Australian Touring Squad for India

[yabsy]

Can't disagree with that but it's very disappointing this is becoming the norm. I remember around ten years ago popping in for the last session of WA vs South Africa. Doesn't happen anymore.

Yep, playing proper 4 day first class matches against full strength state sides before the first test of the summer. Those were the days...

 

[big_e]

Lmao an absolute green top against shithouse bowling. Wouldnt read too far into this game.


Carl's predictions and thoughts:

-Renshaw is going to be a walking wicket against the Indian spinners, predicting ashwin to get him every innings.
-Shaun Marsh should play every game he's fit.. He's easily one of the top 6 bats in the country.
-How tf is Uzzie, pakistani and can't play spin lel.
-Maxwell should get a gig at 6.. Don't bring back Mitch Marsh ffs he's useless. Play Maxy, keep Bird in the bowling lineup. But for some reason it won't happen despite him being the 3rd best bowler Australia has.
-O'Keefe is going to bowl his 20 overs an innings for f all wickets and f all runs. Waste of a selection.
-Wade to cost us a few drops and missed stumpings as per usual.
-Need to get Dizzy Gillespie on the phone to starc, hazlenut and bird.. Tell them what he did in 2004. Bowl top of off, hope for some inconsistent bounce an play for the bowleds/lbws

Usman Khawaja is Australian. This isn't the 1950s anymore, FFS.

 

[Carl Hooper]

Usman Khawaja is Australian. This isn't the 1950s anymore, FFS.

Relax, I'm sure Uzy would have a laff. Just like everone expects me to bowl like Malcolm Marshall being black and from the Americas.. We out here breaking barriers, I love Uzy. Cricket banter mayt, get around it.

 

[The_Reaper]

Relax, I'm sure Uzy would have a laff. Just like everone expects me to bowl like Malcolm Marshall being black and from the Americas.. We out here breaking barriers, I love Uzy. Cricket banter mayt, get around it.

but can you dunk?

 

[Carl Hooper]

but can you dunk?

I actually can lmao not bad for someone not even 6ft

 

[Doodlesweaver]

Can't disagree with that but it's very disappointing this is becoming the norm. I remember around ten years ago popping in for the last session of WA vs South Africa. Doesn't happen anymore.

When England were in Aus in 2013 for Johnson's Ashes, I was in Perth and saw the first day of their first tour match. Chris Lynn made mincemeat of the English attack. Then Mitch Marsh took Steve Finn to the cleaners. The 'WA' team was a very strange beast. It had young players from other states in it.

I have to say I've never seen anyone hit a ball over the fence as effortlessly as Marsh. Chris Gayle probably looks like that but I've never seen him live.

 

[rippersnipper]

Not sure why they've got it in their heads that they need to play two spinners when we only have one decent one. SOK shouldn't be anywhere near selection, it'll just play into india's hands.

 

[Skipper_]

Not sure why they've got it in their heads that they need to play two spinners when we only have one decent one. SOK shouldn't be anywhere near selection, it'll just play into india's hands.

Wouldn't be surprised if they play Swepson or Agar in the third or fourth test if Lyon or O'Keefe fail.

 

[Damon_3388]

Not sure why they've got it in their heads that they need to play two spinners when we only have one decent one. SOK shouldn't be anywhere near selection, it'll just play into india's hands.

He has far and away the best FC record of any spinner in Australia, has performed fairly well in unhelpful conditions in the Tests he's played so far, is basically a carbon copy of the highly successful Jadeja in terms of how he bowls, but he's doomed to fail on this tour, apparently

Wouldn't be surprised if they play Swepson or Agar in the third or fourth test if Lyon or O'Keefe fail.

Yuck.

 

[yabsy]

So no chance at all of playing the 3 specialist pace bowlers depending on pitch conditions?. Bird's been pretty tidy so far.

 

[Damon_3388]

So no chance at all of playing the 3 specialist pace bowlers depending on pitch conditions?. Bird's been pretty tidy so far.

3 pacemen/1 spinner, or 3 pacemen/2 spinners? Does the extra bowling strength offset the further dip in batting (when batting is and has always been our primary issue in India)?

 

[yabsy]

3 pacemen/1 spinner, or 3 pacemen/2 spinners? Does the extra bowling strength offset the further dip in batting (when batting is and has always been our primary issue in India)?

