Ranji at Nets

Sometimes the internet can come up with gems. 

The black and white video depicts Kumar Shri Ranjitsinghji (better known as Ranji) practicing in the nets. The video was shot during the 1897-98 Ashes tour in Australia by Henry Walter Barnett. He made three more such films during the tour but those are now lost.

Although the video is not from any game, but it is probably the oldest cricketing action of any kind captured on film. The silent film depicts Ranji practicing an array of shots. We hardly see the bowler or any other player. Except for the gentleman standing behind the nets in a waistcoat and hat, watching the proceedings while barely moving.  

Observations from the film 

• Players of earlier time wore different kind of clothes. The white shirt, cuffed to the wrists, wouldn't have looked out of place in formal gatherings.
• There are no bails on the stumps
• The famous "Leg Glance" - the shot which Ranji is said to have invented.
• The only protective equipment visible are the pads. (Even gloves are missing or not visible)
• And finally (as pointed out by a friend), how thin the bat is as compared to the modern bats.

Cricket has evolved a lot since the days of Ranji, but the evolution seems to have been almost entirely in favour of the batsmen with the bowlers being treated as second-grade citizens. Thicker bats, smaller boundaries, bowling and fielding restrictions, pitches being covered, protective equipment (helmet, arm guard, chest guard and what not), Free Hits. All this making batting easier (relatively speaking since Ranji's time). And of course the players are much fitter and stronger. Batting from a Test has evolved into the brute power of T20.

On the other hand bowler's have had to evolve themselves. Newer innovations are being crafted. e.g. Bodyline, Bouncers, Doosra, Carrom Ball, Reverse Swing, Slower Ball, Slow Bouncer etc. But many of these have been treated with suspicion like witchcraft and the dark arts. And been banned or restrictions imposed (at various times) during the course of the cricketing history. e.g. Bodyline and Spin bowling restricted by new fielding regulations, Bouncers limited to one an over, Ball-tampering allegations against Reverse swing, Balls being changed more frequently. 

In all, things are stacked up against the bowlers, yet this lot doesn't seem to give up easily. They innovate but the administrators swing the balance back in the batsmen's favour with new regulations. Cricket certainly has changed quite a bit over the years.

P.S. India's first Test on film (Link)

Bell Rings in 5 Urns

Slipstream Cricket would like to congratulate its patron saint, Ian Bell on his tremendous achievement of being part of five Ashes winning campaigns - only the second Englishman after Sir Ian Botham to do so since the Second World War.

Says a lot about the longevity of Bell and also the frequency of the Ashes Clashes - he has also been part of 2 losing campaigns including 2 whitewashes Down Under.

Image Source - Cricinfo

Arbit Stats #44: Surnames

Found this gem from twitter.

England's playing XI for the Trent Bridge Test:

Cook

Lyth

Bell

Root

Bairstow

Stokes

Buttler

Ali

Broad

Wood

Finn

11 names comprising of a total of 53 letters between them - the smallest tally in the 2175 match history of Test cricket.

Just to put a perspective to this figure - Sri Lankan XIs usually have more initials than this.

Arbit Stats #43: Cardiff

From the opening Test of the 2015 Ashes, come a nice little useless tidbit

The Sophia Gardens Stadium (earlier know as Swalec) in Cardiff, Wales becomes the first venue in the world to see a total of 400+ in the first innings of the match in its first three Tests

Source: BBC Text Commentary Screenshot (Link)

Ashes Promo - "We Didn't Start the Fire"

The Ashes maybe nearly a month away. And both England and Australia have to complete other tours before they take on each other in the latest edition of one of the oldest rivalries in international sport. While we wait, Sky Sports has come up with this promo. 

They have reworded Billy Joel’s lyrics of “We didn’t start the fire” and giving voice are the likely series commentators Holding, Atherton, Hussain, Warne, Lloyd. The whole montage is brimming with Ashes history. 

Here are the lyrics 

Donald Bradman, Peter May, At The Oval, Final Day,

Little Urn, Bob's perm, W G Grace

Walter Hammond, Mitchell Johnson, At The Gabba, Big Decision

Chris Broad, Ponsford, Riiiiiiiiiichie Benaud

Larwood's Bodyline, Athers slips on 99

Laker, Jones' dive, Gower flying in the sky

Baggy Greens, swing/seam, Warnie's ball in '93

Ricky Ponting, Pratty gets him, Freddie makes the bails fly!

