Australia v India at SCG Review

10/01/15

Day 4

Strong contributions of 56 from Chris Rogers, 71 from Steve Smith and an 
exhilarating innings of 66 in 39 balls from new boy Joe Burns propelled 
Australia to a commanding position at the close of this intriguing day's play. 
The Australian side thus carved out a lead of 348 runs with one day remaining.  
Earlier in the day the main talking point was not the early dismissal of skipper 
Kohli for 147 but the dismissal of Kumar when on 30 and batting well. A ball 
from Lyon had him squeezing it out from the base of his bat. He was pouched by 
Watson at slip and a half hearted appeal for a catch followed. One could see 
that Richard Kettleborough was unsure.  He referred it 'upstairs' following 
a chat with fellow umpire Dharmasena. After an age the decision , to everyone's 
surprise but partisan delight, was out. Hmmm...
Another issue is that of the camera in the sky with its wires which Steve Smith 
indicated hampered him attempting a catch on Day 3. The feeling is they are here 
to stay but need to be away from the area of immediate impact, quite how that is 
achieved will be interesting to see.
Bad light and drizzle in the last 20 minutes of the day hardly mattered with the 
floodlights beaming on the action. Only one over was lost when at the end the 
heavens opened and players and spectators alike dashed for cover.
It was the Pink Test with good support from volunteers at the ground for the 
McGrath Foundation which raises money for breast cancer sufferers. Hence my pink 
neckerchief
I hope you enjoy the photos.......(on Harry's Facebook)

cheers Andy

I did not attend the  final day of the Test in which India batted it out for a 
draw...instead I umpired a Central Coast Cricket Association Div 1 game between 
Narara and Lisarow at Gavenlock Oval here in Gosford.
Final score in the Test..Australia 572-7dec. and 251-6dec. drew with India 475 
and 252-7 dec. Australia won the series 2-0 and Steve Smith was named Man of the 
Series.   

08/01/15

Yesterday and on Tuesday I was at the 4th Test at the SCG. By the time you read this the score will have moved on by the end of Day 3 so I will confine my notes to some of the highlights as I saw them and a heap of photos to enter into HBD. (Follow the links from this page)

Prior to the game commencing there was a tribute to Philip Hughes and there is now a plaque commemorating him affixed on the wall of the Members' Pavilion. The traditional Aboriginal welcome was given and the two national anthems played. Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat . The openers; Warner and Rogers helped themselves and it was no surprise when the pugnacious Warner notched a well struck century. Rogers looked comfortable too until he played on to a ball from Shami and was out playing on for 95. Skipper Smith is in sublime form with the willow and eased to 117 when he nicked one from Yadav and was pouched by Saha. Watson hit a rather unconvincing 81 having been badly dropped when in the forties.  Runs continued to be piled up by Shaun Marsh [73] and new boy Joe Burns [58]. The best entertainment was at the close of the innings when firstly Haddin hit his first ball for a six and Ryan Harris clubbed a 9 ball 25. Australia declared on 572-7. It was good to see Richard Kettleborough umpiring too. Indian's new captain Kohli was having a tough time and changed his field regularly in an effort to stem the runs. He is a brilliant batsman as shown already in Australia and it will be very interesting to see if he can restore India over time as a force in Test cricket.

In the final session left arm quick Mitchell Starc who replaced the injured Johnson struck early with a beaut which did for Vijay who nicked it to Haddin...0 for 1. That was the last wicket of the day , 57-1 at close and with the sun still beating down I left the ground to bump into a group of Richies! This bunch spent the day at the Paddington End , with their silver wigs, beige gear and microphones adding to the bonhomie at this wonderful venue. Richie Benaud himself who lives at the nearby beach resort of Coogee is still recovering [and encouragingly on the improve] from skin cancer  and was sadly not at the game.  I had been in the new Bradman Stand the view from which is excellent .   

Anyway cheers for now...as they say wish you were here!