Ashes Boxing Day Test: Selection Calls, Noosa Fallout & Why Australia Are Clear Favourites

·23 min·1 clip

Ben Duckett was filmed in Noosa "blotto" and someone asked, "Do you want me to get you an Uber to the nets?"

1. Cricket Unfiltered centres on the Ashes Boxing Day Test, Australia’s selection calls, England’s reshuffle, and the Noosa fallout. 2. Menace hosts the episode and frames himself as "the longest running cricket podcast in Australia," which matters because he is driving the team news and opinion. 3. The episode asks whether Australia are clear favourites for the MCG Test and whether England’s tour has drifted into a deeper off-field problem. 4. Steve Smith says there are "10 inches of grass" on the MCG pitch, and Australia respond by leaving Todd Murphy, Beau Webster and Josh Inglis out of the 12. 5. Australia’s top seven are discussed as Wetherald, Head, Smith, Labashane, Khawaja, Carey and Green, with the host arguing that Jake Wetherald’s spot is under pressure from Matt Renshaw. 6. The host says Renshaw has "three Shield 100s" to start the year, runs in one-day cricket, and a Big Bash century, which is used to pressure-test the opening spot. 7. Cameron Green is the main selection grievance because he has been moved from number four in New Zealand to three in the West Indies, then to five, then to seven. 8. The batting order debate turns on whether Australia should keep Green at five and Carey at six, or keep shifting Green around while Khawaja keeps his place. 9. On the bowling side, the episode weighs Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser as Australia decide between pace options. 10. The host thinks Doggett may get the edge because Australia want a short-ball option to target England’s tail. 11. England’s team news gets sharper when Jofra Archer is ruled out of the rest of the series and Gus Atkinson comes back in. 12. Ollie Pope is dropped and Jacob Bethell is selected to bat at three, with Jamie Smith apparently retained after his last-innings 60. 13. The host calls Bethell talented but inexperienced and notes that he has no first-class hundreds. 14. The Noosa material includes Ben Duckett being filmed "blotto" and a bystander asking whether he needs an Uber to the nets. 15. Rob Key’s BBC and Sky Cricket interviews are described as corporate and underwhelming, with the host saying he sounded as if he may soon be replaced. 16. Ben Stokes’ press conference is criticised for defending players who went out drinking before a Test, while the host argues that standards on this tour have been too loose. 17. The episode is energetic, opinionated, and conversational, with frequent swearing and rapid shifts between team news and off-field commentary. 18. The format is a solo monologue with pauses for selection detail, tactical arguments, and complaints about England’s management culture. 19. Listeners who follow Ashes selection debates and English cricket drama will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting calm, neutral match previewing may skip it.

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