We didn't start the fire... 

10, 11 whitewash, Nasser and that toss

Tubby Taylor, Sher-minator, Brigadier-block

Swansongs, follow-ons, Headingley '81

Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Harmy's shocking first ball

Brett Lee, on his knees, Aussies got a winning team

Davy Warner, third man, Andy Flower's England

John Snow, final Test, Manchester, yes, Chef!

Thommo, Lillee, fierce pace, Bumble smacked in that place...

We didn't start the fire... 

The big names of Ashes - Grace, Bradman, Posford, Hammond, Warne, the Waugh Twins, Larwood, Laker, Johnson, Botham, Willis, Benaud are all there, alongwith the footage from the Bodyline series, Warne's ball of the century to Gatting, Headingley 81 & Edgbaston 2005, as well as even the funny nicknames Sherminator (Ian Bell) & Brigadier Block (Collingwood). It even has the Sprinkler dance to round off this celebration of the Ashes rivalry.

This is another great promo in the year of great sporting promotional campaigns.

Arbit Stats 29

England are getting whipped in the ongoing Ashes. They are heading, no hurtling towards a 5-0 series whitewash. Many factors can be attributed to this thrashing. Lots of post-mortem reports will be prepared. But one stat will stand out to give the extent of the chasm between the two teams.

969 - The aggregate score of the English batsmen in the 1st innings of the 5 Tests.

1071 - The aggregate score of the Australian tail (wickets 6-10) in the 1st innings of the 5 Tests.

Australia have outplayed England totally. And nothing sums the dominance more than the above stat.

Arbit Stats - 28: Cook + Clarke = SRT

3rd Ashes Test, Perth

The two opposing captains Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook are both playing in their 100th Test in the ongoing game in which England is heading for another walloping. Now given cricket's obsession with statisitics it was, but natural, that the two batsmen's numbers would be compared. And their batting stats are pretty similar. Not much to choose between the two here. However some really "bored" soul went a step further and added the two figures up. And lo and behold something magical happened. Sometime in the Test, the Cook & Clarke's combined career aggregates (matches, runs and centuries) added up exactly to those of the only man to play 200 Tests. Our own Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. And a stats obsessed and trivia loving social media ensured that such a "unique" aggregation of numbers doesn't go unnoticed by anyone.

Guess Cook got inspired by this uniqueness and got out for a golden duck in the second innings.

In summary

Alastair Cook           (100 Tests, 7955 runs, 25 centuries)

+ Michael Clarke     (100 Tests, 7966 runs, 26 centuries)

= Sachin Tendulkar  (200 Tests, 15921 runs, 51 centuries)

To "celebrate" such a "unique" stat, Slipstream Cricket is going to make its own "arbit" prophecy. 

The unique circumstance where "stars" are numerologically aligned, a child will be born who will break all existing and future batting records. 

The Ashes Story - From A Punch to Piss

The oldest cricketing rivalry for probably the smallest sporting trophy. England & Australia lined up to contest the first of the two Ashes contests this season. A short summary of what an Indian fan saw in passing of the Ashes.

It all began with a punch. As is rightly said - "Nothing good happens after two in the night". David Warner threw a punch at Joe Root in a bar during the Champions Trophy . No one got hurt. But the impact was felt later. Warner was dispatched to Zimbabwe - a very appropriate punishment, steeped in tradition and reminiscent of the colonial times. The coach got fired. New fellows were added to the touring party as replacements. In short, an Australian camp in total disarray just days before the start of the series. On the other hand England became the runners-up Champions of the Champions Trophy.

The start of the series was fantastic to say the least. A fly-past by the Royal Air Force. Then Ashton Agar made a fairy-tale beginning to his career breaking the world record for the highest score by a No. 11. It was a tight test and Australia fought and fought but England helped by Anderson grimly hung on to take victory.

However that was it from the cricketing front. Just when you expected Australia to fight back they shrunk away. 1-0 became 2-0 and then 3-0. In between the rain Gods also threw in their weight behind England. Michael Clarke made a big gamble and enlivened a dull end to the 5th Test. However, the stringent interpretation of cricketing rules jumped in and the public got cheated through a combination of bad light and the usual lack of common sense from the officialdom.

