[Zvonimir Boban]

Bye bye Sanath :*(

[Ranjith]

An win in the first test match is good for any series. The other team will has to then play very positively.

Looking forward to the next match.

[spotg]

Sanath is gone?

Bloody retirements. We've lost so many good folks this year. No more will Richie Benaud say "addapaddu" in my head every time Marvan plays.

And Hashan Tillekeratne's gone too hasn't he?

So good I named my daughter after him.

[Zvonimir Boban]

Retiring from tests but he'll carry on in the one dayers so thankfully we'll still see him around for a little while

[DeafParrot]

Gutted

Sidebottom could have lasted out on his own without that dodgy decision.

[ericcantona7]

aye he was earning himself a fairly healthy average.

[Pedwar Pump]

Originally posted by spotg:
Sanath is gone?

Bloody retirements. We've lost so many good folks this year. No more will Richie Benaud say "addapaddu" in my head every time Marvan plays.

And Hashan Tillekeratne's gone too hasn't he?

So good I named my daughter after him.

Tillekeratne retired 3 or 4 years ago

[Donners]

Originally posted by Scatter:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Donners:
MacGill gone for at least the first two tests against India. Australia is officially in trouble - we can;t get away with playing four pacemen at the MCG despite the form of Noffke and Tait, and there just isn't much quality amongst the spinners. Bryce McGain is being talked up as a replacement FFS.

freely admit the spinning issue is a concern as macgill was supposed to hold the fort until someone like cullen bailey was ready to step up, but i think you're seriously overreacting. aside from rocky's (correct) point about our batting order, i really wouldn't have any issue whatsoever with us going in with four quicks so long as the curators prepare something they can get use out of.

oh, and noffke batting at eight with lee at nine would just make our batting list completely insane. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Isn't Bailey out of the state side ATM? At any rate, I think he's averaging around 40 in FC cricket. That would be a long wait for him to be ready. The odd thing is that we seem to be missing a whole generation of spinners - we go from MacGill and McGain to Bailey, with nobody in between.

Australian pitches are more homogeneous than they once were, so it may not be essential to play a specialist spinner at the SCG like it once was. However, there are a lot of concerns over the drop-in pitches at the MCG, and I'm not sure the curator will be able to have that much impact on them.

If we are to rely on the batsmen to score 500+ in the first innings, we must be prepared to bowl out a very strong batting side on the final day. That requires a quality spinner IMO, and I'm not sure if Clarke and Symonds can do the job. Then again, considering Clarke took 6/9 against India, perhaps I shouldn't worry...

[Haz]

...so long as you accept that a wicket conducive to Clarke taking 6 for 9 also saw you being rolled over for 93

[Scatter]

was about to point that out.

no ta.