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Rahkeem Cornwall makes it to West Indies Test squad
He is an all-rounder from the islands of Antigua and is perhaps the heaviest cricketer ever. He stands at a towering height of 6’6” and weighs around 140 kg.

Cornwall made his first-class debut in 2014 and has since become a regular for Leewards Islands, even captaining them earlier this year. He has 260 wickets from 55 first-class matches and finished as the leading bowler in the most recent regional four-day tournament.

guildfordbat wrote:Hi Alfie - another significant advantage Australia currently have is Warner/Burns>Raval. I haven't seen much of Raval and don't know enough about him to judge whether he's not up to Test cricket or whether he's just going through a bad patch. However, his recent scores against England and in this match have been very poor and must be impacting his confidence.

Hi guildfprd ... Yes . I flagged earlier I think that Raval is a bit of a weak link in this Kiwi outfit. Though to be fair to him Perth under lights after very little time for adjustment is a tough order for anyone !

Not sure they have a viable alternative at the moment ? We shall see...

alfie wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Hi Alfie - another significant advantage Australia currently have is Warner/Burns>Raval. I haven't seen much of Raval and don't know enough about him to judge whether he's not up to Test cricket or whether he's just going through a bad patch. However, his recent scores against England and in this match have been very poor and must be impacting his confidence.

Hi guildfprd ... Yes .  I flagged earlier I think that Raval is a bit of a weak link in this Kiwi outfit. Though to be fair to him Perth under lights after very little time for adjustment is a tough order for anyone !

Not sure they have a viable alternative at the moment ?  We shall see...

Sorry, Alfie - missed your earlier post on Raval. Similar minds anyway.

Pleased to see Starc get MotM in line with my last post.

You going to the Melbourne Test, Alfie?

guildfordbat wrote: It'll be very interesting to see how they respond. .

Frankly the state of their bowling attack if various players aren't recovered might make it academic. Ferguson batting presumably means nothing too serious?

From 2 months ago, called it:

It Must Be Love wrote:

KP_fan wrote:
As I see test cricket today....India and NZ are in A Grade, Aus and Eng closely behind in B-Grade, SA has fallen to C grade with Pak, and the rest are in D grade

Not sure about that. Would agree India are A grade and #1, but would like to see them win the NZ series away from home to prove their place as head and shoulders above the rest.  
NZ haven't done that great away from home, so I'd put them in the B category. I'd have Aus, with Smith back, in the A category. They struggled a lot without Smith, but with him back they drew 2-2 in England which is a good result, and were also very competitive in the India away series in 2017 losing 2-1. That showed that Aus can be competitive anywhere in the world which is a massive plus.

Aus a level above NZ right now.

You know how everyone thinks we play too many pointless ODI series?
Good news...India want to start a hugely pointful (cough) ANNUAL England India Aus + an invite team competition, presumably to fill fill the large void in those teams schedules and in no way annoy the ICC.
The ICC were looking to add another global event in to their schedule (T20 equivalent of the champions trophy?) so there would be one everyone year.

CA seem more in favour of supporting the global game rather than money spinners for the big 3.

Australia and NZ ready to clash on Thursday - just hope the wretched MCG pitch turns out to be neither a minefield nor another graveyard this time round . Ticket prices being what they are I really don't want a borefest when I go on day two...

Home side has the momentum for what that is worth , but NZ should have Boult back and I fancy they will make a better show than they did at Perth. Smith will be hungry, though Warner is under a possible injury cloud following a finger knock in the nets. He's a tough lad , I think he will play.
Weather seems set fair. Hot at the weekend but the first couple of days look nice cricket weather.

Enjoy Alfie - hope you get a good day on day 2!

NZ winning the toss and fielding first.

I like a good gamble. Fair play to Williamson. Up to Boult/Southee/Wagner now.

Gamble looking a bit of a poor one right now...216/3 ...

But exactly as I type , De Grandhomme finds the Wade edge (not for the first time) and this one carries to the keeper. Big break for NZ before the new ball.

So I guess that makes my post a technical jinx

In truth NZ haven't bowled badly but they've not been able to put wickets together in clumps on a slightly slow pitch - though they have kept things fairly quiet except when forced to use Santner. Would certainly have hoped for better after inserting Australia ; especially after Burns falling in the first over of the day.
Haven't had a lot of luck really - apart from the Labuschagne dismissal , bowled via his elbow trying to leave - with quite a few balls beating the edge and edges not carrying to slip. De Grandhomme deserved that wicket I think : he has worked away solidly , moved the ball around a bit and generally kept the batsmen honest. Has 2/46 from twenty which ain't too shabby...but he's not making Head play enough deliveries yet...
New ball in four and what happens then will probably decide whose day this is going to be. Smith is 65 off 158 balls and resolutely refusing to do anything silly as Wagner continues to pepper him with short balls. Has his eye on tomorrow.

