Seems to me that Dutton has hung so much of his persuasion to be PM on a Someday Isle proposition. And it has sucked in so many.
Surely a hopeful PM would focus on the issues effecting people in the here and now in Oz ...and those things would be interest rates and cost of living. Seems pretty cynical to make huge promises that things will be so much better... in a decade (at least). Suggests to me that he is bereft of effective ideas to help Aussies who are hurting (financially) right now.
I think cost of living will be the major factor at the next election as it was in the USA and the incumbent Government will find the public less forgiving on the subject of the economy and not overly interested in the details of where the future of our energy creation/supplies is going and more interested in who/what is going to save them the most money when the bill arrives. Neither Dutton or Albanese have much idea on the Economy or Energy imho and its clear the Reserve bank dont trust the Government enough to drop interest rates even though Treasurer Chalmers is trying to rejig both boards with more Government friendly members.
If Ollie Hollands is playing down back then who is missing out?
Newey spent some time training with the midfielders but has now made his way back to where he belongs
I think that Docherty is slated for a wing so that leaves Hollands competing with Saad and Boyd
I guess that means Boyd not in the team, I find Ollie becoming a defender a bit strange and adding Jack down there as well if he plays there after pre season training as a defender just gives our defense a bit of an inexperienced vulnerable look imo.
If The hoff has done his side again the entire NSW cricket mafia should sack themselves. We all know the culpable parties.
Picked a faux "all-rounder" and gambled on an injured seamer. Not good enough.
Prof, There was no need to play Hazelwood given Bolands form and common sense would have said rest him for this test. As you implied given the issues with Marsh and his injuries its been a ballsup under the banner of the NSW mafia never wanting to give a sucker an even break in Bolands case and its backfired. Luckily the inept and disinterested Indians have provided some relief with their loose batting and we should be able to ride out the game if the weather holds up and win the test.
Agree..great bowler, interesting comments from Isa Guha in the commentary box referring to him as the MVP and then using another term which I won't repeat. The well-spoken Ms Guha is the last person I would expect this from but I think she needs a holiday from the commentary box.
Did she mean to use another word that one accidentally came out?
I'm not sure, trying to think of words you could use to describe Bumrah...ie "Premier" bowler in the world which maybe similar but it seems a major slip up for the very eloquent Ms Guha whose English is better than most.
Agree..great bowler, interesting comments from Isa Guha in the commentary box referring to him as the MVP and then using another term which I won't repeat. The well-spoken Ms Guha is the last person I would expect this from but I think she needs a holiday from the commentary box.
Not much point having a “balanced” attack if one of your four bowlers doesn’t get to bowl.
However, if we leave Lyon out, the Gabba Test is bound to last five days and the pitch will assist the spinners 🙄
Not all your bowlers have to bowl if you dismiss a side cheaply, Lyon has taken 51 wickets in 13 tests at the Gabba and its his second most successful venue in Australia to bowl at. Shane Warne had 68 wickets in 11 tests and had a great record there so Id be playing a spinner in Brisbane everytime and if the quicks do the job and the spinner doesnt bowl much so be it but Id always want the option and variation.
It is so hard to know what is right and I'm not going to spend hours trying to find out.
One thing that I am curious about with the oppositions nuclear plan is that typically the LNP has been about privatisation. Why is nuclear power an exception? - is it too expensive upfront to build and then run? - does it not make a sufficient return for private enterprise? - other?
The only way it will be built is if there is overseas investment and overseas companies doing the building as well as doing the infrastructure upgrades. A renewables only electricity grid has “failed miserably” in Germany and California due to the Germans being forced to cut gas off and in California they have had to import electricity from other States produced by coal and gas because they cant generate enough via their renewable sources. Nuclear has to be the way forward imho but in Australia it will be a struggle to get consensus and do it right. Another overlooked benefit of nuclear will be in the future, as water poverty becomes more and more of an issue, nuclear power can also provide a low-carbon option for sea water desalination. Im not a fan of Dutton or Albanese but given the choice I would support the LNP and their ideas of how to power the country for the next century but would be suspicious of their costings and would want independent figures on how much it will cost to build and support, and who would actually own and run the nuclear reactor network in Australia.
The selectors don't pick Boland twice running because they think he gets targeted due to his accuracy.
Cummins bowled 8 straight overs or poop, Boland gets two top end wickets followed by one over of hack T20 slogging and gets dragged.
Focussing on the 2 or 3 Pant hit, one being a rank outside top edge, ignores the 2 or 3 deliveries that beat him clean, and another couple that nearly took out the off peg.
In Test cricket you'd back yourself in for Pant to slog 2 or 3 overs then get out cheap, and that is exactly what happened, if the first edge off Boland hadn't flown wide of Smith, then Pant might well have scored a duck!
