Brickie:
1) No idea, although it seems a little early for him to have been drinking.
2) More than is good for my health.
3) Not many.

...and Morgan has a bowling average of 23 in first class cricket...

Ha, been around for a while on here as you can see from my sign up date. Just easy to blend in here.

He is still going to be playing for the one day teams, including being captain of the twenty20 side.

Think it is a bit selfish tbh and an unecessary distraction from stuffing the Aussies.

Fwiw I have a lot of respect for Colly in general, made an awful lot of limited talent as a test match batsman and has saved England on a number of occasion in the last few years. With his brigadeer block innings.

What the **** is Bresnan waiting for? Throw the bat now and get a good lead or get out and get the runs in the second innings. Easy game.

20 off the over, fun times

Excellent stuff friom Bumble earlier on what Australia need to do to get back on top - 18 sides, lots of foreign players, many one day tournmants etc

England just taking the piss now. Aussie bowlers are demoralized - Hilfy with his lol no ball, and Siddle taking an age to walk back to his bowling mark. I didn't expect this kind of performance when I bought tickets for first four days of this test back in June.

I think even the Barmy Army are spent. They were much more vocal at the Gabba. Kudos to them though, most of them have been to every test and their witty songs/trumpeter defInately deliver. Think I might spend tomorrow shopping/bumming around the harbor, SCG gonna feel like a funeral for Aussie fans

England just taking the piss now. Aussie bowlers are demoralized - Hilfy with his lol no ball, and Siddle taking an age to walk back to his bowling mark. I didn't expect this kind of performance when I bought tickets for first four days of this test back in June.

I think even the Barmy Army are spent. They were much more vocal at the Gabba. Kudos to them though, most of them have been to every test and their witty songs/trumpeter defInately deliver. Think I might spend tomorrow shopping/bumming around the harbor, SCG gonna feel like a funeral for Aussie fans

Barmy army are always at their finest when England have there back to the walls.

You get used to it

For a brief moment earlier I actually felt a bit sorry for the convicts. Then I remembered what insufferable ****s they have been for my whole life, which nipped this alien feeling in the bud.

Gibbs recently released his controversial autobiography called "To the point". He seems to have a similar view about Kallis: brilliantly talented player, but puts himself ahead of the team sometimes.

Gibbs says he asked Kallis why as a senior player he didn't offer encouragement and advice on the field or in team meetings, and Kallis replied just the way he thought he would - he smiled and said nothing.

But then again... Kallis' record and consistency speaks for itself, and this latest innings, carrying his injuries and carrying his bat, was awesome....

He is now the only South African to score a hundred in each innings twice, and takes his career test centuries up to 40 (#2 all-time behind Sachin).

another classic performance by super mitch and yes this is the quietest the barmy army have been the whole tour. Most have either run out of money or run out of energy after melbourne which was the pinnacle.

pretty incredible being out here.

oh yes collingwood. wot a legend, the guys done brilliantly with his limited ability and england will miss his outstanding slip fielding especially of swann. congrats on a great test career.

lol seriously? Good for the game that he retired imo. Probably just beats Justin Langer as the most boring cricketer of the last 25 years.

I agree with most of this. His stats are excellent but he never had the capacity to affect the outcome of matches to the same extent that the other top players of the modern era have been able to. Other top tier batsmen of recent years have all possessed the ability to score quickly when required and this is something that Kallis couldnt do. One of the major reasons why Australia won so many test matches in recent time was because they had guys like Gilcrhist, Hayden, Ponting etc who could make big scores fast. There is no point making a big 100 if your going to bat your side out of the game at the same time imo.

Also are South Africa the fattest side in the history of cricket; fitness coach needs to be sacked.

Totally agree. He's still a genuine great and I'd love it if England found a 20 year old Kallis. Not sure I can think of another player of comparable talent and longevity though who was never even considered as a full-time captain, or who offers so little in terms of tactics etc. Still, what you see is what you get I guess.

Another way to look at it is to consider an all-time cricket XI when you can have any player at any point in their career. Assuming you had two openers, Sobers at 6 and Gilchrist at 7 that just leaves 3 places. Bradman and Tendulkar are obviously ahead - then I could probably name another 10 players I'd pick ahead of Kallis. In other words, he's not even close to selection so can't be near the top of the all-time great players list unless you give huge credit for longevity and playing in an era of flatter pitches and more matches.

Also, how the **** are England hammering Oz so badly? I almost feel sorry for the Aussies, it's crazy. Were it nor for Perth it would be like Premiership V Div 2 or something.

The run out of Watson seems like part of a conspiracy to make me feel sorry for them. Ccan't quite manage it, serves them right for hiring Buchanan - he wont get enough of the blame but this might be the last chance of the winter to mention - what a muppet!

Glad we drew the test series!. That's what I like about test cricket, batting to save a test match on a detorating pitch with 7 men around the bat and you play for nothing but survival. Seems like a dying art with all the new t20 generation.

I do think the result was favorable to India though as SA looked like the better team under those conditions. I think we have a better batting lineup and they have better bowlers but if I were to rate I'd rate our batting 8/10 and thiers 7/10, however thier bowling lineup would probably be an 8/10(no spinner) and ours would be like a 5(decent spinner coupled with an injury prone fast bowler backed by inconsistent temperamental medium pacers)..

Looking forward to the WC now with 3-4 teams having a decent shot at winning it if they are on thier game unlike the last 3 editions..

What's the theory of not havig Prior in the one day squad? Is Davies that much of a better batsman?

I think it's just because he has been given plenty of chances, way before he was the test no 1, but never really did a whole lot. Not sure Davies is any better though tbh. Call me crazy, but I like Keiswetter.

For those that are too lazy/stupid to work it out - will India still be no 1 after they get horse-whipped by England next summer?

India are at 129 Second team is at 116..

So they have quite a lead but I have no idea how the point system works.

Not enough is made of the Test rankings imo. With the nature of test cricket you can't hold a World Championship or anything like that so the pinnacle of the game is to be ranked number 1. Like exec, I have no idea how the system works and I dare say not many cricket fans really do. I don't know where England are even currently ranked and I only know that India are number 1 because it was mentioned itt.

Yeah it seems like countries only really care about the rankings if they have chance of getting to no 1. England have made it clear recently that their main aim is to get there, even to the extent of playing down the "ultimate" achievement of beating Oz away. If England are ever a series win away from topping the table I'm sure it will be hyped up.