Australia's day...no further inroads for NZ as Smith and Head see off the new ball overs to end the day 257/4 , Smith on 77 with another century seeming inevitable tomorrow.
Head sound enough 25 off 56 and I think the Kiwi lads are in for some hard work tomorrow . They will need to bat a lot better than they did in Perth or this could end up with a similar score line . Hope I see some good cricket anyway.

Are you heading to a day at the test?

I thought it was a decent day's play, overall, with the Kiwis a little unlucky not to have got more and the Aussies generally doing quite well to respect a hard fight for runs.

Yeah going in tomorrow , Rudolph. Usually target day two at the G ...too damn tired Boxing Day after large family gathering Christmas night.
And second day often seems to be a big one in Melbourne. Or did before the pitches became regular graveyards ! Hopeful this one is a bit of an improvement though it still looks a bit slow for my taste. We will see...

Yeah the gamble didn’t come off. Swinging round corners for the first hour, but only one wicket in that time and Australia have got to a near identical position as after day one of the first test.

Come on kiwi's! send these ozzie ball tamperers home! ...to where they...are...now....I mean...

Michael Vaughan made them do it

Australia well on top after two...

Pleasant enough day - bit warm but the bar provided shade and refreshment - though not a lot for my personal highlight reel. Paine batted brightly : gave the innings an impetus after Smith (who was really pinned down this morning by the Kiwi short stuff tactic ) went ; and Head booked his place for a while with a worthy hundred. 467 looks enough to be safe - though if Williamson hadn't had a rush of blood late and donated his wicket I think the draw might have been worth a punt.
Not sure the pitch has been "fixed" yet. Had some bounce but still a bit slow ... when I got in a few overs late to see Boult - in over fourteen with a new ball - operating with one slip I had a bit of a sinking feeling... Let us see how it wears.

Some outstanding attacking bowling from Australia today has shot NZ out 320 runs behind...Cummins in particular superb.

Of course they haven't enforced the follow on : plenty of time to set NZ 600 and kill off their already overworked bowlers for the third match at the same time. Unfortunately means not a lot of interest left in this game except for fans of gladiator contests.

Williamson may be one of the worlds top three bats (though he's not shown it yet on this trip) but his captaincy here has been abysmal . Not just sending Australia in (madness !) but his selection and use of a spinner he clearly doesn't trust , his field placings and tactics
generally on the first few days ...and capped off by self destruction with the bat when all NZ needed was to make it to stumps one down , never mind the runs , as Latham was demonstrating at the other end.

Australia are very hard to stop , especially at home , once their confidence is up. Right now , it is sky high...and NZ are going to lose this series 3-0 and their hard earned world ranking is going to look more than a little overstated...

Superb bowling from Australia’s awesome seam attack to win this series. Cummins comfortably the best in the world.

All in all, Vaughan’s assertion that NZ aren’t the 2nd best side in the world is well founded.

Very comfortable win for Australia despite an excellent fighting century from Kiwi makeshift opener Blundell (he really did play well )
Lyon and Pattinson the destroyers this time. Going back in needing 487 this was always only going one way ; though at one point it appeared Blundell and Santner were going to take it to Monday.

Two nil Australia and you wouldn't bet against a clean sweep in Sydney. NZ losing Boult again with a broken finger won't help them ...the indestructible Wagner will likely be working his socks off again but hard to see them knocking Australia over for a modest total so they really need a monster score themselves. That will require their big guns to step up like Blundell...Williamson is very much overdue (though he was a bit stiff today to cop the wrong end of an umpires call lbw decision on a ball that was literally shaving his leg stump)
Warne still wants Australia to trial Swepson but I reckon they will just go for the kill with what they've got. Why not ? Right now they're cruising...

[quote="Duty281"]Superb bowling from Australia’s awesome seam attack to win this series. Cummins comfortably the best in the world.

All in all, Vaughan’s assertion that NZ aren’t the 2nd best side in the world is well founded.[/quote

Well I guess theyd be number 3 on this basis, but they have had a bit of rotten luck in terms of injuries and tosses. Aus have certainly cashed in on the opportunity (as they did against England).

The thing thats really caught me with Aus is just how well Labuschange has flourished. He was a bits and pieces spare part pick for the Ashes squad and got his chance through Smiths concussion and the failures of others, not really looked back! 3 centuries and 7 50s in the 13 innings since he came on, averaging 75 which is almost exactly the same as Steve Smith in the same period. Meanwhile England cant find anyone who can average 40. Flat track bullies or not the weight of runs from Smith and Labuschange combined with the revived Warner is pretty terrifying. there must be something fundamentally different in the approach CSA are taking to test bats thats enabling these guys who didnt initially look anything special to flourish.

