Australia v New Zealand: Second Test, Hobart

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Australia v New Zealand, 2nd Test
December 9-13, Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Start time: 10:30 local - 23:30 GMT - 07:30 WST

The Second Test in Hobart affords the visitors a climate and playing surface more familiar to their batsmen, whilst Australia will be looking to better their two match winning streak with an unchanged side that performed well in Brisbane last week.

New Zealand have decided to stick with the same XI too and will be hoping for better performances all round and a vast improvement on their mental approach to this match.

Australia:
1 David Warner, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey,
7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Nathan Lyon.

New Zealand:
1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Jesse Ryder, 6 Dean Brownlie,
7 Reece Young (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Chris Martin.

They've changed the way it is voted today Fists... about time!
CA got blasted for it by a number of ex-stars, the media and lots of true cricket fans... and rightly so.

I am glad they have. Warner's knock was brilliant too, especially when no other batsman got to 60, but Bracewell's bowling not only changed the game, but won it too.

But if Aus had got those 8 more runs then Warner would have deserved it.

Tiny margins eh

The test format is alive and kicking, hurrrraaaay.

Has been for some time in my opinion, active.

We have been treated to some belters in the last few years.

I think the MOTM award was nothing in comparison with the captains´speeches. There seems little coincidence to me that the demise of the West Indies was a sad thing to watch for cricket lovers around the world. But there are no tears for this Aussie side. Don´t get me wrong their record for me surpasses the Windies and full of greats who were colourful characters or easy to like people off the field. But for me there are a few bad apples that leave a sour taste. I guess I still remember Punter accepting the Champions Trophy one year and pushed the person who presented it to him off the stage.

I respect the competitiveness of players like Ponting and their drive to win at all costs. Lord knows some of the Kiwis could do with his ambition. But when things don´t go your way, you at least have to acknowledge the other side. Taylor was quick to praise Warner and rightly so as he almost took the match away from the Black Caps. But all Michael Clarke could do was praise Warner and Lyon and didn´t once acknowledge Bracewell´s contribution. I have no problem with them being mad for losing and there wasn´t much else to talk up about the Kiwis. But for me when you´re used to winning and it hurts to lose, you should still be able to step back from the loss and give credit where it´s due rather than just say we played bad.

As an AB fan I know the other side of the coin and readily acknowledge that many fans don´t give credit to teams who beat the All Blacks and dismiss it by saying we were robbed or we played like poop.

Agreed, whilst the match is in play, both teams should play hard, but when the match is concluded, win or lose both captains should be respectful/gracious in defeat or victory. Normally they are, that is one of the things I love about cricket.
The Aussies hate losing and sometimes that comes across more with them than with others.

Out of interest, who do you want to win the Aus/India series or do you not care?

Oh come on what a load of balderdash!

no one was sad for the West Indies until they became truly rubbish. Given this Aus side is still far from rubbish (and they unliky the West indies have a coherent cricket structure in place which will ensure they never fall below "average" or "mediocre") it is not surprising no one seems to mind. The great West Indian sides were full of arrogance, people just have short memories. And they certainly had their moments of poor sportsmanship (such as bowling 10 overs an hour with 6 bouncers an over whenever it looked like a side might be getting on top of them). As a kiwi and given the outcry over the tour in (I think) 85 I'd have thought you'd remember that.

No, the truth is all great sporting sides have had that swagger, and all great sporting sides have been hated at the time and looked back on with nostalgia later on. This Aus side is no different, and already when Ponting was captain people were saying "this kind of thing wouldn't have happened under S. Waugh".

I also remember Ponting pushing the guy off the podium and I thought it was terrific! the Ausies wanted to celebrate winning the only major trophy they didn't hold, and this oaf in a suit was just standing there, grinning like an idiot and refusing to budge when Ponting asked him to. The game is there for the players and fans, not for the corporate business people who want their moment of glory. Ponting asked him twice to get down so they could get on with the celebrations, he didn't. mountain, molehill.

Haha you make some fair points Mike. Maybe enough time hasn´t passed to remember the Aussie side with nostalgia. It´s true we remember the good things from the past and don´t think about the negative things. The Calypso Kings had their fair share of arrogance, granted. Maybe I held them in awe because we were never good enough to compete with them! I guess it depends on which side you´re looking at, but a captain like Taylor for me never lost his cool when things went wrong like Punter did. It´s just that we got to see it all too rarely. That´s my opinion in any event.

I guess we Kiwis are so used to losing against Australia. It´d be nice on the rare occasions that we do win though that the Aussies acknowledged their efforts. Reading the Aussie press, you don´t get much mention of Bracewell. But in fairness I know the reverse side of that and know our media are atrociously one-sided when it comes to rugby.

Look I'm not saying the Ausies are angels: as you say Ponting lost his cool a few too many times, and they did sometimes stretch the spirit of the game.

To be honest I didn't see Clarke's post-match interview, but an interview does somewhat depend on the questions. I can always remember the stick Ponting got from the british press during the '09 ashes when they basically goaded him until he said something they could make something of, and then printed that completely out of context. Two perfect examples being:

- after Cardiff, he was asked (I paraphrase possibly slightly) what did you make of england's last pair needing two changes of gloves within 2 overs? Do you feel they respected the spirit of the game? He then came out with something like "I was disappointed with it to be honest, I don't really think it was in the spirit of the game which is something we should all try and live up to" and roundly accused of being a hypocrite.

- After Aus had lost the ashes at the oval, the press went one better: the question this time was "Obviously the pitch had something to do with the result, with cracks appearing on day one. What did you feel about the wicket?" his answer I thought was first class "look I thought it was a poor pitch but ultimately that had no effect on the game, we simply didn't play well enough and England outplayed us". This was translated in the papers as "Ponting criticises Oval pitch".

Anyway this Aussie fan says hats off to New Zealand who played the better cricket overall in Hobart and fully deserved their win.

The comparison with the NZ rugby side is quite telling. Everyone hates them and says they cheat etc. Of course they are just simply better than all the other sides which I suspect is the real issue.

Mike I take your point at media manipulation. The ABs have a similar thing with the haka. The English media just love that silly little dance and can´t get enough of it. They sell too many copies for one thing from it.

That said it wasn´t so much an interview but a post-match statement by the captains. It just didn´t sit well. I know the guy just wanted the earth to swallow him up and all he could think was getting off that stage. But a little recognition of an opponent´s effort wouldn´t go astray.

I do think though that a win for Australia would´ve been bad for Australia in the long run. They might well have thought everything was back in order after the disappointment of SA. Far better to address the issues now before India come than for India to expose them even more ruthlessly than the Kiwis could.

Anyway mate, thanks for the congrats and all the best for Boxing Day and beyond. I like how the top of the rankings are getting less clear-cut but on reflection I wouldn´t want Australia to suffer the same demise as the Windies. It wouldn´t be fun beating you every 26 years then!

Then that is disappointing from Clarke who is usually quite gracious.

I agree entirely with your view about Australia in the long run. I think they've got a decent chance against the Indians (who aren't in such a fantastic place themselves right now, they should have lost really to the West indies).

As I said, I can't ever see Australia slide down the rankings to the extent the West Indies did: their structure, resources and professionalism should see to that.

Yeah me either. The same reasons why I can´t ever see NZ ever climb up the test rankings!

Yeah should be a great series. They should coin the series The Battle for Lost Mojo.