Richard Michael
DeanoHarmoThe WACA Spectacular
December 14th 2006 10:50
Category: No Category
Something makes me think I should copyright that headline now. I have a feeling that it may be used to describe this Test match after it has ended. Regardless of who the winner is. After a day of 12 wickets and about 300 runs, the Third Test is well and alive. Thanks in no small part to the terrific pitch, which I always had absolute confidence in.
Ok, so maybe I made fun of the pitch just a little bit in yesterday's post - but everyone knows that the best kind of sight is hindsight. Of course, that statement can only be made with the benefit of hindsight. Terribly attempted puns aside, the pitch was superb. Contrary to what many experts predicted, there was plenty in it for the pacemen. The English quicks, with Steve Harmison finally back to his best, extracted what they could from the pitch. Meanwhile, Monty 'very prone to lame nicknames given by media' Panesar was nothing short of a sensation. Apart from his consistent off spin, the crowd loved him. Even when he was dismissing our heroes, there was definitely something endearing about Panesar running around missing high fives left and right.
It's not as if the batsmen didn't have a chance. Mike Hussey showed once again that sometimes patience is the best method for a batsman. Having said that, if Andrew Symonds hadn't nicked the long-hop that produced his wicket, the day could have been vastly different. Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood showed great technique and, once more, patience paid off. It will be interesting to see how the pitch plays over the next two days. Will it maintain some juice for the quicks? Or will it deteriorate into a flat track suited to slow bowlers and easy batting? Or will it surprise everyone and remain exactly the same? My guess is that it will be at least one of the above, if not something else. Trust me on that.
Continuing the Sporting Daily's commitment to non-Ashes sport, Lucas Neill scored the winner for Blackburn in the UEFA Cup overnight. Their opponent? Nancy. Say what you will about the French, but sometimes they are just asking for it.
Disclaimer: I actually have nothing against the French, a joke just seemed like a good idea at the time. Viva La France!
Ok, so maybe I made fun of the pitch just a little bit in yesterday's post - but everyone knows that the best kind of sight is hindsight. Of course, that statement can only be made with the benefit of hindsight. Terribly attempted puns aside, the pitch was superb. Contrary to what many experts predicted, there was plenty in it for the pacemen. The English quicks, with Steve Harmison finally back to his best, extracted what they could from the pitch. Meanwhile, Monty 'very prone to lame nicknames given by media' Panesar was nothing short of a sensation. Apart from his consistent off spin, the crowd loved him. Even when he was dismissing our heroes, there was definitely something endearing about Panesar running around missing high fives left and right.
It's not as if the batsmen didn't have a chance. Mike Hussey showed once again that sometimes patience is the best method for a batsman. Having said that, if Andrew Symonds hadn't nicked the long-hop that produced his wicket, the day could have been vastly different. Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood showed great technique and, once more, patience paid off. It will be interesting to see how the pitch plays over the next two days. Will it maintain some juice for the quicks? Or will it deteriorate into a flat track suited to slow bowlers and easy batting? Or will it surprise everyone and remain exactly the same? My guess is that it will be at least one of the above, if not something else. Trust me on that.
Continuing the Sporting Daily's commitment to non-Ashes sport, Lucas Neill scored the winner for Blackburn in the UEFA Cup overnight. Their opponent? Nancy. Say what you will about the French, but sometimes they are just asking for it.
Disclaimer: I actually have nothing against the French, a joke just seemed like a good idea at the time. Viva La France!
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