It was an appropriate conclusion in a series marred by umpiring and DRS debates. I won't be making any judgement on the umpires. Their job is tough and being made tougher through the technology available to everyone in the world except the gentlemen in charge of making the decisions. Hence making a wrong judgement call is part and parcel of the game. However what still baffles me is the way the authorities are interpreting DRS. DRS was brought in place to remove howlers. And howlers do not need an array of futuristic technology to be eliminated. They can be seen in one video replay. So lets remove DRS from the teams and just hand it over to the 3rd umpire (like the no-ball check on wickets). But a simple common sense approach is too difficult to expect from ICC.

Another chapter was added to the great saga of Walking/Non-walking. Stuart Broad did not walk after edging because (a) there was a match at stake, (b) the umpire did not give him out, and (c) Aussies had used up their reviews. There was a massive outrage with the usual "Spirit of Cricket" nonsense being debated.  If the 3rd umpire had the power to review, one replay would have given Broad out (more likely that Broad would not have waited for the decision himself). However when such common sense approach is missing then such controversies are bound to happen.

It was great to see Slipstream Cricket's patron saint, the Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice, Ian Bell scoring runs and lots of them and at the time when it was really needed. The only consistent batsman across the misfiring English lineup and the constantly shuffling Aussie one. 

A 3-0 verdict actually flatters both teams. It could easily have been 4-0 for England or a 3-2 Australia and all other permutations is between. A misfiring English line-up managed to hang in when required while a revolving door Aussie one performed better than expected. Both sides though need to sort out the personnel for the next bout.

It would have been a travesty if a series which had a punch as an epilogue had just ended in bad light. Post the bad light, post the presentations, the English cricketers took turns to celebrate the urn by peeing on the pitch. God only knows what they were thinking. Maybe it was some act of solidarity with Monty Panesar but certainly made for lots of bad press. [Personal Opinion - Coming from a country where sportsmen salute the ground before they enter it, the English act was blasphemous].

So in short - The series began with a punch and ended in a piss. In between some average cricket was played with more focus on umpiring and DRS controversies and Walking/Not Walking and the usual nonsense called "spirit of cricket"

Hoping for a much better return series Down Under. 

The Sledgehammer Strikes

Ian Ronald Bell - the English No.4 also known as "the Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice" and once upon a time maker of "Slipstream Centuries" is, as a dedicated reader of this blog might know, the patron saint of this blog. His penchant for making "slipstream centuries" (a Bell century came only when another English batsman had also scored a century in the same innings) not only lead to the genesis of this blog but also provided its name. 

So its fitting that Slipstream Cricket salutes Bell for having made his best Ashes century (in his words). According to Slipstream Cricket, the Agar fairytale and the DRS controversies (nothing unusual about it), should not let the Ian Bell century into slipstream. This was one of the better Test innings played. Certainly a game-changing one, putting England in command. 

As for the game. 5th Day's play. 137 runs & 4 wickets. Its all upto the bowlers now on both sides (English ones with the ball & Aussie ones with the bat). A thriller is on cards. After all this is the Ashes, we are talking about.

P.S. Edgbaston 2005 scorecard for reference 

The Ashes Begin: With A Bang

Its probably the littlest trophy in the whole sporting world. Certainly one of the oldest. More have been written about the Ashes than any other sporting contest. And why not? After all it carries a little poem too.

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud,

Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn.

 

Its been a long buildup to the double headed Ashes that are going to be played over the next 8 months. 10 Tests between the oldest rivals. 

It had been a long wait for the Ashes to commence. England had to play a 2 Test series with the Kiwis, followed by a 3 ODI series against Kiwis, followed by Champions Trophy, and a 2 T20 series against the Kiwis. Australia on the other hand had an even more action-packed start. They played(?) the Champions trophy, then lots of internal games, chopping and changing players, removing the coach, suspending brawling players.

Everyone expected England to turn up and roll over the Aussies. But in the greater interest, the Australianism is still there (thankfully). The greats may have gone, but some of the fight is still there. Inside 2 days of cricket, we have already seen many specials. Peter Siddle's fiver, James Anderson bowling Clarke, Phil Hughes & Steve Smith battling it out, and above all of them Ashton Agar. There is something about a 19-year old, making his debut, coming into bat at No. 11 with his team in deep trouble and then smashing a 98 breaking hordes of records. Its the kind of dream every kid (or even adults) aspiring to be an international cricketer has. It makes one fall in love with the game again after all the spot-fixing scandals. 

