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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Russell Jackson

ODI Tri-Series: Australia v India - as it happened

Steve Smith
Steve Smith walks out onto the SCG on Australia Day. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

The game has been abandoned

It’s all over here, folks. Umpires Wilson and Erasmus have put us out of our misery and India must now play England in a knock-out scenario to make the final against Australia.

Thank you for joining me for what little play we managed to fit in today and also for obliging my increasingly desperate attempts to create activity on this blog. Make sure you join us on Friday for all the action as the two touring sides battle it out for a place in that final.

Hmm, so a bit optimistic with that last update?

Now a development

If this does happen it could be a very short, very ridiculous game of cricket. Not a bad thing in the circumstances.

It’s still not looking good at the SCG

Is anyone left at the ground? The umpires will wait around until 8:30 pm local time - just under an hour away now - before making a call on abandoning the match. We’ll stick with it until then.

Back to Larne

I think we’ve been slightly mislead about how miserable it is. Hang on a minute...

I’m now free to answer all your cricket-themed Neighbours questions

Phil Withall is up first. “Having watched possibly two episodes of Neighbours I am aware of Toadie (I think),” he says, “but could you clarify something? Is Dr Karl THE Dr Karl, the man of a thousand science facts, or an impostor?”

I’ll take umbrage to that on Alan Fletcher’s behalf, Phil. He was “Dr Karl” long before that scientist joker. Karl Kennedy is also a member of the cricket fraternity and for that reason I will not show him anything other than loyalty.

P.S. I didn’t mention it earlier, but Joe Scully also featured heavily in that brutal clash between Erinsborough cc and West Waratah. That was a dreadful omission on my behalf.

Still no play at the SCG - but the Neighbours cricket action is off the charts

We’re back and Dr Karl is bowling some absolute pies - really filthy round-arm dross - but there is at least a nice moment of revenge when old lemon-singlet runs into a tree trying to field a ball. He’s a real villain this bloke and not long after he’s giving Toadie a huge, unnecessary send-off. It’s Watto vs Chris Gayle stuff. He really needs that smirk wiped off his face.

But some drama! Lemon-singlet has the ball, four runs are needed from the final delivery of the game and the oldest,most decrepit member of the oldies team has the blade. Against all odds and in a moment of soapie-writing perfection, she clips the ball towards cover and watches on in delight as a neighbourhood dog snatches it and runs off, allowing a runner to finish the game off on her behalf. What a finish! Forget Bevan, forget Handscomb and forget Jordan Silk, this is cricket at its nail-biting best!

I’m still getting my head around it, but in the aftermath Toadie likens the result to Steve Waugh’s last-gasp hundred at the SCG and that, I must admit, is not merely hyperbole. The nation must surely be at a standstill at this point. Is anyone else watching this?

Rising OBO superstar Robert Wilson is probably missing it, but has arrived now with an email. “I seem to be in Arles (Corrida, Van Gogh, BIG WIND),” he starts. “The Mistral is blowing bits of my building off, I seem to have several people’s hangovers and I have two cigarettes left. And now you’re risking Larne/lame jokes and talking about mizzle?”

“I’ve always suspected you invented these ‘people’ who write to you. I’m quite clearly the only one who actually exists (I wondered for a while about Ravi Nair). This Mike Lyle character is your most flagrant. No Larne man would have failed to mention pizzle - check Jude The Obscure. And Larne is like St Tropez but with car ferries. So, Russell, I think you should stop. It’s getting worrying...”

He’s real, I swear on the life of Toadfish Rebecchi!

Still no play at the SCG so the Neighbours cricket live blog continues

Okay, this is actually a bit pissweak. The game is taking place on Ramsey street rather than the nearby home of Erinsborough CC. Budget cutbacks hitting this production, methinks.

We’ve got a wheely bin with stumps painted on and the toss (of the bat rather than a coin - amateur-hour stuff) goes the way of Gen Y. Their line-up, I’m sorry to say, contains far too many new faces for me to give you entirely accurate coverage.

