*Official* First Test at The Gabba

[benchmark00]

After the two seconds I've seen of Chadd today, he isn't the worst to have waiting in the wings.

 

[Spikey]

i'm not sure if Port will let us pick the boy chadd

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Just ****ing don't ok?

Well he bowled well in the one dayers and ruffled a few batsmen up. If he does well in India he may get the nod. Not saying I would pick him but gut feeling with the injuries he will play.

 

[andyc]

Unfortunately I do think there is a distinct chance of Johnson playing at Brisbane. Especially if he does well in India, which he probably will the ****.

 

[Tangles]

MJ should have had his Passport stamped no more tests. Pick a shield bowler to debut but not MJ.

 

[Maximas]

I think MJ is still behind a few guys, surely the selectors have realised picking bowlers on ODI form is flawed. I'd like to think Siddle, Harris, Bird, and Chadd are ahead of MJ right now

 

[adub]

I'd like to think there's a few more than that in front of him.

 

[Maximas]

yeah, I was just trying to put on my 'Aussie dead**** selectors' hat, he wouldn't get near my side until about 10 guys were injured

 

[Tangles]

Copeland, Hastings, Sandhu and just about anyone else.

 

[Maximas]

tbf Johnson completely outbowled Hastings when they played the Perth test together, we'll have to wait for the first few shield rounds to be sure about Johnson though

EDIT: ****, he won't be there for most of it, relying on him to get carted in India now

 

[Tangles]

I'll admit that he goes ok at Perth but really he's very risky because of how he gets flogged when he is off. We just don't have the team to carry him on those days like we once did.

 

[Maximas]

Not for a minute endorsing his selection, but he shouldn't be as far back in the queue as you're suggesting. Some of those FC quicks you mentioned might have good looking figures, but they really don't cut it at test level while at least Johnson has shown that he has some capacity to do so.

 

[Tangles]

It might be time to give someone a debut if we need to. MJ is a known quality. Occasionally good but mostly crap and mentally fragile. Lets hope we don't get that far down the list.

 

[greg]

It might be time to give someone a debut if we need to. MJ is a known quality. Occasionally good but mostly crap and mentally fragile. Lets hope we don't get that far down the list.

What is the prevailing media view in Australia on Johnson? Astonishingly, the English media seem to have him down as a certainty and there are suggestions that the Carberry/Ballance selections were largely influenced by the thought that England might need left-handers to combat him.

I doubt many England fans are losing too much sleep over it - and even in the supposed "excellent ODI performances" there were a couple of times when he did what he does best...

 

[Maximas]

wow, Johnson an outsider as far as most Australians are concerned, do the English media also think Doherty is a chance?

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Harris
Siddle
Pattinson
Cummins
Bird
Hazlewood or Cutting or a few others
Johnson
however,
I think it would depend on the pitch, overall I don't want Johnson picked. But I think he's the best intimidation bowler has in the wings. In that sense he shouldn't have a shot outside Perth but depends on what the 'Gabba pitch looks like.

 

[Adders]

I think it would depend on the pitch, overall I don't want Johnson picked. But I think he's the best intimidation bowler has in the wings.

Trouble is it's second slip he's intimidating.

 

[Crazy Sam]

pitch looks ready to go already.

Gabba pitch curator Kevin Mitchell says his wicket will have definite green tinge for Ashes



Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell likes a bit of grass on his decks. Liam Kidston.

THIS is the kind of picture that was outlawed in England before the recent Ashes.

England’s curators were banned from putting any moisture in their pitches and the only watering they received was when players urinated on The Oval surface to celebrate their Ashes triumph.

But the Pommy batsmen better prepare for a watery grave Down Under.

The sight of funloving curator Kevin Mitchell chortling as he hosed down the Gabba pitch on Wednesday should give our arch cricket enemy a sign of what to expect.

There will be no dry Australian pitches to suit the world’s best spinner Graeme Swann and help Jimmy Anderson and Co produce their beloved reverse swing.

"They are a sad bunch, the Poms," Mitchell laughed.

"If they bat here on the first day, it will be pretty different to the pitches they got over in England. It’s a bit strange what they did over there, but maybe the fact they had a dry summer helped that.

"The Gabba pitch will definitely have a green tinge on the first day, I’ll be doing a bit of watering. It’s going to be important to take wickets with the new ball."

The Poms will have to cop what they cop in Australia this summer given their habit of shamelessly doctoring their home pitches.

In 2009, Oval curator Bill Gordon even gave a false name to avoid explaining why his pitch was in such diabolical condition.

With Australia losing 10-87 as 15 wickets tumbled on the second day, former Test greats questioned if the dry and dodgy pitch had been doctored to aid England’s Ashes campaign.

But the eccentric recluse known for not giving media interviews claimed he was a man named "John” and then went into hiding.

The good news for Mitchell is that the recently renovated Gabba ground, complete with a brand new grass covering, is now likely to have a match before the first Ashes Test.

A Sheffield Shield game between Queensland and NSW starting on November 13, originally scheduled for Allan Border Field at Albion, is set to be moved to the Gabba ahead of the Test starting on November 21.

"It’s not confirmed, but Queensland and NSW will more than likely play that Shield game at the Gabba," Mitchell said.

"The renovations at the ground have gone very well and that game will give us a bit of a run before the Test match," he said.

Meanwhile, England’s former captain and new MCC boss Mike Gatting has laughed off suggestions that England should be braced for an Australia backlash.

"What are they going to backlash us with?” Gatting said.

"Have they found another Shane Warne or a Glenn McGrath?

"If the two teams are pretty much the same, I wouldn’t expect the result to be any different."

 

[theegyptian]

oh **** a green wicket. we've never seen one of those before.

aussies so good at talking a load of ****

 

[Adders]

FMD.........what a complete muppet. How did the green MCG wicket work out for them in 2010??

This Gabba curator is only chirping now because he ****ed up so royally last Ashes. My granny could have scored a ton on that day 4/5 wicket.

I hope we do see green tops across all 5 tests, keeping in mind Australia will have to bat on them.