Who's Manou?
In the Australian , Ben Dorries and Malcolm Conn chart the course of Australia's newest Test player, Graham Manou, who was so unknown that during the tour match in Northampton the ground announcer called him "Garry Manou".
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Australian, Ben Dorries and Malcolm Conn chart the course of Australia's newest Test player, Graham Manou, who was so unknown that during the tour match in Northampton the ground announcer called him "Garry Manou".
Manou, who has probably been more anonymous in England than the team bus driver, didn't have time to be presented with a baggy green cap. Which was just as well because both of the spare baggy greens on tour were back at the team hotel.
Also in the Australian, Ricky Ponting writes that he is pleased the fourth Test is at Headingley, where there hasn't been a draw since 1996. Ponting was also happy with the performance of the team's new opener Shane Watson at Edgbaston.
I don't think anyone has ever doubted his batting ability, but because he has been that all-rounder type he has probably been looked on as a five, six or seven batter. His technique will stand up against anyone's and when fast bowlers deliver some ordinary balls he jumps on them pretty quickly and puts them away.
Crowd trouble is almost as old as the game itself. Yet even in this long historical context there is something deeply unpleasant, unsettling and sadly inevitable about the abuse being directed at Ricky Ponting and his Australia team through the Ashes series, writes Richard Hobson in the Times.
Ponting expects more abuse over the coming week. Wouldn't it be nice if he left Headingley disappointed?
However, Ponting's not complaining. Not in the least. In his column for the Telegraph, he calls the Barmy Army "the best sporting crowd in the world."
Towards the end on Monday, it was nice to see the Barmy Army and the Fanatics from Australia coming together and building beer snakes. Earlier on those two groups had been going back and forward at each other, but once they could see that there wasn't going to be a result, they started to enjoy themselves together.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here