form of Australia A

[dan warna]

Hopes: didn't do his chances any good
Haddin: was looking crap until this innings, great batting against a weaker attack (after two failures), solid keeping, crap captaincy. as long as ricky is captain will go ok as a second string keeper.
Hodge: didn't do himself any favours, pretty much out of contention.
David Hussey: 1 spectacular innings, 1 good innings and one failure, pretty good, and should be in the planning for the future.
michael Hussey: out of contention
Thornley: Out of contention, 2 crap innings, and 2 crap bowling efforts, even the blues cap will be hard to save him.
White: 2 good innings late in the order at a run a ball, run out through no fault of his own by a freak incident, bowled well and had lara in trouble early, didn't get a chance in the third game, with solid form in ING and pura cup, plus captaincy, is in the future.
Wright: bowled solidly, ok as a back up 3rd or 4th seamer no steamtrain though.
Lewis: solid form, similar to wright, no steam train but did work well
Hauritz: CRAPs Crap
Tait: got better, bad form when given out having a sook on the international stage, but bowling improved, definately something there for the future.

[Thewlis Dish]

Unfortunately, if you mentioned Dave Hussey to the international selectors, they'd stare at you blankly for five seconds and then say "Ohhh, you mean Mike?"

Deadset gun, though, especially in the one day game as he has such a variety of shots. Looked set for a good score today too but was out to a gem of a catch at short cover.

[eddiesmith]

The main problem with Tait is it seems like he has been bowling that poorly for a while. Bowled poorly v Victoria last week

[dan warna]

The main problem with Tait is it seems like he has been bowling that poorly for a while. Bowled poorly v Victoria last week

I think when McGrath and Dizzy leave Australia's bowling stocks will be sadly depleted.

Lee can terrorise batsman batting 8/9/10 and 11 but has little impact on the top order in the latter part of his test career, with a current bowling ave of about 31 after averaging 40s in the last few series.

mcgrath and dizzy can't go on forever, and kaspa is really a more disciplined bowler who can snatch 2 or 3 wickets without running through a side (often).

the rest of australia's bowlers are a support act really to the dizzy, mcgrath warne show.

while supporting the likes of white, none of the spinners in aus is Shane warne, and none of the fast bowlers is McGrath.

if tait can be taught discipline, he might be a good bowler. his histrionics after being given out can be put down to youth (McGrath used to be a big sook), but really where else is there a super talented bowler coming through aged 18 to 22? not much really.

we have a wealth of talent b/w 28 and 35 though...

[eddiesmith]

Lewis can be alright has a bit of pace about him and discliplined but getting to old to make a name for himself. Deserves a game or two ahead of Tait atm

[dan warna]

Lewis can be alright has a bit of pace about him and discliplined but getting to old to make a name for himself. Deserves a game or two ahead of Tait atm

while against initially the selection of michael clarke, I think its necessary to trial by fire the youngsters.

I reckon he'll even be dropped eventually before coming back stronger (his average is a bit flatering ATM).

punter/dizzy/s.waugh/martyn/haydos/boonie/langer all suffered from a cut to the team and came back stronger (one wonders if such treatment might have resulted in better performances from mark waugh?)

i think tait represents the future of australian bowling, and while he will be patchy at first, nothing better than bowling alongside McGrath and Dizzy while he still has a chance.

in 2/3 seasons these guys will be gone, and who will he learn from? Lee? he's crap, McGrath is the best fast bowlers since lillee and a chance to bowl alongside McGrath will result in a better Tait, than say walking into the no.1 or no.2 bowling spot in two three seasons time.

I reckon take tait to the ashes, and even to NZ in the next few months.

