the main players today

The Krab Katich – batted like he has all year, took the facebook kid nice byrce to get him out. Was in control for most of the day, but is out now, and cannot hurt us for a day or two.

Phabulous Phil – seems to have lost all touch at the moment. Lucky he had the Krab free flowing at the other end, because he was stuck in a hole, hole, holeee, and it was deep, deep, deeeeep. Siddle eventually ended his innings.

Once in a generation Clarke - looked bubbly, fresh, alive, in control and went out on tea just when his team really needed him. Perhaps he thought he was still playing for Australia where that sort of behaviour is tolerated.

Their brad – was a little flighty early on, but then he took complete control, and although he never looked like taking the game away from victoria he did look like he was gonna make it uglier. Then he went out in the last over of the day.

Brett Lee – spent all day ducking and weaving, getting hit, slashing to the boundary before Dirty dirk bowled a ripper.

Dirty Dirk – was brutal early on, pretty good with the reverse swing, and then looked tired and flat with the second new ball. But still angered one through the crease to end Lee’s day and set up Victoria for tomorrow.

Peter Siddle - is about 20 has had more shoulder operations than a centre half forward, but somehow he just picks up wickets like other people pick up socks. Another 4 today, and I’ve seen him bowl a lot better as well.

The facebook kid Nice Bryce – not his best day, but he dines on Krab tonight.

Angry man Harwood – bowled some good spells, but is still the bet when it reverse swings.

The Big bear – Captained well, no matter what the fox sports team said, and bowled pretty well. Also seemed to have a new cap on.

Our Brad – dropped catches, miss fields, falling over and generally making me laugh.

No royal commission required

Memo to all fans of Victorian Cricket

There is no conspiracy

There is no selectoral bias

There is no grassy noll theory.

And the CIA has nothing to do with this.

Victoria does not have a player in the Australian team, because at this time there is no spot for a Victorian in the Australian team.

Test wise, only two Victorians are currently in the form to play for Australia, the other three are not quite there.

Future PM David Hussey is in breathtaking form at the moment. But the King Probot Hussey, Pup and Roy are all making runs. Generally selectors don’t drop guys making runs, I have stated my thoughts on Michael Clarke being dropped, but we all know they aren’t going to drop him on my recommendation.

CWB’s Nice Bryce McGain is the other player playing at the level of test match standard. He has two hurdles to over come, one is old agedness and two his lack of a first class record. Is he a better bowler than Brad Hogg, king oath, but he is not at Staurt MacGill’s level either.

Brad Hodge has not had a good year (except for the runs he made against a new texas eleven with 2 fit bowlers counts) and would now be behind Hussey, Katich and Pomersbach in the selectors mind. Plus do we really need more Brads in the side.

Peter Siddle is in good form, but he has only played 3 matches and Doug Bollinger had taken 2 ten wicket hauls this year at roughly the same average.

Had Andrew McDonald replicated last years form he would be very close to selection by now, but he hasn’t due to injury and therefore is down the list. Noffke is in superstar form and would be ahead of him at the moment anyway. Plus he does have red hair.

One day wise we were unlucky not to have a player in the side.

David Hussey is unlucky again, but the only batsman, I repeat batsman picked ahead of him is Brad Haddin, who on his last tour with Australia smashed the Indians everywhere. It is hard to drop a guy who performed so well the last time he played. Domestically Hussey has had the better year, but only marginally. Every other batsman deserves his spot ahead of Hussey at this stage.

Brad Hodge, well he had his chance in India, and he batted horribly. The selectors have picked the player in Haddin who made the runs there. He now finds himself on the list behind Hussey and perhaps even Voges, but Pontings love for the man means he could leap frog them if there is a spot available, especially if it is a top order spot.

McDonald hasn’t been in sensational one day form, but you know who has, Noffke and Hopes. And they were selected because of that fact. Case closed.

Dirty Dirk Nannes & Bryce McGain were the two best 2020 bowlers in the big bash, both are over 30 and one is injured.

