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With all the talk being about Warners poor start i am a little surprised Khawaja has escaped scrutiny as well . I am also not convinced that Paine is as tactically
proactive as our bowlers have made him look this series . Its no surprise that neither team are ranked number 1 in test cricket ATM .
 
jhong said:
With all the talk being about Warners poor start i am a little surprised Khawaja has escaped scrutiny as well . I am also not convinced that Paine is as tactically
proactive as our bowlers have made him look this series . Its no surprise that neither team are ranked number 1 in test cricket ATM .
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Yeah, I think it still boils down to lack of alternatives. Usman is no Ricky Ponting at 3 but nobody has demanded the spot from him by weight of runs.

I also think Paine lacks a bit tactically but he’s still probably the best overall leader in Australia that you can put in the test side. The other state captains are Nevill, Khawaja, Head, Handscomb and Mitch Marsh. I thought Finch proved himself a good captain in the World Cup but he’s barely up to it at first class level as a batsman let alone tests.

If I had to pick another captain I’d choose Cummins but there’s a host of reasons why that would never happen.
 
Johnny Karate said:
I like Mr Burns and he has had some s**t luck in being in and out of the side. As an aside I think he’d be a better 5 or 6 than opener at test level but that’s just me. But realistically they’re not going to call him into the Ashes squad unless someone else is sent home. I felt he was a bit stiff to be left out of the squad but my reaction to it wasn’t a case of shock and ‘ZOMG NSW boyz club strikes again’. So Harris is the only other opening option unless Labuschagne, Khawaja or Head get put up the order.

There is theoretical depth with openers in Australia. I think Burns, Harris, Renshaw, Weatherald and Daniel Hughes all have the ability to make it at test level but I would like to see them make consistent runs at shield level and then take their opportunity when it comes in the test team.
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I'm not sold on Burns but then I'm not particularly sold on most of our batting options at the moment. For me, if Warner fails dreadfully again then he just has to go and Harris to replace him. If the drastic happens and Bancroft also badly fails then maybe both out and Khawaja promoted to opener and Smith back in. And my pass threshold isn't high at all, just get us 50 run opening partnerships and that would be enough on the current face of things.


jhong said:
With all the talk being about Warners poor start i am a little surprised Khawaja has escaped scrutiny as well . I am also not convinced that Paine is as tactically
proactive as our bowlers have made him look this series . Its no surprise that neither team are ranked number 1 in test cricket ATM .
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Luckily for him there's numerous greater failures. Warner and Bancroft's struggles are self explanatory and Wade has failed to get to double figures in three of his four innings. Khawaja has at least had a 30 and a 40 and I thought he'd looked pretty sharp in most of his innings, just without making the most of his form (mostly due to his lack of footwork technical deficiency of course).

Paine is captain pretty much because he's the only walk-up starter with leadership experience and no baggage. Head could well be the future captain if he can nail down in test spot.
 

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Klyntonius said:
I'm not sold on Burns but then I'm not particularly sold on most of our batting options at the moment. For me, if Warner fails dreadfully again then he just has to go and Harris to replace him. If the drastic happens and Bancroft also badly fails then maybe both out and Khawaja promoted to opener and Smith back in. And my pass threshold isn't high at all, just get us 50 run opening partnerships and that would be enough on the current face of things.
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Everything has a breaking point but I feel they’re going to back Warner in for a while yet. Reputation helps when form is elusive. Bancroft’s spot is more vulnerable in my opinion. However, they won’t pick Harris until they’re confident that he is a better alternative.

50 run partnerships are tricky to come by in England so I’ll settle for at least one of them digging in for an hour so to knock the shine off the ball.

But yeah, ultimately the batting is s**t and there aren’t any quick fixes or better alternatives out there.
 
Johnny Karate said:
Everything has a breaking point but I feel they’re going to back Warner in for a while yet. Reputation helps when form is elusive. Bancroft’s spot is more vulnerable in my opinion. However, they won’t pick Harris until they’re confident that he is a better alternative.