Toadie gives plenty of instructions to his fielders. “We’re bleeding runs over there”, he berates one. His bowlers are copping an absolute pasting too and to add insult to injury, the batsman doing most of the damage is wearing a lemon-coloured singlet and would not be recognisable to a single person under the age of 35.

As we head towards an ad break, the episode cuts away from the cricket action and Paul Robinson is up to something dodgy. You genuinely don’t have to have watched the last 10 years to slide straight back in, do you?

As we await confirmation that this game has been rained off...

I’ve had word from some kind souls that tonight’s episode of Neighbours - written by my mate Pete Matessi - includes a cricket scene. On Australia Day, what could be more Aussie than that?

Woah, it’s not any old cricket scene, either. It involves Toadie and Dr Karl, vital players in the famous Erinsborough v West Waratah game in which Drew Kirk was said to average “three wickets and two retired hurts” per game by a sledge-happy teammate.

“Mate, it’s T20, it’s all about athleticism and pure ball striking” says a character who has clearly appeared in the ten years since I stopped watching Neighbours. He’s talking smack to Toadie, which is always fraught. Their exchange has been overheard by Dr Karl, who hears of a looming encounter between Gen X/Boomers and Gen Y whippersnappers and wants in.

Will Dr Karl play on Toadie’s team? Surely there’s not enough fit Boomers? What a development this is. There’s a lot to process right now in this plot. The anti-Boomer flavour is a level of complexity that has floored me.

More of this live cricket action as it develops...

The rain continues at the SCG

...and with it, an increased likelihood that India and England will meet in a knock-out clash to make the final against Australia.

Mike Lyle is hanging in there when he really should be getting some kip. “For anyone stuck for things to watch in the UK,” he advises, “there is a promising episode of Mr Men coming on Channel 5 now, apparently Mr Nervous is going to get some help from Mr Happy so I am looking forward to that.”

“I may use this break to draft an episode where Mr Mizzle meets Mr Cricket, it could be a classic. Or I might finally go to bed...”

Go to bed, Mike. I know I’m looking a blogging gift horse in the mouth here, but there’s some self-interest too because there’s a chance you’ll nod off into a fitful dream/nightmare about Martin McCague and be able to report back to me before I’ve wrapped this thing up.

Here’s an update for fans of crossover sports successes:

Still no play at the SCG

A thought too for Thomas Gorman, who’s having an absolute ‘mare on his birthday.

“Sitting here at work in Hong Kong on my birthday was going to be made slightly less irritating by the prospect of some cricket, but even that’s been taken away from me now,” he laments. “Oh well, at least I’ve got the prospect of going to a pub full of “aussies” wearing hats with corks on, drinking Fosters and starting fights tonight. The joy of being a Brit born on Strayla Day.”

I know I should be answering this question - being an Aussie and all - but why is it that Australians shift overseas and then start behaving in ‘patriotic’ ways that at home they’d rightly recognize as social suicide?

Still no sign of play at the SCG

But there is at least another entertaining contestant on Millionaire Hot Seat. “The Turkish could have been havin’ a bit of a stoush with the others,” he says of the Crimean War.

Mike Lyle’s happy, at least. “Great, I am getting my 15 minutes of fame during a game that is not happening on a blog no-one is reading,” he says. “It is basically the literary equivalent of Martin McCague’s Test career. Must be a Larne thing...”

Another reader, Andrew Benton, has a headache. “The rain delay means I now have to give my full attention to finishing the draft publicaitons [editorial note: if that’s how you’re spelling it, Andrew, you might need more help than you realise] policy for my organisation,” he says. “Unfortunately I’m stumped on why we’d need a publications committee. Committee = meetings = plans for more meetings = less time to make publications = fewer publications, methinks. Seeking help form OBO’s illustrious readers...”

