[KevD]

I thought a couple of the Ashes 2003 Test Matches were about as good as it could get, but after spending the past few nights up watching this Test I think this has to be the best I have seen.

Some great batting from the usual suspects from these sides - Symonds scoring 163 no & 61, Hussey 145 no, Hayden 123 for the Aussies and Tendulkar with 153 no and Laxman 109 for the Indians, A total of 1609 runs scored

Some really good bowling aswell Brett Lee and Brad Hogg for the Aussies (with both having some great spells) and Singh and Kumble for India.

A draw seemed a rather likely result for the last couple of days up until after Tea on the final day where India came out at 79/3. Some great bowling from Symonds saw Australia grab a sniff before a Dhoni/Kumble looked to have saved it. With 10 mins of play left and 3 wickets needed Ponting throws the ball to Micheal Clarke who had only scored one dropped 3 catches during the entire match and he took 3 wickets in 5 balls to win the match, their 16th consectutive win

As if the Cricket action wasnt enough there was a fair amount of controvesy around the Umpiring and comments between players. India recieved two autrocious decisions against them, Symond caught off a blatent edge when in the twenties during his 163 no being giving and Dravid being giving caught out when his bat was no where near the ball. Harbhajan has also been banned for 3 tests following alledged racist comment direct at Symonds.

India are now complaining about the umpiring, accusing both Umpires (Benson and Bucknor) of being incompetent, and accusing the Aussies of not playing within the spirit of the game. Admittetly there were two huge decisions against them which affected the outcome of this test but sadly this happens in test cricket as much as players making errors (Jaffer and Yuvraj scoring only 15 runs between them in the test!). As for questioning the Aussies spirit, I have always enjoyed watching for this - they all seem to play very hard but ultimately fair. Dissapointing these may overshadow the Cricket itself but also adds the whole excitment.

The best Test I have seen

[Ian J]

I'm lucky enough to be in Sydney at the moment and had tickets for the first day. Firstly it was the hottest cricket match that I've ever been to with even the hardiest Aussies giving up to go and watch it in the cool of the pub and secondly even they laughed when symonds was given "not out" as the snick must have been heard by all 30,000 in the ground with the exception of the umpire. Surely the biggest clue was the fact that having nicked the ball Symonds looked straight round to see if it had been caught.

I thought that I was attending a historic day as having watched Australian batting collapse to what was India's second string attack their unbeaten record was finally going to come to an end but to their credit The Aussies just don't know how to give up and continued to pursue an unlikely victory until the bitter end.

A very good test match but the result was influenced too much by the huge score that Andrew Symonds shouldn't have been allowed to accumulate to be a great one.

Having watched this game in 33 degrees of sunshine I believe that it is too much for umpires. Bucknor is 61 and to have to concentrate so hard for so long in that heat is probably too much for someone of his age.

[jondy1]

i am of the view if you know youre out walk,play hard but play fair

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by jondy1

i am of the view if you know youre out walk,play hard but play fair

That is a very idealist view, and in a perfect world where mistakes weren't made I would agree. However, what about all of the times when you are given out when you aren't, can you just decide to stay 'in', because that would be fair?

It is up to each player (Gilly walks) to decide what they want to do, but ultimately it is the umpires decision whether you are out or not.


I stayed up until 6:30am saturday night/sunday morning, we still needed 4 wickets and I was shattered. Thought, oh well, it is going to be a draw, may as well try and get some sleep. Wake up the next day to my missus shouting that we had won! Typical.

Oh well, I will be at the New Years test next year.

EDIT: India have suspended the rest of the tour pending the outcome of an appeal of Harbhajan's suspension.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23212,00.html

[jondy1]

Originally Posted by kendoll

That is a very idealist view, and in a perfect world where mistakes weren't made I would agree. However, what about all of the times when you are given out when you aren't, can you just decide to stay 'in', because that would be fair?

when the umpire sticks his finger up youve got to go and everybody gets a bad one now and again,but the indians will feel they got all theirs at oncenot for one minute am i suggesting the aussies are cheats, this is standard practise for all the test teams at the moment with catches that have gone to ground and still claimed as a catch being the worst culprit. should symonds have kept quite afterwards or was it a deliberate windup, if it was it certainly done the trickgilchrist is one of my favourite players of all time, hes a fantastic role model for aussie cricket and i love watching the aussies play in general as they always give it all, as for Harbhajan's suspension i think maybe theres been an over reaction lets face it symonds does look like a monkey(no racial overtones) and i assume it was a comment made about his facial features and cant see how its come to a racial slur, rescind Harbhajan's suspension and lets get this tour back on track cause i feel were all in for a cracking third test:thumbsup

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by jondy1

lets face it symonds does look like a monkey(no racial overtones) and i assume it was a comment made about his facial features and cant see how its come to a racial slur,

I've had a look but can't find any monkeys with painted white mouths and dreadlocks. If he called Symonds a monkey it can only have been for one reason.