As a team they still have a couple of weak links but really seem to have a level of confidence and purpose that England are utterly lacking.

Yes I think the confidence level of the team has shot up since the return of Smith and Labuschagne seizing the opportunities on offer with such personal conviction. Add the bowling performances and it's now looking like a formidable unit which can carry the odd individual failure here and there. There's a lot of firepower in the tank.

Speaking of fires; it looks like rain clouds here but I'd estimate 90% of it is smoke haze. There were a few droplets of 'rain' last night (0.01 mm... more like smoke-flavoured mist!) and we had a brutally hot New Year's eve... 44°C here and probably 40° at the SCG where they are obviously exempt from water restrictions... so it will look green for maybe a day. Tomorrow is expected to be as bad as Dec 31 and depending on the prevailing wind direction there could well be a chance of very poor playing conditions. Unprecedented situation. It's all in the lap of the Gods at the minute.

It's unfortunate NZ have been hit hard by illness. Very similar to England in SA. Santner is unable to get out of bed and there are still question marks on Kane and Nicholls... we'll know in a few minutes. Glenn Phillips flew in last night - it must be like flying into a cauldron.

Hard to believe this is the first test match for NZ here since 1985. All of those ODIs over the years somewhat blur this reality. I'm hoping it will still be a competitive contest but there are so many factors beyond control leading into this one. Looks like Tom Latham is now the captain.

Blimey, five enforced changes for New Zealand and all five are seriously good players. Tour from hell and they’ve lost the toss and are facing the prospect of chasing the ball for another seven hours or so. Terrible situation.

Australia - unchanged from Melbourne.
Warner, Burns, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Wade, Paine *†, Cummins, Patterson, Starc, Lyon

New Zealand
Latham *, Blundell, Raval, Taylor, Phillips, Watling †, de Grandhomme, Astle, Somerville, Henry, Wagner

So no Boult, Williamson, Nicholls, Santner and now no Southee.

Australia won the toss and will bat. A real turner according to Warne.

Aus 263-3 currently with Labuschagne 128 no ...he really is the new Smith

This is shaping up to be another brutalisation if it does start to turn later in the game.

The pitch will get a real baking tomorrow. It will be torture out there for the poor fielders.

Duty281 wrote:Blimey, five enforced changes for New Zealand and all five are seriously good players. Tour from hell and they’ve lost the toss and are facing the prospect of chasing the ball for another seven hours or so. Terrible situation.

Something about touring Australia which means by this Sydney test you must be playing a mentally awful XI

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Blimey, five enforced changes for New Zealand and all five are seriously good players. Tour from hell and they’ve lost the toss and are facing the prospect of chasing the ball for another seven hours or so. Terrible situation.

Something about touring Australia which means by this Sydney test you must be playing a mentally awful XI

We're usually a lot more hospitable, Olly.

Although I do agree it's not a bad time for our health care professionals and psychologists. Plenty of work for them this time of year.

Going to be another easy win for Australia. They've played well ... All credit to their professionalism

But I wish the Kiwis could have played up to their form (really think they got off to a rotten start in Perth and have never recovered) as I was looking forward to a tight and absorbing series. You can admire a good team crushing its opponent : but it's not particularly interesting when the game is basically over by day two...

Buckets of praise for Labuschagne He's taken over from Smith this summer as the run machine !

alfie wrote:
But I wish the Kiwis could have played up to their form..

You mean the ones still left standing, Alfie? Or before when they had most of their core players available? Most likely you mean the latter.

I'm the same as you though. I was hoping for a much closer contest... but not too close obviously.
Thus far it has been far too one sided. Not gripping to watch at all. I was about to post a jinx for Warner this morning - only to see Burns go first.

My interest has already turned to Capetown a little now. Hopefully there will be a few twists and turns during the series despite the depleted player situation England are in at present. They seem to have weathered the early assault thus far as the pitch becomes more settled.

#looks like a bit of fight from NZ, or lack of application from Aus today. There could still be a twist to this one, a draw is back on the cards at least from looked like it could be a stinking

Gooseberry wrote:#looks like a bit of fight from NZ, or lack of application from Aus today. There could still be a twist to this one, a draw is back on the cards at least from looked like it could be a stinking

Lets see how tomorrow goes.  This pitch looks very flat ; but Lyon is getting some turn ... collapse possible at some point.

If NZ bat all day I'll start thinking about draws...