You could just put out a memo stating that the publications committee is now defunct. Techically I guess a memo is a publication of sorts though, so you’d need approval. A real Catch-22, Andrew.

Nothing though, on the latest developments at my place, where my fiancee has just spotted the lack of cricket happening and informed me that our wedding guest list might swell to “somewhere between three and four hundred.”

Four hundred??? I don’t even have four friends, let alone four hundred. I need a drink.

What are you doing in this rain delay?

Phil Withall is worried that excessive exposure to Channel Nine in the name of work is frying my brain. “I’m wondering if you are forced to Channel Nine during rain delays or are you free to channel surf?” he asks. “I’m pretty sure there’ll be an episode of Murder she wrote on somewhere. ...”

I’m sticking with Nine for now, Phil, just in case I miss anything. I mean, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a sackable offence if I missed a rain announcement while I was watching some Bargain Hunt, but I’m nothing if not conscientious.

More importantly, what are you watching?

Larne news - aka ‘The Martin McCague update’

I swear that Mike Lyle isn’t just a character I’ve made up for the benefit of the blog. He’s back now with more on Larne. “The most famous cricketer born in Larne was of course Martin McCague. Not sure I should have told you that as it does rather leave me (and Larne) open to ridicule!”

Not at all, Mike. He’s an OBO favourite. Rob Smyth loves him and he was also the inspiration for one of my favourite Gideon Haigh lines from ‘One Summer, Every Summer’, his account of the 1994-95 Ashes series. Haigh had McCague wandering “up from deep fine leg as though he’s already been punched in the solar plexus”.

If we’re honest, most of us don’t do enough in our lives to become a muse of that order so more power to McCague, I say.

Mike’s not done there. “Also tell your editor that mizzle on an ice-berg is commonly known as “bergizzle”,” he complains, now sounding a little too much like Snoop Dogg for me to take him entirely seriously.

The weather at the SCG continues to deteriorate

A few people at the ground mocked me earlier, saying that the rain wasn’t quite as bad as the Nine team was making out. Now it would appear otherwise and to add insult to injury, Nine continue to ignore their World Series Classics archive and instead grind on with an episode of Millionaire Hot Seat. At the very least it should be a cricket-themed episode.

They start with “A famous exhibition basketball team from the USA is the what ‘Globetrotters’.” Given four options, including the bleeding obvious, the first contestant passes and thus hopefully enters a lifetime of ridicule. What a world we live in...

More bad news for KP

The hits just keep piling up at the moment.

Other great moments in cricket marketing

I mentioned him earlier and there can be no discussion about cricket advertising without consideration of Tony Greig’s infamous St Peter protective equipment advert. I now have this one printed onto a pillow as a sort of friend-sorting device when we have house guests. Judge away.

The infamous Tony Greig advertisement for St Peter
The infamous Tony Greig advertisement for St Peter Photograph: Supplied

Burger updates

In lieu of any cricket, Channel Nine has thrown to the News and a rather alarming story if you’re a health freak: it might be better to wash your burgers down with fizzy drinks. There’s science behind it, it appears, but the mere mention of burgers has distracted me and so I now turn to the wall of my office, where this masterpiece in the promotion of cricket and burgers now hangs:

The 1977-78 World Series Cricket poster by McDonalds
The 1977-78 World Series Cricket poster by McDonalds, a sports marketing masterpiece Photograph: Supplied

Mike ‘Mizzle’ Lyle is back

And he’s sucking up to me now, which always works. “If you are totally stuck for things to say in this latest mizzle break then how about giving a mention to Larne Cricket Club here in Northern Ireland?”

Okay Mike, go for it.

“We start our indoor training tonight, there is almost no chance of anyone reading it but it would sort of justify the near insanity of me staying up to watch this game! For the record Larne is an extremely wet part of NI so we have loads of words for rain; mizzle was just the tip of the ice-berg [editorial note: would the mizzle not turn solid in ice-berg territory? Just asking questions... ] and we know never to come off for it, once you get soaked you may as well just play through it, these Aussies and Indians just do not have the mizzle experience that cricketers in Larne have.”

