Changes For the sydney test

[Jimthegreat]

With Harris out for a while with a stress fracture of the ankle I need a new side.

Decided to keep Hughes. May as well persist with youngsters plus it's his home deck. Felt sorry for him today trying to play for his place.

Watson
Hughes
Marsh
D.Hussey
M.Hussey
White (c)
Haddin (vc)
Smith
Siddle
Copeland
Bollinger

Have White ahead of Khawaja as we need a captain and I think D.Hussey stiffens the batting order given we can still tie the series. Tied series would be a good result. Johnson has to learn one Test isn't good enough to perform in. We see that too often to our cost, playing playing crap then turning it on for an innings when their spot is in question, only to return to their old form again after they're picked. Enough! Enough of out of form players.

 

[Blue Dimension]

By dropping the 21 year old bloke with two test centuries to his name and opening with a guy that's never opened an innings of FC cricket in his life?

Paine actually did open for Tassie a couple of seasons ago but struggled big time.

Still, should be nowhere near the Test side for mine. Haddin is much better and Paine's not good enough to be playing as a batsman.

 

[Bomber Bears]

I think Paine is a very over rated player, but apparently has a good attitude within the camp

 

[Cleavy]

Paine actually did open for Tassie a couple of seasons ago but struggled big time.

to be fair, Watson struggled big time as an opener for Qld.

 

[tombomb]

I think those people who are saying clarke should be dropped are throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Ive always thought Clarke looks suited to batting at 5 or 6, not in the top 4. I can't stand him as much as the next bloke, but the fact is that he averages almost 50 and is under 30. Further to this, i dont think he has displayed any technical deficincies as captain.

I think we need wholesales changes of the over 30s

Hughes
Marsh
Khawaja
Watson
White (vc)
Clarke (c)
Paine
Johnson
Hauritz
Siddle
Bollinger

Ferguson/Smith on the fringe

 

[Koch]

Watson
Hughes
Khawaja
Hussey
White/Clarke
Smith
Paine
Hauritz
Johnson
Siddle
Copeland

 

[mediumsizered]

LOL.

Weren't you once the biggest campaigner for McGain's selection at Test level on here?

If I remember it rightly, you used to bang on and on about him being undoubtedly the best spinner who could be picked for Australia. You used to emphasise how economical he would be at international level too, I think!

I don't agree with Boyce being picked.

But come off it - you're about the last person who should be posing as an authority on selecting spinners. Or talking about whether certain leg spinners are "ready for Test cricket".

Unless you have conveniently developed amnesia since then?

At the time McGain was the best leg spinner in the Shield competition (a sad indictment on the lack of quality spinners in Australia's domestic competition, a situation which still remains to this day). Yes he failed miserably at Test level. The South Africans went after him & rendered him useless, but he was still a better leg spinner at the time than any other Australian leg spinner playing in the Shield at that time.

If I was like you perhaps I could pull out all the posts from posters who determined that Shane Watson would never be up to Test cricket, even those as recent as the last 12 months. Could be embarrassing for some, but then I'm not like you (thank goodness for that).

 

[Blue Dimension]

to be fair, Watson struggled big time as an opener for Qld.

Yep, granted. But obviously Watson is the exception rather than the rule. And don't think Paine is up to the standard to play as a batsman.

 

[The_Reaper]

Can anyone tell me why White should be selected?

His shield record with that the bat this season is worse than Smith.

I don't see how its possible for some to complain about Smith's selection whilst advocating White's.

 

[mewquietachiever]

By dropping the 21 year old bloke with two test centuries to his name and opening with a guy that's never opened an innings of FC cricket in his life?

mmm yes 2 centuries in the same test 18 months ago,since then?,i like hughes but i have seen guys like blewett,phillips etc come in star and then not correct defaults and career crashes... i hope i;m wrong

i liked paines 90 and 50 in india,especially the 90 it was a real tradesman type innings,head down and grind,god knows we need this at the minute,he has a one day 100 as opener,yeah i know different game but i think he has the technique.........

 

[Damon_3388]

Would like to see Monty Panesar get a run in the 5th test, and not just do laps around the boundry

Do you think he'd play for us if we offered him a game? Lulz jks, we've already got a spinner with just as good an International record, yet we don't play him.

 

[Jimthegreat]

Can anyone tell me why White should be selected?

His shield record with that the bat this season is worse than Smith.

I don't see how its possible for some to complain about Smith's selection whilst advocating White's.

If we dumped Ponting and Clarke we'd need a captain. Good captains are worth their weight in gold many times over.

 

[SebastianVettel]

Time to move on and look to the future. Ponting has to be given an opportunity to jump, if not, push him. It's embarrassing to see what a once great player has become.

Clarke. Awful form. For someone who is a senior player to consistently get out in the situations he does is a joke. Sick of it. Go make some runs in the Shield and earn your spot back.

Should stick with Hughes and Smith. They're very talented players, but it's really difficult for them to have walked into the situation they have. No use picking young players and dropping them after a couple of games when it's the senior players that are the main culprits. They need time and opportunity. Both of them looked pretty good today.

This team is rudderless. I have some concerns over White's technique at test level, but it's not awful, and it's not like he's keeping out a vastly superior player. They don't exist. He's a decent middle order bat, and a very sharp captain. I think he'd do pretty well.

Khawaja is the best young batsman in the country. Probably should have been playing from Brisbane onwards anyway. He comes in as well.

The whole farcical selection of Beer was unreal. Send him back to state level where he belongs and tell him to come back when he's actually done something better than 16 wickets @ 40 odd. O'Keefe and Hauritz would both be better selections.