 

A 130+ years rivalry, historic context, a good fight and a fairytale story to begin the proceedings. 

Ashes - I already like you :) 

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust...

The Ashes are done and dusted. Australia have been thrashed beyond recognition. In fact the 3-1 margin actually is quite flattering towards the Aussies. The previous series in England had been a close fought one with Australia being the better performers inspite of being on the worng side of a 2-1 scoreline. Andrew Strauss had then commented that "When we bad we were awful, when we were good we managed to be just good enough". This time after 3 innings victory there is not much to review, except what exactly happened in Perth?

The SCG could have been the farewell venue for Ricky Ponting's Test career. Instead it was Paul Collingwood who got the perfect farewell from Test cricket. The totally dominant Aussies were reduced to a joke in the light of England's throughly professional performance. Underperforming players and some muddled selection policy made the Autralian cricket time of quite a few jokes. The cricketing world rejoiced to see them suffer. Here are a few highlights.

• What do you call an Australian cricketer who is world class? Retired.
• After winning the toss, Strauss to Ponting, "You lads can bat". Ponting, "No mate we can't. We really can't".
• What is the Australian version of LBW? Lost, Beaten, Walloped.
• Michael Clarke wanted to captain Australia very badly. He did just that.

On the cricketing front the highlights would be the surreal score of 1-517, Collingwood's catches, England's pace attack, Bell's 1st Ashes century, Trott's batting, Hussey's lonely battle. And above all Alastair Cook, for whom the picture is the most apt description.

And if we add the Sprinkler dance, an almost perfect Ashes for the England team.

P.S. Now I am waiting for the Indian tour of England later this year.

Twenty11

Wishing a very Happy Twenty11 to all readers (I know there are a few).

So the new year is here, and it seems to be filled with lots of cricketing action specially for the Indian fan. So here is a look at what to expect in Twenty11.

• The battle for No. 1 (right now on in Cape Town, as I write South Africa losing wickets in heaps).
• The World Cup. I have already begun dreaming about the sight of the Indian team holding the World Cup in Wankhede. What a finish that would be to SRT's ODI career.
• Tours of West Indies, England & Australia.
• IPL

In other news currently Australia battling on with England in Sydney. Usman Khwaja has made his debut. (In my opinion should have made his debut earlier replacing North rather than Steve Smith). And it seems @theashes is there in Sydney watching the match in company of Steve Waugh. Now I am feeling really jealous of this American girl.

And finally hoping against hope that there is no further drama in Pakistani cricket.

10 From 2010

Twenty Ten is almost gone. Time for an annual list making exercise. So here are 10 cricketing stories from 2010  (A couple of other such selections are here: Arbit & Music).

1. Jai Shri Laxman

VVS Laxman is the man. The rest of the Indian top order can safely not turn up in the 2nd innings as they know Laxman is there. Match winning innings against Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, a match saving one against New Zealand. It seems he needs a crisis on a regular basis to perform. The Australians are specially wary of him. After all VVS scored and Australia lost though they weren't even playing against each other.

2. The Non-stop Tragicomedy of Pakistani cricket.

Dont even know where to get started on this. Spot Fixing, Captaincy changes, Players banned/retired, Bans reversed, Afridi biting the ball, Zulqarnain Haider going missing, Ijaz Butt's comments. The Pakistani cricket was in a total mess and it kept getting messier. When at the end of the year Shoaib Akhtar's presence became a calming influence then something is seriously wrong.

3. Sachin Tendulkar - The non-stop record breaking machine

Sachin Tendulkar has already gone past many landmarks in his 21 year international career. But this year was a new high even for him. Won the ICC Player of the Year award for the first time, Became the first man to score an ODI double century in Gwalior,and then went on to become the first player to score 50 Test centuries. A World Cup victory is the only thing left to attain now.

4. The Aghan Fairytale

Afghanistan provided the fairytale story of the year. Rose through the ICC World Cricket Leagues to gain ODI status. Participated in the T20 World Cup and later in the year won the silver medal in the Asian Games. A truly heroic perfomance from the war ravaged country.

