a bit late to write this
thanx django once again for ur wonderful predictions

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Heat Sucks-Red Death

He has made more mistakes this Australian summer than he has done in about the previous 5 years put together.I think Gilly is a fantastic cricketer but he appears to be on a downward spiral now and it seems to be quite a quick one sadly.

Seeing as you always go on about how strong your domestic game is then you won't miss him if you replace him anyway.

I would be very suprised if australia manage to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat in this game. Going into this game as the underdogs, after having retained the trophy and defending " the final frontier" against the likes of experienced players like kumble , sachin, gangs , dravid and the fact that they wont have any replacements to threaten them on their own turf at least for another 2 decades , and also having lost the 16 match streak , there wont be too much of motivation in the aussie camp to compete unlike india who just want to finish the series on a winning note .

One might accuse this Oz team of a few things, but lack of motivation is certainly not one of them. Moreover, how does anyone know that they, or India for that matter, are "at the jaws of defeat" after the first day with not even one innings completed? IMO both teams will give it their best and it could turn out to be anyone's match, but it will be nice if India finish with another win.

It has been a great innings by Tendulkar and it has been a pleasure to watch him bat in this test. I cant really see Australia failing with the bat in two test matches in a row, with the inclusion of Hayden makes a huge difference. Plus Ponting and Hussey have not been in there normal dominant form so we will be expecting one of them to stand up.

I think that the Australians will be motivated, good batting wicket and two very strong batting line ups. If Australia can get Tendulkar & Dhoni early, I think that the favour will swing in Australia's favour

Also about Gilchrist, the only reason why Haddin has not taken Gilchrist's spot in the side is because coming at 7 Gilchrist has been able to destroy sides when on song and in the last 5 years Austrlia have barely needed him to save a test match.

Haddin in my opinion is only behind Sangakkara in terms of wicketkeeper batsman.

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

I did not see the Hayden dropped catch. But I also think there has been a few catches flying to first slip (eg Clarke last test) that Gilly should have went for as well.

Plus the 4 byes in Lee's first over did not look good either and is starting to have a degree of inceasing frequency about it.

Greg,

He has made a couple of big blunders i admit, but take those away, i think he has been keeping very well. In the corresponding test last year, he almost beat Viv Richards record for the fastest ton.

All i am saying is he should not be ruthlessly dropped for a couple of mistakes. He has performed a great service to Australia and revolutionized to role of test keepers.

If they are to replace him, it should all be subtly done behind the scenes and give the guy a chance to retire on his own terms.

I do agree that Australia have some fine replacements for him.

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I dont remember Ian Healy making blunders like that near the end of his career.

And Gilly was batting a lot better and more consistantly 4-5 years ago than he is now.

Gilly like Healy has a ready replacement Haddin breathing down his neck. And batting a lot more consistantly at first class level.

Haddin's batting has become fantastic at state level. He started off very slow but now is in contention as purely a batsman.

Haddins batting over the last three season.

2007/08 season
Pura Cup - 5 innings, 296 runs at 59.20, Hs 123, 2x100, 0x50
FR Cup - 6 innings, 288 runs at 57.60, Hs 138*, 1x100, 1x50

2006/07 Season
Pura Cup - 15 innings, 669 runs at 55.75, Hs 205*, 1x100, 4x50
FR Cup - 9 innings, 406 runs at 67.66, Hs 115, 1x100, 1x50

2005/06 Season
Pura Cup - 13 innings, 617 runs at 51.41, Hs 116, 1x100, 4x50
FR Cup - 9 inn, 193 runs at 21.44, Hs 65, 1x50

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

India 7-360 Tendulkar c Hogg b Lee 153 obviously batting in discomfort see below.

Tendulkar copped a nasty knock on his knee the previous delivery and spent a bit of time getting treatment.

He chopped the ball off his bat onto the side of his knee and is in obvious dicomfort.

I think he will be going straight to hospital for a scan or xray

Fantastic innings and did mention he was glad to play the century on one of Don Bradmans home grounds.