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Australias players havent the foggiest idea what sort of pitch they will be getting for the first Test of the summer. In some ways, that is how they like things to be. In others, it sums up a creep away from the sorts of conditions Australian cricketers have grown up to expect.Through tours of England in 2015 and Sri Lanka earlier this year, the men in Steven Smiths side have felt a certain sense of irritation at the pitches served up. Not so much because they have been difficult; more so because they have been prepared very much with the home side in mind. From the coach Darren Lehmann down to the possible debutant Joe Mennie, every member of this team knows that to make such requests in Australia is to expect a gob-full in response from the curator.In England there was actually a change in the sorts of pitches Alastair Cooks side wanted from match to match within the series itself. Initially the coach Trevor Bayliss and the head of cricket Andrew Strauss desired slow, dry pitches to reduce the influence of Mitchell Johnson. But when Australia dominated on a flat surface at Lords, the diktat moved to green seamers, resulting in tracks at Birmingham and Nottingham the visitors were utterly unable to cope with.Sri Lankas surfaces were a little more consistent: slow and spinning. They were of the kind made to order for the hosts, and exploited brilliantly once so prepared. In this context, Australias players yearned to get back to home, not for pitches weighted to favour them, but merely to play on surfaces not prepared with any one or two bowlers in mind.I think we prepare really good Test match pitches, theres something in there for everyone, said the spin bowler and sometime curator Nathan Lyon. We go and travel overseas and it does tend to favour one team more than the other. Our curators do a fantastic job and Im always going to stick up for them.Oddly for a team most recently defined by pace, Lyons offbreaks are actually the best measure of how much Australias players prefer playing at home. Down under, Lyon has 101 Test wickets in 26 matches at 31.97, a record superior to any spinner to visit from overseas this side of Mushtaq Ahmed. But away, in conditions ostensibly better suited to his art, Lyons 110 wickets in 31 Tests have cost 33.56 apiece.Im going back to the way Ive been bowling best in Australia for the last 18 to 24 months now, so Ill keep going down that game plan and my little blueprint I work off bowling here in Australia, Lyon said of this summer. But when we come to subcontinent conditions again Im going to have to re-evaluate and prepare for that. Im not going in the nets this afternoon and bowling in subcontinent conditions, thats for sure.Australian comfort at home does, in many ways, transcend the individual pitches themselves. As Usman Khawaja put it, the subtleties of each venue, the heat, the size of the outfields and their best scoring zones, are augmented by loud, supportive and at times merciless crowds. Australias healthy culture of Test match attendances helps too.I think its just experience, Khawaja said. Weve played at these grounds so often, thats what we lack when we go overseas a little bit, we dont have experience on these grounds while playing in the match scenario. But we play on these grounds so often, we know pretty much everything about the grounds there is to know and we can draw on those things. We know how the pitch is going to react and whats going to happen.The crowd makes a big difference too when you have the crowd behind you. When things are going well the crowd just comes over you. Im sure when were taking wickets and on a roll and the opposition batsmen are rolling in, the crowd is all over them, I think it makes a difference. They play a fair part in it too.However a world in which guaranteed days of play in Test matches are beloved of administrators and broadcasters has gradually eaten away at the fundamental advantage available to Australia: extra pace and bounce. Early finishes, however dominant by the home side, have long been deemed troubling for state associations in particular. Similarly, the introduction of drop-in pitches in Melbourne, Adelaide and soon at Perths new stadium mean further homogenisation. When the WACA Test against New Zealand last summer creaked towards the bore draw that hastened Mitchell Johnsons retirement, the ABCs doyen commentator Jim Maxwell dubbed it a CEOs pitch designed to keep the game going five days. It was on a similarly long-lasting surface that South Africa chased their epochal 414 to win in Perth in 2008 and set Ricky Pontings team on the path to their first home series defeat in more than 15 years.Likewise the pitches in 2010-11 were flat enough to allow Cook, Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell to dominate increasingly dispirited Australian bowlers. There is still a small advantage to be gained by Australia at home, but they must be at their very best to extract it.I think other countries around the world do that home advantage a lot better, Mitchell Starc said of the