If Nannes was fit I would have hoped he would have got a call up for the 2020 game ahead of Hilfenhaus, but he isn’t and there fore not in the side.

This isn’t all bad news, because this is the first Victorian team we have had in quite some time that has had multiple players with a shot of making the main team.

I didn’t even mention Cameron White or Aiden Blizzard, one who has played and one who in the future could be a chance.

But let us not be whiney little babies, as this means we have a full strength state team to pick from for the rest of the year.

And by then someone in the Australian middle order will be injured and Hussey will be there.

day four

The Vics did what I said they would do, they won, whilst giving us all a scare.

Early on they lost 2/4, and then later on they lost 2/0.

Sure I said they would lose 3 quick wickets at a time, but let us not quibble over mere details.

They probably needed the Son of Tony Jewell to anchor the innings as losing 6 wickets was more than enough for me.

Shame Nick didn’t get his ton, he is a very good old school opening batsmen, sort of like the big cheeseburger, only smaller. Junior burger perhaps.

Future Pm David Hussey’s innings was odd. 50odd of 40ood balls seemed a weird contribution to the days play.

Highlights of the match would have to be McDonalds return to form with both bat and ball and Siddle’s continued skinny bowling average.

But Mr Shipperd please fix our mini collapses, I eat a lot of cheese, and therefore probably have a bad heart.

Cameron Whites golden duck is not news worthy.

day 3

I didn’t quite keep up with the cricket today.

But I did hear Heath Ledger died, but that didn’t effect the current bushranger side.

I also heard Mick Lewis retired, that also didn’t effect the current bushranger side.

Siddle continued to bowl well (six fa) and continued to be flung to the lions in his position as night watch.

Or in Russian Nochnoy Dozor.

Victoria should comfortably cruise to victory, but that will have at least one period where they lose like 3 wickets in a row just to scare us.

220 runs to go gents.

made of glass

The biggest story in world cricket has been bypassed by all factions of the media.

An Angel by the name of Sarah has found me and alerted me to this new crisis.

Dirty Dirk Nannes has a stress reaction in his foot.

While I have no idea what a stress reaction is, except for the fact it’s apparently not a stress fracture, he may miss up to 3 weeks with this reaction.

What is going on with Victorian fast bowlers, they are undoubtedly the best looking, fiercest and most talented fast bowlers on earth, and yet all of them are made of glass.

I would back Dirty Dirk to walk through hell and not get injured, but somehow 10 overs against Tassie did the trick.

Come to think of it, when I saw him walking around during the vics innings he was limping.

But I thought, what a warrior, limping after battle like all warriors do.

Never did I think maybe he has a stress reaction, perhaps because at that time I had never heard of the phrase stress reaction.

Victoria go into the state game at the Junction oval with Siddle and Harwood both under injury clouds.

So let’s open a market.

I’ve got Siddle at 4.40 to make it through the match without an injury.

Harwood is 17.20 to remain unhurt. For him is probably unders.

For both of them to remain uninjured for the entire match I give odds of 42 to 1.

Gamble responsibly.

rain and bricks defeat vics

I had a long report written form the G today.

I sat there all day, watching the Vics in total control, and then, some careless batting and one really good spell and the Vics lose.

The careless batting was from White and Hussey, maybe careless isn’t the word, they let the game drift, the run rate was only 6 and a half an over, but then Hilfenhaus bowled a top spell that completely dried the runs up.

I say dried the runs up, cause it happened as the rain fell, all of a sudden White and Hussey realised they were a long way behind the par score and started attacking the Tigers.

For 2 overs it was great, they both got some big hits away, and even though I knew it couldn’t last, either by wickets or rain delays it was pretty cool.

Then Hilfenhaus got both of them in one over, and the par score was gone and so were the Vics.

Best of the batsmen was Quiney, it was a shame he got out when he did, because before then he seemed to be scoring at a run a ball without a problem.

Best of the bowling was Siddle, was lively, troubled all the Tassie batsmen and out balled Nannes who is in top form.

McGain took 3 for, not bad for a pensioner, but I have seen him bowl a lot better.

