WACAs, ‘whackers’, you get the idea. Australia batted unbelievably poorly on day one at Perth. Only one batsman was out to a ball he could do nothing about – and that was the exasperatingly exemplary Mike Hussey. The rest of them got out to shots that were as ill advised as the selection of Australia’s final XI. What on earth were the Aussies thinking? Test cricket requires discipline and patience – not whackers like Phil Hughes and Steve Smith. Unless they can get a fast start against an under...
Day one at Perth
Stumps: England 29-0. Australia 268. The Perth test poses special challenges for the English cricket follower. At the other four Australian venues, we watch a couple of hours’ play, go to bed, then wake up in the morning too nervous to even look at the score in case we’ve made a mess of it. At Perth, where play doesn’t begin till 2.30am, we wake up worrying if we messed it up from the very beginning. Many of us were feeling very anxious ahead of this test match. Surely...
Confusion reigns at the WACA
I’ve got to admit it. I haven’t got a clue how to preview this match. We don’t know what the pitch will be like. Reports vary from ‘as fast as Kevin Pietersen in a Lamborghini’ to ‘as slow as an Australian selector’s brain’ – talking of which, we don’t have a clue what the Australian team is going to be either. Recent reports suggest it’s going to be a straight fight between Peter Siddle and Michael Beer for the sixth bowling spot (I’m counting Watson and Steve Smith as genuine all-rounders)...
Tremlett is your choice for Perth
Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll about which England seamer should replace the injured Stuart Broad for the WACA test which begins on Thursday. It seems as if most of you instinctively felt the tall, rangy Chris Tremlett will offer the greatest penetration on the Perth wicket. The results were: Chris Tremlett 57% Ajmal Shahzad 28% Tim Bresnan 10% Monty Panesar 6% England coach Andy Flower said today that he’s already decided which of the bowlers will get the nod, but the players...
Aussie bowler in ‘taking wickets’ shock
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but on the Full Toss we like to sink even lower. Consequently we’d like to recommend Victoria’s Clint McKay for the Australian test team. It just makes sense. If Michael Beer can get a gig after recording match figures of 5-207 against England in a meaningless warm-up game, then McKay’s 4-92 surely warrants an extended run of one match at international level.
BBC Sports Personality: let’s get behind Swanny
David Steele, 1975. Ian Botham, 1981. Andrew Flintoff, 2005. The last three cricketers to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. By next Sunday night, could we add to the list Graeme Swann, 2010? England’s irrepressible spinner, currently the No.2 ranked bowler in the world, is one of ten candidates for the award, which will be decided by a live public vote during the BBC programme on December 19th. The other nominees include boxer David Haye, champion jump jockey AP McCoy...
