Wrap - Dark Clarke

1. As soon as Clarke announced a family was on the way, the writing was on the wall. After all he has been doing this for a million years. Forget about the Duke ball, the WAGS and the like, we were outgunned and mentally fragile. The mental hopelessness was the most striking thing about it all. We gave up and did not fight. One can only wonder at the impact of the disaffected Clarke fanclub in Watson, Haddin and Siddle in the background of the team set up and the impact this had on some feeble minds.

Clarke's exclusive with Warnie almost guarantees his inclusion on the commentary team next summer in Australia. He joins the likes of Swann, Prior and Trott who have bailed out mid Ashes tour.

We have learned a few things:

a. Shaun Marsh is terrible and as I have been banging on about, moves habitually laterally - not like a Langer and Hayden who hit in the V down the ground. Phil Hughes (RIP) suffered bit from this too. When was the last straight drive for four runs in this team? Steve Smith maybe. Those who can execute that shot are the batsmen of class and distinction. S. Marsh may have had his papers stamped - "never to be selected again"...despite some good pre Test series batting v counties.

b. Rod Marsh and Mark Waugh as selectors are on the skids. How you drop Mitchell Marsh, diddle yourself a bowler and get no runs...a terrible selection of S. Marsh instead.

c. Boof Lehmann is incredibly unlucky. Bayliss has made him look third rate. Bayliss will get his own back though when England travel abroad.

d. Clarke will be gone. Voges is done. Haddin is done. Siddle is done and Watson is done. The loss of Harris was significant. He would have been handy on this tour.

e. Rogers must play on a little longer. Ed Cowan looks better in jeans and a coat on Fox Sports than in whites.

f. Starc, despite getting two Michelle's, is erratic and cannot build pressure. Having he and Johnson in the same side is not real clever.

g. Hazelwood looks like he does not concentrate and lost form terribly with each test.

h. Johnson rarely gets wickets when he should. He surprises yes, but no wickets of substance in England's first innings? Please.

i. Steve Smith for all his talent is a wasteful millionaire at times...like Warner. God help us when they decide to be wasteful on the same day.

j. Kevin Pietersen is never playing again.

k. As Chappelli says though, what new talent? Have we got any?

2. Wallabies. A bright performance against a wasteful and surprisingly off beat All Blacks. Not often you go home from ANZ with a smile after an All Blacks test. Forwards looked a lot stronger and this selection change regarding blokes abroad is common sense. South Africa losing to the Argentinians was as big a story.

3. Roosters look good things for the NRL GF. Manly are surging and were never getting the spoon. They might surprise further. Both the Cowboys and Bunnies looked weak on the weekend.

4. AFL. Freo and Hawks still loom. The demise of the Swans has been staggering!

5. I noticed the fans at Sandow's new club have been chanting "what a waste of money!"...who would have thought.