Australia v Sri Lanka; 2nd Test @ Manuka Oval Feb 1-5.

[bh90210fan]

Who else is there in Australia to rival them?

Locks are likely Warner, Smith and Head.

You’ve got the rest of the shield season and half a county season to decide the rest. Renshaw, Harris, Burns, Khawaja, Patterson, Labuschagne are all fighting it out for the last 3 spots, with Khawaja realistically more of a lock with the selectors out of the lot of them.

Then someone like a Stoinis, Pucovski or Smarsh will probably come into consideration if they pile on the runs.

 

[The Convert]

Dickwella trolling Khawaja about being like the Marsh brothers, that's brutal.

Brutal and beautiful!

 

[weetert]

Ok, so who else are we picking to go to England?

Squad:
Smith, Warner, Khawaja, Head, Patterson, Harris, Burns. Other than that we have to wait for the shield/practice games.

 

[Wedge McManus]

Starc and Lyon getting upset at dickwella talking earlier this morning but he's spot on boys. He is spot on with his comments. Lyon just shouldn't sledge anyway he looks like the missing link ....

 

[Len Nicodemo]

Squad:
Smith, Warner, Khawaja, Head, Patterson, Harris, Burns. Other than that we have to wait for the shield/practice games.

Really interested to see how Wade & Maxwell go

 

[Len Nicodemo]

Brutal and beautiful!

Gee that’s rough but seriously good sledging

 

[weetert]

Really interested to see how Wade & Maxwell go

Big Maxi fan but his papers seem to have been stamped also he will be OS I think

 

[Richard Pryor]

Big Maxi fan but his papers seem to have been stamped also he will be OS I think

Think Wade seems to have been exiled as well, the bizarre "He doesn't bat high enough in the order and Paine is the keeper" thing reeks of an excuse more than the actual reason.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Big Maxi fan but his papers seem to have been stamped also he will be OS I think

Yep ODI series vs India over there. Don’t get me started on the scheduling.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Think Wade seems to have been exiled as well, the bizarre "He doesn't bat high enough in the order and Paine is the keeper" thing reeks of an excuse more than the actual reason.

It’s probably somewhat fair but this should have been communicated to Wade.

I don’t feel comfortable picking someone who is batting below Jake Doran domestically.

 

[PhatBoy]

Test rankings are not relative and despite being close to SL in the rankings we are a lot better-especially at home. This SL team is worse than the WI team that got cleaned up by the CA xi. Sure India hammered us but smarter reviews and no fat arse Finch means we win in Adelaide. KP and JB are not walk up starts. We (and England) have learned lately that picking batsmen based on performances against substandard test nations can have dire consequences. I cbf to go on about test rankings but the deficiencies of the system are well known.

Dry weather means India win in Sydney.

 

[The Convert]

Really interested to see how Wade & Maxwell go

They won't.

 

[weetert]

Think Wade seems to have been exiled as well, the bizarre "He doesn't bat high enough in the order and Paine is the keeper" thing reeks of an excuse more than the actual reason.

Last time he was selected his batting form was absolutely shit and it continued in the test arena. That along with the fact he had to keep probably deflated his numbers. He's been unlucky imo.

 

[weetert]

Dry weather means India win in Sydney.

Yeah as I said they hammered us

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

It’s probably somewhat fair but this should have been communicated to Wade.

I don’t feel comfortable picking someone who is batting below Jake Doran domestically.

Doesn't need to be communicated to Wade, that's how it's always been. You don't see number 6 or 7 batsmen promoted into the Test team. I've been saying all summer he should at least be batting ahead of Bailey, a player who will never wear the green baggy again.

 

[Moonwatcher]

96 would give Head a 50 average.

 

[Stax on the mill]

So many questions for England. The only locks are a Warner, Smith, Paine and Cummins. Hopefully Richo and I think Starc plays.

Makes the rest of the shield season interesting and I’m hanging out for the Aus v Aus A test in England more than the World Cup!

No room for Lyon? You’re a pretty hard taskmaster.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

No room for Lyon? You’re a pretty hard taskmaster.

The problem for Lyon is no way will the Poms be preparing anything that takes spin because their "spinners" are poop.

 

[Sproj]

Wanna give credit to the Aussie bowling attack. Starc hasn’t been bowling well all summer but I think Hazlewood has been the key to that problem.

Let me explain. Starc works well as an enforcer on the back of other bowlers being economical. When they are also good and take wickets as Cummins, Richardson do and Pattinson always has, Starc becomes even more dangerous.

When another bowler bowls rubbish as Hazlewood did in the India series and even SA during the debacle, players don’t feel as pressured to attack Starc.

Starc gets his wickets because teams think he is the pressure reliever, which he is too an extent, but that means they are trying to hit a guy at express pace and that millisecond or three less time they have results in edges, etc.

To be successful, Starc needs to Just bowl as fast as possible and not care about line and length as much as the other guys. Bowling him in short bursts (and at first change) is the way to use him.

These three paceman can win Australia the Ashes because they are built around the ever reliable Lyon as the backbone.

Of course, if fit Pattinson has that amazing ability to do both pressure building and enforcing, he’s in for sure as he is such a rare breed. Unfortunately, he’s never fit, so Starc is a fantastic secondary option.

 

[Gough]

Khawaja looks like he's having one of those innings that good batsmen can play where he's trying to bat himself back into form.

 

[PT Bar None]

The problem for Lyon is no way will the Poms be preparing anything that takes spin because their "spinners" are poop.

Unlike the last time (or was it the time before?) where we were demonstrably poop on slow, dusty turners so suddenly Old Trafford looked like Delhi

 

[The Convert]

Khwawja cover drive and pull shots are just classic when they are working. Just gorgeous

 

[PhatBoy]

The problem for Lyon is no way will the Poms be preparing anything that takes spin because their "spinners" are poop.

Mate their best bowler across the India and Sri Lanka series wins was arguably Moeen Ali with 30 wickets in 5 tests at 22. Even in the current series against the Windies he’s got 7 at 28.

At home his average is the same as Lyon’s career mark.

As much as Australians love to take the piss out of him (seemingly forgetting his 290 runs and 12 wickets last time England hosted Australia) and as absolutely disgusting as his batting has been lately, he somehow seems to do well at home.

 

[The Convert]

96 would give Head a 50 average.

500 runs. He is at 50 even if he gets out now

 

[LukeParkerno1]

The problem for Lyon is no way will the Poms be preparing anything that takes spin because their "spinners" are poop.

We’d made Moen Ali look like Shane Warne- never doubt how trash we are against straight breakers