Terrific innings at the right time from the world's best gloveman, SA will be hoping Boucher has a few seasons left in him .. Peter the Pieman bags a 5-fer and is starting to look the goods, and I reckon Bollinger was 150000% unlucky not to get a couple himself. I have no idea where this one's heading, probably down one of those canyons that's opening up in the middle of the SCG.

Nice article Nick, but maybe you should review your suggestion that Sydney is more Rugby and Melbourne more Rugby League. Sydney is the absolute stronghold of League in Australia (some would say the world) fielding nine of the ARL's 16 sides. The interest in the game in Sydney during winter is intense while in Melbourne the single League side (Storm) can hardly get a look-in with the media, and even crucial Storm games are not televised live by Ch9 who have the rights. I'm Rugby Union by inclination and I can assure you the vast majority of Melburnians, even among the footy followers, have no idea what the difference is between Union and League. As a big fan of old buildings I agree with you about the appeal of the SCG but the truth is that the older stands that disappeared from the MCG in the last 30-odd years had neither the antiquity nor the aesthetic charms of the old SCG stands .. and although there was a lot of public discussion before the 1928 Members' Stand was replaced even many tradition lovers agreed that not a strong case could be made for retaining it.

The way the Aussies have been defending their totals lately 445 must feel more like 245, and there'd be some concern that SA have cruised into triple-figures without too much drama (besides the finger thing) .. someone's going to have to step up .. just as I write Kallis, who was looking ominous last night, edges to Hayden .. and the day begins.

sacricket: in some of life's more delicate areas Warnie might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knows cricket inside out .. but to be fair there has been plenty of analysis in the press about the Aussies' situation that goes well beyond missing players or umpiring. In fact the consensus that SA have been the better side is pretty widespread here, even if through slightly gritted teeth. It was expected that Australia would slip back to the pack a little but the momentum of a side like SA moving in the other direction was underestimated. And NZers, well if there's one thing a NZer dislikes more than a successful Australian team it's a successful South African team but from what I can tell, most of them are just fine with the way this series is going.

liver17 .. I agree, it's very obvious that you are not here to enlighten anyone .. and whatever you mean by "them" can stay your little secret.

Liver17 .. I didn't say I was surprised by the Aussie bashing, I was just questioning Emerlander's suggestion that there hadn't been any for a long time. As to your reasons for it .. I don't know what a "duffered parasite" is (I did Google it) so maybe you can enlighten us.

POOCHANDI .. from Damien Fleming's article in the Melbourne Age this morning ... Hilfenhaus: supremely fit, long spells, mid-high 130 kmph, has genuine outswinger, a quick bouncer, good slow ball, reads the game well, has 24wkts @ 18 so far this season.... Bollinger: left arm swingers, good pace, more bounce than Johnson and different enough to play two lefties, over two seasons has 45 wkts @ 15(!) and 56 @ 22 at the SCG overall. Hope that's of interest.

Ed .. gee, the Windies underdogs against the Black Caps? .. I guess you're right, home ground and Vettori might be the difference, but it's a close call and confirms that we live in strange times. By the way, no matter how often I refresh it still says "Singh reveals.." rather than "revels", then again it is that rather ragged time of year and maybe it's "refreshment" that's the problem. And thanks to Bhajji for my last good cricket chuckle of 08 by giving his advice on to how to behave on the field.

EMERLANDER .."I want some thorough Aussie bashing. It's been a long time coming" .. strange comment, I've been reading this forum for many months and one thing it's never been short of is a bit of Aussie bashing whether they win lose or draw. I'm not arguing whether they do or don't deserve it at any particular time, I'm just saying that there's never been any shortage of it. POOCHANDI .. I note your queries but to be honest I'm not really clued up enough on the domestic competition here to give you good answers .. best direct that sort of thing to Penny, Tuesday, or Arrogant if and when he re-emerges. SACRICKET .. I'm obviously not a Saffer but if I were I'd take the 3-0 Test win any day. An ODI series has never had the aura of a Test Match series and with T20 likely to drive the 50-over game into extinction it looks like all that'll be left of ODIs soon are the stats. This (sorry, last) year has been so full of fascinating Tests that I think most folk realise that's where the heart of the game still is.

The best of New Years to all .. and as Pooch has pointed out NZ do indeed live in the future and have already got plenty of 2009 practice under their belts .. I expect them to take full advantage of this and be pressing for the #1 spot by 2010 .. as little porkers fly in formation over Eden Park. Looking to Sydney, I sense that as much as the Oz public would like a solid win as a first step to restoring the natural order as they see it, there's more than a few who are not sure that Hayden and Symonds, for example, will be part of that restoration. A big knock from Hayden and the subsequent securing of his place for a while longer might not be in the best interests of Oz cricket in the medium and longer term. On the other hand if Australia needs anything right now it's a win and they'll take it any which way. I've got a lot of time for Roy and on form he brings plenty to the team but a quick-fire 20-odd and a short spell of dibbly-dobblers ain't enough (still one of the world's great fielders though) .. and Hayden's probably only there in deference to sterling service over time, which is fine but there's an elephant in the room bearing a sack of scratchy little innings that's filling up fast.

