Bird is cooked

[The Passenger]

Smith has played much, much better in the Shield than Bailey in recent times. If you were going to send Smith home then you would at least replace him with Voges or something.

Don't really see what value Faulkner adds to the squad. Maxwell can bat at 6/7 and bowls spin. Our tail already bats long and if you want a specialist paceman then there's better choices (Butterworth for starters).

The worst thing they did to Smith was select him as an all-rounder; most people have no idea that his batting performances in the domestic competition have been incredibly good.

use of the words "much much better" and "incredibly good" are very liberal there. smith isn't even averaging 40 this season, nor hit a ton, and his second to last first class ton was in march 2010.

bailey hasn't had a great summer in the whites, given, but has been a long term solid performer on an ordinary track down in hobart, has shown that he is not afraid of the step up to international level with his performances in the ODI's, and their techniques aren't even on the same level. he should be breathing down the neck of watson, cowan and hughes and truth be told i'd have rathered him at number six for the first test but henriques has taken his shot and deserves the next few tests at least to hold his spot.

faulkner and butterworth are very similar players. i rate faulkner as a slightly better bowler. both are capable of holding their own at test level imo. i wouldn't be fussed with one over the other, and at least one should be in england. but i do rate JF's bowling just a bit higher, being younger has more scope to improve as well, and being a left armer is very handy. i can't say i'm too familiar with butterworth in the field, but faulkner is very good around the ground. when there was a thread of quick bowler ratings i think i had faulkner 4 and butterworth 6 from memory.

 

[Caesar]

I don't think it's overstating things to say that Smith has been much, much better than Bailey in the Shield recently. Mostly because Bailey has been so terrible.

Faulkner is a good young talent that is getting a lot of hype but Butterworth has been performing consistently at a high level in the Shield for a long time. I am sure Faulkner would be a great player in the future but comparing the two at this point in time is a no-brainer.

 

[The_Reaper]

Faulkner has performed very consistently over the past three years in shield.

Caesar
How much have you seen of Zampa?

 

[The Passenger]

averaging 25 from 5 games this season isn't great but that figure was 58 last season. (for bailey that is)

 

[Caesar]

Faulkner's been great, and he's got a bright future, but playing for the same side Butterworth has been consistently better - bowling more overs, more economically, and taking more wickets at a lower average.

Haven't seen Zampa play at all. I only really follow the Shield and I'm not even sure he's played a home match yet.

 

[TassieEagle]

faulkner and butterworth are very similar players. i rate faulkner as a slightly better bowler. both are capable of holding their own at test level imo. i wouldn't be fussed with one over the other, and at least one should be in england. but i do rate JF's bowling just a bit higher, being younger has more scope to improve as well, and being a left armer is very handy. i can't say i'm too familiar with butterworth in the field, but faulkner is very good around the ground. when there was a thread of quick bowler ratings i think i had faulkner 4 and butterworth 6 from memory.

I am not 100% certain but does spend time in the slip cordon which indicates pretty good hands at least.

 

[frankrizzo]

Guess this bird injury really didn't matter.

He took 11 wickets@16 to finish the home summer and still couldn't get a gig in a 4 man pace attack next match, his role on tour was net bowler and maybe he would have got a run in a dead rubber.

 

[TassieEagle]

Guess this bird injury really didn't matter.

He took 11 wickets@16 to finish the home summer and still couldn't get a gig in a 4 man pace attack next match, his role on tour was net bowler and maybe he would have got a run in a dead rubber.

Was forgotten about due to Starc and Johnson performing well in the ODI's if you ask me.

I would have gone into the first test with Patto, Siddle and Bird then Lyon and Maxwell (although with egg on my face now after Henriques performance)

 

[frankrizzo]

Was forgotten about due to Starc and Johnson performing well in the ODI's if you ask me.

No doubt about it, starc had the white ball on a string so they picked him for the test based on that.

You would think watching lee and johnson do far more with the white ball and then struggle right after with the red would have told them you don't pick test quicks based on white ball swing.

 

[Natho]

Poor birdy. Hope he's right for the poms

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The worst thing they did to Smith was select him as an all-rounder; most people have no idea that his batting performances in the domestic competition have been incredibly good.

And the point most people overlook is he is actually one of the better players of spin bowling in Australia.