(despite being a filthy little SA crow eater :eek: )

[rosewarne]

I think the Australian A team selection was quite a disgrace. Let's just look at a few players.
1. Hauritz. He is an absolute dud and one of the Australian's selectors favourite boys. I don't know what treatment he is giving Trevor Hohns, but come on, a bowling average over 40 in first class cricket does not warrant Australia A selection (let alone test selection).
2. Hopes. He is a pie thrower and an ordinary batsman. Another disgraceful selection. A bowling average also over 40 in first class cricket and a batting average in the low 20s. This does not deserve any such selection in Australia A.
3. Cameron White. So much for making someone earn national selection. He may be considered a bright prospect, but make him earn his spot. His form in both one day domestic games and first class cricket does not warrant Australia A selection. He is meant to be a bowler, yet he doesn't get a bowl in the last match. Strange.
Now to the non-selections. What about picking the next best team. You can't tell me that Bevan, Bichel and Maher aren't in the next best 11 Australian players. The Australian A set up has become nothing more than a joke. It should be renamed the "promising dud team."

[dan warna]

I think the Australian A team selection was quite a disgrace. Let's just look at a few players.
1. Hauritz. He is an absolute dud and one of the Australian's selectors favourite boys. I don't know what treatment he is giving Trevor Hohns, but come on, a bowling average over 40 in first class cricket does not warrant Australia A selection (let alone test selection).
2. Hopes. He is a pie thrower and an ordinary batsman. Another disgraceful selection. A bowling average also over 40 in first class cricket and a batting average in the low 20s. This does not deserve any such selection in Australia A.
3. Cameron White. So much for making someone earn national selection. He may be considered a bright prospect, but make him earn his spot. His form in both one day domestic games and first class cricket does not warrant Australia A selection. He is meant to be a bowler, yet he doesn't get a bowl in the last match. Strange.
Now to the non-selections. What about picking the next best team. You can't tell me that Bevan, Bichel and Maher aren't in the next best 11 Australian players. The Australian A set up has become nothing more than a joke. It should be renamed the "promising dud team."


bevan bichel and maher are in the same age group as the current players.

white is an all rounder and performed well in with the bat with a 59 in 68 balls and a 67 in 59 balls and a freak run out, plus 3 or 4 very good catches (the next slips fielder?)

he bowled well in the first two games and his lack of bowling can be put down to crap captaincy by haddin.

white > hauritz.

[rosewarne]

bevan bichel and maher are in the same age group as the current players.

white is an all rounder and performed well in with the bat with a 59 in 68 balls and a 67 in 59 balls and a freak run out, plus 3 or 4 very good catches (the next slips fielder?)

he bowled well in the first two games and his lack of bowling can be put down to crap captaincy by haddin.

white > hauritz.
So what if they're in the same age group. Like I said, if they're not going to pick the next best players, the team should be renamed. And I agree that White is better than Hauritz, but they both shouldn't be selected.

[superstar]

white is an all rounder and performed well in with the bat with a 59 in 68 balls and a 67 in 59 balls and a freak run out, plus 3 or 4 very good catches (the next slips fielder?)

he bowled well in the first two games and his lack of bowling can be put down to crap captaincy by haddin.


0/41 from 6 overs.

Yeah, great bowling. :rolleyes:

Lara took him down to Chinatown.

[dan warna]

So what if they're in the same age group. Like I said, if they're not going to pick the next best players, the team should be renamed. And I agree that White is better than Hauritz, but they both shouldn't be selected.

white is a very good slip fielder, his batting is improveing every season, he is 21, he averaged around 40 with the bat last season in Pura cup, and around 30 with the ball.

his career average is 26 with the bat (after being introduced at age 18 his stats were pretty low), and his career bowling average is around 34 with the ball bowling leggies (competitive and impriving).

his season with the ball has been good, and by comparison michael clarkes first batting average was only 40 when he was given test selection.

white will be a solid batting allrounder with good leadership potential, his field placement and rotation is already superior to haddin's.

he has vindicated his selection with two great batting innings, and his run out in the third dig was 'freakish'.

his bowling is solid, and easily comparable to any other bowler in aus who ISN"T mcgill or warne.

a good selection to see how he would stand up to international pressure and he has done so well.

