TOPIC:

I am struggling to follow the logic of the selectors in their choice of team for the first test. Firstly, did I read it right that Rod Marsh had told Jackson Bird that the reason he hasn't been selected for the test is that his batting is not good enough??? WTF? Since when has a number 11 been judged on his batting capabilities? Gee Glen McGrath may have been struggling to get a game based on Rods criteria. Yes I know tailenders need to be able to hang in there and support a recognised batsmen to add valuable runs but if Bird is in the top 4 bowlers on performance then he should be in the team. I find it a massive vote of no confidence in the batsmen for a bowler to be judged on their batting prowess.

Then there is the selection of Mitch Marsh, whose batting or bowling is not good enough to make the eleven but because of the Australian selectors obsession with having an all rounder he gets a run. I think it would make the team much stronger to place a proven batsman like Callum Ferguson at 6 and back your four main bowlers to do the job. There are part timers like Voges and Smith who can give the front liners a break. The way it is now the South Africans might fancy their chances of running through us once we have lost our 4th wicket.

Finally there is Peter Nevill who I concede is probably struggling to live up to the standard set by Haddin and before him Gilchrist but the fact that he is still being selected is probably an indictment on the other keepers in Australia

South Africa's 4 top quality pace bowlers will make a complete mockery of our batting line up.
As a proud West Aussie I never thought I would say it but please give away the Chairman of Selectors role R.W Marsh as you have done a very ordinary job of it unfortunately.

they are obsessed with all-rounders; Hodge was told that he would not make the test team because he could not bowl.

Reading all the stuff about Mitchell Starc yesterday, I am left wondering why the hell is he in the team if he is not 100% fit. He is talking about a guard for a wound that has still not healed fully and he has only bowled 19 overs in a competitive game in the last 6 weeks. He is seriously underdone and I think he would have been better off having another run in the shield this weekend rather than straight into the cauldron of a test match against the South Africans.
Starc will be a crucial bowler for Australia in years to come and I only hope they are not rushing him back too quickly risking more injury for the sake of a short term goal

Even more remarkable to me Mike was how he actually got injured at training by the way in the first place. Have they not heard of OH&S procedures and practices at CA or CNSW? Sheesh they are lucky it wasn't even more serious as Starc is worth multi millions and they may have had a very large law suit on their hands!

well...we seem to be giving the Jaapies a bit of hurry up at 4/32. Finally a decent Perth first day track to bowl on....good stuff.

Managed to jag an RDO from work and had a day at the cricket. It was a perfect day, not too hot. The first day of a test match is always special in terms of atmosphere and I noted with a bit of sadness that next summer the crowds will be flocking to the new stadium which will signal the beginning of the end of the WACA as a test venue for the major games.

The pitch was pretty green in the first session and Starc and Hazlewood menaced the top order right from the first over. The ball was really carrying through like the old style WACA pitches and maybe Du Plessis would have inserted Australia if he had his time again. A screamer of a catch by Mitch Marsh to remove Cook and then Amla prodded uncertainly to send a more straightforward catch to Smith. By the end of the first hour it was 4 - 32 and the Proteas were looking like they might fold completely, however the pitch settled down after that and Buvuma ( who must be only about 5 foot 3) along with Du Plessis started to look more comfortable. Du Plessis played very fluently and it was surprising when he edged to slip shortly after lunch as it was just about the first false shot I had seen him play in his innings.

After this Buvuma and De Kock established a good partnership that got South Africa back on track somewhat. The Aussie bowlers started bowling a bit too short and De Kock in particular murdered anything like that. I was impressed with the way he batted and I saw a touch of Gilchrist about him as he can score very quickly.
Buvuma reached his 50 and then Lyon immediately removed him thanks to a reflex grab by Shaun Marsh at short leg. Philander hung in with De Cock for a while and pushed the score towards 200. Starc skittled Philander just before tea but the last 3 wickets added around 70 with De Cock making most of them.

242 was certainly a decent score from the position of 4-32, but SA needed 2-3 wickets in the last 90 minutes to get back in the game.
Starc was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies but all 5 had their good patches apart from occasional overuse of the short ball. Starc and Hazelwood bowled several overs of short stuff at numbers 10 and 11 without result but the first ball that Starc bowled on the stumps to Steyn skittled him so there must be a message there.

Then it was the Dave Warner show in the last 90 minutes. Whereas Sean Marsh was very uncertain early in his innings and took 17 balls to get off the mark, Warner was straight into it, hitting boundaries all over the park. It was like they were batting on different pitches the two of them. Warner should have been out when about 17 when the umpire gave him not out LBW to Philander. The South Africans reviewed and it turned out that Philander had overstepped. When I saw the replay later the ball tracker had the ball hitting the stumps so that no ball has cost South Africa plenty already and who knows how much more it might cost them tomorrow.

Shot of the day for me was Warners ramp shot 6 off Steyn. During the execution, he fell over but still managed to belt it into the crowd! How much power has this guy got?

Overall a great day if you are an Aussie supporter ( Saw plenty of South African shirts as well). If the openers can see off the first 7 or 8 overs tomorrow, it could be a very long day of leather chasing for the Proteas.

the South Africans may pay for playing no first-class cricket before the series.

It is not that hard to schedule 2 or 3 shield games at the start of the season, including the test players. The one day competition used to be only three rounds, which for me, is a format they should bring back. Even more so, because most of it seems to be played over east in Sydney. I wonder if the WACA is being financially compensated for this little fact. If you played matches at the WACA which included test players on a weekend, you would get a reasonable crowd.

Well batted Mitch......funny how the selectors think Mitch is the real deal and the rest of Australia know he is not......surely that young fella Arjun Nair is a better option than Mitch?.....Aust definitely need a 6th specialist batsmen....not some pin hearted ex SF colt who looks like Tarzan but bats and bowls like Jane......