Kevin Pietersen is furious at the pitch curator of Adelaide Oval, Damian Hough. He expressed it in person and then on twitter. England were forced to practice indoors due to rain which frustrated KP. He tweeted when it was about 4pm in Adelaide (5:30 am GMT):
What should a groundsmen make sure he does 2days out from a test match????
Cover the nets when it rains maybe???
PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To which, Cricket Australia replied,
SACA has put out a statement re rain 2day, 1st priority was to protect Test track, practice wix [wickets] then covered, normal practice 2moro.
Guess where they replied? Twitter of course. Soon, it will replace media conferences too.That time is not far away when team will be announced via twitter.
The England team will probably be unchanged unless there are last minute injuries. The Australian media suggests it's almost finalised that Johnson will miss the 2nd Test. It doesn't come as a surprise, since he got for duck, didn't take any wicket and dropped a catch too, at the Gabba. Reports say that Johnson missed Australia's practice session following a brawl with Aussie selectors who told him he wouldn't be playing at Adelaide. Though no wonder Michael Clarke denied it. Bollinger is likely to replace him. And Ryan Harris, notched his pace up during the practice session to impress the keen-eyed selectors.
Although Johnson was the highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs last year, has a good record in Australia, I personally don't believe in him. His bowling is many times wayward and either he gets 5 or none. Johnson averages 27.61 in Australia, with a strike rate of 52.7. The only places he fares up better in, are New Zealand and South Africa. His worst average is against England, 41.05 while his career average is 30.08. That is an enough reason to drop him. During the 1st Test, we could see how sunken his body language can get.
I received a tweet from Adrian Duell (@RedL1on), an Australian, which said:
@shadds_criclova @Jimmymycrushie only England would be happy and upbeat because they didn't loose.
To which I'd like to say that the one who comes out of a hole is victorious. Sometimes, a draw is like a win. Obviously, this wasn't as much of a triumph as the Cardiff Test (Ashes '09) was but it proved to be quite a thumping for the Aussies. Most of the Aussie side and fans looked mashed. Aussie fans were a rare sight on Day 5 and the Australian team was down in the dumps in the field. Except, a few, like Ponting.
An English journalist, reports from down under, how the Austrlian media and fans are keeping up and it's a must read, Interview with the man down under: 1st Test
Cheers.