[dan warna]

0/41 from 6 overs.

Yeah, great bowling. :rolleyes:

Lara took him down to Chinatown.

Lara smashed every one, he bowled well for vic against Windians and well in the second game.

[superstar]

white will be a solid batting allrounder with good leadership potential, his field placement and rotation is already superior to haddin's.

I reckon he'll play ODIs just as Hogg has in recent years.

But I doubt they will ever select two batting allrounders in the test side, and White's batting will never be good enough to earn him a spot as a batsman IMO. Watson appears a far superior batsman. White needs to improve his bowling alot if he wants to be a test cricketer.

[superstar]

Lara smashed every one, he bowled well for vic against Windians and well in the second game.
You said he bowled well in the first game though. He didn't.

[spanna]

I have no problem with Hopes or Whites selection. We all know that the Australia A side is picked with an eye to the future, and both of these players qualify.

Agree with Hauritz - not too sure what the selectors are thinking by placing so much faith in this guy.

Not too sure how Thornely gets a game either. Great knock in the Pura Cup this season, but has done nothing in the ING Cup. Ordinary bowler at best. Maybe he got picked for his exceptional fielding?!?!

[rosewarne]

I have no problem with Hopes or Whites selection. We all know that the Australia A side is picked with an eye to the future, and both of these players qualify.

Agree with Hauritz - not too sure what the selectors are thinking by placing so much faith in this guy.

Not too sure how Thornely gets a game either. Great knock in the Pura Cup this season, but has done nothing in the ING Cup. Ordinary bowler at best. Maybe he got picked for his exceptional fielding?!?!
If Hopes is the future of Australian cricket, well we are in trouble. Agree with Thornely, he played a great innings of 260 odd but his bowling is not up to standard and his one day domestic record is poor.

[sog35]

I don't know the figures but hasn't Hopes had a reasonable Domestic One-Day season?

[dan warna]

You said he bowled well in the first game though. He didn't.
I thought he came close to getting lara out early.

I actually thought he did bowl well but was thrashed by one of the greats at the peak of his powers.

lara has smashed warne, mcgrath etc, when they have bowled well.

I don't really think white served him rubbish.

hauritz on the other hand...

[dan warna]

I have no problem with Hopes or Whites selection. We all know that the Australia A side is picked with an eye to the future, and both of these players qualify.

Agree with Hauritz - not too sure what the selectors are thinking by placing so much faith in this guy.

Not too sure how Thornely gets a game either. Great knock in the Pura Cup this season, but has done nothing in the ING Cup. Ordinary bowler at best. Maybe he got picked for his exceptional fielding?!?!

Perhaps during the rebuilding phase the selectors are looking to model aus on the RSA side?

all rounders through the middle order to make up for the losses of hayden, langer, martyn and Gilchrist during the next 3/4 years?

pretty much on clarke, katich and punter have any realistic chance of still being in the side by 2007/8.

so we need two new openers and some middle order strenght to cover for the loss of the gilly, so looking at watson, white, and thornley as potential all rounders?

don't think much chop of thornley, but watson and white look good.

[spanna]

[QUOTE=rosewarne]If Hopes is the future of Australian cricket, well we are in trouble. [QUOTE]

Avg of 41.5 with the bat in ING Cup this year at better than a run a ball, and a bowling avg of 24.6. Don't see too much wrong with those figures.

[spanna]

Can anyone tell me how old Damien Wright is? Has had a fair ING Cup, and I don't mind the look of him.