5. The Sprinkler Dance

England went to Australia with the hope of becoming the first Englaish team to retain the Ashes in Australia in 24 years. Excellent all round performances led to the target being achieved in the 4th Test in Melbourne itself. And to celebrate the English team performed the Sprinkler Dance (video).

6. Mount Murali

Before the series against India, Muttiah Muralitharan announced that the first Test would be his last (Maybe he was also tired of playing against India). He was on 792 wickets. Duly picked up the 8 Indian wickets and retired from the game becoming the 1st man to take 800 Test Wickets.

7. The No-Ball - Suraj Randiv

Virender Sehwag on 99 with one run to win. Suraj Randiv bowls a BIG no ball which Sehwag dispatches for a six. However due to idiotic rules, Sehwag doesn't get the six as the match ends at the no ball itself. Leads to a fair bit of outcry in the Indian media. It gave me hope that India-Sri Lanka cricketing relations would be spoiled and we wouldn't play against them ever. (Alas, it was not to be).

8. The ever going India-Sri Lanka series

Test Series, 5 match ODI series, Tri-Series, T20 Matches. India and Sri Lanka seemed to be a continuous ongoing series. Somehow both the teams had space in their calendars at the same time. Everyone grew tired of it. A catchy tagline for promoting cricket was suggested - "Cricket - It is beyond India-Sri Lanka matches also"

9. England T20 World Champions

England somehow managed to reach the 2nd stage of the World Cup in West Indies. And then produced a clinical display to win their first ever ICC trophy. In fact it was said that only after winning against Australia in the finals did we realise how good the English were.

10. The Unnoticed One - Rahul Dravid

In the 1st Test against South Africa at Centurion, Rahul Dravid reached 2 big landmarks. However, a national media obsessed with cricket missed both. In the first innings, SRT failed to reach his 50th century by 65 runs (Dravid crossed Lara to become the 3rd highest run-getter ever) and in the 2nd innings SRT reached the 50th (Dravid reached 12000 mark). In the very next test, Dravid became the first non-wicketkeeper to take 200 catches, a feat which was duly recorded. And then almost got lost in frenzy of the win. Some people seem destined to play in the shadows.

End of the Ponting Era ?

Pathetic. Humiliating. A Disgrace

This is how the BBC had started the text commentary for the 2nd day's play in Melbourne. This was to describe the reaction in the Aussie papers about the home team's perfomance on Day 1. But this could easily be used to describe Ricky Ponting's behaviour towards Umires Aleem Dar & Tony Hill today.

Kevin Pietersen given not out. Australia referred it and the 3rd umpire could not see any reason to change the original decsion. But then Ponting started bickering with the umpires as well as KP. Pretty much everything is against Ponting here. On field umpire gave not out. Bowler (Ryan Harris) and slip fielder (Watson) did not even appeal. Australia referred it. And the 3rd umpire upholds the original decision. Still Ponting bickers. If this is not dissent then what is?

Ideally should have been suspended for the next match. Even Ian Chappel called for his suspension. (I remember half the Indian team getting fined while Sehwag was suspended for excessive appealing against South Africa in 2001). But the match referee has given only a 40% fine. (Aside - This decision is deifnetely not going to go down well with the Indian supporters who have always felt that Australians are able to escape with lighter verdicts).

So Ponting is most likely to play the Sydney Test. But would that be his last one? Most probably the last one as captain. Clearly he hasn't been able to handle the decline that the Australians are facing. And today's outburts clearly shows his frustrations coming out. If this is his last series as player (Aussies generally do not prefer ex-captains in the team and they have been pretty ruthless in removing captains who have been deemed to be past their sell-by date) it would not be a good sight. Ricky Ponting has been one of the all time great batsman and does not deserve to go out like this. But given the recent happenings does not deserve any better.

The Barmy Army were singing "You are getting sacked in the morning". If it does happen would be a sad sight.

Boxing Day Stories

It was an enjoyable Boxing Day for the cricket fan located in India. Action all day in the Southern Hemisphere. Quite a bit of it happened while I was still asleep. The Kiwis won a match after a long long time in the T20 against Pakistan. Pakistan started the innings with a bang and ended with a bang. In the middle Tim Southee took a "Michelle" including a hattrick.

