SA Footy

South Australia and Victoria will look to further bolster their chances of appearing in the final when they commence their crucial Pura Cup game in Adelaide from Thursday.

This match is also for the David Hookes Memorial Trophy, which the Redbacks currently hold.

Pura Cup table: New South Wales (20 points), South Australia (20), Victoria (18), Queensland (16), Tasmania (8), Western Australia (8). All teams have played six matches.

Paul Rofe was named in the XII for South Australia, but his selection is subject to a fitness test. Greg Blewett also returns from a quadricep strain that kept him out of the previous Pura Cup match against Tasmania. Matthew Elliott is still out of the team.

Shane Warne and Brad Hodge return to the Victorian squad.

South Australia: Shane Deitz, Mark Cosgrove, Greg Blewett, Callum Ferguson, Darren Lehmann (capt), Cameron Borgas, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Cullen Bailey, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait (12th man to be named).

Victoria: (probable) Michael Klinger, Jason Arnberger, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Cam White (capt), Jon Moss, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Andrew McDonald, Shane Warne, Gerard Denton, Shane Harwood, Mick Lewis.

Daily session times (local):
First session: 11:00am - 1:00pm
Second session: 1:40pm - 3:40pm
Third session: 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Daily start time is at 11:30am in Melbourne/Sydney; 8:30am in Perth.

Weather:
Day 1 (Thu): A top of 22 with morning showers.
Day 2 (Fri): A top of 23 and partly cloudy.
Day 3 (Sat): A top of 23 with the possibility of rain.
Day 4 (Sun): A top of 22 with rain expected.

There no need in telling what a crucial game this is. It is probably the pivotal game to decide if we make the finals or not. Certainly if we do win, it will give us every opportunity to make it. As Mark Cosgrove said about the ING cup, "We want it to be so that we don't rely on other results to get there".

I should be going there on the Friday.

4/40 in a must win game!! Boof for a golden & Cosgrove pulled out. Could be game over already after that start I'm afraid.

6/76

Can't believe it.

Why is Cosgrove out?

Whilst everyone is allowed a poor performance, and I don't want this to sound more harsh than it's intended, this could be a bit of a reality check (which is a good thing) ... We have no doubt made significant improvements to the playing list and their performances this season, but I think we need to just bolster that depth to hit the heights of the dominant NSW, QLD and WA teams we've seen over the years ..

Oh well, we will just have to settle for an ING cup!
Dont think were ready for a crack at the sheild just yet.

Ferguson 35*, batting with Dizzy. Great chance for Ferguson to show what he is made of and try to ressurect the innings to give our bowlers something to bowl at.

There is no doubt that Dizzy has the ability to stay in there with him, and frustrate the s**t out of the bowlers!

6/103

Redbacks have dissapointed again.

How can Cleary not get a game, he scored over 100 in his last match. Sure we have our pace attack but you find a spot for someone like that after that performance. Blewitt and Deitz are both struggling, Manou again went missing with the bat when we needed him, Ive never known a captain in any sport to under perform so much. Its the redbacks of old today.

harsh words I know but had to be said.

Hopefully we can recover and somehow get back into the game as so far this season its been good.

err,ick,9/120

All out for 134!!

Warne 3/35
Ferguson 42

blink wrote:All out for 134!!

Warne 3/35
Ferguson 42

Eeekkk arrrrkkkk ookkkkkk

ca wrote:Redbacks have dissapointed again.

How can Cleary not get a game, he scored over 100 in his last match. Sure we have our pace attack but you find a spot for someone like that after that performance. Blewitt and Deitz are both struggling, Manou again went missing with the bat when we needed him, Ive never known a captain in any sport to under perform so much. Its the redbacks of old today.

harsh words I know but had to be said.

Hopefully we can recover and somehow get back into the game as so far this season its been good.

Agree with Cleary did enough in his last match - and yes Deitz is doing it tough. Blewett did need to lift today and didnt which is disapointing without Elliott and Cosgrove.

Did you know that Manou is not the captain ??? and his performances with the bat have indeed improved over the last couple of seasons since he has taken on a leadership role. He has been in some good partnerships this season and was involved in a huge partnership with the captain Lehman before Christmas. His glove work is second to none in my opinion ive seen some exceptional catches whilst watching the redbacks and he gets the bails of pretty quick in run outs and stumpings - turning half chances in to wickets. Who do you want to keep wickets ???

The redbacks have probably had not to many bad sessions this year in real terms good sides can get out of this.

ca wrote:Redbacks have dissapointed again.

How can Cleary not get a game, he scored over 100 in his last match. Sure we have our pace attack but you find a spot for someone like that after that performance. Blewitt and Deitz are both struggling, Manou again went missing with the bat when we needed him, Ive never known a captain in any sport to under perform so much. Its the redbacks of old today.

harsh words I know but had to be said.

Hopefully we can recover and somehow get back into the game as so far this season its been good.

Certainly agree regarding Cleary, should have been Ben Cameron that was left out of the XI.
I can already hear pre-offseason rumblings of another attempt to move interstate.

Point taken about Manou but none the less is a leader and v/c, my only point about him is not about his glovework but as a number 7 batsman in the team. He does not perform when we need him.

His glovework is brilliant but we also need a batsman. Still so far this season we have been good so hard to criticise we just went missing today when it was our chance to step up.

Went down at lunch today and very dissappointing - Blewett's & Manou's shots were very ordinary. Might be the reality check we need at a good time, better now than late in the season when there is no chance of a resurrection.

Looked like there was a bit in the pitch though so rolling them for not many is a show still.

I reckon Blewwtt's head might be on the block when Elliot and Cosi come back - done nothing this season,

Dutchy wrote:Went down at lunch today and very dissappointing - Blewett's & Manou's shots were very ordinary. Might be the reality check we need at a good time, better now than late in the season when there is no chance of a resurrection.

Looked like there was a bit in the pitch though so rolling them for not many is a show still.

I reckon Blewwtt's head might be on the block when Elliot and Cosi come back - done nothing this season,

Missed Cosi today big time...........no pun intended.

Has Blewy done enough this season to retain his place in the lineup? (Legit question as you guys would know more than I)

Because if he hasn't, I think it sends the wrong message to keep him in the lineup without giving someone else an opportunity in his place ...

Lord Blewett I wouldn't worry about.

Shane Deitz on the other hand.

I'd be dropping Deitz, and telling Blewy to open with Ben Cameron until Matty Elliott returns. If he doesn't like it, well, we'll drop him too.