TOPIC:

Losing Starc is a blow.....his batting has been important considering number 6 has done fark all so far.....if Bird plays which he should...... then Kwahaja coming is a no brainer......Bird is a good honest type who keeps it tight.....definitely no Starc in terms of X factor....but hey control helped Hazlewood snaffle 6 so fingers crossed for Bird to deliver.....

If Kwahaja does play, where do folk think he should bat?.....3 or 6?.....Maybe Handscomb could be a good protector of the tail....so far he has gotten a start but not gone on......I know Kwahaja has a shakey subcontinent past but surely 6 specialist batsmen is better than 5 and an allrounder like Stonis, Agar or Maxwell.....who does a bit of both....

Fark Starc out throws a spanner in the works
Bird you would think would come in for him but why do I get this horrible feeling our selectors will pull a surprise and chose Stoinis as his replacement to sure up the batting!

Now it makes sense how Starc bowled in India's second innings, he just didn't seem himself and he was obviously affected by the injury. Bird will come in no doubt although after Pattinson ending WA's season today with a 4 - 48, might they be tempted to rush him over. Khawaja should slot in at number 5 and Handscomb will move to number 6 although with Starc out they may still be tempted to bring in either Stoinis or Maxwell.

Reported today that Lyon is struggling to get up for the third test, a cracked callus on his spinning finger.......3 1 to India looks the likely result, lucky the footy will be back on by the time the last test is finishing

Cummins has been selected to replace Starc, massive risk to send him over to India on the back of just 2 first class games. Hopefully they are not setting himself up for another injury........

Surely Bird will be the better bet....tight lines and let the Indians ego themselves out.....Cummins is a cert to play I reckon....does Stoinis play now just in case Cummins breaks down?....

looking at the vision out of India they may as well play 4 spinners for the third test, this wicket looks worse then the first two, and apparently at the training session today no matter how hard the quicks tried they could not get the ball above waist height..........

anchorman wrote: So Kohl;i has decided which wicket they will use!!! I saw where there were three prepared, and Kohli was asked to select which one he wanted.Not sure that is standard practice.

And the currys have got the gall to call us cheats!
If we do go with the extra spinner who gets the nod out of Agar, Swepson or Maxwell?
You can almost rule a line through The Big Show as Smith doesnt rate his bowling at all considering he didnt bowl him once during the recent one dayers in Aus in fact he preferred the part timers of Head instead!

Beasley Hutton wrote:

anchorman wrote: So Kohl;i has decided which wicket they will use!!! I saw where there were three prepared, and Kohli was asked to select which one he wanted.Not sure that is standard practice.

And the currys have got the gall to call us cheats!
If we do go with the extra spinner who gets the nod out of Agar, Swepson or Maxwell?
You can almost rule a line through The Big Show as Smith doesnt rate his bowling at all considering he didnt bowl him once during the recent one dayers in Aus in fact he preferred the part timers of Head instead!

Perhaps its time for the ICC to appoint a panel of neutral professional curators to supervise the locals at each venue to ensure no dodgy business. So for example an English curator would be appointed to supervise the pitches in a India v Australia test series and report any inconsistencies in preparation.

The other and perhaps cheaper option is to discard the toss and give the visiting captain the choice of first innings. So if the curator produces a minefield it is the home team that would have to bat when it is at it's worst. This may "encourage" the home groundsmen to produce wickets which are a fair test of skill for both teams.

Mike that is a sensible, rational, intelligent idea to stop the rot that is doctoring home pitches....unfortunately the ICC takes no notice of that sort of logic....unless of course it has the BCCI tick of approval.