2nd Test Australia v Pakistan Dec 26--30 1000hrs @ the MCG

[Gough]

Australia from, Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner
Pakistan from, Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi

 

[Gavin Excell]

I see Davey Warner and family got their annual Christmas photo on the front page of the HS today.
It's not a real Christmas/Boxing Day time until we see Davey in a Santa hat

 

[grumbleguts]

I see Davey Warner and family got their annual Christmas photo on the front page of the HS today.
It's not a real Christmas/Boxing Day time until we see Davey in a Santa hat

It's the blacks in his OLED.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

The forecast is very Sydney like. But with Pakistan utterly demoralised and shambolic before a ball was balled in the tour game, there might still be enough time for a result. Two and half days might see it out.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Assuming it's a relatively clear day Boxing Day, what sort of crowd would CA be happy with?

 

[CakeEater]

Looking fwd to there being less to this game than a Scorchers Home game.....

 

[The 747]

Looking fwd to there being less to this game than a Scorchers Home game.....

Yay WA!

 

[reggie]

Normally the tv stations are pumping up 100K at the G on Boxing Day, even though it very rarely gets anywhere near that number, but there hasn't been any mention of crowd expectations this year

 

[The 747]

Normally the tv stations are pumping up 100K at the G on Boxing Day, even though it very rarely gets anywhere near that number, but there hasn't been any mention of crowd expectations this year

They have been reported in many places as expecting 130K for Day 1 and 2 - but the weather is going to wreck that.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Make sure the covers are pegged down properly

 

[reggie]

They have been reported in many places as expecting 130K for Day 1 and 2 - but the weather is going to wreck that.

63K on Boxing Day last time Pakistan played so even in decent weather 130k would be ambitious for the first two days. Generally only get those numbers for England and maybe recently India

 

[The 747]

63K on Boxing Day last time Pakistan played so even in decent weather 130k would be ambitious for the first two days. Generally only get those numbers for England and maybe recently India

Yeah but CA going to CA. They will spend the time leading up the Sydney Test calling it "iconic" even though it gets half rained out most years.

 

[Kram]

Given it's the most prime date for a sports fixture on the calender anything under 70k will be an embarrassment.

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

got some mates coming with me to the cricket day 2 hope the weather is better than the forecast suggests

 

[Young Redleg]

I can't be convinced that this won't be another snoozefest.

 

[The 747]

Would get 80K easily tomorrow if Inglis were playing.

 

[Billy ray]

Anything less than 90k day one and 350k over whole test is a failure. Give test to hobart

 

[Cleavy]

Would get 80K easily tomorrow if Inglis Boland were playing.

EFA

 

[RookiePick]

Thread off to a cracking start.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

63K on Boxing Day last time Pakistan played so even in decent weather 130k would be ambitious for the first two days. Generally only get those numbers for England and maybe recently India

Given how little interest has been generated, even last time Pakistan toured there was more interest, 55k on day one would probably have seen it out with a good forecast. Something under 50k looks quite likely, anything over 45k is a win.

There was 64k last year against South Africa, but before they arrived nobody expected them to be so poor and a lot of tickets would have been sold before the summer began. This year, everyone expected Pakistan to be uncompetitive so probably didn't buy ahead of time. There might be a surprise on the upside with the Pakistani ex-pats perhaps buying tickets regardless.

 

[Cmarsh]

At this point, the ICC are acting like a dead set dictator towards Usman.

Cricket news 2023 | Usman Khawaja denied permission by the ICC to display a dove sticker on his bat; Usman Khawaja protest

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Thread off to a cracking start.

Don't expect the game to be a lot better.

 

[Gavin Excell]

At this point, the ICC are acting like a dead set dictator towards Usman.

Cricket news 2023 | Usman Khawaja denied permission by the ICC to display a dove sticker on his bat; Usman Khawaja protest

When displaying the dove of peace symbol is considered an overt political act, you realise we've hit an ebb

 

[revo333]

At this point, the ICC are acting like a dead set dictator towards Usman.

Cricket news 2023 | Usman Khawaja denied permission by the ICC to display a dove sticker on his bat; Usman Khawaja protest

It's good, he shouldn't be allowed to do it.

 

[revo333]

When displaying the dove of peace symbol is considered an overt political act, you realise we've hit an ebb

Have to draw a line somewhere or else it becomes a free for all.