Ongoing Test match XI speculation thread.

[The Passenger]

Hard to see Burns getting picked for the next test. He's the cricket tragic's cricketer. From the way I've seen him talk about the game I'd dare suggest if he wasn't a professional he'd be in forums like these pulling up lists from CricInfo's statsguru for all to read. For that reason alone I think most people wanted him to succeed, but he has been found out at test level. A good solid state level cricketer, which means he can certainly play the game, but being a consistent performer at test level is a step too far.

His inclination to have a little prod outside the off stump early in his innings was identified as a serious issue from his earliest days playing shield cricket for Queensland. We are nearly a full decade on and the issue still persists so it's not going to be resolved. Unfortunately it's one of the most crippling issues a batsmen can have in their game because bowlers at test level will just exploit time and time again, which is more or less what has happened with Burns.

He's 31 now, had 23 tests across a few different stints since 2014 so plenty of chances to cement his spot and he never has done so - it's hard to see him getting another opportunity to be honest.

If one of Warner or Pucovski are fit, they'll come in for Burns. If both are fit it will be a very interesting selection battle. I'm certain Puc will make his debut once ready and in this case I think it will be at the expense of Head who is struggling a bit (with Wade moving back into a middle order role). If neither Warner or Puc are fit, then Harris will come in for Burns. Not that I expect much from Harris, but something different needs to be tried at the top of the order.

 

[Fat Nyfe]

The lineup is dead average right now so don’t mind making a couple of changes.
We were unchanged for the first 2 tests so everyone had good opportunities.

In: Warner, Pucovski
Out: Burns, Head

Warner
Pucovski
Smith
Labuschagne
Wade
Green

Warner and Puc are our best opening options and they’re both available. Don’t worry about a steady transition, cotton wool or anything like that, get them in.
I prefer Smith at 3. Give him the authority ahead of Lab.
Wade has earned his keep for now but drop him to 5 which is a better position for him. Green shown enough to persist with.

Burns out, not quite with a line through his name but would need an absolute mountain of runs at FC level to be considered again IMO.

Head shouldn’t be out of the international frame but his performance has been frustrating and middling and he has some clear flaws. Players far better than him have been dropped, he needs to work his way back in.

 

[Sonny Hayes]

The lineup is dead average right now so don’t mind making a couple of changes.
We were unchanged for the first 2 tests so everyone had good opportunities.

In: Warner, Pucovski
Out: Burns, Head

Warner
Pucovski
Smith
Labuschagne
Wade
Green

Warner and Puc are our best opening options and they’re both available. Don’t worry about a steady transition, cotton wool or anything like that, get them in.
I prefer Smith at 3. Give him the authority ahead of Lab.
Wade has earned his keep for now but drop him to 5 which is a better position for him. Green shown enough to persist with.

Burns out, not quite with a line through his name but would need an absolute mountain of runs at FC level to be considered again IMO.

Head shouldn’t be out of the international frame but his performance has been frustrating and middling and he has some clear flaws. Players far better than him have been dropped, he needs to work his way back in.

Agree with most of this although not sure what the reason is to swap Smith and Marnus

Smith averages slightly more at 4 (very slight but still more)
Marnus averages a ton more at 3 (small sample size)

See no reason to move either of those two at the moment.

100% agree on Head, i am not putting a line through him but he HAS to go. His numbers are seriously average and are really inflated due to the Sri Lanka series. Not to mention he has shown to consistently fall the same way. Wade deserves the middle order spot over him once the openers are back.

 

[Belnakor]

Maddo should be an option too. He's gone up a few levels down here

he went down to the sewer based on his Australia A performance.

 

[Woody15]

Agree with most of this although not sure what the reason is to swap Smith and Marnus

Smith averages slightly more at 4 (very slight but still more)
Marnus averages a ton more at 3 (small sample size)

See no reason to move either of those two at the moment.

100% agree on Head, i am not putting a line through him but he HAS to go. His numbers are seriously average and are really inflated due to the Sri Lanka series. Not to mention he has shown to consistently fall the same way. Wade deserves the middle order spot over him once the openers are back.

Yeh Ive seen this mentioned a couple of times and I see no reason for it either. Especially considering the possibility of a double change to the opening pair.

 

[Great8]

I’d love to see Pucovski play but not sure he is ready. Bumrah could seriously end his career

 

[Pippen94]

Ppl suggesting Pucovski is great savior - hasn't played a test yet

 

[Scotland]

Pucovski will be as much of a saviour as Green, who while not overwhelmed has made 68 runs in 3 innings.