Hilfenhaus is as unthreatening as they come. He joins Harris on the sidelines, and how long can they ignore Copelands form and figures?

For Sydney I'd go with:

Watson
Hughes
Khawaja
Hussey (vc)
White (c)
Smith
Haddin
O'Keefe
Johnson (but on thin ice)
Siddle
Copeland

and start looking towards rebuilding the absolute joke that the team has become.

 

[big_e]

A dead rubber is the perfect chance to drop someone like Clarke and for Ponting to finally put the team ahead of himself.

Won't be a dead rubber. We can still draw the series.

 

[Flawed Genius]

Won't be a dead rubber. We can still draw the series.

= England retain ashes

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Well considering Ferguson was in the extended squad for the first test, and Marsh wasn't, then I think it explains itself. Marsh needs to bat in the top 3, and I would much prefer Khawaja and Hughes up there.

Marsh has been better this year, is more consistent and has a better technique.

129, 12, 36, 14, 131, 0, 15

That's Ferguson this season (and it's easily the best of his career so far). Looks a lot like North to me.

 

[Jimthegreat]

= England retain ashes

It's still a series, Ashes or not and a tie is a tie. England will NOT be happy if they don't win the series, Ashes or not.

 

[acuguy]

The selectors need to be thinking about India in Australia next year. We need to pick a team for that series now and then bloody stick with it through the good and the bad. We can handle inconsistency from a young team that is developing. We need to get back to doing the basics right ie. fielding and running between the wickets. For me the team for Sydney looks like this

Hughes
Watson
Ponting (farewell match)
Kwalaja
Hussey
Ferguson
Haddin
Smith (will bowl more in tests cricket than playing shield)
Johnson
Siddle
Pattinson

Haddin is then made test Captain for the next upcoming tour. Hussey moves to number 3, Ferguson shuffles up to 5 and Lynn comes into bat at 6. Johnson must provide more consistency, looking to get Hazlewood into that team as soon as he is fit and firing.

It is time for the selectors to be bold! With that team we I would be willing to accept the initial pain of the next 12 months to 2 years!

 

[Coledinho]

Won't be a dead rubber. We can still draw the series.

Or the "have a dance with your sister" consolation prize

 

[The_Reaper]

If we dumped Ponting and Clarke we'd need a captain. Good captains are worth their weight in gold many times over.

He's also averaging 28 this season

 

[GameOver]

Won't be a dead rubber. We can still draw the series.

A drawn series still means England retain the Ashes, so effectively it's a lost series... Need to start rebuilding the team and this would be the perfect opportunity to both give others a go and give some of the senior players a rest... Start breeding for the future, the series is effectively over and a win would mean nothing as a drawn home series is worth very little

 

[The Passenger]

i garuantee you we'll make minimal changes.

the selectors have been stung by the critisicm they aren't backing younger players.

that's well and good, but if they had've picked younger guys who were in good form in the shield than that policy would be much better. hughes and smith were not in great form, and unsuprisingly both have carried that form into the test team.

if they had've picked khawaja and either ferguson, marsh or d hussey (the latter seems to have his cards marked which is wrong IMO), then i think you would've seen the public happy to give them the final three tests to prove their worth, and probably even the pre-summer tour tests (depending on the teams results as wins make people happier to carry underpforming players. and if d hussey was picked for the third test and failed in the final three tests he would've been gone for good).

but that's not the way the went. in the immediate aftermath of last summer summer hughes, smith and khawaja were the three standout batsmen in line for a test spot. but the selectors don't seem to change their thinking in terms of who's in form and who's not in form when they started making changes to the batting line-up two weeks ago.

 

[beez]

I'm not saying it should happen, but I wonder if playing Ponting and Clarke at 5 and 6 would make a difference. Obvious problem is finding the right guys to bat at 3 and 4.

 

[caboose]

At the time McGain was the best leg spinner in the Shield competition (a sad indictment on the lack of quality spinners in Australia's domestic competition, a situation which still remains to this day). Yes he failed miserably at Test level. The South Africans went after him & rendered him useless, but he was still a better leg spinner at the time than any other Australian leg spinner playing in the Shield at that time.

You have missed the point. If you're prepared to get stuck into another poster for what you assert is a basic lack of understanding about who should and shouldn't get picked for Australia as a spinner, then it's perfectly fair to raise some of your own history.

McGain should never have been picked for Australia, plain and simple. He was too old, didn't have sufficient state form to back him up, and simply wasn't good enough.

Most judges with any clue about cricket knew that.

It is also a serious black mark against all of those who didn't. Although, in some cases, I'm sure it was more to do with where he came from - and they simply hoped he'd be good enough.

If I was like you perhaps I could pull out all the posts from posters who determined that Shane Watson would never be up to Test cricket, even those as recent as the last 12 months. Could be embarrassing for some, but then I'm not like you (thank goodness for that).

I'm not sure whether the obvious conclusion from what you've written was deliberate on your part.

But, even if not, that's gutter posting from you, frankly.

I have never said any such thing about Watson. In fact, I was one of the few on this board who said the reverse.

That's seriously poor form to even attempt to create the opposite impression.

 

[Jimthegreat]

He's also averaging 28 this season

If he averages 36 but is an outstanding captain that more than makes up for the shortfall. Mike Brearley wasn't a great batsman for England 30 years ago but was such a good captain he turned around the entire team. Remember 1981? Cant knock top-line leadership. If Clarke and Ponting go we need a captain, pure and simple. A good one.