Team for the 1st test Australia vs Sri lanka (Hobart)

[Scotland]

Has a test team ever had a top 6 where each batsman had opened the innings at least once?

Clarke is the only batsman in the side who hasn't been used as a test opener, and Hughes, Warner & Cowan have only ever played as openers.

How about:

Cowan
Watson
Hussey
Warner
Hughes
Clarke

LH/RH opening combination, dependable Hussey at 3, dependable Clarke the last dedicated batsman. Warner & Hughes at 4 & 5 don't fill me with confidence, but if we have Watson, Clarke & Hussey at 4/5/6 in whatever order the top order becomes predictable being all left handers and Cowan is the only one who looks reliable.

 

[Slax]

Uhh, don't want to alarm you but Cowan had a better series than Warner did.

Really it is the first decent series that i think he has had. Had an ordinary tour of the WI (admittedly Warner wasn't much better) and feel that he has really struggled to stamp his authority on the spot. The Sri Lanka series will give him a great opportunity to do this (along with Warner too) and hopefully the two can establish themselves at the top of the order. But I also see Hughes sitting there knocking on the door and if Quiney can go back and score runs in the SS he will likely tour India & Ashes.

 

[Hellgood]

Can't see why Hussey won't make the Ashes. He was comfortably our second best batsman in this series and performed very well in the first two tests. Whether he performs in the Ashes is another story, as he has been prone to slumps in recent years, but I would much rather see him striding out than Khawaja or Doolan when we are 4 for stuff all.

 

[TassieEagle]

Cowan
Warner
Hughes
Clarke
Hussey
Watson
Wade

Next cabs off the rank: Ussy, Doolan, Quiney

Hughes for Punter and then a little reshuffle of the batting line up, Clarke the only one who hasn't spent a chunk of time opening, which is a slight concern. Wade's half ton last test keeps the pressure slightly off him, but his glovework needs improving.

Starc
Siddle
Hilfy
Lyon
Johnson (12th)

Next cabs off the rank: Bird, Cutting

Starc deserves is spot with Pattinson out, Siddle will waltz back in, and I am inclined to think Hilfy (Why else would CA demand he miss the first Big Bash game?) Johnson will get the gig on the back of a decent performance at the WACA, but I'm still not convinced about him.

 

[i_hate_scams]

hussey will make it to the next two ashes on current form and will probably retire after that. ie what ponting wanted to do.

 

[FRUMPY]

If hughes comes in at no.3 as predicted by many, this will put some pressure on Warner and Cowan to perform.

Hughes is a natural opener and if he strikes form then cowan and warner must deliver. Especially if doolan continues his good form.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I think there is, yeah.

Ashes are, what, July next year? Hussey will still be a vital member of the team then.

Agreed. Barring a really drastic slump covering both the Sri Lanka and India series, Clarke and Hussey are the only two who can be considered Ashes bound. Maybe Siddle could be added to that. Everyone else's spot is up for grabs - but its really far oo early to be bothered about that, there are two Test series to win first (assuming the India tur goes ahead, as far as I can tell there is still no schedule and Test being postponed and cancelled is all too common these days).

 

[CumminsTomicFan]

Would love it if Hughes really has fixed his problem, but I very much doubt it.

 

[Belnakor]

starc was our best player in Perth

uh.... did you watch the Perth test?

 

[Gough]

At the moment our top order can do without batsmen that be described using adjectives like flashy or freakish, that's why I would have Khawaja over Hughes. His overall techniques is better than Hughes, I think Hughes is next in line, but right now they need someone who can build an innings.

 

[CumminsTomicFan]

At the moment our top order can do without batsmen that be described using adjectives like flashy or freakish, that's why I would have Khawaja over Hughes. His overall techniques is better than Hughes, I think Hughes is next in line, but right now they need someone who can build an innings.

Khawaja has not looked anywhere near like building an innings in his Test career.

Hughes is a flashy batsmen, but he is actually very good at building an innings. Knows how to get the big scores.

 

[amer]

I think there is, yeah.

Ashes are, what, July next year? Hussey will still be a vital member of the team then.

My first statement was the routine wanky BF bold-faced prediction, I'm obviously not certain in it

My concern is that at 37 you're walking a fine line in terms of how you scrutinise your form and how others do externally. I know he was our second best bat this series, but my gut is saying he'll be aware of the profile of the group relative to him, that he's the lone outlier, and he'll start thinking about how long he has left in the game. There was always an underlying kinship there between Huss and Punter being around the same age, now that's gone, I can't help but think he may consider it the right time should he struggle in either of the next two series before the Ashes. It may come suddenly. I hope not

 

[Gough]

Khawaja has not looked anywhere near like building an innings in his Test career.

Hughes is a flashy batsmen, but he is actually very good at building an innings. Knows how to get the big scores.

Khawaja got 138 against a decent Tasmanian attack at Bellerive earlier in the year in a match where nobody else managed to get 50. He has the talent.
Regardless of who gets the spot, I hope the selectors give them a decent run and a good chance to cement their spot.

 

[The_Reaper]

At the moment our top order can do without batsmen that be described using adjectives like flashy or freakish, that's why I would have Khawaja over Hughes. His overall techniques is better than Hughes, I think Hughes is next in line, but right now they need someone who can build an innings.

The fact that Khawaja's playing in the Chairmans game suggests that they have chosen Hughes. It's a pity because now Khawaja has to wait nearly 2 months to play another shield game.

 

[frankrizzo]

Outside of that one test in durban in 2009 hughes has been humbled by every half decent test quick* he's faced.

The english quicks will be praying he makes some runs vs the medium pace sri lankans so they can expose him yet again.