 

[JackOutback]

Pucovski will be as much of a saviour as Green, who while not overwhelmed has made 68 runs in 3 innings.

Green’s not a saviour but he has showed he belongs. Took some quality bowling to remove him in his first two innings, improved again in his third. Plus there’s his bowling. If he gets dropped at some point, it’s not the end of the world, but right now I’d have ahead of Head and Wade.

 

[Belnakor]

I’d love to see Pucovski play but not sure he is ready. Bumrah could seriously end his career

puc is still young project player. I’d be warehousing him for a weaker team if possible. Getting him a taste vs say WI or SL would be nice.

 

[Scotland]

Green’s not a saviour but he has showed he belongs. Took some quality bowling to remove him in his first two innings, improved again in his third. Plus there’s his bowling. If he gets dropped at some point, it’s not the end of the world, but right now I’d have ahead of Head and Wade.

Hence I said not overwhelmed. Green averages 50 with the bat and low 20s with the ball in FC cricket at 21 years old. Long term if he could average 45-50 with the bat and 30 something with the ball I think that's a realistic ceiling. But I'm not expecting him to just walk into the team at 21 and make 100s and take 5fers.

 

[eddiesmith]

Burns will be spewing if he’s dropped for the Hume freeway test. But Davey gets a chance to look a hero on his favourite pitch

600 is the average score batting first in Sydney lately so big toss to win

 

[to1994]

We need to be very realistic when it comes to young talent learning their trade at Test level as opposed to FC level.

In a perfect world guys like Green/Pucovski would dominate FC cricket over multiple years and push ahead of older players who are still doing pretty well.

The reality is we're going to them because everyone else appears to be a dud and they're still going to have to find their feet having not fully developed yet.

Sure, someone like Pucovski might have a dream start, but other young talents like Joe Root and Williamson took a fair bit of time to get going properly and chances are it'll be the same for him. In selecting him you have to accept he's unlikely to have immediate results and you'll reap the rewards of blooding him in a year or two.

 

[to1994]

Hence I said not overwhelmed. Green averages 50 with the bat and low 20s with the ball in FC cricket at 21 years old. Long term if he could average 45-50 with the bat and 30 something with the ball I think that's a realistic ceiling. But I'm not expecting him to just walk into the team at 21 and make 100s and take 5fers.

That realistic ceiling would put him on Gary Sobers and Kallis levels, I have high hopes for Green but I think that's too much.

Yes, he averages 50 but as you said, he's 21 and is yet to really have his deficiencies/weaknesses targeted yet.

I'd keep him in the side as long as no other all-rounders are banging down the door though. He's our best prospect of that mould and he'll learn more at Test level then he will being stuffed around in the Shield with the Big Bash etc.

 

[Scotland]

That realistic ceiling would put him on Gary Sobers and Kallis levels, I have high hopes for Green but I think that's too much.

Yes, he averages 50 but as you said, he's 21 and is yet to really have his deficiencies/weaknesses targeted yet.

I'd keep him in the side as long as no other all-rounders are banging down the door though. He's our best prospect of that mould and he'll learn more at Test level then he will being stuffed around in the Shield with the Big Bash etc.

It's a ceiling. Ben Stokes averages 38/31. Freddie Flintoff was 32/33. Even Kallis who is the 3rd highest run scorer in history was 55/33. Realistically if Green had a long and prosperous test career as an all rounder he would probably finish up with two averages in the 30s. If he could score reliably score 40+ with the bat and bowl 5-10 overs an innings I'd be happy. Mitch Marsh was actually a useful 4th seam option, he just didn't make enough runs which is what we needed in a number 6. We should be thinking about a pace bowling all rounder as someone who can chip in when it's a long innings or a bowler gets injured, or bowl earlier in the innings if we plck two spinners and drop a quick. If we expect Green or anyone else to be a top 6 batsman and have the bowling workload of the other 3 quicks they will be ground down in no time.

 

[eddiesmith]

It's a ceiling. Ben Stokes averages 38/31. Freddie Flintoff was 32/33. Even Kallis who is the 3rd highest run scorer in history was 55/33. Realistically if Green had a long and prosperous test career as an all rounder he would probably finish up with two averages in the 30s. If he could score reliably score 40+ with the bat and bowl 5-10 overs an innings I'd be happy. Mitch Marsh was actually a useful 4th seam option, he just didn't make enough runs which is what we needed in a number 6. We should be thinking about a pace bowling all rounder as someone who can chip in when it's a long innings or a bowler gets injured, or bowl earlier in the innings if we plck two spinners and drop a quick. If we expect Green or anyone else to be a top 6 batsman and have the bowling workload of the other 3 quicks they will be ground down in no time.

