I got into a lot of trouble when I was young and had the temerity to call chuckers in cricket (I was a player not an umpire).

It is an absolute disgrace that the greatest wicket-taker will be a chucker!

I was mainly thinking of the snickometer as showing whether and when the ball touched something, but I’m not sure how reliable that technology is. Sometimes it seems to show quite conclusively that the umpire was wrong.

OTOH I’d have little confidence in ‘hawkeye’.

Paul’s right about chucking.

remarkable in that it is gaining more coverage than EPL.
I have even forgotten who played who over the weekend!

Im loving the English challenge - I agree they are a team on the rise. Give them a year or so and they’ll be world beaters.

At present, though, it shouldnt be forgotten that 3 more runs at Edgbaston and the Ashes would already be retained. My point here is that England is showing a lack of ability to put the aging AU squad away when all but beaten.

Warne (and now Ponting) are reminding me of SWaugh against South Africa circa 99. Single handed refusal to lose. This sort of effort really messes with an opposition’s head. I expect a more competitive effort from Australia at Trent Bridge.]

Peter Roebuck (and his crazy prose) reckons Tait is a good reverse swinger. Me, I like Kaspa. And Macgill. Looking forward to a fresh face for the fourth.

Im loving the stories of Flintoff and the England squad pushing the EPL off the front page. Cricket is back!

How can technology help in LBW decisions for heaven’s sake!

One cannot do many changes because of the poor programming of the tour.
All the people who could play lack match practice.
It is still a good team however one on the decline whereas England is on the ascent.
They will be the best team for some years to come because their bowling attack is quite good and can get better.
Someone before the series started told me freddy was fast medium.
He is quicker and certainly more dangerous than Lee.

guess the OZ batting lineup in the Ashes in OZ. Ponting & clarke maybe the only survivors!

Agree. I’d make the additional point that modern video technology has led to the loss of some wisdom in the information. The most glaring case is the non-implementation of the rule on throwing. The original rule was intended to allow the umpires to pull up someone who was flagrantly cheating by pinging the ball in a manner obvious to the naked eye in real time. Modern technology makes it possible to detect not only this sort of thing, but also systemically but unintentionally suspect actions, and elbows involuntarily flexing under the stresses of bowling at extreme pace and/or when fatigued. This has led to a considerable muddying of the waters on what was once a relatively straightforward issue. Combined with the intransigence of the Sri Lankans over Muralitharan, it has led to a situation where the umpires effectively aren’t allowed to umpire.

This may sound uncharacteristically Luddite on my part, but I am increasingly of the opinion that the best approach is to:

(a) let the umpires do the umpiring;

(b) not indulge the Sri Lankan captain whenever he chucks a wobbly over Murali being called (chucking a wobbly metaphorically over chucking a wobbly literally!);

(c) accept that occasional errors of judgement will be inevitable and that this will not be a problem in the long run as the laws of probability mean that most players and teams will, in aggregate, have the bad calls against them balanced by the bad calls in their favour;

(d) accept the rare match-turning wrong tough call (Harmison dismissing Kasprowicz?) as part of the glorious uncertainty of the sport.

On the Martin lbw, I think they usually depend on hearing a nick for an edge and the crowd was certainly too noisy. That’s why Boycott said he should have seen it.

I agree there is a problem with knowing when to use the technology and when not, also slowing the game down. Eventually I guess it will be both reliable and quick. But a lot could be solved within the time it takes the fast bowler to walk back.

I’m not sure that I like the idea of replays on lbws. It just slows the game down (and goodness knows the over rate is slow enough already) and there were any number of lbw shouts that could have quite easily been give out, but weren’t. In the end we only had 2 go against us (Gillespie’s looked pretty plumb) and frankly I thought there were a few given not out that probably should have been given.

In the last session the Poms had to take 5 wickets in 42 overs. That’s a strike rate of a wicket every 48 balls. Against mostly tailenders in the 4th innings they should have done it.

I’m inclined to agree. On the other hand the Poms really deserved to take four or five wickets in the first session, and with a bit of luck could easily have done so. Flintoff’s destruction of Hayden was one of the finest pieces of bowling I’ve seen in a long time (and this series has been full of high quality bowling). Haven’t seen any of the last session apart from the last ten or so overs which were being replayed on Fox when I got home from work. There was a dropped catch, missed runout, a very close lbw and numerous plays and misses in that period. If the cricketing gods had been kinder to them the result could have easliy been different. Harmison’s last over to McGrath/Lee was pretty crap though.

Dean Jones had one good idea the other night. He wants to make more use of the technology and the third umpire. It mattered last night when Martin was given out lbw and within 30 seconds everyone knew that he got an edge onto the pads, hence not out. I think it was Boycott on TV who went off his head and said if the ump can’t see that from 22 yards, he shouldn’t be umpiring.

If Martin had stayed and made another 30 or so, Gillie could have been coming in at 4-230 or so. With the Poms packing it he may have hit a quick 30 instead of stuffing around for 30 balls. As it was the radio commentators were pissing themselves half an hour after tea with Clarke still there. We really could have won.

In the last session the Poms had to take 5 wickets in 42 overs. That’s a strike rate of a wicket every 48 balls. Against mostly tailenders in the 4th innings they should have done it.

Watson sounds like a plan, I’ve always thought he was pretty good. The real problem is that we are playing worse than usual, regardless of how well the Poms are playing. Dropped catches, missed stumpings, sloppy fielding - they all lose matches and this has been deomnstrated.

However I must say I was very, very dissapointed with the Jones/Matthews attack-dog commentary after the game.

Out with Katich, Dizzy and the injured Clarke. In with Tait or MacGill (depending on the pitch in the 4th Test), Hodge and Watson.

Watson can bat at 7, bowls sharpish and is the future.

And a bit of decent captaincy wouldn’t hurt either. Brilliant hundred, Punter, but you’ve been an ordinary decison-maker this tour, and that fact can’t be avoided.

Warne is the Aussies’ Man of the Series. Considering the state his life’s in off the field, he’s been nothing short of heroic. He’s practically captaining the bloody side too.

If I were the Poms I would give him the new ball , get rid of hoggard and find another quickie and become white west indians.

The Poms will thrash Australia when they play us here!

Hoggard is pretty poor. I think he’s just in there to take the shine off the ball with out wearing out a good bowler. Then Flintoff and Jones can make it reverse swing.

We have little matches to change personnel.
Shaun Tait has hardly bowled. Kasper is simply cannon fodder to Pieterson and freddy.
Whom can replace Hayden, Hawke?

As for the Poms.
Find a fast bowler and replace hoggard and you will win the next two matches big time.

Thats the best innings Ive ever seen Ponting play. Steve Waugh-esque in determination.

And , on reflection, it must be said that England were actually pretty crap not to get 10 wickets in 108 overs on a 4/5 day pitch. Put that together with an outplayed Ostraya nearly nicking the 2nd test and it must be asked: Does England lack the cojones for the big games?

I satyed up till 4 and must now lecture with no functioning intellect whatsoever.

Im betting they dont notice the difference.