Ashes Squad Discussion (CLOSED)

[Theseventhhamster]

Turns out i only named 13 Hussey's granny is in.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Hussey's grandma is quite unlucky to miss

She's been rested by the high performance manager at the senior citizens residential resort to get her right for the spring bowls penant.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Ok, this might be a bit controversial, but here's my starting 11.

Cowan
Cosgrove
Rogers
Warner
Clarke
Smith
Wade
Pattinson
Siddle
Lyon
Bird

Cowan stays opening and Clarke goes back to his best position at 5. IMHO, Cosgrove is one of the better players going around the moment, is reasonably experienced and is a handy part-time bowler. Also has experience batting with Cowan.

Rogers is arguably the most experienced cricketer in Australia outside of the current team (bar perhaps D.Hussey and of course Ponting a M.Hussey). He has a career average of 50 and experience in English conditions. I don't care that he is 35... we should be picking the team to win.

Warner gets pushed down to 4. IMHO a good number four is a stroke maker that can build upon the foundation layed by the openers/no 3 (a la Mark Waugh). Also, this shields Warner a bit from the moving ball early on.

Smith goes to 6, based on his performance in India and his ability to handle Swann (and maybe Panesar).

The keeper and bowlers mostly pick themselves, though you could probably swap Bird for one of the reserve bowlers.

Ok, the rest of the squad, assuming they take 17;

Haddin - backup keeper (would probably prefer Hartley or Paine, but I suppose Haddin will do)
Hughes - backup opener. Not convinced about him, but I'd have him the squad
Bailey - backup middle order bat. Unlikely to actually be called upon, but would be good to have in the squad based on experience and leadership
Starc - Not convinced he is "there" yet, but a talent and worth sticking with
Harris - Assuming he stays fit, is one of our best bowlers and should enjoy the english conditions
Watson - Serves as a backup batsman and potential all-rounder option (assuming he is able to bowl). But I don't think his form justifies automatic inclusion in the starting 11.

It'd be nice to have guys like Doolan, Burns or Agar in the squad. But these guys are young and unproven and the England team is strong. We should be playing to win, not looking at it as a development tour. Besides, Agar will already be in England and can be called upon directly if required.

England should be an easier tour than India, but only marginally. If we take over a bunch of inexperienced kids with minimal track record, they are going to get thumped and thumped hard.

 

[Zgope1]

I actually think our batting positions 1-3 should be set as they can all only get better. Hughes has been back for 5 tests and has hit runs in 3 of them. Warner is a pretty consistent run scorer and Cowan has shown that he'll fight hard which we definitely lack. All three earnt their stripes and deserve to keep them. This is one thing that shouldn't change.

The only other imperatives for me is that
- we play a dangerous all rounder (as i said before, Faulkner) who is likely to hurt with the ball and capable of hurting with the bat
- our quicks are Bird, Siddle and Pattinson. We have to stop letting teams off the hook. This will make Lyon a much better bowler because he can bowl to batsmen under pressure.
- Clarke bats at 5. He's a middler order bat, good enough to get us out of serious trouble but seriously that's going to start happening less and less with the experience the top order is getting.

Other suggestions: Wade batting at 6, he's a very good bat imo and fights hard and at number 4 maybe blood another youngster when the time is right and when Watson has failed enough. Or Khawaja

 

[Kent_Kingsley]

Wade is a good batsman, but he's not that good that he should be batting at 6, i don't like it.
I would be tempted to play to our strengths and field a 4-man pace attack and 0 spinners but given the ability of Swann & Panesar I'm sure
the curators will make sure there's something in it for the slow bowlers.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Wade is a good batsman, but he's not that good that he should be batting at 6, i don't like it.

I guess it's not just about Wade, but also the others who may take the number 6 spot. Sadly, I think he's better than the alternatives at this stage.

 

[JR78]

Stop this fascination with having an all-rounder just for the sake of it. Henriques batted well in his 1st test but nations work you out quickly enough.
He is not a test standard bowler. He is not a test standard batsman.
Maxwell is not a test standard bowler or batsman.
Doherty is not a test standard bowler. Why pick him just because it's India and a turning pitch? Good quality fast bowling like we saw from Siddle and Starc at times is more threatening than sub standard spinners or medium pace all-rounders.
I wouldn't be looking at Mickey Athur. I would be looking at our captain at present.
He came home from a tour (New Zealand) because he was having a spat with a girl friend!! Not the birth of his child, not a family illness - but Lara was having a hissy fit.
Clarke is our best bat, granted. But when someone like Simon Katich cannot get along with you, you're in trouble.
He has brought tarts, tattoos & fast cars to the baggy green captaincy. There lies our real problem.
Pick our best 4 bowlers, our best 6 batsmen and our best gloveman.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Pick our best 4 bowlers, our best 6 batsmen and our best gloveman.

That post gains an official Cricket Australia stamp

 

[eth-dog]

He came home from a tour (New Zealand) because he was having a spat with a girl friend!! Not the birth of his child, not a family illness - but Lara was having a hissy fit.
Clarke is our best bat, granted. But when someone like Simon Katich cannot get along with you, you're in trouble.
He has brought tarts, tattoos & fast cars to the baggy green captaincy. There lies our real problem.

Who cares about something that happened how many years ago now? 4? 5? He's dumped her ass, grown up and is vastly more mature since that incident.

Translation: "WAH WAH WAH! I hat3z Clarke and he shud be f1red c0z hes 1mmature and stuff!'

 

[Underdog]

Pick our best 4 bowlers, our best 6 batsmen and our best gloveman.

That ideology does not work for the majority of team sports in the world. It's a pretty naive view.

 

[4evablues]

Cant stand chopping and changing. I reckon they will stick to a similar team and drop Henriques, Haddin and Doherty.