Another note: I originally read that as ‘Lame’, not ‘Larne’. You really need to watch the kerning on any signage in those parts, I’m guessing. Good luck with training, Mike. No chance of mizzle destroying it when you’re indoors.

Rain stopped play...again

16th over: India 69-2 (Rahane 28, Kohli 3)

What we’re seeing in these early stages of this Xavier Doherty spell is the reason he was favoured for a slot in the Australian World Cup squad; economy.

“Oh hoo hoo, a doosra!” bellows Brad Haddin when Kohli mis-times a cut shot but for all that bluff, it’s a very productive over from the spinner and the slippery conditions are quite literally suiting him down to the ground.

But then, argh, we’re off again. The mizzle is everywhere. Non-stop mizzle. More mizzle than you can poke an umbrella at.

15th over: India 66-2 (Rahane 27, Kohli 1)

James Faulkner’s thrown the ball now, probably to give the underdone Marsh a breather. He’s bowling fuller than Marsh and begging to be driven, which isn’t such a bad ploy in the conditions. Only two come from the over and the Australians are squeezing the run rate well right at the moment. For now, Kohli is happy to stay in surveillance mode and get a feel for his surroundings.

14th over: India 64-2 (Rahane 25, Kohli 1)

It probably goes without saying that after taking that superb outfield catch right in front of the Indian supporters, Warner ran a bit of a victory lap past his new ‘fans’. Never change Davey, never change. New man Kohli gets off the mark with a single but Doherty races through a cheap over.

WICKET! Rayudu c Warner b Marsh 23 - India 62-2

13th over: India 62-2 (Rahane 24, Kohli 0)

Ian Healy is waxing lyrical about “nationalisation” and citizenship here, which is probably shaky conversational territory for him. Equally pertrubing is the sight of Rayudu bunting Marsh and trying to take off for a suicidal single before Rahane wisely sends him back.

What Rayudu is better off doing here is just sitting back and waiting. Sure enough, Marsh digs one in short and allows the batsman to flick over Haddin’s head for four. There follows a wide but a ball later Rayudu can’t help himself, dashing down the track to another short one and slashing it high into the outfield, whereupon Warner sprints around and takes a wonderful overhead catch.

12th over: India 56-1 (Rahane 23, Rayudu 19)

Now some spin. Xavier Doherty marks out his run and he’s stright into the action when he draws Rayudu forward into a drive, one that flies only a foot wide of the bowler’s despairing grasp. Glenn Maxwell has half a chance of running out Rahane at the keepers’ end but even a direct hit might not have got him.

11th over: India 51-1 (Rahane 21, Rayudu 17)

Mitch Marsh looks short of a gallop, it’s fair to say, and not particularly hitting any particular spot on the pitch with consistency. He only concedes singles in this over but each is hit to a different region of the ground.

Mitchell 'Straya' Starc earlier today (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Mitchell ‘Straya” Starc earlier today (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

10th over: India 45-1 (Rahane 19, Rayudu 14)

Perhaps for the amusement of the viewers at home, George Bailey has sent David Warner down to the boundary to field in front of the vocal Indian supporters. They jeer him at first but rather predictably, Warner soon wins them over with a series of waves and smiles.

Hazlewood gives Rahane the first genuinely awkward moment of the encounter when he jags one in appreciably and some extra bounce has the ball cannoning into his upper body. We might not get a full match in today but it’s an absorbing battle between bat and ball right now.

9th over: India 41-1 (Rahane 16, Rayudu 13)

Mitch Marsh is into the attack now for Australia. “That parcel is big”, says James Brayshaw of his bowling speed. At least I think that’s what he was talking about. He’s bowling at 121.6 kmph, by the way. If it’s a parcel, surely it’s not a big one.

