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Excluded England all-rounder Ben Stokes continues to make himself heard despite his absence from the Ashes, following up an online jab at Matthew Hayden this week by sending a good luck message to Joe Root's team in Brisbane. Described by Ian Botham as the hottest player in world cricket, the 26-year-old passed on his best from the comfort of a couch in Durham, where he has recently resumed training after fracturing his hand in the incident that led England to leave him behind.
"With the Ashes starting very soon, I just wanted to get a message out to all the boys out in Australia, wishing them all the best for the first Test match, and all the coaches and the back-room staff as well," Stokes said in a video message posted soon before play started at the Gabba.
"I know how much preparation's gone into making sure everyone's right and ready to go, and by the looks of it everyone is. I'll be sat at home watching and following the lads in the hope they do really well."
Botham, for one, still believes Stokes will be out here at some stage in this Ashes series. "At the end of the day if a guy takes a swing at you with a bottle a couple of times, you would feel a bit annoyed," England's greatest all-rounder said on the Triple M coverage of the match.
Speaking of flying in, the main attraction of the FM station's call team, Kerry "Skull" O'Keefe, forced a late reshuffle of their commentary roster when he was left stranded at Albury airport on Thursday, delaying him from arriving at the Gabba until the afternoon on day one.
"I"ve been looking forward to this day for 12 months," Skull said. "I had to do a gig on the border. I thought I'd get the 6.30am here and it got cancelled. Hence my lateness."
Players into bat for Shield
Plenty of players around the country were left confused by the make-up of Australia's Test line-up when it was announced last week, as Ed Cowan alluded to on Wednesday. They know exactly where they stand, however, on the new Captains' MVP Leaderboard, an initiative of the Australian Cricketers' Association that sees the state leaders vote for the best players in the Sheffield Shield after each match.
In a time when there have been concerns about the credibility of the Shield being compromised by national interests - Australian back-up bowler Jackson Bird will, for instance, be "inserted" into Tasmania's match in Adelaide on day two on Friday, a practice not exactly celebrated by many in the states - the players are intent on emphasising the importance of a strong domestic competition.
Despite missing a game, Mitchell Starc sat atop the leaderboard after three rounds, ahead of Test debutant Cameron Bancroft and Callum Ferguson. The first two are in the Australian side at the Gabba and third has not given up hope of a recall after finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time for his one and only Test appearance last summer.
Ferguson was dropped following Australia's thrashing by South Africa in Hobart to usher in a new generation of batsmen but after starting the season strongly - he made an unbeaten 182 for South Australia against Victoria this month - the 33-year-old is eager for another shot. "I've been given a good indication that if I put big runs on the board then I could be well in contention," he told the Tonk. "Playing one Test last year made me hungrier. It was disappointing [to miss out] this time around but I'm hoping if I can keep scoring runs I'll be considered at the selection table."
More runs in Strauss
SPOTTED: England director of cricket Andrew Strauss pounding the pavement on the running track by the Brisbane River a few hours before the start of play on Thursday. The former England captain has had a bit on his plate with the Stokes drama bubbling away in the background for nearly two months now but has left that behind at home for the time being until police announce whether they will charge the all-rounder.
Pascoe's close call
One of Australia's iconic figures of yesteryear is watching the first Test from hospital in Sydney after being diagnosed with an extremely rare and sometimes fatal infection. Len Pascoe has been undergoing treatment in hospital for nearly three weeks, having been found to have cryptococcal gattii not long after returning home from a tour in South Australia and Western Australia with Doug Walters and Jeff Thomson.
The infection, which kills one in 10 who catch it, isn't contagious but can get into the blood stream by inhaling fungal spores from such sources as leaves from red-gum eucalypts, potting mix and pigeon droppings. In Pascoe's, the 68-year-old said he was lucky to have finally taken the advice of his wife, Elaine, who had been battling a virus herself, and get himself checked out before it was too late.
"I've got another two weeks of treatment," Pascoe told the Tonk. "They've indicated that it is a curable but it's going to take six months or more to make sure that it doesn't re-occur. All my vitals are on the right track. I'll get out there and annoy people in the near future, don't worry. I'll be off the long run."
He already is when it comes to criticism of the team selected by Australia at the Gabba. "When you get picked for Australia I don't care who they pick, they are the best," Pascoe said. "They don't need to be stabbed in the back."