bird had a great season no doubt, but the tassie bowlers always take a little bit more convincing... butterworth has suffered this, faulker to an extent and bird a little bit too... the fact he spent a long time without getting too close to a sniff in NSW, and he also doesn't have a stand out attribute such as prodigious swing or pace adds a couple of other doubts too.... but if he finds himself in the top 5 wickettakers next season with a decent average (<25) he'll be a huge chance to be on the plan for the ashes.
NCN just hasn't been able to get on the park enough, but he finally did the season and had some good returns until the last couple of games. i dare suggest he's body was struggling in the same way pattinson was in the west indies. both are young injury prone bowlers who have had the most intensive seasons of their careers to date and they were showing signs of that. if not for injuries NCN would be well past 100 first class wickets, and probably not far off 150... has an action straight out of the top drawer too... good well paced run up, simple action, straight over the top, and sends them down at a fair clip.
NCN just hasn't been able to get on the park enough, but he finally did the season and had some good returns until the last couple of games. i dare suggest he's body was struggling in the same way pattinson was in the west indies. both are young injury prone bowlers who have had the most intensive seasons of their careers to date and they were showing signs of that. if not for injuries NCN would be well past 100 first class wickets, and probably not far off 150... has an action straight out of the top drawer too... good well paced run up, simple action, straight over the top, and sends them down at a fair clip.

