Pakistan have bowled extremely poorly - and it has continued into the second day
a player like Warner who has been around for so many years really should have cashed in , and he’s taking the place of a younger option after all
500 plus would be the aim now , the pitch is a belter of a batting track
Went along yesterday. It was a good fightback by Pakistan after they were blown away by Marsh in the first session. They batted with discipline against a persistent Australian attack on a pitch that is still doing a little bit. The openers did their job and blunted the new ball. The only criticism I would have of them is that they could have turned the strike over a bit more and put pressure on the Australian fielders. A draw would be a great result for Pakistan and would set them up for the rest of the series. As for Australia, they would be hoping to get Babar in as early as possible this morning to try and get him out quickly, you would expect them to bat with a bit more enterprise today.
Crowd of 17.5 K not bad, you would hope for at least 20,000 today and tomorrow. I shake my head at some of the behaviour of the people who go along, there was a fight between two groups of young men yesterday near where I was sitting, all had obviously had a skinful and police had to intervene. You wonder why people feel they have to drink themselves into oblivion like this and risk getting in trouble with the police. It is also disturbing to see this stuff when you are there to watch the cricket
Despite the current predicament being 300 behind and still 8 wickets to knock over in this Australian second dig I have been very impressed with both the Pakistani debutants in Khurram Shahzad & Aamir Jamal. Both bowl at a good clip and capable of bowling some absolute jaffa deliveries. They have had the Aussie batsmen troubled at times but may rue that 1st session on Thursday that has probably cost them this Test.
Pakistan fell away badly but fatigue would have played a huge part in it
their batting did look tired and Australia didn’t need a second sniff of that stuff to get in the door
Marsh looks in good nick with the bat
Lots of talk about the attendance,particularly Sunday’s crowd.
Maby play Nz,Rsa,India + Ashes at Optus.And the rest at the Waca.
Once again WA gets a 2nd or 3rd tier team as our test then the bitches from the East want to moan about crowds.
When do we get India or the Poms in Perth?
Pakistan batted too slow on day 2 & 3 when batting was at it’s best. First time I have been to Optus, great surrounds with the water, walkway, bridge etc…inside, out of the sun and the viewing is good…great to see Warner bat and make an unforgettable duck off 5 deliveries…
Seemed to be more interest in the construction of the snake beer cup, constant cry of chug chug chug and a plastic pink ball by the sparce WA crowd on day 3 for my liking…good to see the WACA again though walking to Optus…The WACA is my favourite ground of all sporting arena’s.
Welcome home Freez…if it is indeed still home in your eyes after all this time. Are you back for good or just Christmas hols?
I believe the 60,000 attendance over 4 days was a record for AUS vs PAK in Tests at Perth and more than Brisbane Gabba gets outside of Ashes Tests so not sure what all the fuss is from the non cricket fan on another thread?
The morons from the East Coast media have no idea, Perth Stadium as a venue shits on the WACA which has fark all shade & no modern comforts, and which will only hold 10,000 maximum when the new upgrade is complete, currently under construction it barely holds 5000. It will only cater for Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup, Womens BBL, WAFL regular season games etc when completed, nothing else, how hard is it for some to comprehend that?
Now back to the Test completed congratulations to Gary The Goat on his 500th Test wicket a phenomenal achievement especially for an off spinner, still got a few years left in him too on his current form.
Also it was good to see WA boy M.Marsh perform first hand for Freeze who has been a big fan of his selection in Tests over the years! 
Pakistans bowling was very inconsistent, they had sessions where they completely lost the plot (e.g. Day 1 session 1) but then they would come back with better plans in the next passage of play. Understandable given 2 of them were on debut but what they really lacked was a front line spinner. The guy they had lined up hurt himself in the warm up match apparently and the replacement who was a all rounder was tidy but not really threatening. After a promising start, their batting really fell away and their inability to turn the score over at a faster rate came back to bite them.
From 1-123 in the first innings they lost 19 wickets for 237 runs against the rampant Aussie attack.