contrast he sees between home and away. The wickets in Australia have got a lot flatter in Shield cricket and Test cricket over the years. You just want to see that even contest. If you go back to the Adelaide [day/night] Test match, regardless of how many days it lasted, the whole Test was just an even contest between bat and ball for two and a half days, and it turned out to be the best Test match of the summer.I think thats what teams want to see and fans want to see, you dont want to see blokes just scoring runs for fun and nothing in it for the bowlers. At the same time I dont think people want to see teams bowled out for 100 in all four innings. We just want to see that even contest. And you still want to keep some characteristics of wickets around Australia.You want to see the fast, bouncy wickets of the WACA. You might want to see a turning wicket at the SCG. Its obviously not going to happen in Adelaide with the pink ball stuff - but you generally see a hard wicket at the start and it breaks up towards the end and you get a bit of reverse swing. The Gabba is obviously a fantastic wicket, where there is enough in it for both teams for five days. You dont want to lose those characteristics, but I guess the wickets have definitely got flatter over the years.If Australias home advantage is thinner than for other nations, against South Africa it narrows to the width of a sheet of paper. Australians love touring South Africa - having never lost there since reunification - and the reverse is also true.Not a single member of the South African side has experienced a Test series loss in Australia, and not a single Australian has won over the Proteas here. South Africa and Australian conditions are fairly related, Hashim Amla said, and I think thats why we have over the last two series weve had here, had some success.At Australias training session on Monday afternoon, Lehmann set the wicketkeeper and slips back to near enough a pitch-length away from the bat for a catching session. This is the traditional WACA distance, but bore no relation to what was served up last year. That rather summed up Australia at home - the national team are hopeful of conditions to suit them, but have no way of knowing for sure.We always talk about adapting to conditions, Starc said. I think [home] can help, but the way we approach our cricket is you have to change the way you play depending on what is in front of you. Regardless of what we get at the WACA, were going to be ready to go and hopefully theres enough in it for the bowlers. That would be lovely to see.Kahlil Lewis Jersey . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. 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Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services.Sky Sports Paul Merson is back to look ahead to another round of Premier League fixtures as the business end of the season gets into full swing.The top two are in action, live on Sky Sports, as Leicester face a trip to relegation-threatened Sunderland in the first of our Super Sunday double header, with Tottenham in action straight after as they welcome Manchester United to White Hart Lane - who also need a win as they chase a top four spot.Manchester City will be looking to put some daylight between themselves and their rivals as they host West Brom on Saturday Night Football, while Crystal Palace and Norwich face off in a crucial relegation battle on Saturday with both games featuring in this weekends Super 6 picks. Mersons last predictions Result Merses prediction Aston Villa 0-4 Chelsea 0-3 Arsenal 4-0 Watford 3-0 Bournemouth 0-4 Man City 1-1 Norwich 3-2 Newcastle 2-1 Stoke 2-2 Swansea 2-1 Sunderland 0-0 West Brom 2-0 West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace 3-1 Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham 1-2 Leicester 1-0 Southampton 1-1 Man United 1-0 Everton 2-1 Merse correctly predicted four Premier League outcomes last time, including big wins for Arsenal and Chelsea.Read on to see who he is backing this week...West Ham v Arsenal - Saturday, 12.45pmBoth teams need to win. Its a good game really because a draw is no good to either of them. If Arsenal think they are going to win the league then they need to win this and a victory is as important to West Ham if they are to get in the top four. Slaven Bilic says his side are confident they will do the double over Arsenal for the first time in nine years This is a hard one to call because West Ham are doing really well, but no one is better than Arsenal when playing without pressure.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)Aston Villa v Bournemouth - Saturday, 3pmAston Villa can get relegated this weekend, and I just cant see them winning. Last week, Chelsea were the better team, but theres a way of losing and theres just no fight there. It was just poor. Aston Villa could be relegated to the Championship this weekend Since Bournemouth have climbed away from the relegation zone theyve been poor. They could have been battered over the last two games, but I think they will pass Aston Villa to death on Saturday.PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (Sky Bet odds 8/1)Crystal Palace v Norwich - Saturday, 3pmThis is a massive game. If Norwich win this and Sunderland and Newcastle lose, youd think that would be it really. Both of them are a fluke result away from being relegated. Merse predicts that Crystal Palace will get their first win of 2016 against Norwich this weekend Noorwich did well on Saturday, I watched the game and it was a good result.dddddddddddd. Crystal Palace picked up a decent result as well, so it will be an interesting one.