TOPIC:

Unlike Paddy to take a risk and set India a target of under 300 to win regardless of the weather.

Considering Uzzie and McSweeney are doing fark all as openers, why not give Konstas a crack, even he gets fark all, nothing to lose TBH.....with Head doing a groin, losing him will be costly for Aust, but then again Head is realistically due a couple of failures anyway, thats what he does and always has done. 

Bar injury  no changes will be made.....Marsh will play.....despite doing very little with bat n ball. Starc sadly is due to taper off as he historically does in most 5 match series....Boland in and hopefully he can repeat that magic MCG spell v England a few years back....

Congrats to Ashwin on a stellar career.....taken a lot of wickets and scored more tons then most batting at 7 or 8.

Starc and Cummins traditionally don't have the best records at the SCG and MCG either

Once more I find myself bewildered by these selectors. Make McSweeney the fall guy for the consistent failures in the top and middle orders when only Head has shown the ability to deal with Bumrah. Why?  Now they look like they are throwing young Kontas to the wolves to face Bumrah on boxing day. He is a fine young prospect and deserves his opportunity but why didn't they pick him in the first test and give him the whole series to establish himself instead of a  makeshift opener who has inevitably failed with the heat that he has been put under ( mind you Uzzie has also been underwhelming and still kept his spot). Mc Sweeney will be back hopefully in the middle order next time. Marsh the Claytons all rounder will no doubt keep his number 6 spot and bowl his regulation 2 overs....
Love Jhye Richardson but how many first class games has he played since his return from injury?

Can't see a back up spinner to support Lyon in Sydney but Abbott has retained his spot in the squad with a first class average of over 30. Just totally mind boggling.

I'm hearing you mate
I don't know what Morris has done but the way he's been treated is just deplorable
Cricket down here cannot wait for the likes of Bailey , Dodemaide & McDonald to be deleted

Test teams like England, NZ, SA, even India seem to have a conga line of new talent coming through on a regular basis. Australia has had the same old tired over 30s for a few years now and when they do give a young bloke a chance, he lasts 3 tests and gets dropped while the coach and captain's favourites live on.

Boland seems a logical choice for the MCG but at 35, why not take the opportunity to give some new younger talent a shot.

39° forecast for Boxing Day. Important toss to win.

Definitely not the debut knock folk were expecting from Konstas....well maybe the end total...but definitely not the execution...definitely not sustainable, but refreshing to see.... kudos to the kid for trying something different....especially after the way Bumrah had suffocated the scoring options of his more experienced team mates in previous matches.

Not sure the purpose of Mitch Marsh now....acts likes a clown to win over his team mates....but surely his clown days are numbered..

4 individual  scores of 50'+ for Aust  top four nstead of  the expected 50 combined ...is a nice change to see......also good to see Aust score 300+ with no contribution from Head.....

Great start by the debutant, lets see if he is able to do the 'grind an innings out" if required, but given Smiths great knock ... again and solid contribution by the top order apart from Head, it puts us in a very strong position. Smith and captain Pat plundered 140 odd in the 1st season today to get past the 450 mark. The Aussies can now go full on attack with 4/5 slips a couple of gullies and leg slip so the Elephant pilots will be under immense pressure from ball 1.

Day 1 was a horrible weather day,for the Ingins.High 30's with around 90% humidity.
The wicket looks to have speeded up day 2.And is showing signs of being two paced.
Starc + Cummins look to be getting plenty out of the wicket.In the new ball spell.
Boland will love bowling on this wicket.
Think we will win the Mcg test.And then a Sydney rain out.
Unless a couple of Indian batsman really stand up.Could be set up for Rohit.

couple of things
there is no way Konstas will get away with that sort of stuff now that the footage is out - he got lucky and he'll have to come up with different methods 
Marsh's time as a Test cricketer is over that was as poorer shot as you'll ever see , and there are other players out there it's a pity Hardie has been injured in respect to that end
the bowlers came good in the last hour and got big wickets that might just see a substantial lead if Starc doesn't undo it with the loose stuff that is
Lyon again didn't look at all threatening on what is fast becoming a spin friendly pitch with a bit of bounce
3rd day will be crucial to Australia's chance of winning