[dan warna]

[QUOTE=rosewarne]If Hopes is the future of Australian cricket, well we are in trouble. [QUOTE]

Avg of 41.5 with the bat in ING Cup this year at better than a run a ball, and a bowling avg of 24.6. Don't see too much wrong with those figures.

he looked tame and lame during his OD outings for the A side.

no chop with the bat and no threat with the ball.

d.hussey looked solid, Haddin looked explosive for one innings and his glove work was solid, but he is no leader, tait showed some future, and white was workman like with 120 runs at 100% strike rate.

m. hussey worked hard for his 70, but was scratchy the rest of the time, and lewis showed that he can be as effective as kaspa without being the next mcgrath.

[Unwritten_Law]

Can anyone tell me how old Damien Wright is? Has had a fair ING Cup, and I don't mind the look of him.

29 or 30.

Edit: Make that 29.

[spanna]

no chop with the bat and no threat with the ball..

He played two of the games.......let's not banish the guy forever.

[rosewarne]

[QUOTE=rosewarne]If Hopes is the future of Australian cricket, well we are in trouble. [QUOTE]

Avg of 41.5 with the bat in ING Cup this year at better than a run a ball, and a bowling avg of 24.6. Don't see too much wrong with those figures.
Have a look at his overall statistics, especially his first class record. Not pretty reading.

[dan warna]

thornley's 260 stands out as a spectacular innings and is 1/3 of his career runs, and hopes goes ok as an OD bowler, but really neither are much chop and at 26 can only hope they dramatically improve. can't see a test future of either of them.

realistically whites numbers aren't that much better or worse, but they've shown improvement and at 21 he's on the up.

Thornley

age 26

FIRST-CLASS
(2003/04 - 2004/05; last updated 12/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 12 20 2 874 261* 48.55 2 5 10 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 109 34 325 7 46.42 3-52 0 0 93.4 2.98


LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(2001/02 - 2004/05; last updated 12/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 34 31 3 664 78 23.71 64.40 0 4 16 0

O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 155.4 4 775 21 36.90 3-32 0 0 44.4 4.97


Hopes

age 26
FIRST-CLASS
(2001/02 - 2004/05; last updated 12/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 23 38 1 1026 111 27.72 2 4 12 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 536.4 157 1617 30 53.90 4-63 0 0 107.3 3.01

LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(2000/01 - 2004/05; last updated 11/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 45 35 4 756 73 24.38 83.25 0 3 14 0

O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 369.5 29 1619 66 24.53 5-29 3 1 33.6 4.37

[Blue Red and Gold]

I have no problem with the selectors ignoring the likes of Bevan maher etc for the future of the Australian side. This is great experience for the likes of the Taits, Hopes and Haddins.
Australia is a very powerful cricketing nation and this is not just by luck, this has been created through good cricketing managment through the Cricket Academy and these type of games.

On the subject though, Australia A's performances have been solid without being exceptional, doesnt really matter though these games are not about winning or losing, its about gaining valuable experience.

[pav_is_god]

michael Hussey: out of contention

based on what??

[cjwalkley]

I thought there were too many older players in the Australia A side. Guys like Wright, Hodge, Haddin etc. are known quantities, and while they are handy back ups for the main side, that is all they are. The A team should gamble a bit more on youth. The team I would have liked to see picked:

North
Hopes
M.Hussey
D.Hussey
Cosgrove
Philipson
White
Ronchi or Crosthwaite
Lee
Cullen
Tait
Dorey or Knowles

The view has to be on the future, and that should be the main reason for this team.

[dan warna]

based on what??

I said earlier:

m. hussey worked hard for his 70, but was scratchy the rest of the time, and lewis showed that he can be as effective as kaspa without being the next mcgrath.

I think d. hussey, Katich, lehmann, clarke, white, etc are all slipping ahead of M. hussey.

hussey would be ahead of hodge, thornley, north, hopes and a few others, but not really in contention for the next test spot.

