da 888casino： Plays of the day for the first day of the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane
da bwin： Cricinfo staff20-Nov-2008
Fancy getting eight with one shot, Roy? © Getty Images
A stormy start
Part of a Gabba grandstand roof was damaged by a fierce storm on Wednesdaynight and the section was closed to the public for the start of the match.Structural engineers were called to inspect the upper eastern stand andassess the area following 77 millimetres of overnight rain and heavy winds in thecity.”Two sails above section 52 have been damaged and there is some minordamage to pylons supporting the section of the roof,” Blair Conaghan, themanager of the Brisbane Cricket Ground, said. “Patrons will not beadmitted to the areas affected by the storm damage.” A corporate functionroom will be closed until the area is judged to be safe.Play was delayed by half an hour due to soggy areas around the wicketblock, but the game started under bright blue skies and warm conditions. During the day sails were cut down from the top of the stands and one drifted down on to a bottom tier of a member’s area during the second session, giving new meaning to a restricted view.A familiar predicament
Media coverage in the rest of the world for this series will be limited following a boycott of the international news and photo agencies due to a media accreditation dispute with Cricket Australia. Reuters, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, which supplies photos to , are not covering the series in a repeat of their decision to suspend coverage last year.The disagreement surrounds the syndication of images and stories to other publications. In 2007-08 the companies did not report on the first Test involving Sri Lanka, but an agreement was reached for the second game when Muttiah Muralitharan was nearing the world wicket-taking record. News Limited papers were also locked out of the first day at the Gabba last year before resolving their issues with Cricket Australia.Eight is enough
An eight is a horrible thing at golf, but it’s a novel experience forcricket. Andrew Symonds, who was dropped at square leg the previous ball,pulled wildly at Ian O’Brien and ran three, with the throw coming back tothe wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, who then threw the ball at the stumpsand it went for four overthrows. By that stage Symonds and Clarke had runanother, pushing the final tally to eight.”A first time for everything; I’ve never seen one before,” Clarke said.”Symo was taking it.” The umpires don’t have a signal for that, so RudiKoertzen held up the right number of fingers to the scorer. Two ballslater Symonds edged behind and his eventful comeback innings of 26 wasover.Symonds’ salute
Symonds walked out to a royal reception from some supporters in the oldhill area, who bowed at him like he had just returned with a boat full ofbarramundi. He sprinted onto the ground but took a while to warm-upbefore striking three fours in a row off Grant Elliott’s medium pace. Anairy drive was followed by a glance to fine-leg and the sequence wasfinished with a pull to midwicket, taking him to 16.Australia head Southee
For the first session Tim Southee, the young swing bowler, was the toastof the Gabba for his three top-order wickets that shocked the hosts. Butthere is doubt over how old Southee is. The says he is 19 and born on December 11, as does, while the media guide has his birthday as November 11,which would make him 20, and the media manager wasn’t sure. There’s arumour Southee had a party recently but finding attendees was difficult.He ended the debate after play: his birthday is in December.
