View Full Version : We have missed the boat ..
Our problems are bigger than the s#%$t that Lee is sending down ..
McGrath, Warne and even Gillespie may not have a lot of time left. We need to have one or two young bowlers in there learning from them BEFORE they retire.
Australian cricket lost the plot 4 years ago when they had a chance to make openings for young players (batters and bowlers) to come in. The level of cricket below test level cannot be as good as the old sheffield shield used to be. Back then the test players used to also play Shield games and young players would be tested against the best. Now they get runs and wickets against much lesser opposition.
So we are going to have he double whammy. Players coming in who have not earned their performances against top quality, and the majority of the players who have been so great for us in the past, retiring all within a few years of us.
We will drop a lot. It may not look much on the world rankings, maybe down to third, but that is something that should have been much better managed than letting most of the team to play on until 33+
You could never run a business like that, you need to plan for today AND tomorrow.
Iscah
Bartram_Class
5 Aug 2005, 18:07
The Australian team of the past decade has possibly been the best team ever to play and it is a testament to the players that they have kept their standards up and they may be 33+ but they are still the best team in the world and the ACB arent going to break up a winning thing are they?
Also, there has been a few younger players coming through recently, Michael Clarke for one, theres huge raps on Shaun Tait as well and Brett Lee isnt old at all. I dont think there is the talent there to keep the Australian dominance going on for many years. The English thought Warney and McGrath were too old and past it at the start of this tour and they go out and take 16 wickets in the first test.
Our dominance of the game I think will only make the younger players on state level try even harder to get into the test side and once there, to do well and uphold the countrys honour. It might be that no team will be able to replicate the Aussie team of the past decade (see West Indies of now) but t was always going to happen eventually and I'm sure the ACB are looking at it but the current players arent losing their appetite for the game and we should be the happier for it.
Excellent points....my favorite hobby horse is to use dead Tests for the place to blood the new guys and get them involved. Sadly, there are not enough 3 or 4 day touring matches because of all the one day crap...give some rom to play youngsters in international matches.
There is still time...McGrath's injury should provide an opportunity for Tait, and the selectors would be crazy not to use it...but who else will be in the bowling attack in 4 years time? Cam White? Dan Cullen? Who comes through as a quick to partner Tait? Will (shudder) Lee still be figuring in the mix?
We need to get some Australia A tours going- almost making it an Under 25 type thing....give these guys an opportunity to play in the international arena...and at home.
skipper kelly
5 Aug 2005, 18:56
Our problems are bigger than the s#%$t that Lee is sending down ..
McGrath, Warne and even Gillespie may not have a lot of time left. We need to have one or two young bowlers in there learning from them BEFORE they retire.
Australian cricket lost the plot 4 years ago..........
I read up to here. :eek:
Why do we need to be sending out U25 tours... who'll probably only get to play against 2nd rate county/provincial teams. They'll only get experience on different types of wickets, but they'll get better experience against better batsmen playing Shield cricket at home.
The Skunk has shown that if you are good enough, you can make it in test cricket. If Tait, Wright, White, Rogers, North or whoever is good enough, they'll make it. Yes you'll get the odd McGill/Lehmann/Siddons/Law/Elliott who miss out due to someone else taking their spot, but as a whole, the best team is picked for each game. Some make the most of their opportunities (Langer and Martyn prime examples of excelling at their 2nd chances), others don't (Elliott).
I read up to here. :eek:
4 years ago was probably when the balance of 30 somethings became to high and we had a chance to plan for the future. Instead we hung on to players a bit too long, took on other players already in their very late 20s and early 30s and basically did not make best use of a great learning environment in which to introduce young players.
It does not mean these older players have not continued to perform well, but selectors are not there just to let players play out their own careers at their own pace, they have to plan for the future, make some hard decisions..
Bartram_Class
6 Aug 2005, 09:07
4 years ago was probably when the balance of 30 somethings became to high and we had a chance to plan for the future. Instead we hung on to players a bit too long, took on other players already in their very late 20s and early 30s and basically did not make best use of a great learning environment in which to introduce young players.
It does not mean these older players have not continued to perform well, but selectors are not there just to let players play out their own careers at their own pace, they have to plan for the future, make some hard decisions..
Thats like saying you'd drop Hird when he got to 30 for Monfries.
Thats like saying you'd drop Hird when he got to 30 for Monfries.
You obviously would not drop class like Hird/McGrath. But there have been other players who have been good but not 'greats'. They are the ones that the selectors need to think well can we change him for a young kid and maybe only lose a bit in the short term, but be investing in our future ...
Tim the Toolman
6 Aug 2005, 10:28
I thought I was reading the Lions threads again! :D