***Official*** 3rd Test at the WACA

[wpdavid]

I hope D Fletcher has learned what Matthew Engel once wrote in Wisden " no one has a monopoly of cricket wisdom" Everyone else in England wanted Monty picked long before now and having not seen the highlights yet I'd like to know - did they show Fletcher's face when Monty took his fifth wicket? A good day, but didn't SA not bowl out Australia for a similar score on this ground last year and end up fighting to save
the game? We need a good first innings lead and it is about time the two Andrews and Jones did something. Colly and KP can't do it ALL!!

Yup, we need at least 450, I reckon, as chasing anything above 150 in the 4th innings against Warne would be really tough. Given the fragility of England's batting plus the 4th innings factor you'd have to still make Aus favourites at this stage. tbh you can see us being skittled tomorrow, esp looking at how well Clark bowled at the end. Maybe not though. Obviously tomorrow is as crucial as it gets. If England bat all day, it's game on. If not, we're in trouble. Here's hoping for 350 for 4 at close of play.

 

[Steulen]

Sure. Let England win them now, and Aussies reclaim them two years later.

Looking at their ages, it might be better to let Australia win them back now...

 

[TT Boy]

Be a big ask, Collingwood was a walking wicket last night but Strauss looked ok and its the sort of wicket which you would back Strauss to make some hay. First hour is so important tomorrow, lose a couple of wickets then it could be Goodnight Charlie especially if one of them is KP.

 

[Tomm NCCC]

Panesar and Geraint Jones have formed a decent partnership, I have to admit, he has took some sharp catches which Ready may not have held on to.

 

[Anna]

Colly didn't look too hot at the start of his 200, though......*touches wood*!!

 

[Langeveldt]

Thought Jones kept well, I don't think Read would add any more to this England side..

Pleased to have ate my words regarding Panesar and me being unconvinced he would continue his good form.. I fail to believe Giles was picked over him though, just shocking..

What was Fletchers face like after Panesar took his fifth? Im not sure if he would be pleased or depressed at the thought

*EDIT* - Just seen Mahmood picked... Jesus ****. Was he injured or did he only bowl seven overs because he is rubbish? At least he can bat

 

[greg]

Thought Jones kept well, I don't think Read would add any more to this England side..

Pleased to have ate my words regarding Panesar and me being unconvinced he would continue his good form.. I fail to believe Giles was picked over him though, just shocking..

What was Fletchers face like after Panesar took his fifth? Im not sure if he would be pleased or depressed at the thought

*EDIT* - Just seen Mahmood picked... Jesus ****. Was he injured or did he only bowl seven overs because he is rubbish?

To be fair a large factor of the Read/Jones debate in this series was related to England's inadequate selection processes. Saying that "Read wouldn't add anything" doesn't really suffice - had Read got the nod then no doubt one would have been able to equally say that "Jones wouldn't add anything". The fact is that Jones was dropped because of consistent long term lack of runs, the reason he was originally in the side. He was told to go away and score runs in county cricket and re-earn his place. Meanwhile Read came in and scored runs.

Then come the Ashes Jones gets reinstated despite having done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to justify getting his place back. Meanwhile Fletcher makes all sorts of unjustified remarks to put down Read, including such things as "inability to play under pressure". This despite Read having repeatedly performed under (personal) pressure, and Jones having failed miserably on several occasions (Trent Bridge last year anyone?). When everyone suspects (knows?) that the truth is that Fletcher just doesn't like him for some reason.

That is not the basis upon which to select our national team, and is almost certainly exactly the same sort of misguided reasoning that led to the non-selection of Panesar. Players must have confidence in the selection process and confidence that they will not be left out on "hunches" and because their face doesn't fit. If felt good enough to make the team in the first place, and having performed on the pitch, they should not then just be discarded at a moments notice. Consistency of selection has been England's great strength under the Fletcher era, it now appears that it only applies to people who he personally favours (and shows up the obvious inadequacies of England's varying selection procedures at home vs on tour).

 

[greg]

*EDIT* - Just seen Mahmood picked... Jesus ****. Was he injured or did he only bowl seven overs because he is rubbish? At least he can bat

Mahmood only bowled seven overs because there weren't enough overs for him to bowl with Harmison and Monty bowling so well. If you notice Flintoff only bowled 9 (I don't think it's a coincidence that Flintoff's captaincy seemed to massively improve today - very difficult to captain a side when you're bowling).

Some of us have argued for a long time that with Monty in the side England should be looking very seriously at a 4 man attack - the extra batsman will be worth so much more than the fifth bowler. Unfortunately come tomorrow it could look like a failure to recognise that could cost England the game, we'll see.

 

[The Baconator]

Pretty good day there, Monty giving the polite middle finger to Fletcher. Good to see Harmison bowling better again, but we could still get some more out of him IMO.

Not too optimistic about our batting tomorrow though, reckon we'll get to about 280 all out.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Who reckons Glenn McGrath will get done for dissent? He seemed to have an awful lot to say after he got out, no matter how crap a decision it was.

 

[aussie]

With the spinner bowling so many and also a 5 man attack, its also meant that Flintoff only got 9 overs today. Too often he's been the one to finish the day bowling 20+ overs.

It will be very interesting to see how the operate when Jones returns. Usually Hoggard has been the one to bowl less overs, but now he has improved his game with the older ball & Panesar will most likely always bowl long spells at one end from now on, how Vaughan (presumably he'll return as skipper) rotates them in the future will a nice little problem

 

[PhoenixFire]

Jones won't return imo.

 

[aussie]

Some of us have argued for a long time that with Monty in the side England should be looking very seriously at a 4 man attack - the extra batsman will be worth so much more than the fifth bowler.

Yea i was one of them, but really once Hoggard/Harmo/Freddie/Jones are all fit & firing i can't see any of them being dropped to accomodate another batsman TBH, Panesar plus the 4-man does look much more powerful (arguably the best attack in the world).

 

[aussie]

Jones won't return imo.

He's England's version of Bond, we'll see him the bloke for a few games then he'll get injured and will out for a long time again..

 

[shortpitched713]

Did you see Panesar's economy rate? 92 runs from 24 overs at the wrong side of 3.5 an over! We brought him in here to keep things tight like Gilo. Were just going to have to go back to what we know now for the 4th test.

/Duncan Fletcher

 

[greg]

Yea i was one of them, but really once Hoggard/Harmo/Freddie/Jones are all fit & firing i can't see any of them being dropped to accomodate another batsman TBH, Panesar plus the 4-man does look much more powerful (arguably the best attack in the world).

Having a fourth world class seam bowler changes the equation slightly. Although it's still very tight. I think people should be very wary of expecting Jones to automatically return to the form shown in the Ashes. I've made the point elsewhere, but his status as genuine world class bowler is really only based on 2 or 3 matches - we just don't know if that would have been sustained.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Apart from the fact he got 5 wickets. Panesar is usually very economical.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Just seen Mahmood picked... Jesus ****. Was he injured or did he only bowl seven overs because he is rubbish? At least he can bat

From what I saw of Mahmood bowling I was quite impressed. Hussey had started branching out and Mahmood shut him up very quickly. Nice tight lines, good length. Did fall away after 3 or 4 overs though.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Great captaincy by Flintoff to leave Panesar on. Game turning decision.

 

[Langeveldt]

Did you see Panesar's economy rate? 92 runs from 24 overs at the wrong side of 3.5 an over! We brought him in here to keep things tight like Gilo. Were just going to have to go back to what we know now for the 4th test.

/Duncan Fletcher

Hey, don't criticise him, we know he can hold a bat