Changes for the 3rd Test

[Art Vandelay_]

They don't pick players in form.

Utter bullshit Nakia.

Bailey, Doolan, Burns, Hastings, Quiney, Voges, Ferguson, Mennie all picked when they were in form.
Whether they are up to the rigours of test cricket is another matter entirely.

 

[Maddhew]

They don't pick players in form.

Yeah, but its not like its a flash in the pan either. 200+ wickets at 23 on Australia pitches (albeit SCG home track).

Better figures than MacGill

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Yeah, but its not like its a flash in the pan either. 200+ wickets at 23 on Australia pitches (albeit SCG home track).

Better figures than MacGill

As long as John Holland is nowhere near any Australian side. I don't mind O'Keefe.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

I've kind of given up for now.

They need to shunt Voges back to Shield but who his replacement should be is beyond me.

 

[Blue1980]

I'm not heaping the blame on him entirely but Christ, the talent level isn't this bad. Do they look like a team playing with purpose to you?

You probably wanted AB replaced in the mid 80s too

 

[Del165198]

voges is the worst player to average 67 ever

 

[southernswannies]

Seemingly four 'last cracks'

Warner - Yep
Burns - Simply cover until Marsh is back. Bancroft out of form.
Khawaja - Atleast some form in the context of the series
Smith - Yep
Voges/Ferguson - One will make it. You all know it..
Lehmann/Handscomb/White/Bailey - God I hope its not Lehmann as the medias spinning it. Will get ripped into if things go South in the Third Test and he'll cop the brunt of it. Handscomb the most likely, Whites stamped and Bailey doesn't really care getting selected. Still, would have him in India.
Nevill - He at least has a 50 out of the series. Again.. just seemingly blanks 30 balls in.
Starc - Yep
Hazlewood - Yep
Lyon - SOK would fare better but Lyon's got enough brownie points in the bank to play out the series. Doing SFA and honestly still getting the same results he did a couple years ago.
Bird - How rough can it get for this bloke if Sayers jumps ahead? Don't care if its at Adelaide; Birds next in line and will do more. Imagine if De Kock locked onto Chadd...

Who knows though? Having Ferg and Mennie in the second Test has thrown off any expectations for the squad.

 

[The_Reaper]

Jake Lehmann is now the most overrated player in the country.

 

[Blue1980]

voges is the worst player to average 67 ever

His average is down to 61 now

 

[Blue1980]

I look forward to cricket Australia instruction the most road like pitches in the history of pitches.

I mean like timeless test type stuff

 

[MAGA]

I look forward to cricket Australia instruction the most road like pitches in the history of pitches.

I mean like timeless test type stuff

Won't help us at all.

 

[eth-dog]

They don't pick players in form.

You whinge about this but don't want Holland, despite being 3rd on the wicket takers list?

 

[hawkman]

We all know there will probably be just 1 change. M.Marsh in for probably Voges

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Have decided to go with...

David Warner
Cameron Bancroft - can stick around and has guts - Langer always said 'character over cover drives'
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith (c)
Callum Ferguson
Peter Handscomb
Matthew Wade (+) - he brings grit and determination with the bat and can bat with the tail. Keeping not ideal but will have to deal.
Steve O'Keefe - solidifies the lower order and has an exceptional record
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Chadd Sayers - just ahead of Bird, would like to see him debut at his home ground

Not against Burns going to the middle order as some have suggested either.

 

[Sprout]

You probably wanted AB replaced in the mid 80s too

Smith is going to be the next AB now? Rightio.

He's got the grumpiness down pat at least.

 

[JackOutback]

Smith is going to be the next AB now? Rightio.

He's got the grumpiness down pat at least.

AB never looked that whiny.

 

[philreich]

voges is the worst player to average 67 ever

When the opponent isn't New Zealand or the West Indies, his average plummets to 20.5.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Philander and Rabada bowling under lights with a new pink ball

The night test experiment might be placed on the back burner shortly

I don't think I will need to work the half day on Monday...

 

[Johnny Karate]

Warner
Bancroft
Khawaja
Smith
Burns
Maxwell
Nevill
Starc
O'Keefe
Hazelwood
Bird

 

[jr4jane2004]

Warner(c)
Bancroft
Khawaja
Smith(vc)
Handscomb(wk)
Ferguson
Agar
Head/Okeefe
Starc
Hazelwood
Sayers

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Warner
Khawaja
Smith
Handscomb
Bailey
Ferguson
Nevill
Starc
Hazelwood
Lyon
Sayers

 

[The Passenger]

OUT - Burns, Voges, Mennie

Burns confidence is shot. Needs a spell in the shield for a while. Could still come back in his late 20's like a lot have done before him. Give him this and next season in shield and then revisit. Maybe come back earlier if he is plundering runs (ala Simon Katich before his reselection), but realistically needs a full season and a half in the shield.

Voges is just done. Did some good things at the start of his career albeit against a terrible Windies team and a NZ bowling attack that is good but completely misfired last summer on some very flat tracks. At his age the end can come very very quickly and the shot in the second innings in Hobart was on par with Brad Haddins brain fade with the score at 5/~15 against South Africa 5 years ago.

Mennie should not have been picked in the first place. At his pace he has got to do more with the ball. Got his test cap - a good reward for some good stuff in shield (helped by never ending injury list) but it's very hard to see him doing damage at test level with any sort of consistency. Familiarity with Adelaide may save him.

I can't see them dropping any more then three, and that is correct. More then a few chances is rarely good for a team.

