Story Australian Int Season - RETIREMENT

[MWaugh]

Buchanan: Weather May Force Changes

Australian head coach John Buchanan hinted that despite his sides crushing victory over India in the second test, there still may be some changes ahead of the final test at the Bellerieve Oval, Hobart.

The cloudy skies that have covered Hobart over the last week are unlikely to clear in the days ahead of the test which will most likely effect the Hobart pitch.

"Well by the look of the wicket at the moment I cant see it spinning alot but there will probably be a bit in there off the wicket for the seamers so we might bring in an extra pace bowler. Unfortunatly this may be at the expence of Stuie MacGill who bowled very well in Adelaide."



John Buchanan
(Australian Coach)

When asked about the potential replacement to MacGill, Buchanan replied:

"We are very fortunate that at the moment we have some really good bowlers performing highly at ING and Pura Cup level. Obviously the likes of Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken are in with a shot."

Bellreive Oval curator Cameron Hodgkins appeared happy to just have a pitch available for preperation.

"Obviously external factors such as the weather are out of our control. And the lead up to this test has been tough to get a competitive pitch to come to the surface. There will most probably be a large tinge of green all over the surface so batting may well be difficult. Im just satisfied to allow the Tasmanian fans to witness such a great battle to settle the series"

Cameron Hodgkins
(Ground Curator)

 

[Wildwil]

Wow great story so far mate.

 

[Short Leg]

If they dont get a pitch up they should play on a synthetic deck. That would be great for cricket.

 

[Brett_Lee]

Great Story MWaugh Its great presentation!

 

[MWaugh]

India To Make Changes

Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh felt the result of the crushing 2nd test defeat at the hands of Australia after being dropped for the 3rd and final deciding test in Hobart.

One of Australia's recent tormentors V.V.S Laxman has sensationally been brought back into the team at the expence of Yuvraj Singh, who had a reasonably quiet 2nd test. Laxman will long be remembered for his 4 centuries against the worlds best test team, including his 281 at Kolkata 167 at Sydney.



(V.V.S Laxman's history against Australia was a major contributing factor in his promotion to the final test team)

Harbhajan Singh however was replaced by left arm paceman Irfan Pathan, as the Bellerive wicket will offer little to the spinners and more to the quicks with movement off the seam. Anil Kumble will be the spinning option used by Rahul Dravid.



(Irfan Pathan returns to the test team to accompany Agarkar and Khan on a grassy Hobart wicket)

India's head coach Greg Chappel appeared happy with the balance.

"After having a look at the wicket out here it is common sense to play 3 quicks as a minimum. Our batting lineup may be a little bit more reinforced for such a crucial game with the inclusion of a man who holds no fear against this Australian lineup. V.V.S has done it all against this team and is looking really good in the nets at the moment"

Greg Chappel
(India Coach)

Likely Indian lineup - G. Gambhir, V. Sehwag (vc), R. Dravid (c), S. Tendulkar, S. Ganguly, V.V.S Laxman, M. Dhoni (wk), A. Kumble, A. Agarkar, Z. Khan, I. Pathan

 

[zainawan89]

Great Story mate

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

ure playing with no patch how do you pssibly hit the bf shots they dont go nowhere and does the sound come out right when u hit em

 

[MWaugh]

ure playing with no patch how do you pssibly hit the bf shots they dont go nowhere and does the sound come out right when u hit em

Which backfoot shots are you talking about. I generally dont have a problem with them. Just a matter of timing i guess. As for the sound i dont know. Ive got comentary and music muted so i can listen to my own music as im playing. 05 Commentary is just way to repetitive

 

[MWaugh]

Weather Forces Change

The cloudy skies that have surrounded Hobart and the Bellerive Oval have forced 1 change to the Australia test lineup ahead of the 3rd and final test match. With a grassy wicket being prepared, the ball is not expected to spin as much as the Adelaide wicket for the 2nd match.

New South Wales fast bowler Stuart Clark has been brought into the squad at the expense of fellow New South Welshman Stuart MacGill. Clark will make his test debut in one of the most highly anticipated test matches in seasons.

Ricky Ponting appeared confident in his new charge:

"Stuart has been waiting in the wings for a while lately and this will give him a great opportunity to team up with Brett, Glenn and Shane against a really top batting lineup. It will be a great test for him."

Ricky Ponting
(Australian Captain)

Clark was understandably delighted with the call up:

"To be honest I didnt think that I would be the one to get called up. Obviously its hard on Stuie because he was bowling really well but im just delighted to get the call. This is a fantastic opportunity to reward the selectors for having faith in me."

Stuart Clark
(Test debuton)



(Stuart Clark trains ahead of his test match debut)

 

[Cricket_60]

Great work by Clark to get into the team

 

[MWaugh]

thanks for all the replies guys. match has started and its allready alot more even than the previous test. ill post full introduction and the first couple of sessions tomorrow. keep it coming. Cheers

MWaugh

 

[Bala]

Brilliant work. Well the series has reached an intense level at 1 - 1. Go MWaugh!

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

im talking bout the back foot cover drives and back foot on drive i can never get a boundary with them without using a patch so i was wondering do you get fours with them shots

 

[MWaugh]

im talking bout the back foot cover drives and back foot on drive i can never get a boundary with them without using a patch so i was wondering do you get fours with them shots

nah mate i dont get any straight down the ground off the back foot. in all honesty it doesnt happen that much in normally cricket. back foot shots generally go behind the wicket.

 

[MWaugh]

The Weather - As expected overcast skies have greeted the players here in Hobart. There is every likely hood of rain occuring over the course of these 5 days. I expect the cloud cover to help the fast bowlers if they can get the ball to swing early.



(Cloudy skies have greeted players and fans at Hobart)

The Pitch - Definatly a bowlers deck here. Alot of grass coverage which will again help the bowlers. If you can take your time to get in then you might be ok but early on in each of the 5 days it will be tough to get through the new ball.

The Batsmen - These sides feature the 2 best batting lineups in world cricket. Both have 6 very solid and reliable batsmen and 2 exciting wicketkeeper batsmen. All will find work difficult on this pitch but if someone can become set then, with the class they hold, big scores are still possible.



(V.V.S Laxman returns for the tourists)

The Bowlers - Spinners MacGill and Singh have been dropped on a seamers friendly track. Australia look to probably have the stronger attack with McGrath and Lee, however Stuart Clark makes his debut. Irfan Pathan returns to the Indian sqaud so 3 seamers on each team will create a tough time for the batsmen.

The Outcome - I think Australia riding on the wave of success from the 2nd test. V.V.S Laxman will hopefully make a huge difference to the Indian lineup and stabilise the lower order. Whoever wins the toss will allready have their foot in the door for a crucial final test victory.