you spin me right round, baby...
The Sikh of Tweak, The Turbanator - Mudhsuden Singh Panesar....
I've watched England for far too long to think that this Test is anywhere near in the bag, but I was certainly very pleased to wake up this morning and hear the tea time score from the WACA. You should never judge a game until both sides have batted once, but I think it's fair to say that Ricky Ponting will be disappointed with a score of 244 - particularly after winning the toss and electing to bat.
As an Englishman - and as an Englishman born in Northampton particularly - it was especially satisfying to see Monty Panesar's figures of 5-92. We will never know if he would have made any difference in the other two tests of the series so far, but he has certainly lived up to his billing so far in this game. I was also very pleased to see Steve Harmison bowling with real hostility for his figures of 4-48. He's had a lot of criticism since he bowled the first ball of the series directly into the hands of second slip, but he's a potential match winner and it was nice to see him arrive for the party.
There's a long way to go in this match yet, and God knows there's plenty of time to balls it all up yet.... but it was a good day. The Pollstar certainly seemed to enjoy himself, judging by the text messages he sent me from Perth in the wee small hours of the morning...
Are there any Americans still reading? Is anyone still reading? Did you follow any of that? No? Try here.
Still no?
Oh well. It's cricket and
posted by swisslet @ 20:47
8 Comments:
At 11:53 pm,
adem said…
Yep, I feel good for him, but still don't feel good when we're 51/2. I want our openers to stick in there and build up a sizeable lead.
At 12:15 am,
Martin said…
I've always struggled with cricket to the point of not bothering, but have been reading more cricket than football journalism recently out of interest as to why England might not be doing so well this time.
I can't believe how much more readable cricket journalism seems to be than, say, that of football. Even if I don't get all of it there seems to be much more character in it.
And how can anyone not be taken in by Panesar's celebrations? If the BBC annual sports awards had been a couple of weeks later the posh woman with the horse wouldn't have got a look in.
At 12:38 am,
Poll Star said…
Seriously, football? Poor excuse for a sport. Too swayed by cheating, poor refereeing and luck. And you can't sit with the opposition fans and have a day's banter-like we did with the Aussies yesterday. Or sit and watch the game with a drink in your hand. And the goal celebrations can't touch Monty.
Just having a quick check on the web, before wandering down to the WACA. Ain't life great?
At 6:04 am,
Anonymous said…
I read the part that said "Are there any Americans still reading?"
At 8:20 am,
swisslet said…
Friday morning update.
*sigh*
At 2:26 pm,
Martin said…
Hmm. So English cricket has got something in common with football. Do they all blame the manager and write autobiographies now?
At 3:33 pm,
Anonymous said…
I got 8 hours of sleep and tried re-reading this, but it still didn't make any sense :)
At 9:32 pm,
The Num Num said…
I've been following both sets of tests (only makes sense if you know me as st does). I reckon that England won't do the biz, and neither will my other team.
Still, good to see youngsters doing their thang, and more importantly to see Bell stop being just a bell!
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