surprise bouncer).

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Looks like Hughes, and maybe Ponting, might be hoping Harmison doesn't earn a last minute recall. :P

I think it is fair to assume that he's going to get a lot of short-pitched bowling directed at him during the Ashes. Maybe it's a cunning ploy, and he's actually really good at playing them? ;)

Harmison is probably the only player from the Lions squad to have really increased his possibility of a Test call-up. I have very mixed feelings about that possibility, on the one hand he does seem to be in good form and can undeniably be dangerous when bowling at his best, on the other hand he is so inconsistent it always seems risky to pick him in case he has yet another bad day and ends up being completely innocuous (or more of a danger to second slip than the batsman).

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Great to see Mohammad Yousuf back in action after 18 months in the ICL wilderness. In his first game back he has already found his groove - peeling off an impressive 109 not out off 170 balls so far against Sri Lanka. This man is clearly one of the most elegant and talented batsmen on the planet, and his re-emergence should make Pakistan a lot more competitive when they lock horns with Australia later this year.

I noticed that Vaas was overlooked by the Sri Lankan selectors for the Pakistan test, which probably signals the end of his test career. 354 test wickets @ 29 is a fantastic record, and places him in the top 16 test bowlers of all-time in terms of aggregate wickets (and top 2 in terms of aggregate wickets for left-armers). His record in Sri Lanka is also amazing: 179 wickets at 25 playing on subcontinental "roads" is not something to be sniffed at. A great career from Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.

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Slighly strange decision by the selectors tp ignore Harmison in favour of Onions. I just don't see anything in Onions. Of course, it's not like he's going to play anyway. Fingers crossed.

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Slighly strange decision by the selectors tp ignore Harmison in favour of Onions. I just don't see anything in Onions. Of course, it's not like he's going to play anyway. Fingers crossed.

I'm sure the Australians (and especially Phil Hughes) would rather face Onions than Harmison. Onions' 3-144 in the England Lions match doesn't really stack up against Harmison's 6-135.

So what is the likely XI for England at Cardiff? Looking at the squad now it would seem likely that Panesar will play and Bell and Onions will be 12th and 13th men respectively.

And of course, no English test team would be complete without a super sub.

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