Opinion Cricket thread

[SpiderBurton22]

I don't care if we cheat, I like to win.

Did you like Brett Lee?

Meh, Comparing Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhter for that matter to Murili. No contest, not in the same realm.

 

[RooBoyz24]

#Weareshit #Thatsallfolks #Howlongtillaflisback HAHA

 

[KiwiRoo]

Some bad luck on the DRS but nothing like the good luck of SA losing de Villiers and Steyn. Really disappointing fron Australia - or it would be if anyone had any expectations.

Smith has a lot to learn, and has nothing like the experienced support his predecessors enjoyed. Give him time. So many more issues than captaincy, starting with that fragile, unreliable batting lineup. And it's been over a decade out selectors have been searching for the Aussie Flintoff - can we please give up now and pick someone who either bats or bowls well enough to be selected on merit? Again we have someone who isn't good enough at either skill, but gets in because he's about as good at one as the other. Our top five doesn't give us the luxury of a number six who can't be relied on.

It's a fair old trough after so many outstanding champions. We have been spoiled, but surely there are better options than we are looking at.

Totally agree with your all rounder bit there H2H
You should only get selected as an all rounder if one of your skills on its own is enough to get you selected. eg Botham, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Flintoff, Hadlee were all good bowlers in their own right. Their batting was an absolute bonus

Think some of the criticism of Lyon is a bit over the top too. He's got 200 test wickets and is a good bowler. Who's the alternative if he doesn't play ?
He just looks a bit down in confidence to me.

 

[KiwiRoo]

Meh, Comparing Brett Lee or Shoaib Akhter for that matter to Murili. No contest, not in the same realm.

Akhter's arm was more bent than Roger Rogerson

Luckily for batsmen he was only good for 5 overs....in a day

 

[ViperR1]

Siddle should be axed for good.

Tries hard, good bloke etc etc, but can't have "pace" bowlers with little movement regularly at 120odd Ks.

It's time to move on. He can take Lyon and Voges with him.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Siddle should be axed for good.

Tries hard, good bloke etc etc, but can't have "pace" bowlers with little movement regularly at 120odd Ks.

It's time to move on. He can take Lyon and Voges with him.

Voges has apparently tweaked his hammy, so ferguson comes in and burns for marsh. Just need Maddison in for m marsh and we'll be set.

 

[ViperR1]

Voges has apparently tweaked his hammy, so ferguson comes in and burns for marsh. Just need Maddison in for m marsh and we'll be set.

I'm happy enough with those changes, but Siddle needs to go too. He's finished.

Need more firepower, can't just rely on Starc having a brilliant spell and/or Hazlewood toiling away.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I'm happy enough with those changes, but Siddle needs to go too. He's finished.

Need more firepower, can't just rely on Starc having a brilliant spell and Hazlewood toiling away.

Sayers for Siddle, done.

 

[ViperR1]

Sayers for Siddle, done.

Maybe. Mennie and Bird also options.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Maybe. Mennie and Bird also options.

Sayers is preferable, 11 wickets in a first class match, recent form is good form.

 

[Mr_Nyah]

Sayers is preferable, 11 wickets in a first class match, recent form is good form.

Not sold on Sayers, is as slow as Siddle, but swings it a little more. If he's another Praveen Kumar then I'm not interested. Behrendorff would be a great addition, he's got good accuracy, swings it, has really awkward bounce and has decent-ish pace. Although he's a left-armer, he adds a different element to Starc, and his footmarks would help Lyon actually turn a ball off the straight.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Not sold on Sayers, is as slow as Siddle, but swings it a little more. If he's another Praveen Kumar then I'm not interested. Behrendorff would be a great addition, he's got good accuracy, swings it, has really awkward bounce and has decent-ish pace. Although he's a left-armer, he adds a different element to Starc, and his footmarks would help Lyon actually turn a ball off the straight.

Fair enough, I don't watch a heap of first class cricket and look purely at the stats on cricinfo.

Bird would also be a decent enough choice and Behrendorff has always impressed me.

 

[Nate7]

Fair enough, I don't watch a heap of first class cricket and look purely at the stats on cricinfo.

Bird would also be a decent enough choice and Behrendorff has always impressed me.

Put it this way: Once upon a time the South Australian cricket team should have been relegated to something below first class cricket and yet they smashed Tasmania which says how bad Tasmania are.

Bird is crap, Sayers and Mennie are reasonable but not great.

You mentioned Behrendorf (sp?), who I hadn't thought of and he'd be a good inclusion, as would any of Bollinger, Boland, Stoinis.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Calling users of the Doosra cheats is just flat out wrong.

Plenty of cricketers have had their doosra tested and evaluated and given the all clear.

Just because Murali was a flat out god-tier cheat doesn't mean others should be tarred with the same brush.