Patto and Wadey will be there and may take a chance on Johnson.

 

[4evablues]

Thoughts on Hilfy? May be handy in the English conditions. How has he gone over there in the past?

 

[shinboner spiggs]

IMHO, Cosgrove is one of the better players going around the moment, is reasonably experienced and is a handy part-time bowler.

 

[Kyptastic]

Thoughts on Hilfy? May be handy in the English conditions. How has he gone over there in the past?

Was our best bowler over there in the last series by far.

If he has a good Shield final he wouldn't be far off selection. You wouldn't think they'd take both Hilf and Bird though, given Patto, Sids and Starc are probably locks.

 

[placebo]

Clarke is our best bat, granted. But when someone like Simon Katich cannot get along with you, you're in trouble.
He has brought tarts, tattoos & fast cars to the baggy green captaincy. There lies our real problem.
Pick our best 4 bowlers, our best 6 batsmen and our best gloveman.

Lolza. Pathetic.

 

[4evablues]

Was our best bowler over there in the last series by far.

If he has a good Shield final he wouldn't be far off selection. You wouldn't think they'd take both Hilf and Bird though, given Patto, Sids and Starc are probably locks.

Good call!! Bird probably has the edge but you never know...if Hilfy has a great final and bowls Tassie to victory, worth a look at for the selectors.

 

[The Passenger]

[tin foil hat]

does anyone reckon there was a bit of sense that they didn't really want bird to succeed in his couple of tests?

i.e. he's not really much of a marketing prospect. he's pretty bland, pretty boring, can't bat.... starc on the other hand is sexy (in cricketing terms, certainly not his head) - he's tall, he's a left armer, he swings it, he's quick when he wants to be, can hit the ball like a cannon, came through the underage teams (as did bird before going off the radar for a few years) etc,. you can see starc on a weet bix box. can't really see bird there.

[/tin foil hat]

 

[DeeWong6996]

1. Cowan
2. Warner
3. Hughes
4. Watson
5. Clarke
6. Khawaja
7. Wade
8. Siddle
9. Pattinson
10. Starc
11. Lyon

12. Bird
13. Burns
14. Haddin
15. Johnson
16. Maxwell
17. Henriques

 

[Mateyman]

Stop this fascination with having an all-rounder just for the sake of it. Henriques batted well in his 1st test but nations work you out quickly enough.
He is not a test standard bowler. He is not a test standard batsman.
Maxwell is not a test standard bowler or batsman.
Doherty is not a test standard bowler. Why pick him just because it's India and a turning pitch? Good quality fast bowling like we saw from Siddle and Starc at times is more threatening than sub standard spinners or medium pace all-rounders.
I wouldn't be looking at Mickey Athur. I would be looking at our captain at present.
He came home from a tour (New Zealand) because he was having a spat with a girl friend!! Not the birth of his child, not a family illness - but Lara was having a hissy fit.
Clarke is our best bat, granted. But when someone like Simon Katich cannot get along with you, you're in trouble.
He has brought tarts, tattoos & fast cars to the baggy green captaincy. There lies our real problem.
Pick our best 4 bowlers, our best 6 batsmen and our best gloveman.

Don't blame all the selectors equally - of whom the specialist selectors have much more weight... it's Clarke fault...because I hate him

 

[JR78]

Who cares about something that happened how many years ago now? 4? 5? He's dumped her arse, grown up and is vastly more mature since that incident.

Translation: "WAH WAH WAH! I hat3z Clarke and he shud be f1red c0z hes 1mmature and stuff!'

Numbers in place of letters etc etc. Are we to take you seriously?

 

[JR78]

Don't blame all the selectors equally - of whom the specialist selectors have much more weight... it's Clarke fault...because I hate him

Didn't I place the blame on the selectors???? Did you actually read my comments?
No, not a fan of Clarke. Too many soft runs on featherbeds and goes missing when the team actually needs him to stand up. Prove me wrong

 

[eth-dog]

Numbers in place of letters etc etc. Are we to take you seriously?

You didn't answer my question.

Didn't I place the blame on the selectors???? Did you actually read my comments?
No, not a fan of Clarke. Too many soft runs on featherbeds and goes missing when the team actually needs him to stand up. Prove me wrong

Other than the times the past 2 seasons he's made runs when nobody else has?

 

[Mateyman]

Didn't I place the blame on the selectors???? Did you actually read my comments?

Yeah, I read them. Last time I checked, Mickey Arthur was a selector...

I wouldn't be looking at Mickey Athur. I would be looking at our captain at present.

No, not a fan of Clarke. Too many soft runs on featherbeds and goes missing when the team actually needs him to stand up. Prove me wrong

If his runs against India this tour, especially in the first 2 tests when nobody else stood up didn't convince you, nothing will. Anyway, I guess if you call runs against the best pace attack in the world "soft", then there's not that many ways he can meet your criteria

 

[Mateyman]

Should we make a "Clarke haters" thread? Because the haters could get their anger out without polluting all the other threads. FFS, on the cricket board, our version of Godwin's law is:
"As an online discussion on the cricket board grows longer, the probability of the issue in question being blamed on Clarke/ Clarke-hate fuelled comments approaches 1."

 

[madman]

1. Cowan
2. Warner
3. Hughes
4. Watson
5. Clarke
6. Khawaja
7. Wade
8. Siddle
9. Pattinson
10. Starc
11. Lyon

12. Bird
13. Burns
14. Haddin
15. Johnson
16. Maxwell
17. Henriques

That's pretty much my preferred line up although 8,9,10 would be Starc, Pattinson, Siddle.

I'm not sure about Burns in the squad though, when it comes to the Ashes I don't like people coming from the Shield debuting for Australia (unless they are quite anticipated), we need players that have played big games before.