“Mitchell Marsh is a natural successor to Shane Watson” adds Bumble, rather damning the younger Marsh with faint praise. He’s solid but not spectacular to start with here and Rayudu treats him like a rented car when he finishes the over by skipping down the track and hammering Marsh over mid-on for six. What a glorious stroke.

8th over: India 32-1 (Rahane 14, Rayudu 6)

Rayudu continues to wander down the pitch to the Australian quicks, perhaps to upset their line but perhaps also because he doesn’t quite trust this moist surface. He gets four over mid-on and then a single too, but the Australians always seem in with a chance of a wicket while he’s attempting to blast off.

Mike Lyle returns with some small comfort for your belleguared OBOer. “Still looks like mizzle in fairness, though Slats has gone back to saying “drizzle” suggesting you were right and he said “mizzle” by mistake!”

Mike actually said “tho” instead of “though” (I cleaned it up on his behalf) and I would like it on record. Tsk tsk, Mike.

7th over: India 26-1 (Rahane 13, Rayudu 1)

Ambati Rayudu is the new man for India and he’s both confident and unconvincing in taking four balls to get off the mark against Starc. As that’s going on, the weather again looks a little unwelcoming.

And on that note, the “mizzle” mockery continues... This in defence of a gentleman who just described Mitchell Starc’s bowling as “good areas”.

WICKET! Dhawan c Watson b Starc 8 (India 24-1)

My prediction that Dhawan would have a day out? Yeah, nah. Again he’s undone by his own willingness to fish outside off stump when he should leave. It’s a nothing shot to Starc; neither cut nor drive, neither defence nor attack. He just angles the bat and clips it straight into the bread basket of Shane Watson at first slip.

6th over: India 24-0 (Dhawan 8, Rahane 13)

Michael Slater is now cross-promoting the American crime drama and Coen brothers spin-off ‘Fargo’, which is exactly the kind of thing that people who say “mizzle” are into, apparently. Us oafs just waste away in front of The Big Bang Theory and the Real Housewives of Melbourne.

Hazlewood, meanwhile, thinks he might have Rahane caught behind when the compact and composed Indian edges his hook towards Brad Haddin but even the athletic Australian keeper can’t save it from flying away to the boundary. They’re making solid strides now, India.

5th over: India 18-0 (Dhawan 7, Rahane 8)

Now Dhawan gets started, twice clipping to leg for two when Starc’s line is too straight. The volume of support from Indian fans when those strokes are played is quite remarkable. Dhawan then drives another two through cover wherupon David Warner is energetically sprinting to the deep and launching himself into a long slide and pick-up.

4th over: India 12-0 (Dhawan 1, Rahane 8)

The other corollary of that rain delay is that the Indian batsmen must now start again and there’s an awkward moment for Rahane first up when Hazlewood spears in a yorker.

Rahane has plodded so far but Hazlewood strays onto his hip and allows the batsman to flick two in the direction of fine leg and then a boundary to deep square leg to get moving.

3rd over: India 6-0 (Dhawan 1, Rahane 2)

And we’re back! For now, anyway. The best part of an hour after he started it, Mitch Starc returns to finish his over and the match has now been reduced to 44 overs. Four bowlers will be permitted to bowl 9 overs and one bowler 8. Powerplays will last 4 overs and I will continue to cower in shame about that “mizzle” debacle.

A mizzle update

I have been ‘pwnd’, as the kids say. Mike Lyle has arrived to lay that smack down. “Surely mizzle is a proper word?” he asks.

“It is in my chambers dictionary and the experts at weatheronline: “Mizzle is a term used in Devon and Cornwall for a combination of fine drenching drizzle or extremely fine rain and thick, heavy saturating mist or fog. While floating or falling the visible particles of coarse, watery vapor might approach the form of light rain. Mizzle is especially thick in upland areas, like its Scottish Highlands counterpart Scotch Mist, and it is particulary associated with a moist tropical maritime airstream.”