Selectors seem to ignore a couple of dropped pills off Boland as well, could have had 5 wickets, 4 of them top end batsmen, not cheap as crap wickets at the bottom of the order!
FFS, they've kept Lyon in the squad on green tops, he might go two full tests without hardly bowling an over?
Is Mitch Marsh retained, that would be 4 or 5 overs from Lyon and Marsh combined?
Pant averages 66 in Aus and hasnt got back to his pre car crash form yet but is due, I wouldnt be letting up on him and keeping Boland in the team. Dont like unbalanced attacks so id be retaining Lyon, Id expect India to revert back to something like their more traditional attack and batting lineup with Sharma opening and Jadeja coming back in the team batting at 7 and Shami replacing the inexperienced Rana who was net practice for most of the last test. Cant understand India not playing Jadeja so far given what he brings to the team in all areas of the game and along with Shami who by all reports has fallen out with captain Sharma the selection policy of India appears affected by internal squabbling like in the good old days.
No doubt the USA are happy to support Israel and protect their interests ie Oil and strategic areas in the region and they wrongly also turn a blind eye when Israel go too far and decide to annihilate everything in their path as part of their revenge agendas. Turkey are happy to sit on the fence and be Switzerland, happy to be a NATO country but equally happy to have good relations with Russia, the latter consider all NATO countries as non friendly but not Turkey even though Turkey is a lynch pin country for the USA and NATO in that part of the world. Its a funny setup in the middle east but as you say its about the status quo and principles/decency dont count for much which either side/s you are on...
I believe Erdogan has his eyes on taking over Aleppo which was once a part of Turkey.
Erdogan is an opportunist and Turkey's political clout has improved with the Syrian Govt falling, seems to have endeared himself to a lot of different countries and political groups apart from Israel in recent times and it will be interesting to see how the Trump administration handle him and whether or not they allow him to continue to try and be peacemaker with Russia/Ukraine etc and have a say in Syrian affairs or they clamp down on him and tell him who the boss is.
You get why Israel do this stuff, if that weaponry falls into the hands of the rebels its probably going to end up being used against them. Surviving as a Jewish state in the middle east means being a strong Military power and looking after your interests when you can. They wont be playing by the rules or taking too many prisoners but you know what you are getting yourself into if you mess with them and why these other surrounding countries feck with them and then complain later about the repercussions always mystifies me.
You could apply that to the middle east in general. They only crack it about Israel, because they got a massive leg up, got some prime lands handed to them, and know that irrespective of how that plays out, Israel have the mighty US behind them, because thats how they keep their foothold their.
They also have a proxy in Turkey, so either way, the USA is happy maintaining the status quo, and you can see it in the language used to describe the same action. Israel protect their citizens, the rest are terrorists. Last I checked Terror can be waged by both sides of the fence, with the only difference being the identity of those being terrorised.
No doubt the USA are happy to support Israel and protect their interests ie Oil and strategic areas in the region and they wrongly also turn a blind eye when Israel go too far and decide to annihilate everything in their path as part of their revenge agendas. Turkey are happy to sit on the fence and be Switzerland, happy to be a NATO country but equally happy to have good relations with Russia, the latter consider all NATO countries as non friendly but not Turkey even though Turkey is a lynch pin country for the USA and NATO in that part of the world. Its a funny setup in the middle east but as you say its about the status quo and principles/decency dont count for much which either side/s you are on...
Never ones to miss an opportunity, with the Syrian armed forces in disarray Israel is bombing the crap out of Syrian military facilities.
You get why Israel do this stuff, if that weaponry falls into the hands of the rebels its probably going to end up being used against them. Surviving as a Jewish state in the middle east means being a strong Military power and looking after your interests when you can. They wont be playing by the rules or taking too many prisoners but you know what you are getting yourself into if you mess with them and why these other surrounding countries feck with them and then complain later about the repercussions always mystifies me.
The selectors don't pick Boland twice running because they think he gets targeted due to his accuracy. I expect an underdone Hazelwood to play and Boland in Melbourne.
I feel the result was a bit suss, India aren't the Paki but it seemed a bit off....why keep bowling Siraj when he was going a 7 an over? Why didn't Bumrah bowl against Head? Some of the Indian batting was reckless at best, Pant ramping Boland was "great entertainment".... Then he meekly nicks off. The series needed it to be 1-1 going to Brisbane, imagine the numbers next week when this one kicks off.
The Indian players just give you the impression they are more interested in their IPL and the big money. Test Cricket to them now has a touch of Bazball about it and they dont mind being reckless even if it doesnt come off sometimes. They only really knuckle down when the Indian public and media go hard on them and they get forced back into playing real test cricket. They lost three nil to NZ back home and played with no care so turned up for the first test under pressure and had to perform after a poor start but apart from a couple of their players in the second test they went back to their NZ form where they couldnt give a rats clacker and it was all too hard making a game of it.
