Ambivalence

I am ambivalent about the Pakistan loss to Australia. It was so inevitable - once the Australians took the lead by more than 100 it was just about all over. I think it true that the Pakistan team lost rather than the Aussies win - clearly though the Aussies had to be there to win it.

Why am I ambivalent? This success will delay changes that I think are necessary. Mike Hussey should be dropped. He was lucky to get to three figures - he has been slow all summer and the Pakistan wicket keeper has made a big contribution to the continuation of Hussey's career. Ricky Ponting should bat elsewhere while he is injured. Michael Clarke and Marcus North cant get too many more chances - surely? (Except of course Michael Clarke is from New South Wales - and he has got many runs on the board).

For me the shining light was Nathan Hauritz - he looks out of place but keeps hanging in there. Clearly he hasn't let it go to his head either!

I think that the result proved Ponting made the right decision to bat - but if we had been playing South Africa the calls for his head might have been deafening by now.

The next test could be a real fizzer - what a pity the Pakistan team didn't win to make Hobart the decider.

Of course, we all look forward to the 20 over and 50 over games - that anticipation makes the Hobart test seem a bit pointless! I look forward to some forward thinking experimentation from the Aussie team - perhaps they will wear a different brand of sunscreen?

The greatest soapie of all!

Great to have test cricket - the longest running soapie - back on the telly.

Some are moaning about the lack of competitiveness of the West Indies - not me! Remember Garner, Marshall, Walsh et al and the losing series after losing series we played against them.

My favorite moments against the West Indies are the fact we had them 4-10 when Lillee bowled Richards with the last ball, Boxing Day, 1981 and the classic 1975-76 series - apart from the second test in Perth.

So, great to see those old themes reappear - flashy batting, woeful collapses and happy hooking.

And the bonus rest days.

New ways to lose

After perfecting the collapse we are now experimenting with ways to lose the tight game.

Rhett Lockyear - it wasn't enough so you cannot play in the Shield just because you can hit a century!

Tigers the best team in the Shield!

The Tasmanian Tigers are the best team in the Weetbix Shield - for collapses anyway. We can out play any team in this department. Witness the game against Queensland.

We got through to day 4 - an achievement - and then threw it all alway with one of the best collapses we could deliver.

Imagine the agenda at team meetings - 1) at which point will we collapse?, 2) why not collapse earlier? 3) improving our collapses - ways to get out earlier.

Can we please recognize our unique abilities to collapse in the points system? If so, we are on top of the ladder!

We have a chance today to perfect this technique against the Bushrangers. Let's hope we bat second or the game could be over before dusk.

Cut Deeper, Damian!

Great news from Tigerland! The first changes made by Coach Hardwick and his new regime of list surgeons promises an uncompromising approach to building for a sustainable future.

This might mean a few more years near the cellar but its a promising start.

See the whole story here

We can lose the short (well shorter but not as short as the really short) game too!!!

Tassie Thylacines almost extinct? A loss to Queensland. I guess though the team may have been in shock. How come Graham Manou was picked before Brady Jones to replace Tim Paine?

What are the Aussie selectors thinking?

Time to walk that dog again Andrew!

Tassie Selectors Shock!!!! Unchanged team

Fresh from a crashing defeat to the lowly South Australians - minnows if ever there were minnows - the courageous Tassie selectors have "resisted the temptation" to change the team for the next Pura Cup game. No, why change a losing formula?

For the game against Queensland we are unchanged. So, I suspect, will be the result.

I can only ponder how our own expat Kerryl Grey will take the news in Timor-Leste!

Still he was successful in his one man campaign to rid Tassie cricket of the influence of Dene Hills - now he is at the Australian Centre of Excellence for Cricket in Brisbane! Nice one Kerryl!