“In fairness these experts have spelt “particularly” wrong but it is also listed at the Oxford Dictionaries website. Anyway accusing Slats of “making words up” just because he is a bit thick seems rather unfair in light of this new information. So yeah I think you owe him an apology!”

Okay Mike, okay. Slats, I’m sure you’re not reading this but I am currently on my knees - facing Wagga Wagga - and I apologize unreservedly for this unnecessary slight on your vocabulary.

*I maintain that he didn’t actually mean to say it.

Cricket Memorabilia update time

With the late, great Tony Greig no longer in a position to offer us any limited edition gems, I’m taking it upon myself to curate some memorabilia offers for the discerning OBO reader.

First up - the 375ml Hahn Ice David Boon commemorative beer. Breweriana at its best, I’m sure you’ll agree.

If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, surely an “almost life-size” poster of Merv Hughes wearing a Milo-branded rain jacket will do the job. It’s a snip at $84.95

But really, if you’re not excited by a signed copy of Tim Zoehrer’s ‘The Gloves are off - now for the facts”, I’m afraid I just can’t help you.

RT for yes, FAV for the preservation of journalistic standards

“Everything is just deeply disappointing” says Mark Nicholas

And as if to effortlessly confirm that sentiment, he throws to Mark Taylor interviewing a sleeveless (in the traditional sense - his right arm is covered in tattoos) Sonny Bill Williams. The latter proceeds to discuss his burgeoning boxing career to the total indifference of an entire nation. Is this taking place in the SCG Members pavilion? Do dress codes not exist any more?

And err, that re-start theory that was being floated a few moments back looks a sham now. The rain is still tumbling and the covers remain in place.

Good news - play will resume in 13 minutes time

Or 3:45pm, local time. We’re obviously looking at a truncated game now but at least we’ll have some cricket to watch. With that, the covers are off.

Ajinkya Rahane earlier on (Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
Ajinkya Rahane earlier on (Mark Nolan/Getty Images) Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

As the rain continues to fall at the SCG...

Here is another entertaining cricket read, an interview with Samit Patel. My favourite moments: Samit’s theories that cricket would be improved by removing warm-ups and that English T20 cricket would benefit from “[getting] fit cheerleaders to the games.”

Someone get that man a job at Channel Nine.

Some cricket reads for you as this rain beats down

Let’s be honest, this weather looks very very bleak. We might as well put it to use. Here is Chris Stocks with the latest on Kevin Pietersen and Surrey’s verdict that they don’t the controversial batting maestro back.

If you missed the Big Bash action last night, here’s a summary of the Scorchers’ big win over the Melbourne Stars, the latter falling at the semi-final stage for the fourth consecutive season.

Meanwhile, Cricinfo’s Sid Monga put together this brilliant interview with former Aussie paceman Lenny Pascoe, who has some fascinating thoughts on the psychology of fast bowling and the intent to hurt batsmen.

“Angry-looking clouds” now surround the SCG, according to Mark Nicholas. That doesn’t sound good.

Rain stopped play

3rd over: India 5-0 (Dhawan 1 Rahane 1)

Dhawan’s been a little jumpy when he’s been on strike but he turns a single to leg off Starc here to get off the mark.

As all of that is happening there’s the beginning stages of more rain and a few conferences between the two umpires. The second of those meetings ends with Paul Wilson waving the ground staff onto the field with the covers as heavy rain starts to beat down.

“It might be mizzle all afternoon” says Michael Slater, who now just invents words.

2nd over: India 4-0 (Dhawan 0 Rahane 1)

Hazlewood partners Starc but doesn’t start anywhere near as well, spraying a trio of wides down the leg side. Brad Haddin does him a solid by ostentatiously appealing for a caught-behind verdict from the last of them but Marais Erasmus is too old to have the wool pulled over his eyes like that.