 

[ViperR1]

Put it this way: Once upon a time the South Australian cricket team should have been relegated to something below first class cricket and yet they smashed Tasmania which says how bad Tasmania are.

Bird is crap, Sayers and Mennie are reasonable but not great.

You mentioned Behrendorf (sp?), who I hadn't thought of and he'd be a good inclusion, as would any of Bollinger, Boland, Stoinis.

25 wickets at Test level at 25avg.

228 at First Class level at 25avg.

Yep, he's crap.....

Then you mention Bollinger as a good inclusion who is 6 years older at 35 with a worse average at both test and first class level.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Put it this way: Once upon a time the South Australian cricket team should have been relegated to something below first class cricket and yet they smashed Tasmania which says how bad Tasmania are.

Bird is crap, Sayers and Mennie are reasonable but not great.

You mentioned Behrendorf (sp?), who I hadn't thought of and he'd be a good inclusion, as would any of Bollinger, Boland, Stoinis.

Stoinis for m marsh if we are going to persist with a bowling Allrounder type at 6.

 

[Nate7]

25 wickets at Test level at 25avg.

228 at First Class level at 25avg.

Yep, he's crap.....

Then you mention Bollinger as a good inclusion who is 6 years older at 35 with a worse average at both test and first class level.

Quite clearly you are thinking of the distant past as since then Bird has been atrocius (see Matador Cup and Shield games).
Bollinger has improved both his waywardness and speed (again see both domestic comps).

Stoinis for m marsh if we are going to persist with a bowling Allrounder type at 6.

Stoin has and can open both bowling and batting - what's not to love!

 

[muttley45]

Any chance we can get a leg spinner into the mix. or are all the candidates way off it ? i personally like Zampa and Boyce as prospects but not sure if they would cut the mustard at Test level.

 

[giantroo]

 

[spurs]

Not sold on Sayers, is as slow as Siddle, but swings it a little more. If he's another Praveen Kumar then I'm not interested. Behrendorff would be a great addition, he's got good accuracy, swings it, has really awkward bounce and has decent-ish pace. Although he's a left-armer, he adds a different element to Starc, and his footmarks would help Lyon actually turn a ball off the straight.

I've always been a huge fan of Behrendorff since moving here to Perth. He would be fantastic, but he's just coming back from injury, and the Scorchers are hoping he is fit enough to play KFC big bash. For me it's Mennie or Bird to come in for Siddle who is finished.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Any chance we can get a leg spinner into the mix. or are all the candidates way off it ? i personally like Zampa and Boyce as prospects but not sure if they would cut the mustard at Test level.

Leggies are way off it. People see Zampa bowling well in T20 but he'd get slaughtered in Test matches. Lyon is our best Test spinner by a mile.

 

[D23D]

Sayers is preferable, 11 wickets in a first class match, recent form is good form.

Sayers = The Leo

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Blokes I'd like to see into the Test arena very soon. Head, Stoinis, Handscomb, Maddinson.

Bloke's I don't want to see in the Test arena any time soon. Henriques, Holland, Voges

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Calling users of the Doosra cheats is just flat out wrong.

Plenty of cricketers have had their doosra tested and evaluated and given the all clear.

Just because Murali was a flat out god-tier cheat doesn't mean others should be tarred with the same brush.

Murali also passed testing, so I place no credence in the testing process.

 

[Mr_Nyah]

Probably not a popular opinion on here, but Stoinis is so over-rated in Victoria it's not funny. His stats are better than MMarsh, so in that sense he deserves a test more than MMarsh ever did or ever has, but he has less potential, is older, would face the same problems as MMarsh (both batting and bowling not good enough to be playing for Australia), and he's a pretty average bloke to boot. If you don't believe me, go and look at his ODI debut - horrendous.

There is no need for an all-rounder. The problem isn't that MMarsh is being picked as the all-rounder ahead of a more-deserving all-rounder. The problem is that we're trying to force something that doesn't exist. There is no all-rounder in Australia good enough to play at 6 in a test match. Pick the best batsman (my opinion is that that's Handscomb), and stop forcing something that isn't there. Smith and Warner should be bowling more, and more trust should be given to the spinner (I don't rate Lyon, but he's the best we have at the moment), which would mean we don't need an actual fifth bowler.

My team, given 100% availability:

Warner
Burns
Khawaja
Smith
Handscomb
Head (flyer, but has the talent and temperament, could backfire. Would offer a very decent spin-bowling option, at least as good as JP Duminy's bowling)
Wade/Neville (6 of one, half a dozen of the other, one can bat and can't keep, the other can't bat but can keep)
Starc
Hazlewood
Behrendorf (Pattinson would take his place if he ever got fit, but I've lost hope of that happening)
Lyon