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)Southampton v Newcastle - Saturday, 3pmNewcastle have to start winning football matches. They have to have an eye on the Crystal Palace versus Norwich game because if Norwich win, they have to pick up three points. Rafa Benitez is yet to win as manager of Newcastle and Merse cant see a victory coming this weekend If they lose and Norwich win, I think thats it. Its goodnight for the Magpies. I watched Newcastle the other week and theyve got some good players, but they arent a team.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)Swansea v Chelsea - Saturday, 3pmSwansea are pretty much safe for me. They had a good result last week coming back from 2-0 down to draw with Stoke. Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League game and thrashed Aston Villa last weekend But Chelsea havent been beaten for a while now in the league, and I can see them continuing that at the Liberty Stadium this weekend.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (Sky Bet odds 16/1)Watford v Everton - Saturday, 3pmWell what Watford team are going to turn up? Is it the one thats a decent team or the other one? Watford got well beaten by Arsenal on Saturday. Both Everton and Watford have an FA Cup semi finals to play at the end of April Theyve got one eye on the FA Cup semi-final as Im sure Everton will do as well and neither team can do anything in terms of the Premier League table.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)Manchester City v West Brom - Saturday Night Football, 5.30pm, Sky Sports 1 West Brom had a good result last week at Sunderland but I just think Man City will have too much for them. I dont think they will have a Champions League hangover because they have to get into the top four and if they dont win this game, then all of a sudden its a battle. Man City beat Bournemouth 4-0 last Saturday, and Merse predicts another win for them live on Sky Sports This is where they can widen the gap between themselves and the clubs beneath them because West Ham have got a hard game and so have Man United so it is really the weekend where they can cement Champions League football for next season.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet odds 9/2)Sunderland v Leicester - Super Sunday, 1.30pm, Sky Sports 1 It could be an advantage for Sunderland to play second after their other relegation rivals. If the results go the way Ive predicted, then they have a free swing. Leicester are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League They have to win this game, but I dont think its a must-win for Leicester. They can draw it, but they have to make sure they dont lose. PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Liverpool v Stoke - Sunday, 4pmLiverpool in the top four is out of the question for me now. Stoke are a funny team. They play good football, but theyre 2-0 up and cruising and then get pegged back for a draw. Liverpool and Stoke have met three times so far this season and each ended 1-0, but Merse predicts a 2-1 Liverpool win on Sunday I saw them get well beaten by Southampton the other week at home, but then theyll beat teams. Theyre a bit hot and cold at the moment and havent got that consistency, but they are still a good team.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 7/1)Tottenham v Manchester United - Super Sunday, 4pm, Sky Sports 1 Again, both teams have got to win this. Its getting to that part of the season where its good because draws are no good to anybody, but I dont see anything other than a Tottenham win.Tottenham are a very good team and I expect them to keep the pressure on Leicester. They did very well when they had to play catch up with Bournemouth and beat them quite convincingly. If Leicester dont win then its a bonus. Merse thinks both Tottenham and Man United need to win on Super Sunday If Leicester do win, I think that will be it. Even if Tottenham also pick up three points, theyd still be seven points behind with five games to go, so for me, this weekend is the big weekend.PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 14/1)PLAY SUPER 6!Theres another £250,000 jackpot up for grabs in the latest round of the Soccer Saturday Super 6 game. All you have to do is predict the scores of the six selected matches. Its free to play so get your entries in before 3pm GMT on Saturday for the chance to win.PLAY NOW...Also See:Premier League questionsToo good to go down?Souness: Contes job not easyWenger rejected Payet move Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '