“does that mean they’ve all got headaches?”

Fellow Shatteredees,

Who’d be an Australian cricket selector at the moment, for love or money?
Not when you the team you picked has just been out played, out captained, and out coached.
To be done by nine wickets when you were odds on at the end of day two against a mob of Yarpies does tend to disappoint.
It’s a funny game
Someone was muttering under his breath something to do with the first time Straya had lost a test series at home in 16 or 17 years or something or another.
AMJ Hilditch?
What’s he ever done?
DC Boon and MG Hughes?
No one’s denying their deserved place in the pantheon of the greats – but how does that qualify them?
And then there’s the faceless man, who you would hope, acts as the obligatory fly in the ointment?
When they arrive in Sydney the “leadership group” would probably benefit from an afternoon in The Room Full of Mirrors down on the Balmain Rd [it’s free – the footballers are in Hawaii].
Pup and Punter could hop into the sauna afterwards and they might discuss their injudicious second innings shots that didn’t even bother to trouble the umpire to put his finger up, as the whole ground knew.
It looked like both of them were using one of those curved sticks favoured by Irish hurling players.
And just when the test match was there to be saved for a second time.
To dolly one to the field in test cricket is a cardinal sin, only very slightly better, but not by much, than the original sin of running yourself out.
As a good mate remarked today when he heard of the result in Melbourne “Sydney looks like a good place for one or two to debut, but I’m damned if I know who.”
Noted from the television graphic at the office after the dénouement that IM Chappell had somebody called Marcus North somewhere in his batting order.
Marcus Who?
KJ O’Keeffe is keen on opening with PJ Hughes [NSW] on a horses for courses basis, but neglects to factor in the fact that the kiddie has only been playing first class cricket for five minutes.
There’s even been talk of playing both spinners on a track, which from my first hand observations this summer, will play like a four to six lane highway over the five days,
You’d only do that if you found that SK Warne and SCG MacGill weren’t overly busy in the New Year.
Speaking of blokes who have had the decency and sense to retire just after they had achieved the peak of their powers, there must be one or two jokers over the age of 30who are currently in the team, who might just take themselves to wondering in the light of what’s happened, whether they could have played on too long.
Maybe they should’ve followed the lead of DR Martyn and JL Langer, who are both decent and sensible men; just walk away from the caper and take your chances.
Who’s to say?
The young folk might have a few thoughts about it.
When news broke that B Lee had something wrong with his foot and that according to the news it had given the selectors a headache, the Good Lady Wife remarked “does that mean they’ve all got headaches?”
Enough said.

con artists

Frustratees,

The Royal Commissioners, who turned up in Melbourne to conduct the semi-public inquiry into the Pathetic Performance at Perth, would no doubt have had their minds concentrated by the proceedings on day three at the MCG with Straya’s inability to take two tail end wickets in a day.
This, after the Captain had scored a ton to lead from the front, and the Vice Captain was asked to save the test match and came good with a well made 80 odd not out.
An innings of two sensible halves by MJ Clarke, as he plunged the pitchfork into the deck just out in front of the popping crease on day one, only to help score at a run a minute on day two.
The rapidly developing cricket brain coming into play.
Everyone knew the wrong team had been picked by the selectors from the off.
Clueless.
Perhaps the Royal Commissioners should just sweep away the Chairman and the Three Wise Men in one fell swoop, and be done with it.
From now on, it’s me and you who pick the team, OK?
Nothing like it when yr bowling attack goes completely haywire.
I’m reluctant to bring my 84 year old mother into this, but she said to me on the phone “we are completely buggered aren’t we?” after watching the thing on the television all day as it went “on, and on, and on, and on….”
There’s been talk of turning up at the ground on the Monday of the Sydney test match.
But even the most rudimentary cost analysis reveals that good seats at the test cricket cost just about as much as good grandstand tickets to the Formula One in Melbun.
WHAT THE??!!
How much does it cost to pay two cricket teams to play?
Astonishing.
At least at Albert Park the beer is guaranteed full strength [and I’d imagine that the top shelf will be available in the two “exclusive” bars that I’ve paid to have access to] and even in general admission at the race track you can get things like savoury pancakes or a bratwurst on a bun with German mustard and caramelized onions to keep you going, and five dollar beers, all at a reasonable price for a main event.
After the last Ashes bonanza, the jokers at Cricket Australia must be the biggest con artists going around.
Give me five bucks in to ICC WWC at Newcastle No.1 Ground in early March, any day of the week.
Pup must be hoping that he’s not required to make much more of a contribution to the test match, while going to sleep smiling, and dreaming about plotting the coup d'état to take the Captaincy off Cap’n’Cockhead just in time for the Ashes tour.
Stranger things have happened.