*and chris martin.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Outside of that one test in durban in 2009 hughes has been humbled by every half decent test quick* he's faced.

The english quicks will be praying he makes some runs vs the medium pace sri lankans so they can expose him yet again.


*and chris martin.

And who are the decent alternatives? It's not like Khawaja made the most of his chances.

Hughes is the best available.

 

[damochandler]

And who are the decent alternatives? It's not like Khawaja made the most of his chances.

Hughes is the best available.

i wouldn't call being called up as a replacement twice and then getting 2 two test series a real chance to stake his claim. he has same amount of centuries in shield cricket as hughes this yes and fewer runs

 

[Phone]

I truly believe usman is behind Hughes, Quiney and Doolan. he has issues in his game. he hasn't fixed them. i don't think he has been considered at all. even that ton in Hobart, his best innings, they would have liked to see a lot more singles. they would have liked to see a lot more runs scored off Butterworth and Bird, and through the off-side. He scored 23 boundaries, 96 of his 138 came from them. so taking out the balls that went to the fence, he scored 42 off 155. that's what they're worried about. you may think it's unfair to take out his boundaries, but the worry with Usman is, if he's facing bowlers who are discipled and tight, Usman gets stuck in a hole and doesn't score runs, he doesn't rotate the strike (as seen in the current SL tour match, 9* off 43 currently) and doesn't have a wide range of shots (btw, technique, along with lack of shots, he has got issues with left arm bowlers swinging the ball into him. messes up his front foot and makes him prone to LBW/bowled. as seen by Welagedara on the SL tour last year, and reaffirmed by Bollinger in his last game.). They know Usman can pull and can attack the weaker bowlers in the attack. It's when he's up against a discipled attack who bowl consistent line and length around off-stump they worry, 'cause Usman often responds with a 15 off 60. that's not building an innings, that's just not being good enough.

 

[The_Reaper]

I truly believe usman is behind Hughes, Quiney and Doolan. he has issues in his game. he hasn't fixed them. i don't think he has been considered at all. even that ton in Hobart, his best innings, they would have liked to see a lot more singles. they would have liked to see a lot more runs scored off Butterworth and Bird, and through the off-side. He scored 23 boundaries, 96 of his 138 came from them. so taking out the balls that went to the fence, he scored 42 off 155. that's what they're worried about. you may think it's unfair to take out his boundaries, but the worry with Usman is, if he's facing bowlers who are discipled and tight, Usman's is stuck in a hole and doesn't score runs, he doesn't rotate the strike (as seen in the current SL tour match, 9* off 43 currently) and doesn't have a wide range of shots (btw, technique, along with lack of shots, got issues with left arm bowlers swinging the ball into him. messes up his front feet and makes him prone to LBW/bowled. as seen by Welagedara on the SL tour last year, and reaffirmed by Bollinger in their last tour game.). They know Usman can pull and can attack the weaker bowlers in the attack. It's when he's up against a discipled attack who consistent line and length around off-stump they worry, 'cause Usman often responds with a 15 off 60. that's not building an innings, that's just not being good enough.

I agree with everything you've said about Khawaja but surely he has to be ahead of Quiney.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

i wouldn't call being called up as a replacement twice and then getting 2 two test series a real chance to stake his claim. he has same amount of centuries in shield cricket as hughes this yes and fewer runs

Please, he had 6 tests in total and averaged below 30 overall. While he didn't get that many chances he certainly didn't make the most of them.

 

[damochandler]

Please, he had 6 tests in total and averaged below 30 overall. While he didn't get that many chances he certainly didn't make the most of them.

neither has hughes if you base it on that. how many chance do you want to give him.

 

[frankrizzo]

I would still rather usman gets a second chance than hughes gets a third so so soon after his last flop.

Lets remember khawaja played most of his 6 test career on the most difficult pitches we faced in recent years and he still outperformed hughes in his last stint.

Hughes scored a ton on a dead track in sri lanka and still averaged only 24 in his last 10 test stint.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Hey it could be worse...it could be Quiney!

 

[CumminsTomicFan]

I truly believe usman is behind Hughes, Quiney and Doolan. he has issues in his game. he hasn't fixed them. i don't think he has been considered at all. even that ton in Hobart, his best innings, they would have liked to see a lot more singles. they would have liked to see a lot more runs scored off Butterworth and Bird, and through the off-side. He scored 23 boundaries, 96 of his 138 came from them. so taking out the balls that went to the fence, he scored 42 off 155. that's what they're worried about. you may think it's unfair to take out his boundaries, but the worry with Usman is, if he's facing bowlers who are discipled and tight, Usman gets stuck in a hole and doesn't score runs, he doesn't rotate the strike (as seen in the current SL tour match, 9* off 43 currently) and doesn't have a wide range of shots (btw, technique, along with lack of shots, he has got issues with left arm bowlers swinging the ball into him. messes up his front foot and makes him prone to LBW/bowled. as seen by Welagedara on the SL tour last year, and reaffirmed by Bollinger in his last game.). They know Usman can pull and can attack the weaker bowlers in the attack. It's when he's up against a discipled attack who bowl consistent line and length around off-stump they worry, 'cause Usman often responds with a 15 off 60. that's not building an innings, that's just not being good enough.

Yes well said.

I think Hughes' problem is half bad technique and half mental. If he toughens up and stops being so fidgety and nervous against the short ball, he can take that dismissal out of the equation even though he would still be limited in that area.

 

[The_Reaper]

neither has hughes if you base it on that. how many chance do you want to give him.

Hughes should have being persisted with the first time. But Johnson was bowling shit so they wanted Watson as cover for his bowling.

They then dropped Hughes and 'fixed' his technique and in the process completely buggered it up. He was then reselected for tests in the worst form of his life and promptly failed.