Teams can now always expect a collapse in that middle order. All that after the openers got us to a good start. Clarke isn't dispelling the myth that he isn't as good at 4. Cowan is done and dusted.
It's not a myth :
#3 : 2 inns, 25 runs @ 12.50
#4 : 32 inns, 667 runs @ 21.52
#5 : 98 inns, 5692 runs @ 63.96
#6 : 21 inns, 829 runs @ 48.76
He's also batted at 7 & 8. 32 innings is plenty enough evidence, HS of just 80 and just four fifties, one every 8 innings compared to a 50/100 every 2.5 innings batting 5 and every 3.5 innings batting 6.
Someone said he was the most in form batsman, 57 runs in his last 5 innings doesn't reflect that.
Last three Tests : 148 runs @ 24.67
Previous 13 Tests : 1835 runs @ 96.58
He batted 3 & 6 in his previous Test, made 0 and 18.
Anyway, on this Test. England look to be closing in on the kill. The only real aussie hope is to hang around, probably with this pair, get to within 80-100 runs and give England something to worry about. At the moment England have runs to spare, if it gets to 80 needed with 4 wickets in hand then there'll be more concern over runs and defensive fields.
Haddin hasn't made a fifty since December 2011, but has made a few runs including a 42no and 30 in his last couple of Tests. Agar looks capable of making some runs or hanging around, only needs one of them to make a fifty and England won't be quite so confident.
The Test has exposed 'concerns' over the DRS, things I've been saying from the off. It's too much of a "tactic" when you give it to the captains/batsmen, selfishness with the batsmen wicket reviews and opportunism with the bowling reviews.
You have to look at the point of the system, to avoid glaring errors, and decide is what you have achieving the goal? It has improved the decisions where reviews are available, but if a side has run out then clangers can still make an appearance. And mistakes are still there, I mean the Agar stumping was close, but certainly the Trott review was a disaster and this doesn't "sell" the review to the sceptics. These aren't powerplays, this is supposed to make sure umpiring mistakes are corrected.
So give it to the umpires, probably too late to backtrack and the ICC not lose face, but it would work better if the umpires used the system when they felt uncertain rather than leave it as a tactic and limited use only. Reviews should be used when needed, not when available and the captain/batsman is willing to "risk" losing one.
And about time the MCC made the laws clear and cut out the non "walkers". If you're out and you know you're out then you shouldn't be standing and waiting, you should vacate the crease. If you can't play with a fair play spirit then you shouldn't play the game.
Ask Broad why he didn't walk and I bet he'd be lying if he said he didn't think he was out. I didn't see him leave the crease yesterday, but I gather he left promptly and probably feels a tinge of guilt, and rightly so. Those saying he was "wrongly pilloried" ignore the fact that he did something wrong, whether you think just the spirit of the game was damaged or what. You edge, you're caught, you're out, you leave the crease.
Of course if some stop and think about it, we may get a war around reviews. If players know opponents are out, or they are out, players may start appealing or standing their ground as they know their opponent can do nothing about it. Don't they get 3 per player per set in Tennis? You get 2 per innings per TEAM in Tests, a tennis set might conceivably last over 100 serves, an innings is likely to last at least 240 deliveries.
. The fields Swann set for him were smart. Very similar to what Herath gave him last summer, which I thought were effective too. Bowl full, make sure your cover and mid wicket are VERY straight. Clarke loves using his feet and threading those cover-midoff and midwicket-midon gaps. Cut them off and he's down to 2 options to score: go over the top, or score from the back foot. If you bowl accurately you can cut off the back foot option too - see last night where Clarke only really scored working Swann off his hip to shorter balls. If you've got a field where you're forcing Clarke to go big, then you win, because that is the weakest part of his game.