There’s a slightly more realistic appeal for LBW a few deliveries later but Rahane is well down the deck at that point and the ball might not have hit a pair of stumps that were 2 feet higher than the regulation size. Hazlewood finishes with an absolute jaffa that shapes away past Rahane’s outside edge.

That grey Sydney sky (Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
That grey Sydney sky (Mark Nolan/Getty Images) Photograph: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

1st over: India 1-0 (Dhawan 0 Rahane 1)

As expected, Mitchell Starc takes the first over for Australia and Rahane faces for the tourists. His average now threatens to head south of 20 in ODIs, quite a remarkable effort given his struggles at Test level. His first delivery gives an indication why he thrives so obviously with the white ball; it shapes away at searing pace and then hoops back in, passing Rahane at chest height and thumping into Brad Haddin’s gloves.

Two balls later Starc has one moving sideways away from the right-handed batsman, planting a seed of doubt perhaps. Rahane bunts ingloriously to the leg side and takes off for a dicey single, stopping for a split second mid-pitch before sprinting though like he’s escaping a fire.

The best of Starc is yet to come at this point. His first ball to Dhawan is a classic off-cutter that jags in appreciably, flying past the outside edge of the left-hander. Did Dhawan leave that or was it a false stroke?

There is also a bit of drizzle about, just to keep you up to date. Grey skies and drizzle.

The anthems

Well, they’re just anthems. But...there is a moment of utter scandal when our normal on-ground MC, James Sherry, doesn’t appear. In his place is former Big Brother housemate Brodie Young. This just will not do.

How to explain this to UK readers...hmm... a bit like Terry Wogan losing his job to Jon Tickle I suppose. Heads should roll for this.

So what can we expect here?

Early movement from the likes of Starc and Hazlewood but also too, one suspects, the odd issue with soggy run-ups and water-logged balls. Australia will want to have a few rags handy because the outfield is still damp and the centre square sticky. India, meanwhile, would probably prefer not to have Rahane at the top of the order but must adapt.

My first prediction of the day: Shikhar Dhawan - the man who probably would have been dropped if Rohit was fit - might instead have a day out. ‘But the ball is going to move around early!’ you scream at me. Well, yes, but don’t you just think it will finally click for Dhawan at some point? I think that today will be that moment.

The toss - Australia win it and bowl first

Dhoni calls heads and loses, so George Bailey elects to bowl. “Obviously with a bit of rain about, Duckworth-Lewis might come into play,” he says. “As the old saying goes, if it seams it spins.” Cummins and Sandhu are out, Doherty and Mitch Marsh in. Not that Bailey actually remembers the latter. Sorry about that Mitch.

“What’s up?” a casual MD Dhoni asks Mark Nicholas. Ishant and Jadeja are in, he says. They’ll miss Rohit though.

Australia: Finch, Warner, Smith, Bailey (c), Maxwell, M Marsh, Haddin, Faulkner, Starc, Doherty, Hazlewood

India: Dhawan, Rahane, Rayudu, Kohli, Raina, Dhoni, Binny, Jadeja, Patel, Shami, Ishant

How many Nine commentators does it take to interview a groundsman?

Three, it appears. George Bailey and David Warner are both out there too, as are a few of their Indian counterparts. The verdict seems to be that the moisture in the surface and in the air will favour the bowlers early. “Early on it might be a bit sticky and it might move sideways” says Warner, who is possibly not meant to be conducting an impromptu interview in Ian Healy but he’s being a good sport either way.

Warner’s hamstring, needless to say, has mended sufficiently for him to take his place in the Australian line-up today. He’s even talking up the local support for the Indian side. No confirmation yet on whether he’s had a chat to any of them, nor what language they conversed in.

Mitchell Marsh, meanwhile, confirms that he’s come in to the side for today’s clash. “I’m happy to bat anywhere,” he says to Mark Taylor.