Then to the action in Melbourne. Australia all out for 98 as another allround batting failure with even Hussey & Haddin not saving them. So I woke up to see Cook & Strauss coming in to bat and then put on a 150+ unbeaten partnership. An example of total domination.

It was nice to see the home team in such trouble and the Indian fan in me hoped for the same fate to befall the home team in Durban. Alas, it wasn't to be as Dhoni lost the toss (again) in cloudy conditions on a greenish pitch. I had flashbacks of Durban 1996 when India were shot out for 100 & 66 in the 2 innings. Bad light and rain stopped play early. Given the conditions 6 down for 183 is not too bad. Hoping the conditions remain same when Zaheer comes onto bowl. Highlights of the Day's Play Laxman's 5th career 6 and Tsotsobe's catch to dismiss him.

P.S. Given the number of tosses Dhoni continues to lose and the impact of the toss, it really is a wonder that India are the No. 1 test side. So maybe people might consider this factor before questioning India's numero uno status.

"Improvement" continues

This is written during the post lunch session of the 3rd Ashes Test at Perth.

After the Day 1 1300% improvement in batting, its the bowling unit which has now started improving. Here it has been far more drastic. Across Brisbane & Adelaide, the Aussies conceded over 1000 runs to pick 5 English wickets. In Perth they took 5 wickets while the English first innings score progressed from 78 to 98. So from a 1000 runs for 5 wickets to 20 runs for 5 wickets. If this is not improvement then I dont know what is?

Yesterday I was actually starting to feel a bit (only a very tiny bit) sorry for Ponting & Co. Not any more. Let the contest continue.

Unadkat, Collingwood & other Dec 16 stories

First of all, congratulations to Jaidev Unadkat for becoming the 267th player to represent India in test match cricket. Interestingly he is the first player to have been born after Sachin Ttendulkar's international debut to play for India. (On a side note what happened to Abhimanyu Mithun?)

So Day 1 of the InSaf series, Indian batsman were knocked out with only the last pair of Dhoni & Unadkat holding fort. Its going to be one uphill climb for the Indian team. Though it was the Indians who were at the receiving end of it, I still loved the sight of the ball bouncing all around and the fast bowlers in full flow. Harbhajan Singh's weird runout was the highlight of the day. Morne Morkel took out Rahul Dravid to claim his 100th test wicket. Rahul Dravid scored just enough to cross Brian Lara as the 3rd highest run getter in Test history.

The day had started with the Aussies in trouble against the English in Perth (another fast bouncy track). The highlight of the day has to be Collingwood's catch to dismiss Ponting. Here is the picture of the day.

Now this is ïmprovement"

Adelaide - Australia 3/2 early on Day 1
Perth - Australia 3/28 early on Day 1

I dont know why some Aussies are cribbing. Haven't they already improved by some 1300% over the course of one game. 

Must say it though, there is a no better early morning mood uplifter than seeing the Aussies in trouble after having seen them as the dominant throughout my 20 year cricket watching career. 

Only One Team Was "Playing" Cricket

After Australia's humiliating defeat at the hands of the English in the 2nd Ashes Test in Adelaide, the press are certainly having a field day. Here is one sample line picked straight from the Bodyline series which would certainly rankle the Aussies. 

Pic - Courtesy Cricinfo's Facebook Page

Greg Chappell is the One to be Blamed

After Day 2 of the 2nd Test Australia are looking more and more unlike Australia. England are looking set for a big score before letting the Aussies try to bat out to save the Test. There is already a joke going around that the Australian performance has improved drastically as they have picked 2 English wickets in a single day's play (:P).

Well, all I have to say is the Australians had it coming. After all they have appointed Greg Chappell as the chief selector. We Indians all know what he happened to the Indian cricket team while he was our coach. We failed to even qualify for the Supe 8 stage of the World Cup 2007. Team not settled, players chopped and changed. Nothing much different from the current Australian setup. Random spinners being picked (Doherty picked because he is a left armer and KP has a tendency to get out to left arm spinners). Hilfenhaus dropped for no particular reason.

Greg Chappell was a great batsman. But so far his stints with the national teams havent been great. So I do some history match, put my neck out and say Greg Chappell is the one to be blamed for the current state of affairs in the Australian cricket team.