You're certainly right about the batting being the bigger issue. So it would have to be 3 pace/1 spin in that case. Tough choice what ever way you look at it.

 

[Demosthenes]

I don't think you necessarily have to learn it as a kid to succeed. Hayden wasn't that great at playing spin but then he had that famous practice session on turning wickets made up for him.

Hayden didn't ever really get good at playing spin in a conventional sense - i.e. he didn't fix his ingrained footwork problems etc. He basically just worked out that he could brute-force runs by planting his tree trunk halfway down the pitch and acting like a wheat thresher.

Fair play to him, it worked, but it's not going to work for the majority of batsmen.

 

[Gough]

Given Renshaw's Hayden like dimensions, he could be one of a few who could do it.

 

[Carl Hooper]

O'Keefe isn't better than bird tho.. Nowhere near.

Bird over O'Keefe with maxwell/smith the spin options.

Please don't gift Mitch a recall

 

[Damon_3388]

with maxwell/smith the spin options.

Well there's an automatic 4-5 runs an over for India from the get-go.

 

[Carl Hooper]

Well there's an automatic 4-5 runs an over for India from the get-go.

Yeah well they're only going to bowl a handful of overs to give the quicks a rest.

 

[JG22]

O'Keefe isn't better than bird tho.. Nowhere near.

Bird over O'Keefe with maxwell/smith the spin options.

Please don't gift Mitch a recall

Not a bad argument.

Bird really is a better bowler with record but just the conditions go against him.

While Maxwell averages 40 to Marshs 30 in shield cricket.

 

[JackOutback]

Smith rarely uses the fifth bowler anyway. Starc and Hazlewood open the bowling Bird and Lyon first change, Lyon bowls a few extra so Starc or Hazlewood change for Bird and juggle as necessary. Worst comes to worst, Smith bowls two or three overs. Might as well play to our strengths.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

Well there's an automatic 4-5 runs an over for India from the get-go.

Smith for sure. His leggies look beautiful when he lands them, but mostly he's all over the shop.

Maxwell is better than that.

 

[yabsy]

Smith rarely uses the fifth bowler anyway. Starc and Hazlewood open the bowling Bird and Lyon first change, Lyon bowls a few extra so Starc or Hazlewood change for Bird and juggle as necessary. Worst comes to worst, Smith bowls two or three overs. Might as well play to our strengths.

I like this too, for the first test anyway. So does Maxwell get the last batting berth over Khawaja?

 

[Damon_3388]

Not a bad argument.

Bird really is a better bowler with record but just the conditions go against him.

While Maxwell averages 40 to Marshs 30 in shield cricket.

For what it's worth, isolating their Sheffield Shield bowling:

Steve O'Keefe - 54 matches, 95 innings bowled (107.72 balls per innings), 24.30 average, 60.55 strike rate, 2.40 economy rate

Jackson Bird - 34 matches, 61 innings bowled (111.84 balls per innings), 20.63 average, 42.11 strike rate, 2.94 economy rate

Glenn Maxwell - 31 matches, 47 innings bowled (56.81 balls per innings), 38.48 average, 72.16 strike rate, 3.20 economy rate

Mitch Marsh - 36 matches, 39 innings bowled (72.21 balls per innings), 27.01 average, 48.55 strike rate, 3.33 economy rate

 

[Carl Hooper]

Just highlights how much Bird is better than the 4th best option in Australia.

And if you're going to show stats, include the most important stat of them all.. Wickets!!

 

[Damon_3388]

Smith for sure. His leggies look beautiful when he lands them, but mostly he's all over the shop.

Yeah, I'm not really enamored with how they look, I just care about their effectiveness.

Smith's last 100 FC overs (dates back to March 2014) - 47.27 average, 54.55 strike rate, 5.20 economy rate.

Even if it is only for a few odd overs, I'm not sure we can afford to concede the runs (given that we might not have many for the bowlers to play with) in the hope that their batsmen (who are the best in the world at playing spin) will make a mistake or get impatient and miss-hit one of Smith's pies.

 

[Damon_3388]

And if you're going to show stats, include the most important stat of them all.. Wickets!!

Totals aren't really an effective measure of anything when there's such a variance between games played and balls bowled.