[dan warna]

I thought there were too many older players in the Australia A side. Guys like Wright, Hodge, Haddin etc. are known quantities, and while they are handy back ups for the main side, that is all they are. The A team should gamble a bit more on youth. The team I would have liked to see picked:

North
Hopes
M.Hussey
D.Hussey
Cosgrove
Philipson
White
Ronchi or Crosthwaite
Lee
Cullen
Tait
Dorey or Knowles

The view has to be on the future, and that should be the main reason for this team.

michael hussey is the same age as hodge
jacques ahead of hopes (yeauch i can't believe I said that about a NSWer :p )
Lee is 29 (oh how the years have passed :eek: )

[larrikin]

I think d. hussey, Katich, lehmann, clarke, white, etc are all slipping ahead of M. hussey.

Clarke's in the test team, as is Lehmann, White's not a batsmen.

That leaves D Hussey (who has had a poor year so far) and Katich ahead of him for a batting spot. That's hardly out of contention..

[dan warna]

David Hussey

Career Statistics:
FIRST-CLASS
(2002/03 - 2004/05; last updated 12/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 36 52 6 2411 212* 52.41 11 6 37 0


LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(2001 - 2004/05; last updated 11/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 43 41 10 1378 128 44.45 3 5 17 0


admitedly this season so far in the pura cup averaging 26 and but in the ING cup he's averaging 60!!!

also he whacked a 120 odd that was almost as good as haddins, and backed it up with a 45, so I think he's really in contention for an ODI spot and a test spot ahead of michael hussey.

also if you take out his english form, his average drops to about 40, and frankly anyone who thinks county cricket is of the same stature as Pura/sheffield shield has rocks in their head.

[eddiesmith]

also he whacked a 120 odd that was almost as good as haddins, and backed it up with a 45, so I think he's really in contention for an ODI spot and a test spot ahead of michael hussey.



Husseys knock was better than Haddins. Haddin batted out the innings forming a few partnerships and that, but D.Hussey came in with the side in big trouble and saw them out of trouble and together with Snorely and then White saved Aus A and put them to a very respectable score well above what Healy thought our Victorian boys were capable of. D.Husseys innings was far better than Haddins.

A ODI spot should definately come, possibly on the Ashes tour as they are likely to play more players there as the ODI are before the Tests so they wont want to wear them out before the real stuff starts. A good performance in those matches could see him as 2nd backup batsman behind Katich for the tests

[Snickers]

Hauritz is a spastic!

[Vics Back to Back]

Thats a bit cruel to spastics to compare Hauritz to them.

[larrikin]

David Hussey

Career Statistics:
FIRST-CLASS
(2002/03 - 2004/05; last updated 12/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 36 52 6 2411 212* 52.41 11 6 37 0


LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(2001 - 2004/05; last updated 11/01/2005)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 43 41 10 1378 128 44.45 3 5 17 0


admitedly this season so far in the pura cup averaging 26 and but in the ING cup he's averaging 60!!!

also he whacked a 120 odd that was almost as good as haddins, and backed it up with a 45, so I think he's really in contention for an ODI spot and a test spot ahead of michael hussey.

also if you take out his english form, his average drops to about 40, and frankly anyone who thinks county cricket is of the same stature as Pura/sheffield shield has rocks in their head.
I'm not saying M.Hussey should be ahead of any of them, just that your argument didn't make a lot of sense...

[dan warna]

a few months ago hodge was on the edge of test selection with a tour to india and if things had been a bit different he could have had a shot, since then he's been solid, but his Australia A performance has close to finished him.

similarly elliot was given a repreive and failed with a 0 and 1, never to be looked up again I suspect.

Hussey's 70, coupled with his non performance in the other 3 games probably slips him down the order for contenders.

at 29/30 he'll be very very very lucky to get another shot at showing his wares to be lifted into contention.

ATM White is probably more likely to be selected as a middle order batter in the tests and ODI's ahead of hussey with 3 very good innings and a freak runout, PLUS he was the best Aus A fielder.

if you think White isn't a batsman you obviously didn't watch any of his innings.

he showed plenty of talent in the 4 games.