.. by "Friday" I meant "Saturday" .. it's the season of goodwill, give me a break.

Been on the road, in the shaky isles as it happens, visiting family and friends (had a nice time, thanks for asking) and it just goes to show that you turn your back for a few moments and the world changes .. but in truth the chickens that a lot of Aussies knew were circling have come home to roost .. I think back to Bangalore when Oz were easing themselves into a winning position and then, almost inexplicably at the time, couldn't budge Harbhajan and Zaheer and the series started going down the tubes .. from then on the Oz attack never kept a lid on an Indian batting side running red-hot .. a none-too-testing hit out against NZ papered over the cracks but the final day's impotence against SA in Perth brought back the cold reality. Funnily enough I thought day two in Melbourne was the best the Aussies had looked for yonks, they played smart, attacking, even joyous cricket, and they had SA on the ropes .. it's significant that the following day was probably Australian cricket's worst day this century, and today seemed predestined and was played out like a ritual. You have to like the way SA have won these games .. coming from behind, poised and determined and in the end doing it at a canter (as a NZer that's not easy to write) and they've gotta be a good bet in Sydney. Oz are down on form and spirit and the injuries don't help, but I reckon they're still a good bet for Sydney too, I've seen them play too much cricket to count them out .. but it'll be tough. Last Friday I was thinking what good examples of batsmen working with tail-enders both tests had shown .. Boucher and Haddin putting on nice little clinics in Perth and then Clarke keeping the tail wagging for Oz at the MCG .. but I hadn't counted on the mother of all tail-wags that came the next day .. holy moly!

Nice little story and just to help out a little , it's 'Banjo' Paterson, who also wrote the verse that's the basis of the unofficial Australian anthem, "Waltzing Matilda".

Regarding item 1: As a resident in Australia I'll report that just about everybody I know regards the citizenship test as set up by the previous government as a very stupid idea and so do I. The incoming Labor government have decided to review it but it looks like that will not go as far as many hoped, ie filing it in the bin. At least all the info needed to pass it is provided in a booklet given to applicants so it's not as if you just lob in from Dafur and a bloke at customs says, "So who's The Don?". It's just another hoop you have to go through if you get serious about becoming a citizen but it's a particularly redundant part of the process.

Mr Speed ... you've got a cheek ... consider this wake-up call #327 for the ICC to get their act together. Your organisation has been one of the biggest losers in this whole business and the cherry on top was the complete cock-up when presenting the High Court judge with Harbhajan's track record. I don't know what influence it would have had and I'm getting to the point where I don't care, but after giving yourselves an extra two weeks to prepare for the re-hearing you still couldn't even collect basic information on the central player which half the readers of this website would be familiar with. Wake up!!

Mr Ganguly ... I'm glad for your sake that you don't want to dwell in the past because you have a very tenuous grip on the reality there. I'm curious as to exactly which point India came so close to winning in Sydney that they were "very unlucky" not to do so. I don't remember any such point in the game and endless hopeful speculation about umpires and walking are just that, speculation. The reality is that after letting the game slip away India were handed a draw on a plate and still couldn't manage even that. You did very well in Perth and may do very well in Adelaide, but whatever happens in the future there's no point in trying to rewrite the past.

Stop beating around the bush samar. Both you and Gavaskar are implying that because the players who said they heard Harbhadjan's remark are all white, then the decision to believe them is a racist one. That's what you are implying, and that's what people find unacceptable. It's unacceptable because it implies that a respected and experienced referee makes his decisions based on race. You will need better evidence than the fact that the umpires and batsmen (oh, and the camera?) didn't hear it. All else is speculation. All I know is that in Australia players in all sports are treated very severely for racist remarks whether the racism was intended or not and that's the way it should be.

You're right about Tait, he can have his terrific days but when he's bad he's shocking, and Johnson has long periods of being very ordinary. But Lee was like that too at first. The Australians are lucky to have a strong enough attack that they can afford to carry these guys for a while and still win games, while giving the young bowlers a priceless on-the-spot finishing school.

Sunil ... I never saw the headlines that you say misrepresent you, so as you suggested I've read elsewhere the quotes from your article and I've just read the quotes on this page from the same article and it looks to me like you are accusing Procter of making a decision based on race. You might not like it but that's what it looks like. If you didn't mean that then maybe you could get out from behind those "millions of Indians" so we can hear more clearly what you are saying.