Confirmation has also arrived that we’ll have a toss in 10 minutes and that play will get under way in half an hour, at 3pm local time.

The covers are coming off

And with nearly the entire Nine commentary team now out in the middle and getting in the way of ground staff, we’ll soon get a better idea of the state of this pitch. It looks healthy.

Being optimistic, we might have a 3pm start, local time and Marais Erasmus and Paul Wilson are heading out into the middle for a pitch inspection. “As long as it’s safe to play,” says Wilson, “we’ll try and get the game started straight away.”

An update from the middle

The covers are still on and the drizzle continues but SCG groundsman Tom Parker says he fully expects play this afternoon. This despite the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a high chance of showers throughout the day.

“It’s a big day for our country and we want to make sure we play well,” says Darren Lehmann out in the centre. In lieu of access to phones, he says this delay is forcing his players to actually talk about cricket. Imagine that. Horrible stuff.

While the rest of us wait, here’s the 2nd final between Australia and India in 1991-92. This clip’s is a real boon for all you Venkatapathy Raju fans out there.

Australia v India - 1991-92

As the rain tumbles down there is much faffing in the commentary box

James Brayshaw is screaming something about the cooking capabilities of the wives of each of his commentary cohorts. If that doesn’t have you heading for YouTube, nothing will. Earlier they showed some footage of the very first Australia Day ODI, the SCG clash between Australia and the West Indies in 1982. That was, needless to say, a better move. It’s also raised my hopes that if rain does delay the start of this encounter to lengthy degrees, I may get to live-blog some World Series classics for you.

For now I’ll curate my own.This clip is not from that first Australia Day game but an SCG clash two years later, when nobody thought it untoward that fans had started a fire on the hill. What heady days they were for those who now probably resent the slow suffocation of occupational health and safety. Did public liability insurance even exist in 1984? Doesn’t look like it. Even Richie barely musters enthusiasm to comment.

Fire on the SCG hill

Team news

Firstly, the obvious: Aussie skipper George Bailey is back from suspension but he’ll be without his fast bowling ace Mitch Johnson, who is resting up for the finals. There is also an expectation that Mitch Marsh, Xavier Doherty and Josh Hazlewood will all play - and Shaun Marsh will make way for David Warner - but I’ll confirm that as soon as I can.

Rohit is out for India, which will shape their selection movements and possibly lead to a reprieve for the out-of-sorts Dhawan. Will Ishant play? Will Jadeja play? We’ll find out soon.

Good afternoon all

...and welcome to this Australia Day traingular series clash between the home side and India. The latter is playing to stay alive in the tournament but firs I have some bad news: the weather in Sydney is not looking good. It’s so bad, in fact, that the Nine broadcast has now been diverted to a balcony BBQ and the rather disconcerting sight of Richie Benaud sans tie.

It’s some sort of promotion for lamb, but a worse indignity for the great man is that he claims to have watched every ball of Nine’s coverage this summer. The poor bloke. Has he not suffered enough in the last 12 months?

Anyhow, I’ll be taking you though the entire day of play today, however much play we actually get in. Lucky you. You can get me on russell.jackson@theguardian.com with all your comments, quips and Australia Day observations. Got a cricket-themed Australia Day anecdote? Photos? Send ‘em all in, we’re a broad church here at the OBO.

Russell Jackson will be here shortly to act as your eyes and ears in Sydney for this final Australian hit-out before the Tri-Series final, but while you’re waiting, why not remind yourselves how Australia did on their last outing, against England in Hobart.

[Steve] Smith’s fifth hundred of a prolific international summer came in his first match leading the 50-over side and he led by example with 102 off 95 balls to strike yet another psychological blow to England before the teams’ World Cup opener in Melbourne on 14 February.

England, who have still not come up against Mitchell Johnson on this trip, know they will face a far tougher test in that match at the MCG.

Read the full match report here.

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