PRESSSURE - Nevill, Lyon, Ferguson

Those under pressure - Nevill: Goes without saying. Average of low 20's for a keeper is not good enough. Can bat, but needs to show it. Ferguson: At 31 you don't get too many chances, but ideally we'd like to see him play out the home summer (5 tests to prove himself) unless it's just a complete disaster and he can barely scrape to 20 then we might have to cull him quicker. I'm a big a fan and hoping he comes good. One of the few who's technique should hold up in England and subcontinent conditions. Lyon - Not too long ago was a lock, but has had a disastrous few months. No idea what has happened to him.

SAFE - Warner, Smith, Starc, Hazlewood, Marsh (when fit) and Khawaja

Warner, Smith, Starc and Hazelwood are the only long term locks. Shaun Marsh (when fit) and Khawaja are locks for the medium term, but still a few question marks. Marsh (finally) looks like he might be in a position to answering those questions. Regardless of how well Khawaja is doing there is always going to be concerns over how well he will do in the subcontinent.

IN - Marsh/Bancroft, Handscomb, Bird

To come in. For the next test if Shaun Marsh is fit then he comes straight into opener. Unless I've missed something Marsh being fit is looking unlikely so Bancroft for mine. Not in a great form which hurts, but he's been on the fringes for about 2 years now. Has a decent technique and is a good foil for Warner.

In the middle order I'd bring in Handscomb. It's pretty tight between him and Patterson, but I think Handscomb just edges him having been a FC mainstay for a little bit longer, and he's a good player of spin so there is a definite eye to the Indian series. Patterson next cab off the rank.

The selectors may opt for an all rounder in which case Mitch Marsh will come back in. Like Burns I think he needs this season and next in shield cricket then reassess. But it's pretty clear he's either going to be in the team or very close to it. I think a year our of test cricket with about 10 games in the shield to work on his flaws away from limelight and the pressure could really do him wonders. I'd love to see James Faulkner given a go. Not the most aesthetically pleasing cricketer, but he gets results at every level he's played. Suffered a very untimely injury and it's also hard to pick him at #6 or #7 when our batting is so weak.

If the selectors bring back the all rounder for the rest of the summer and decide they should give Ferguson a chance to prove himself it may end up with Handscomb or Patterson (or someone else) getting a debut of fire in India. They'll definitely have that in the back of their minds because that is not ideal.

For the bowlers Jackson Bird or Chadd Sayers surely come in. Bird has shown he can match it at international level so he'd be my first choice. Sayers I feel could be about as effective as Mennie but swings it a lot more so he's got one big positive. Not sure on Siddle's fitness but he'll always be there or thereabouts and a handy enough guy to have around the squad. Excluding injured players my preference of quicks for the #3 spot would be Bird, Siddle, Sayers, Mennie.

Behrendorff would definitely be in that mix but give him a full season of shield first, and it goes without saying Pattinson and Cummins need some time in shield first (particularly Cummins).

What did Hussey average in first class cricket before he was selected. Getting selected averaging under 40 is ludicrous.

Hussey had a huge average in first class cricket from beating up County Cricketers when it was exceptionally weak. His overall shield average would've been in the low 40's at the time (potentially even lower). His shield record upon retirement was just over 8000 runs at 41. He had a big summer the season before he got selected, but his four prior to that were poor (three of them averaging in the 30's). What he did have however was a wealth of experience and a fantastic technique.

He averages a tad under 40 unless it's miraculously improved. He's an average batsman with too many flaws.

I'm going to assume you haven't seen much of Ferguson. Technically he is probably the best bat in the Australian FC system. Prodigiously talented as a youngster and talked up from about the age of 16. Don't think he handled the pressure and thus he had many years of under performing at shield level. In the last 3 to 4 seasons he has really come into his own at shield level. Dropping him after one test would be pretty counterproductive. Yeah he isn't the youngest, but at 31 a batsmen can easily carve out a 50+ test career if they are good enough.

Well there are a few but CA continue to look past them like picking the completely overrated Starc instead of one who has proven to be good in the conditions like Sayers

LOL overrated Starc? If he hasn't proved that he's come good then there's no hope there. I was a pretty vocal critique of his quick elevation, but he's doing the business now. 4.1 wickets per test (roughly equal to Imran Khan, Curtley Ambrose, Craig McDermott and in front of Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Anderson, Sean Pollock) at a tidy average of 27. But yeah *NSW NSW something something*, *fist pump*, *old man yells at clould* and other such jibberings.

Instead of critiquing everyone else's team then, put up your own XI

Dude, please.... Did you see who you were quoting? The cupboard is bare.

 

[Bradesmaen]

LOL overrated Starc? If he hasn't proved that he's come good then there's no hope there. I was a pretty vocal critique of his quick elevation, but he's doing the business now. 4.1 wickets per test (roughly equal to Imran Khan, Curtley Ambrose, Craig McDermott and in front of Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Anderson, Sean Pollock) at a tidy average of 27. But yeah *NSW NSW something something*, *fist pump*, *old man yells at clould* and other such jibberings.

So how's he doing against teams who can bat against pace? Ordinary? Yep. Might give you the odd burst of wickets but usually just picks up the cheapies at the end to pad his incredibly bad stats.

 

[The_Reaper]

Starc and Hazlewood would be the two players impossible to criticise in this lineup I would have though

 

[The Passenger]

So how's he doing against teams who can bat against pace? Ordinary? Yep. Might give you the odd burst of wickets but usually just picks up the cheapies at the end to pad his incredibly bad stats.

"incredibly bad stats" - averages 27. takes 4 wickets a test.

"cheapies at the end"

Wickets coming from the top 4 batsmen:
Glenn McGrath 50%
Mitchell Starc 47%
Dale Steyn 43%

Bottom 4 batsmen
McGrath 25%
Starc 29%
Steyn 31%

*Facts Facts*, *NSW NSW something something*