The main point about this "monkey" business seems to get forgotten every five minutes. When the Indian crowds were taunting Symonds in India and the word was also repeated on-field, there was a meeting in which Symonds specifically said that he found it offensive, just as it is considered offensive in European sport, in the US and in a great many places around the world when used against a dark-skinned player. Harbhadjan apologised and agreed, along with the other players, that it would be not an acceptable term. When he came under pressure in Sydney he is reported as saying it again. I don't know if he said because I wasn't there, although several posters seem to have a remarkably confident view on both sides based on knowing no more that the rest of us. If he did say it then he has at the very least been foolish and gone against a well publicised agreement. All this stuff about cultural differences is irrelevant in light of the history of the matter. And of course the All Blacks don't have a problem, they have been called the All Blacks for over a hundred years because their uniform is all black. I'm sure you know that vicksy so I'm not sure what it's got to do with racism. It's also worth noting that the NZ soccer team is called the All Whites and they ain't all white and no-one has a problem there either.

Oh please, spare me! The test wasn't forfeited because of ball-tampering, it was forfeited by Pakistan not coming out to finish the game. If they had come back onto the field despite being pissed off (sports teams manage to do it all the time) then there would have been no forfeit. They might even have won the game. If this goes through I can see every national cricket body in the world lining up outside the ICC's door with a long list of dodgy decisions, nasty remarks, sleepy umpires and just plain naughtiness by opposing players that should result in several dozen previous tests having their results changed. Gee, the BCCI must be licking their lips over this one... they might even get a draw out of Sydney yet. Go for it boys.

There's a lot of understandable disappointment and annoyance about some aspects of this match but the level of bitterness and accusation from some people is out of proportion to the reality. India had very little luck with the umpires and two particularly bad decisions tended to make several others, that would normally hardly raise an eyebrow, look worse than they were. It's also fair to say that the Australians played with a desire to win that sometimes looked overly desperate and they are being harshly judged for it, and maybe rightly so. But Australia is by no means a team of angels and neither is anybody else and the sort of criticisms being made by some against the Australian side have been made at some time down through the years against other sides and India are no exception. A bit of perspective and a sense of history would help. Just for the record I have absolutely no doubt that India would have appealed for the Dravid caught behind noise just as Gilchrist did, you're kidding yourself if you think otherwise. It doesn't necessarily make it right but sitting on the sofa at home making judgments is not quite the pressure situation these guys play under. For myself, it was great to watch a test with so much passion, guts and drama and with lots of great batting in particular. I can't remember a match with so many unusual incidents and controversies, and just when you thought it was all over there was a twist in the tail. No-one should deny Clarke credit for his remarkable last over. Whatever lead up to the situation he found himself in he still had to step up under real pressure and make it happen. I would've been happy with a draw but that's test cricket, it ain't perfect but I'll have some more please... just let me get my breath back first.

Let's calm down and get this straight ... to wait for the umpire's decision and then accept it, whichever way it goes, is not cheating and never has been. If a batsman decides to walk then that's up to him, if he doesn't walk that does not make him a cheat, unless you are prepared to accept that all cricket teams at all levels throughout the world are full of cheats. To put it simply, most batsmen do not walk and they are not obliged to. And while we're about it ... Ponting did not hesitate to reject any appeal for the Dravid "catch" but I am absolutely certain that very many (most?) players from any country would have appealed loudly and happily accepted an out decision when they were so much in need of a wicket.

There's no doubt that India have had less luck with the umpires than Australia so far in this match but it hasn't all been one-way. My complaint is that the poor standard of the umpiring might taint a potentially great match, but it could still turn out a great match anyway. And I will also demand that every Australian batsman walks when I see every Indian, English, Sth African, Pakistani, NZ, Windies, etc batsman walk as well. The reality is that very very few batsman of any country always walk and many fine batsmen never walk at all, and nobody expects them to and they aren't called cheats either.

I'm a bit confused ... which of his two points do you think Bill Lawry would change? Would he say that India were not unfortunate? Or, would he say that Australia needs help from the umpires? I reckon he was right the first time on both counts.

VoiceOfReason(?)... "Aussie media is a disgrace"... if this is in comparison to the UK press then no further comment is required and I'll try to keep the laughter down to a dull roar. "Not clever enough...", "an adolescent country"? ... you really should get over your dissapointment at the loss of Empire and your unedifying sense of superiority. As for the Yuvraj business, maybe you're making an unwarranted assumption as to who's telling the truth here. Yuvraj was extremely lucky to get off the dissent charge, the ruling suggests that as long as you don't make any remarks you can stand and stare at the umpire as long as you like .. ridiculous. Yuvraj's sulky display in the field the next day was widely noted and criticised by commentators on both sides and his strutting around Melbourne like a tinpot playboy has caused a few chuckles. If the Indian management haven't had a chat with him then they are doing him and themselves no favours.

As anyone who has played the game will know it's almost always a bit of a shock to get out, so what sort of an excuse is that? Furthermore the replays clearly indicated that Yuvraj snicked the ball anyway. It seems that as long as he doesn't actually say something he can stand there staring at the ump as long as he likes ... ridiculous. Many players have been fined for less. Yuvraj's sulky display in the field the following day was widely noted and criticised, and his strutting around Melbourne like a tinpot playboy is a joke in the press. His contribution as a batsman was zero and five, the kid needs a good talking to.