Bowlers changed, we are back on track; almost

Well, now we are back in the series. Look out England, you are in serious trouble now. We have not only ditched Mitch but we have also dropped Ben Hilfenhaus for the man who appears to be the focus of the latest Ponting man crush, Ryan Harris.

Right, so that's the bowling fixed. As for the batting, well it was already firing. We had a three hundred partnership last game and Ponting looked excellent in the second innings so when you combine this with the bowling, I think it is all systems go for an easy 3 day victory. Well, maybe.

The cause wasn't helped by Watson running out Katich off the 4th ball of the game. Katich is well known as a gentleman of impeccable character but is prone to the odd very cranky moment or two so Shane might need to give him a wide berth for the next, oh I don't know, 3 years or so but after that he will be fine. Not a great start.

An even worse start was Ponting pulling down a golden duck first ball. Not long after, Clarke then fell for a very poor looking 2 after looking "all at sea" according to the cricinfo commentary. Look, this bloke's back is clearly not good at the moment. He didn't field in his normal position for most of the last Test, he batted badly and now again has looked terrible. Why don't we give my pick for the future, Usman Khawaja, a crack now? Peter Roebuck thinks he will definately be in the team for the 2013 series so why not just get to the future a little quicker.

At least Watson looked good again and with another potential Hussey classic in the works, we might get out of it with a competitive score yet.

Simon Katich thought long and hard about exactly what he was going to do to Shane Watson as punishment for running him out

*************

Fathers seem to be topical at the moment, with my Dad's thoughts on Johnson now well documented and my eyes still a little wet from Dave's story about 0/329 in 1989. Now there is another reason why they have to be mentioned: Ryan Harris seems to idolise my Father.

I having a quick read about the cricket to stay on top of events, I happened upon a photo of Australia's newest entrant in the revolving door of Test selection showing that he had exactly the same tattoo as my father in exactly the same place. Initially I thought it was a little strange but after a little more time I think I figured out the true meaning. You see, I believe that Ryan is actually a keen reader of Stanford's Lap and as a result has been kept right up to date with the Ditch Mitch campaign and all of its Reverse Samson Syndrome discussion. By getting the same tattoo as my Father, this is clearly his way of signalling that not only does he agree with Ditching Mitch but that he also is willing to listen to anything else my Father says. We might need to think about how best we take advantage of this. Ideas are welcome.

Ryan Harris's homage to my Father was touching, but a little over the top

Come on The Hs, another 300 run partnership please!