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Brisbane has been flat for years -- England has made 500-1 and 376 in the fourth innings in the last decade -- good effort by Pakistan.

Whatever, people may say, I dislike the day/night matches. I am certain that Steve Smith cannot see the ball at slip, at least for some of the time. It is stupid for the ACB to put players in such a position, possiblly dangerous too, if one is slashed to slip.

Ark it looks like Mickey Arthur has something to work with there.We have seen Pakistan Throw in the towel on previous occassions when there behind in the match.

gtr: yep: I think their captain is important to them, as he should be. I would be very annoyed with the shot Khan played. the reverse sweep. Overall, if I was the captain and Arthur, I would stress that you can't win test matches with one innings alone.

Perhaps, Smith will enforce the follow-on next time?

It is a pity that Arthur was forced out by the Australian players, one player in particular, it would seem. It was a disgrace that he had to threaten the ACB with legal action to get what they owed him.

WATO,,,,,Khan took 20 odd balls to get of the mark but done well to keep his wicket.Losing by 39 runs that reverse sweep might of cost them the test.

gtr: So true -- I would be tempted not to play him in the next test to re-enforce the point to the younger players.

Pakistan are historically hot n cold....yep great effort to get to 450.....but Melbourne is another game.....and wouldnt surprise me if they get rolled......though Aust could go the same way!.....surely Head deserves a gig over Maddinson?....fark TBH Lehmann should of picked Sayers over Maddinson.....same run output but with 30 - 40 more overs of bowling.....

Freezin wrote: Pakistan are historically hot n cold....yep great effort to get to 450.....but Melbourne is another game.....and wouldnt surprise me if they get rolled......though Aust could go the same way!.....surely Head deserves a gig over Maddinson?....fark TBH Lehmann should of picked Sayers over Maddinson.....same run output but with 30 - 40 more overs of bowling.....

You're not suggesting drop ANOTHER NSW star player for a NON NSW player.. Maddinson reminds me of IAN CRAIG (a young potentially great NSW player back in the old days) Given the world but failed to deliver.. Maybe drop Lyon & try Maxwell or Zampa?

Good to see the selectors take a stab at something different and picking Cartright for the boxing day test....would of been too easy going for Marsh....at least Cartright is a fresh face and bats more than he bowls....yeah he may not play but atleast he got the nod before a few others who have failed to deliver.

I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies. Even though the Gabba pitch was a good one for batting, at least it gave the bowlers some chance and made for an exciting 5 days of cricket. Don't know if anyone has been following the test in India but at lunch on day 5 the scores are as follows. England 477 and 0-97, India 7 - 759 (dec). That's a total of 1333 runs for the loss of 17 wickets. Average per wicket is 78. Now that's what I call a road and too many of these types of surfaces will see a dramatic drop of interest in test cricket. It should be at least a contest between bat and ball.

LOL Mikeh....India win by bowling Eng all out after lunch....not too sure what you mean by contest between bat and ball .....always got to wait till the fat lady sings mate!