India are abusing their power within the cricketing world by trying to blackmail the authorities into reversing the ban and taking the moral high ground over this is ironic considering the sub continent's record on cheating in cricket

[jondy1]

Originally Posted by Ian J

I've had a look but can't find any monkeys with painted white mouths and dreadlocks. If he called Symonds a monkey it can only have been for one reason.

sorry if i am being niave here but does monkey infer another meaning in australia, as i took it a remark about his face and demeanor....please enlighten me

[KevD]

All very silly from India.

Most batsmen will now stand there until the Umpire gives the decision, including Indians, there are very few "walkers" in the game.

Most bowlers/keepers, including Indians, will appeal for decision that they know didnt hit the bat or where never going to hit the stumps.

Having watched nearly the entire test match I saw absolutely nothing from Australia which was out of order. Aside from the 2/3 AWFUL umpireing decisions the umpires were ok, there were other errors but the same calls that could go either way in any test, they have only been highlighted because of the bad decisions.

Sad a great test is being overshadowed

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by jondy1

sorry if i am being niave here but does monkey infer another meaning in australia, as i took it a remark about his face and demeanor....please enlighten me

It is not a matter of it inferring anything in 'Australia' in particular, it is sadly something that black players of many sports and in many countries have had to endure for years.

There is a history here with Andy Symonds being the victim of 'monkey' noises being aimed at him whilst on tour in India recently. It was dealt with by the Indian authorities (as well as it could be) at the time. Unfortunately it 'appears' to have raised it's ugly head again. If Singh has made the comments that have been alleged, then it is a sad day for world cricket.

[jondy1]

oh dear, there does seem to be more in this remark than a bit of sledging as i first thought and if that proves to be the case a ban is totally justified,you know symonds played for my local team(kent)and was a big hit with the fans although there was some tension with his team mates i believe over his fondness for a beerthe more beer he had the night before the better he played the strange thing about all of this is that i ve never ever considered andrew symonds a black player just an australian.

[Big_Pun]

Whatever harbhajan said, he shouldn't have said it and so he got done. I'm a massive India fan, and to be fair to harbhajan, monkey is probably one of only 3 cusses he knows in english. However, this is not the main topic of the test.
The poor umpiring was without a doubt the main talking point. Both Symonds and Hussey on their way to making big centuries should have been out for much lower scores (Symonds being stumped by Dhoni and Hussey being trapped plum LBW by Kumble). However, neither decision went our way and we ended up in a losing position on day 5 rather than a massive winning one.
Poor, poor, poor umpiring cost us the match. I may sound whiney, but it's hard enough to beat the Aussies without the umpires screwing things up aswell.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Big_Pun

I may sound whiney, but it's hard enough to beat the Aussies without the umpires screwing things up aswell.

I think that Andrew Strauss would agree with you. How many times was he on the receiving end of poor umpiring decisions in last year's ashes series

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by Ian J

I think that Andrew Strauss would agree with you. How many times was he on the receiving end of poor umpiring decisions in last year's ashes series

Wondered how long it would be before that was mentioned.

[KevD]

Originally Posted by Big_Pun

Poor, poor, poor umpiring cost us the match. I may sound whiney, but it's hard enough to beat the Aussies without the umpires screwing things up aswell.

Those umpiring decisions didnt cost India the victory, however, there may have been a different outcome. Remeber outside of the big mistakes, the Aussie were on the wrong end of a couple, Ganguly plum in fornt to Hogg 2nd Innings, springs to mind.

Brad Hogg now charged with Racists remarks, maybe the Aussies should pull out

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by KevD

Those umpiring decisions didnt cost India the victory, however, there may have been a different outcome. Remeber outside of the big mistakes, the Aussie were on the wrong end of a couple, Ganguly plum in fornt to Hogg 2nd Innings, springs to mind.

Brad Hogg now charged with Racists remarks, maybe the Aussies should pull out

Hogg has been charged with calling Kumble a 'bastard'. Looks like India got their way, Bucknor has been dropped for the 3rd test.

http://foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659...-23212,00.html

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by kendoll

Looks like India got their way, Bucknor has been dropped for the 3rd test.

Yet another sad day for cricket as the ICC bend yet again to the all powerful sub continent lobby

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Yet another sad day for cricket as the ICC bend yet again to the all powerful sub continent lobby

You didn't expect anything else did you?

The whole "Well we're taking our bat and ball and going home!" attitude is unbelievable, very dissapointing.

[jondy1]

well as long as they dont take their bookies home with them, cause that will upset the aussies

[kendoll]

Originally Posted by jondy1

well as long as they dont take their bookies home with them, cause that will upset the aussies

Yeah, they would have to give tips to the local bookies...and they don't pay as well.