Has anyone been following this game?

The 1st day was yesterday. Australia batting first, shaky start at 3/38. Since then they've rallied to 5/280. Ponting got 80 something, and ATM Haddin and North on debut are both at the crease with ~50 each.

ABC Grandstand have an online stream which can be found here:
http://www.abc.net.au/grandstand/cricket/

yeah i watched the start of it last night on my phone (3 live cricket has been extended to international games FTW)

punter and pup really came to the rescue, i didn't realise it had began already? coverage starts at 7:30 on fox which is what i get on the phone

Err yeah it seems play started around ~6:30pm Brisbane time today and yesterday.

That's pretty awesome that 3 is providing coverage.

I might head over to a mate's who has Foxtel so i can watch some tonight.

Thanks for the link

Duck to McDonald. 7/296

North just became the highest scorer of the innings so far. And being not out batting with the tail you'd think it will stay that way for an impressive start to his career.

Yeah 3 must have some sort of dst or something. Still fricken sweet

Just scored his ton - quite an understated celebration.

Fingers crossed they can go on for a while - 450+ would be handy.

Mitchel johnson is f***en smashing everywhere LOLOLOl 26 in this over .

That was some power hitting for sure. Would be great to see MJ get his century too.

hes 92 going strong

Someone doesn't trust Siddle and Hilfenhaus. And maybe with good reason, Siddle just caught at 2nd slip off a no ball.... and then repeated the next ball when it counted!

Stranded on 96 f*** f*** f***

And yep, Hilfenhaus out for a 1st ball duck, Johnson stranded on 96.

Hilfy bats like a young McGrath, so Mitch would have been nervous for sure!

and rightly so....

LOLOL South Africa 2 - 2 HHAHAHAHHAHA

ZOMG SA 2/2!

australia, i forgive you for the whole summer thing

I wouldn't speak too soon. :)

Remember that we were right on top in the 1st and 2nd tests, only to have JP Duminy and the tail take the game away from us..

But certainly some encouraging signs - Johnson's form with the bat just seems to get better and better!

yeah if our summer is anything to go by, this should still be a good game

poor johnson, feel sorry for the prick

he always looks so good when hes batting

im going to consider him an allrounder from here on in

does anyone have a direct link to a really basic text site that has the score? I wanna bookmark it on my phone and not download 5mb on wwos.com.au everytime i wanna check it.

Cricinfo.com has really basic livescores pages for mobile optimisation.

lawl the saffas are 8 down!

with all the rain around, i would have liked ricky to enforce the followon

i guess he knows what hes doing though;

Oh yeah, Ricky always knows what he's doing with the captaincy decisions...

I dunno about the follow on - if he enforced, i think South Africa would probably have too easy a time dragging it out.

i reckon the icc needs to rethink the followon rule? if noone has enforced it since india pwned after following on, maybe it should be compulsory if the team is bowled out for 300 less than the other team?

or if the team batting second scores less than 200 it's auto enforced?

Well, one thing to remember is that bowling can be really tiring. You risk your bowlers not being able to take the 10 wickets quick enough if they are tired.

persay it's based on reaching a certain amount of the other teams total, ie. not just 'if you don't make 200 runs, you can follow on' etc

if aus made 150 and they only made like 40 for example i'd say they could be forced to follow on (i actually don't know what the percentage is)

Nah i think he is right - it just has to be > 200 difference. So if you got 180 and you bowled the opposition out for 10, you could not force a follow on.

yea the rule is that if total is 200 less the first team can enforce if they like. Id like that changed so that if they score less than 200 total and that is also 200 less than first teams first innings score then follow on is mandatory

So, when to declare? Considering play starts 30 minutes early we should lead by 400+ by lunch, come out swinging afterward and declare halfway through the second session? Perhaps the memory of SA chasing down 414 (and making it look easy) in Perth will haunt us a bit and lead to a larger target but less time to bowl out SA?

I wonder how much of an impact rain could have on the next two days.

yea the rule is that if total is 200 less the first team can enforce if they like. Id like that changed so that if they score less than 200 total and that is also 200 less than first teams first innings score then follow on is mandatory

I dunno - I don't think having it mandatory in situations is a good idea.

For example
-Exhaustion of the bowlers
-Pitch conditions
-Weather conditions (heat/humidity etc)

What i mean is - if your bowlers are tired, the pitch has turned into a s***ty batting strip, or its going to be really tough conditions - why should your team be *forced* into a bad situation just because you have somewhat of a lead?

So, when to declare?

Hmm yeah it would definitely be a tough decision to make - the 400+ chase you mentioned will definitely be in the back of their minds. I think they will declare with a 450 lead at the very least.

So, when to declare?

lol at that now...

yer, looks like the safricans will be chasing 400 odd

highest run chase at wanders is 300 odd (by australia)

we shoudl be right for game one

Mitch for man of the match. 4/25 and 96no in the first innings. Awesome effort.

Well Australia got the lead up to over 450 in the end, nifty little last wicket partnership actually.

highest run chase at wanders is 300 odd (by australia)

Highest previous wicket chases don't mean much anymore I reckon, with the pace of Test matches having increased thanks to the influences of ODIs and T20s I think teams are starting to have a lot more time to chase totals in the 4th innings.

ohnos, saf are 2/178

Not a bad effort by them. Definitely going to be a close finish.

Have just taken two quick wickets, and the new ball is due in about 5 overs. Balance has swung our way - if we can get rid of Kallis, we will be sweet.

yer he's gone.


duminy and its all over.

wish i had austar... or wish i wasnt working so i could go up watch the end of a fairy tale at the pub.

Yeah test cricket is great to watch at times. Hopefully there will be FTA coverage of the Ashes?

Yei Wie Wan!! :D

Top effort from Johnson - are we watching a new cricketing champion unfold?

Yeah test cricket is great to watch at times. Hopefully there will be FTA coverage of the Ashes?

gotta be kidding dont you. like thats gonna happen

i will be watching it on foxtel

good stuff aussies, i thought u had no chance, prove me wrong!

SBS did it for the 2005 Ashes tour from memory?

I got tickets to lords ashes test :D

Well, nice to see our bowling is coming together a bit.

Also, SBS will indeed be broadcasting the ashes this year.

Winnars.

/end-thread

I got tickets to lords ashes test :D

If I don't end up coming home before then, I have 4 tickets to the 4th day of the 5th test at The Oval - possibly the day silverware is handed out? Looked at the Ashes one, but without a job at the moment couldn't justify the £75+.