50 run partnerships are tricky to come by in England so I’ll settle for at least one of them digging in for an hour so to knock the shine off the ball.

But yeah, ultimately the batting is s**t and there aren’t any quick fixes or better alternatives out there.
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Oh i think Langer will give Warner every opportunity to turn his form around . FWIW we know Warner can bat , i think whatever is going on with him is in his head . Somehow they have to get some confidence back into Warners' head , maybe hypnotise him ( :cool: ) . i don't know ! .
 
Klyntonius said:
For how long?
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At least another Test, particularly with Smith being ruled out. Burns is a mediocre player at best - maybe Warner is in a slump and on the downhill slope, but Burns isn't the answer to any kind of batting question.
 
Johnny Karate said:
Everything has a breaking point but I feel they’re going to back Warner in for a while yet. Reputation helps when form is elusive. Bancroft’s spot is more vulnerable in my opinion. However, they won’t pick Harris until they’re confident that he is a better alternative.

50 run partnerships are tricky to come by in England so I’ll settle for at least one of them digging in for an hour so to knock the shine off the ball.

But yeah, ultimately the batting is s**t and there aren’t any quick fixes or better alternatives out there.
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jhong said:
Oh i think Langer will give Warner every opportunity to turn his form around . FWIW we know Warner can bat , i think whatever is going on with him is in his head . Somehow they have to get some confidence back into Warners' head , maybe hypnotise him ( :cool: ) . i don't know ! .
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Cannon82 said:
At least another Test, particularly with Smith being ruled out. Burns is a mediocre player at best - maybe Warner is in a slump and on the downhill slope, but Burns isn't the answer to any kind of batting question.
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Yeah, I definitely agree that Warner will and should get the next test but to me, if he fails again twice with the bat as he has in the first two tests then it's untenable to keep him in the team. His credits are toast in my view, gone up in smoke from his South Africa shenanigans. Whilst he's obviously capable of more, his test history on English soil - 10 tests for 0 hundreds - doesn't suggest an imminent turnaround in form is a given. Couple that with dropping catches, costing us vital wickets, and he's been a nett negative for us.
Bancroft, for as pox as he has been for us, has at least lasted a while to help blunt the attack a couple of times and fills the specialist short leg fielding position.
 
It seems the only change in the X1 ,apart from Labuschagne for Smith , will be in the bowling . Cummins and Siddle have bowled the most overs , and while Hazelwood was good in the first innings , not so good in the second . As the team won't be announced till the toss , good luck guessing which one is " rested" .
It also seems a sign of the times that after this test there is a county game followed by back to back tests again. I guess they had to cram the Ashes together like this to accommodate the World Cup.
 
jhong said:
It seems the only change in the X1 ,apart from Labuschagne for Smith , will be in the bowling . Cummins and Siddle have bowled the most overs , and while Hazelwood was good in the first innings , not so good in the second . As the team won't be announced till the toss , good luck guessing which one is " rested" .
It also seems a sign of the times that after this test there is a county game followed by back to back tests again. I guess they had to cram the Ashes together like this to accommodate the World Cup.
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It’d be ballsy to rest Cummins. Although would they potentially ‘tank’ this test and go hell for leather to get a win with Smith and Cummins back for the two?

Neither side is close to being the best in the world but this is looming as one of the better Ashes contests in a while.
 
Johnny Karate said:
It’d be ballsy to rest Cummins. Although would they potentially ‘tank’ this test and go hell for leather to get a win with Smith and Cummins back for the two?

