risk aversion and the end game. or, we don't need to win

in the wrap up of the first test, heaps of comment will be made about selection, selectors, the pitch and tactics... all valid.

i want to look at something else to be taken from the result- intent.

while i totally concede a captains goal must be to win the series, I'm putting it out that Strauss pea-hearted a chance (admittedly slim on the flattest of flat-tracks) to play for a result, only because England currently hold the Ashes.

Sure it is a captains prerogative to play as he sees fit, and as stated, i know a result was unlikely due to the track, but for mine Strauss turned yesterdays middle session into psychological warfare and an exercise in fatiguing Australia's bowlers before the quick turn-around to Adelaide.

If that is the case, i'm of the belief that Strauss may have done Australia a favour. Clearly Johnson is the weakest link in the bowling line-up, and now the selectors have virtually no option but take him out of the mix... something that may not have happened for Adelaide.

So, for that i thank you AA#2, but for your inability to declare a session earlier and put the onus and challenge back on the Aussie batsman, i award you the "Pisum Sativa Cardio" medal for the first test... if you continue to play out the series for draws just retain the Ashes, a bigger prize awaits!

stoph verismo
down the wicket

as Gough said, "It's time."

the Ashes series has started (well, in 2 hours after this posting), but the war of words and tabloid BS is in full swing in Blighty and well, here too.

The centre for "quality" journalism is going flat chat tearing strips off Ponting, with headlines and copy such as: You're once, twice, three times a loser (and we love you for that, Ricky!). Bring on those saggy greens. Strauss invoked the jaw-jutting spirit of Douglas Jardine on the eve of the Ashes battle and welcomed Mitchell Johnson's threat of a bouncer war".

Under the headline "Sick Rick", The Sun said that Ponting heads into the opening Test "looking like a man about to be publicly executed".

"Out of form, ageing and with an unforgiving Australian public loading their bullets, Ponting knows he has a huge target strapped to his chest".

The Mirror was keen to keep the focus largely on the game, expecting the walls of Australia's Gabba fortress to "come crumbling down within a week".


anyway, who cares what they think- for opinion that really counts, here is mine - polemic or otherwise, but totally correct; because i am stoph verismo!

the toss of the coin is exactly that- a toss. so there is no point banging on about ifs and buts; it will be humid on a green top- win the toss BOWL! and get out for a bat in after tea.

Doherty- i don't know. He is there for KP and Trott, apart from that, he better be able to "shut down" runs. i agree with Rod Hogg and think the Rug as opener with Hilf was the way to go as Jono MUST NOT open bowl; he prefers not to, as does his record.

also while on Rodd Hogg- he and Jon Anderson gave Hilditch an honest spray in their column "Chin Music". They were good value last summer, and i predict they will be the biggest hit of the Ashes.

While mentioning Jono, i've got to say, his threats of a bouncer barrage -particularly against African Andy #2- seem pointless to me unless he can find a MUCH better line... and if ALL the quicks learn to bowl a sandshoe-crusher!

Anyway, this is the only ground i'm prepared to give Strauss after he hauled out the standard English shit stirrer response to the actual Ashes not coming here should we win, "It is too fragile and is at the home of cricket for a reason." Sorry AA, what was that reason? the home of TEST CRICKET is the MCG, and the Ashes represents Test cricket between Australia and England, not cricket on the whole! i know you are only saying this to get a rise out of us Andy, but it only makes a fool of you when you are getting the relevance wrong. Learn your history...son!

and to finish up:
my vote for the 2 best bits of media today: we've all heard of the Gabba referred to as Fortress Gabba- but Will Swanton's label of the "Gabbattoir" is the best i've heard in a while.
and as a leggie, i like Robert Craddock's: "In this country, leg spinners are the stars while offies are the road crew, harassed from all quarters, and seen as tradesman of last resort."

this has been brought to you by Stoph Verismo
down the wicket


ps. another ton to Hodge...hmmmmm

speed cricket- now choose your partner!

in a rush but:

african andy #2 (strauss) backs ponting..DER! he'd hardly ask for the rightful captains recall!

Lee wants to be thought of as still in the mix...uummm, devolution seldom pays divedends.

gayle axed as cap... can't imagine him showing too much emotion over that- footnote, Nash vc!

clarke to play every game every format in the next 6 months...check the scoreboard pup, you may not get that choice!

warne declares swann holds key to ashes... "go after him, especially in that first over where he commonly gets a wicket" yes sir!

hodge blasts b/rangers to victory... still not good enough for aus! hmphfff!

stoph back on the fitness wagon and looks set for 1st game in 2 weeks (masters!)...hasn't bowled or faced a ball in 8 months!

the war before the war

the buzz is on as to where the England team are planning to go as a bonding/educational pre Ashes trip now that a leak as emerged that potential squad players have been told to keep a window of time available at the end of the month.

after last years WW1 Flanders experience preceded an Ashes victory, it is any ones guess as to what the 2 African Andy's are up to this time around.

the only real information suggests the time frame- 24-28/9, and the fact it not a training camp, but more a bonding experience and it is suggested also educational.

With Warne no longer in the Aussie squad to say NAY to any form of extra exertion, is it too late to do a quick lap of Kokoda? or more realistically, a jump on a plane after the Mumbai or Dehli test to Gallipoli to see where poor British leadership put ANZAC soldiers in it.

Or even better still, get to Brisbane a few days earlier than normal and educate the team on The Brisbane Line and the alleged sell-out of the top of our island by Menzies and British and American High Command.

While it was supposedly mainly MacArthur and Menzies idea, why let that get in the way of building up some anti-English sentiment given so many of our troops were away "defending Mother England".
Surely this will help bend the backs of any patriotic fast bowler!

Irrespective of my suggestions, i think African Andy #1 should be complimented on his ideas and direction for the England team; he has been quoted as saying that last years trip to the battlefields was about, "broadening the players horizons and putting their sporting careers in perspective."
Admirable objectives when faced with the horrors of the western front.