Ashes 2021/22

deanc

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Meanwhile England are saying “please pick him”…just like I hope they pick Bairstow and Buttler

Head just dismissed for 230..! Hear what you're saying Luke, but as a selector, this type of form is very hard to ignore...
 
Head just dismissed for 230..! Hear what you're saying Luke, but as a selector, this type of form is very hard to ignore...

He always does this and then the selectors keep picking the bloke at test level getting out the same way on repeat…

Can we not use this form too everyone is getting runs on these joke pitches
 

deanc

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I'd hope I can get with Margot Robbie, we both know neither will happen! Head is just the modern day Shaun Marsh, too good for Shield but a tease at test level. Reminds me of Graham Hick!

Margot Robbie - I've had to change my number 3 times, sending me nude selfies, borderline stalker, just wish she'd get on with her life..!

Hick was regaled as the next Bradman and at first class level lived up to this - has 1st class batting records that will probably not be surpassed in my lifetime...

I'm just hoping Head is our next Hayden, who also looked a bit lost at test level in his early days, then a few years later had a calendar year than even surpassed the great Don..!
 
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The Passenger

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Head just dismissed for 230..! Hear what you're saying Luke, but as a selector, this type of form is very hard to ignore...
If the first test was next weekend, Head would be - and absolutely should be - in that test team. There's still a little bit to go between now and the first test, but unless someone else who was on the fringe goes on an absolute heater or the wheels fall right off for Head, he has to get picked for the final middle order batting spot.

He's obviously on shaky ground, and I would like to say it's the last chance saloon for him... But at 27 and given our lack of batting depth he'll probably find himself to be in no worse of a position than hanging around the fringes till at least his early 30's, maybe even longer if our batting woes continue beyond circa 2025.

The consistent mantra to guys that get dropped is score runs in domestic cricket and you'll get another shot. And that's exactly what's happened here. Some players take advantage of it - e.g. Hayden, S Waugh, Clarke - and other don't - e.g. Wade, Burns.

I know he has failed against top class test opposition and so his 39 average might not look terrible but when you dive in a bit deeper you see it's actually skewed upwards a bit from what he has really given our batting line up... But with his current form you just can't ignore it, so you gotta hold your nose and hope he can replicate domestic form on the Ashes stage.
 
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The Passenger

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If we lose this series there will be a deep reckoning in Australian cricket. A vastly larger fallout than in the wake of the 2010/11 series.

The 06/07 team was a decent team that had just gone on a bit too long and ended up having huge interpersonal issues, chiefly because as good as player as Flintoff had been, he was never a captains arsehole. There was also a serious case of revenge on the minds of the Australian team after 2005. That was almost like a perfect storm that one.

The 13/14 team wasn't a great team but were expected to take home the Ashes because we were in a fair amount of disarray following our crappy tour of England six months prior. But like 06/07 they ended up having off field drama (even more as it transpired) and came up against a Johnson juggernaut that not even his biggest fans could have seen coming. Even when Johnson came on for that spell that lit up the Gabba test, he had 1/43 of 9 to start it and there was that feeling of same old Mitch bowling all the over shop.. He takes 3 wickets in 3 overs (amongst Lyon's almost always forgotten wickets with consecutive deliveries) and the entire mindset around that series changes in half an hour and never came back the other way. But Johnson was such a confidence player there's a genuine possibility if that spell never happens, the whole series could have gone in another direction.

Cricket is a funny game though and there's a long history of teams being written off only to walk away with a series victory, sometimes quite connivingly.

if you're taking the ~$6ish on offer of an English series win, you'd be no better than absolutely speculating.
 
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Snake Charmer

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Green who is a top order bat.

Pucovski to go in the middle order for a period of time.
Green who is a top order bat.

Pucovski to go in the middle order for a period of time.
id rather see Pucovski either open or play in that spot for the vics. We are very limited with middle order bat atm.
 
But Johnson was such a confidence player there's a genuine possibility if that spell never happens, the whole series could have gone in another direction.
Ohhk and if Michael Clarke was a poor tactician, he might not have used Johnson effectively. If Dennis Lillee didn't give sage advice, Johnson wouldn't have had the tools required to bounce back from an expensive spell. If Don Bradman didn't practice with a stump and a golf ball...

What sort of analysis is that. The series was never going another direction because that England team was full of pea hearts who were always going to crumble at the first whiff of adversity, no ifs about it.
 
id rather see Pucovski either open or play in that spot for the vics. We are very limited with middle order bat atm.

I’d like to ease Puc in a bit have him replace Warner eventually. Think Street can do a job and would solidify the middle order a bit. It’s really flaky with Head, Paine and Cummins has barely got a run in tests lately
 
Both already in the team in other spots so who comes in?

edit: sorry pucovski was injured…again and Harris opened

Street to open, Puc to 6. Harris is worse than Head. Can we not give England easy wickets.
 
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