Which is another thing people miss with Greens runs in the shield last year, he has done it without bowling. He’s got a great bowling average from his first year but a more realistic target is as a batsman who bowls rather than genuine all rounder bowling 10-15 overs an innings

 

[hawkman]

If Green can average around 40 and then get maybe get 1.5-2 wickets a test at around 30-35 that will be a very good test career

As mention Stokes is 38/31 at around 2.5 wickets a test which will probably drop as he is becoming more a batsman who bowls little. Batting average will probably increase

Kallis was 55/33 with 1.75 wickets a test

 

[archibald]

Travis Head averages more after 19 tests than Warner, Hayden, Clarke, Smith, the Waugh brothers and Justin Langer. Deserves another go

 

[The Passenger]

Travis Head averages more after 19 tests than Warner, Hayden, Clarke, Smith, the Waugh brothers and Justin Langer. Deserves another go

View attachment 1033820

Head will only get dropped if both Warner and Pucovski are available.

Even then Head may survive - it will be a battle for 2 spots between him, Wade and Green and that could go either way. Also Pucovski is no guarantee to get picked (which would mean keeping Wade as an opener), although I'm pretty confident Puc will get picked if fit.

If Head does get dropped, he'll almost certainly get another chance down the track. If he can improve his discipline and temperament he has a pretty good test career ahead of him. If he can't, he'll fall by the wayside.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Head will only get dropped if both Warner and Pucovski are available.

Even then Head may survive - it will be a battle for 2 spots between him, Wade and Green and that could go either way. Also Pucovski is no guarantee to get picked (which would mean keeping Wade as an opener), although I'm pretty confident Puc will get picked if fit.

If Head does get dropped, he'll almost certainly get another chance down the track. If he can improve his discipline and temperament he has a pretty good test career ahead of him. If he can't, he'll fall by the wayside.

I'm a Head fan, but there's a bit of Handscomb 2.0 about him. Played 15-20 tests, have solid averages, made some big hundreds in good conditions but have struggled against quality opposition. Both have specific and significant technical issues in their game that cause them problems. Both seem adamant that they won't adjust their game. Head is almost entirely reliant on his eye. His greatest strength is scoring through the point region. His greatest weakness stems from trying to employ that strength so it's unclear how he works through the issue.

 

[hawkman]

Travis Head averages more after 19 tests than Warner, Hayden, Clarke, Smith, the Waugh brothers and Justin Langer. Deserves another go

View attachment 1033820

Voges was greater than all of them, was dropped after 20 tests and never played again

 

[Hamingja]

Which is another thing people miss with Greens runs in the shield last year, he has done it without bowling. He’s got a great bowling average from his first year but a more realistic target is as a batsman who bowls rather than genuine all rounder bowling 10-15 overs an innings

He didn't look very threatening at all to me with the ball. In context he hasn't bowled much this year and they probably wanted him to just bowl the dry line and keep it tight for the others but at this stage I wouldn't say his bowling is much better than a Mitch Marsh, the current FC bowling average looks pretty flattering. If he can lock down a spot in the top 6 by averaging 40+ with the bat the bowling is just a bonus then anyway.

 

[Big Bryza]

Burns will be spewing if he’s dropped for the Hume freeway test. But Davey gets a chance to look a hero on his favourite pitch

600 is the average score batting first in Sydney lately so big toss to win

Burns shouldn't have even been in the team to begin with. The selectors are a disgrace for picking a bloke averaging single figures to open the batting for Australia.

 

[hawkman]

Any word on when the squad will be picked?

 

[JackOutback]

Head will only get dropped if both Warner and Pucovski are available.

Even then Head may survive - it will be a battle for 2 spots between him, Wade and Green and that could go either way. Also Pucovski is no guarantee to get picked (which would mean keeping Wade as an opener), although I'm pretty confident Puc will get picked if fit.

If Head does get dropped, he'll almost certainly get another chance down the track. If he can improve his discipline and temperament he has a pretty good test career ahead of him. If he can't, he'll fall by the wayside.

Reckon the easiest switch is Burns for Warner, tell Pucovski they are giving him more time. Wade, Head and Green press their case in the Third Test, Puc a chance to replace one in the fourth.