23 Comments

Warnie's bacon sarnie - one of my favourite memories, Pete. We are sitting in the press box at Bellerive. One call after the other. 'It was a "cooking-related incident",' you keep repeating solemnly, between times sighing exasperatedly, questioning your will to go on.

Then, the phone rings again. 'Ah,' you say with satisfaction. 'It's my daughter.' Pause. 'It was a "cooking-related incident"....'

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Apologies if our younger scribes do not know Cagney "you dirty rat" and Rooney. Actors from way back. Only Crass Craddock would know them personally.

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Sincere apologies to Robert John Craddock I would never call him "crass". Hmmm!

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Eureka Stockade you have done it again! You love for Davie never dies. When he first started (DW) I wrote that he was a cross between Jimmy Cagney, Mickey Rooney and a british bulldog. My views have never changed. Watched "The Kid" in action needs a few more innings against players like Scottie Boland (who?). HARRIS and HUNT for mine.

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Johnny Howard did not know when to quit either, even lost his seat.

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Looks like Carey and Inglis are the two batters with the best form. Put them both in and how can we go past Greg Chappell’s suggestion of Mitch Marsh as opener. Keep McSweeney and Konstas in the wings for now but see them both in the team within next two years. Easy. Go with form. Australia have to play great cricket to beat India need players in form.

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My word it's easy to get some free publicity when the media is as gullible, or as complicit, as it is. NOT ONE person belives there is the slightest possibility of Warner playing for Australia again. But they run with his shout-out anyway, thereby ensuring there is plenty of publicity around the fact that he's going to be part of the Foxtel commentary team.

I'd rather there was a story about how many people mute the TV comms in favour of ABC Grandstand's coverage, if only to avoid listening to interminable ads. Not that there aren't some decent TV commentators (and some awful ones), but far too few of them know when to keep their mouths shut!

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I'm a muter! Footy as well.

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I was a muter but the whole out of sync thing threw me. So now I just listen to the commentary and put the TV on if something happens that I want to see.

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*believes

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John Howard, 'Lazarus with a triple bypass', did not know when to leave and lost his own seat at his last election.

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It is mind-boggling that this has raised its head again. How short are the memories of Warner's form in the last 2+ years of his Test career? His call to retire in Sydney almost 12 months ahead was a genius move to ensure the selectors COULDN'T drop him before then. And it worked. And he limped to the line apart from his century in Perth.

Like you say Peter, the Warne incident. Why must the media jump on these stories and flog them to death?

The selectors haven't helped the cause by not picking an opener for the NZ series after Warner retired. Now it seems fine to pick anyone to open the batting for Australia. Bancroft and Harris have both been consistent over the last 12-24 months when they refused to budge Warner, and of course now the spot is there, they've run dry for the moment.

Why don't they just ask Chris Rogers to come back? He'd be a better candidate than Warner...

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I hear JL is still pretty fit!

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Surely Josh Inglis is in the top 6 discussion. At a batter, keeper.

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He is.

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It's hard to get rid of Carey though. He's averaging 122 in the Shield and just took 10 catches in the Qld/SA game that's just finished (including a rebound catch)

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They can both play. Paine and Wadw did.

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As a sndgroper, I really like Josh Ingis, despite his Yorkshire roots, but at this stage he's not as valuable an asset as Carey, who is definitely a better keeper, and probably a better batter. I do think that, in the longer term, there is the prospect of both Inglis and Philippe becoming good enough to be selected simply for their batting, as will be the case with Jamie Smith for England. Despite a flat patch in the post-Bairstow stumping, Carey looks back to his best.

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Mr Erskine is a brilliant monetiser. Clicks for Warner Inc ™️🎣

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Davey is surely reprising the Birdie Num Num skit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMqhpCBPAY, or as another conservative politician said, it's just feeding the chooks.

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Once a tosser always a tosser. Warner must be one of the most selfish cricketers who ever put on the baggy green. And also thoroughly unlikable.

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I'm sure whoever they pick, they will do their best. Boring thing to say I know, but why not? What the hell, just pick both Konstas and McSweeney. Smith hasn't been going that well, perhaps make him 12th man.

The restaurant menu analogy is a good one with nothing standing out and you can't make up your mind. But when you do, you wished you picked something else, but you can't change it. Very much like the selectors lot.

I don't know why anyone would wanna be a selector anyway, there's nothing to gain. It's one of those jobs fit for a masochist. When the team does well, they get virtually no credit, praise or thanks, but when the team doesn't do well ... take cover and look out, it's all their fault. Yet (I assume) they line up to do the job. Why?

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I feel like Warner is Warnie without the sense of humour.... but I could be wrong. The "who replaces Warner" conundrum is merely the first of a long list - Khawaja is 37 and Smith 35, so I think we are going to be playing hypotheticals for the next year (which has its own perverse sense of fun about it). Whoever they pick as opener, we have to hope that Usman's form doesn't drop off a cliff, otherwise we could be in lots of trouble...

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