Well done to Nathan Lyon for his achievement. He may well get past Mcgrath and then only have Warne in front of him as far as Australian wicket takers. I think his injury was the major factor why the poms fought back in the ashes series
Barring injury I can’t see the XI changing for the final two tests. The regulars will all want to play in Warners final test in Sydney. Morris will have to cool his heels until the West Indies series. Bonus for the Scorchers
BC, Perth will always be home, only a family catch up…but getting closer to that permanent move back home.
BH, I have never doubted Mitch’s ability, just always said he needed to deliver a bit more on that ability, then what he has done so far. Touch wood he can, though, not at the expense of Cam Green’s development.
Hopefully Optus can deliver some fantastic test cricket memories for future generations, like the WACA has done for test cricket loving generations of the past.
Another pretty piss poor batting display by the Aussie batsmen many of whom got a start but couldnt go on with only Marnus scoring a 50 but as I said from the Perth Test the Pakis have some decent fast bowlers with Mir Hamza the big left arm swing bowler and Hasan Ali both coming in and bowling well to support Shaheen Afridi & Aamir Jamal.
The Pakis currently batting very well in their first dig.
Surely the heat must go on Alex Carey soon as his batting has fallen away big time and he is not that great a wicketkeeper alone to support his cause, Josh Inglis must be given a shot soon.
And so much for Test Cricket being dead according to some learned types, with approximately 110,000 going through the gates so far 2 days in and we are only playing the Pakis!
Sadly BH, the “City of Sport” seems to be the only city interested in Test cricket, going off those attendance figures. Perth seem more interested in T20 and the Scorchers success.
Pakistan keep imploding when they seem to be getting on top. Though Cummins is a champ, irrespective of his political views and captaincy inadequacy. That delivery to Babar was a peach and so was that catch off his own bowling.
As for the batting, totally agree BH, Uzzie and Warner 36+ years old, Smith looks cooked to me, gets a start, but no longer able to go on. Labuschagne is pedestrian at times, whilst Head and Marsh are very much stand and deliver sorts…when it comes off it looks great…when it doesnt, it’s a brain implosion. Though hard to change the team dynamics if they win.
AUS are 2/6 at lunch in the second dig, a lead of only 60.
Not sure why Marnus even felt compelled to play at the last ball before lunch which was down leg side but that is the modern day thinking for you…
Australia in a whole lot of trouble in their second dig - some poor shots really
And now Warner fails again in the second dig to make it 3 for f/all and a lead of only 70.
If only Lawrie Sawle or a similar ilk was still Chairman Of Selectors he would be dropping him for the Sydney Test as happened to Geoff Marsh back in 1991/92 for the 5th Test vs India at the WACA which would have been Marsh’s swansong if he wasnt dropped instead!
Mitch Marsh might yet be the matchwinner - seems to be one of the few batsmen in the match reading it well
Sadly BH…one averaged 33 over 50 test matches, and the other 45 over 110 test matches…not sure Sawle’s decision was an overly hard one…though one was a good bloke and the other not so…Swampy deserved better…unfortunately his test average argued otherwise.
Good comeback by the Aussie side, …Marsh so close to that MCG cigar…Smith provided great support, but geez that last hour of play, just highlights Smith’ is sadly just hanging on for dear life these days…where’s Lawrie when you need him.
This has been an excellent test match. Credit to Pakistan for coming back from their Perth thrashing and making a real contest of the game. If they can take 4 cheap wickets tomorrow and be chasing around 260, they would still give themselves a chance of pulling off an upset. You have to wonder though about their selections for the Perth test, Where was Hazma, Hasan Ali and Rizwan? All these guys have come in and performed very well and you would have to say they were better than the guys they replaced.
Pakistan are a very promising young team and have been on top of Australia many times in this match but have let themselves down with some very ordinary periods of play where they have left the opposition get on top with poor fielding, loose bowling and poor shot selection. The 52 sundries in the first innings may end up being the difference in the game.
Apart from Marsh, Cummins and Lyon who have been outstanding, its been a pretty mediocre performance from the other 8 Australian guys, they seem to be feeding off the mistakes of the Pakistan team but it will probably be enough unless Barbar can play out of his skin.