Labuschagne continues his push to be hailed as the New Bradman ... Smith - who he ?

Didn't take Lyon long to break through thus morning...Blundell dragged one on .

In breaking news , Raval has made it to double figures Has actually been playing quite well , to be fair. So far.

Long job ahead of NZ. At 99/1 still 355 behind...

Perfect batting conditions out there today after an incredibly hot day yesterday. It was 46 here... the middle of the SCG would have felt like being in a cauldron. These two look fairly comfortable however Australia need to just keep chipping away for another breakthrough.

Apparently the winds will pick up in the afternoon (over the next few hours) and there's a chance of some rain near the coast tomorrow but I'm not sure how much. That might coincide with a change in the tempo of this match which seems to be heading towards a draw.

Nice timing. I've still got it.

Raval falls to Lyon and now Cummins gets Latham just short of a 50.

Lyon misses a relatively easy caught and bowled and messes up his bowling thumb too. Luckily not broken like Matt Henry's.

Wouldn't mind seeing Labuschagne have a crack after lunch. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold lately.

Pal Joey wrote:Nice timing. I've still got it.

Raval falls to Lyon and now Cummins gets Latham just short of a 50.

Nicely done , PJ.

Changed things quickly , didn't it ? Was hardly a surprise though - Lyon just kept nagging away and I thought he'd likely strike eventually - though Latham tossing it away was unexpected.

With Taylor gone too now NZ will do well to avoid the follow on - not that Paine would enforce it anyway. Barring rain/smoke I still fancy an Australian win on day five.

Watling survives a confident - though misguided - appeal for a catch off the glove...

Question : is Tim Paine the worst ever judge of using the drs ? Have to be high on the list

Got your way eventually , PJ...

Labuschagne having the regulation bowl before tea...and he's brought about a result !
Not through his bowling ; but a daft bit of Kiwi running

I knew they couldn't fly ; but really

195/6 . Won't make 250.

Collapsing now ahead of the new ball... Phillips out hooking

Or is he ? Pattinson has overstepped ! Why do these bowlers keep ignoring the basics ?

Probably won't delay Australia for long : but so wasteful.

210/6 at tea. Aussies have kept chipping away - helped by a couple of moments of madness from the batsmen.
Might have had more if Lyon hadn't had uncharacteristic trouble catching off his own bowling .
Have to credit the Kiwis for at least battling , despite their horror run of injuries . But unless the weather loses them a lot of time , Australia should have time to force a victory. Only need three more wickets if Henry can't bat...and if they lead by 200 they won't need to bat that long second time around.

Another 59 for Labuschange. Incredible that NZ had a very strong day in this game and looking at another big defeat despite Aus declaring with just 2 down.

All over quick. Mercy killing , I think.

Wagner leaves the tour with much honour. Blundell and , I guess Phillips got something out of it...the rest : not much.

Aussies nearly all had a picnic. Labuschagne the star but all the bowlers had their moments and Warner collected another no pressure second innings declaration century to boost his home ground figures...

Well done to Australia for a comprehensive demolition job

But I do hope the India series next year proves a better contest. Suspect it will...

Aus arentvplaying any tests in India, bizarrely just 3 ODIs. Youd think they'd at least put some T20s in.
We have to wait almost a year for them to face each other, and things could have taken a different turn by then. India should still be a strong side, and now they have some proper fast bowlers and batsmen more used to facing fast bowling better equipped than many Indian sides that have come before them.
But home soil if Aus maintain this momentum and positivity and keep everyone fit and avoid burn out then they should be strong favourites.
NZ have been crippled and exposed in this series and I do think the margin of defeats does them a disservice, but it does show Aus are number 2 in the world and that theres a growing gulf England need to bridge to get back into contention for the next ashes. India remain number one to me, and Aus will need to show they can win in Asia to bridge that gap. Overall it just sums up how far England have slipped off the pace for me, albeit they look like levelling the SA series.

Labuschgane now averages more than Smith in tests despite his last innings taking it down a fraction. Absolutely unreal 6 months of scores for him.

The future of cricket currently taking place in the West Indies-Ireland ODI series - a TV umpire automatically calling all no balls.

West Indies first home ODI series win since 2014 with a last ball 6..... against Ireland.

India getting absolutely annihilated by Australia in the first ODI.

I hate Australia when they arent rubbish! Wha a difference a bit of confidence makes

India doing rather better today : 150/1 in the 25th so you'd think they're on for 350 or so.
Might put a bit more pressure on Warner & co...

Meanwhile the U19 WC game between Australia and West Indies is getting a bit tense...

WI were cruising to a win but have just lost two wickets and still need ten...seven down - should still make it.

...and they do