There was a lot more to report, but Hilfenhaus has sapped all of the Victorian spirit out of me.

dirty dirk & our bryce

The Bushrangers are keeping their one day hopes alive.

Quiney, the NSWelsh destroyer weeks ago, took a more subdued approach but still scored 70odd.

Hussey, McDonald and Blizzard all chipped in with 40 odds.

Since I didn’t see the game I’ll defer to my old man who said, “this Hastings looked good, had 20 odd in no time”.

Dirty Dirk Nannes continued his good form with 3/28 and Cricket With Balls Own Bryce McGain took 3/32.

The three wickets came at a very good time for Bryce, Siddle & Dirty Dirk didn’t allow him to take many wickets last week, in the first dig he didn’t even get a bowl.

The race for boxing say is still on, and at this stage we are still occasionally fully committed to our Bryce playing in the first test.

Bring on the Indians I say, Dirty Dirk is waiting.

rosie perez was right

In thinking about Victoria’s victory today I’m reminded of Rosie Perez in White men can’t jump, when she said in a thick latino accent,

“Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose”

It never made sense to me before, but now I get it, she was talking about the fact that when Victoria won, it really lost, because they failed to get Bryce McGain a haul of wickets.

As much as we all want Victoria to win the pura Sheffield cup Shield, what we really want is Victorians in the Australian side.

I am so sick and tired, (after 2 test matches) of watching smug NSWelshman, coy Westerners, slow Queenslanders or ex Tasmanians.

One Victorian, is it too much to ask for?

McGain is still the best spinner in the country, but a 5 for would have been nice. I think he was a bag of wickets away from really having a shot at playing. Now its either Hogg or Tait I fear.

But lets not dwell on Former Cricket With balls own Bryce McGain, let us get all gaga over Siddle, the man with a bowling average of 11 after 2 games.

This is a list of the bowlers he has taken more wickets than this year, all of which have played at least 4 games.

Stuart Clark, Jason Gillespie, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Hogg and Ben Hilfenhaus.

So if Bryce isn’t going to get the gong, let me flim flam over to Siddle, who is now Our Siddle, until he fails or he starts to annoy me for some petty reason.

Romance, Bushranger style

David Hussey and Max Klinger continue their sick relationship in Tasmania.

In the spirit of Romeo and Juliet, if one dies then the other must commit suicide so they can spend the rest of their time together pledging their undying love to each other, in the locker room.

It's not hard to work out who the butch is, is it?

At Least they only do it after making important partnerships.

Captaining suits the way Hussey bats, and a run a ball hundred was perfect for today.

Klinger continues to bat like a man who is trying like hell to keep himself in the side, is he a talented player, yes, can we continue to allow him to score a run over three balls, not sure.

Another worrying sign is the fact that outside of Hussey and Hodge none of the batsmen seem to be able to make 100’s.

Well it worries me anyway.

Tomorrow is an interesting day.

Will Our Byrce get a pitch that is Boxing day friendly tomorrow, or will Peter “nacho” Siddle continue his rise?

What happened to the Tasmanians, this is looking like a big depantsing in their own backyard.

who is peter siddle?

Well we would know the answer to that question if he could stay fit for more than 2 days at a time.

I can tell you what he looks like, he looks like a damn good bowler who knocks up getting wickets.

Oh and he also looks a little like a Mexican wrestler.

According to the official site he is a 24 year old young fast bowler, who this year is averaging like 10 runs per wicket, after a game and a half.

Thems good figures.

Lets not get too excited over him though, he is a Victorian fast bowler, so we can only expect him to play 3 first class games a year.

As for Tasmania’s capitulation, you can only assume it was a good toss to win, but having seen some highlights the ball was still hooping around when Quiney and Jewell put it beyond doubt.

So perhaps the Tasmanians didn’t put in the hard yards.

The only problem I can see for Victoria in this match as it stands is that Our Bryce McGain may not get a 4th day wicket to toil on.

His only hope may rest in the nail clippers of Brad Hogg.