Neither side is close to being the best in the world but this is looming as one of the better Ashes contests in a while.
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Its a risk whatever they decide . I don't know about "Tank" but at this stage i would take a draw as a win . Pattinson didn't do much wrong in the first test , and for me Starc is an each way proposition ,do you hope he doesn't gift too many runs early in exchange for his ability to clean up the tail . I am not as into Hazelwood as others any more as i feel his desire to bowl a lot quicker has taken away some other attributes that would make him far more dangerous on English wickets.
Meh what do i know , as this concept of rotating "quicks" in a test series is new to me , but i can also see why given the schedule .
Personally i think the key to this game is how we cope with Archers pace . Its tailor made for Warner to come out and go on the attack ( probably more wishful thinking than logical ) , because if we allow him(Archer) to intimidate us with his attack on the body , might as well kiss the Ashes goodbye .
 
The press are reporting 3 changes:
In: Harris, Labuschagne and Pattinson
Out: Bancroft, Smith and Siddle

It means Labuschagne is the only right handed batsman in the top 6. Clearly the selectors are backing Warner in and had concerns with Bancroft’s technique. Good luck to Harris, no pressure...
 
Johnny Karate said:
The press are reporting 3 changes:
In: Harris, Labuschagne and Pattinson
Out: Bancroft, Smith and Siddle

It means Labuschagne is the only right handed batsman in the top 6. Clearly the selectors are backing Warner in and had concerns with Bancroft’s technique. Good luck to Harris, no pressure...
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This is going to be " Interesting " .
 
Johnny Karate said:
The press are reporting 3 changes:
In: Harris, Labuschagne and Pattinson
Out: Bancroft, Smith and Siddle

It means Labuschagne is the only right handed batsman in the top 6. Clearly the selectors are backing Warner in and had concerns with Bancroft’s technique. Good luck to Harris, no pressure...
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Meanwhile the Poms go in unchanged and try to build some momentum... after the series, Australian selectors wonder why they struggled to get consistent performances out of the players after chopping and changing every match.
 

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Cannon82 said:
Meanwhile the Poms go in unchanged and try to build some momentum... after the series, Australian selectors wonder why they struggled to get consistent performances out of the players after chopping and changing every match.
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It sounds a lot but isn't too bad. One forced change, one bowler rotation, Bancroft the only unexpected.
 
Johnny Karate said:
It’d be ballsy to rest Cummins. Although would they potentially ‘tank’ this test and go hell for leather to get a win with Smith and Cummins back for the two?

Neither side is close to being the best in the world but this is looming as one of the better Ashes contests in a while.
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It's like a hobo's 2005.


jhong said:
Its a risk whatever they decide . I don't know about "Tank" but at this stage i would take a draw as a win . Pattinson didn't do much wrong in the first test , and for me Starc is an each way proposition ,do you hope he doesn't gift too many runs early in exchange for his ability to clean up the tail . I am not as into Hazelwood as others any more as i feel his desire to bowl a lot quicker has taken away some other attributes that would make him far more dangerous on English wickets.
Meh what do i know , as this concept of rotating "quicks" in a test series is new to me , but i can also see why given the schedule .
Personally i think the key to this game is how we cope with Archers pace . Its tailor made for Warner to come out and go on the attack ( probably more wishful thinking than logical ) , because if we allow him(Archer) to intimidate us with his attack on the body , might as well kiss the Ashes goodbye .
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I think the key to surviving Archer will be a consistent pitch. An up and down pitch, he'll be lethal (hopefully not literally).
 
Don’t like immediately calling rain after a wicket. Is or isn’t it raining? Call it.
 
Like the deck. Bit of movement and good carry. Nothing excessive, but our batsmen are all scraping the barrel for confidence. Broad giving Warner a good working over... although Broad is far too old to be carrying on like the pork chop he is.
 
Cannon82 said:
Like the deck. Bit of movement and good carry. Nothing excessive, but our batsmen are all scraping the barrel for confidence. Broad giving Warner a good working over... although Broad is far too old to be carrying on like the pork chop he is.
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It's good to see a battle between bat and ball. Just a shame the batsmen decided to bring bows and arrows to the fight when the bowlers have bazookas.
 
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