Our Bowling Attack and Field placement

[gbatman]

Johnson - Got wickets early on from his pace and a hell of a lot of luck because batsmen would have a got at his wide shit and nick it. Now the luck's gone and batsmen have him worked out.

He can't stand the seam up which means he can't swing it or seeam it off the wicket. He's slowed his bowling down to get more accuracy but this is not working for him because he doesn't move the ball and his accuracy is not really good.

Hilfenhaus - has a great ability to get the seam in a perfect position for swing and he will swing a new ball in any conditions any where if he pitches it up to a certian extent. He's probably the most unintelligent bowler I have seen.

Good swing bowlers bowl full and straight. He bowls short of a length and often wide. Watching him bowl short and wide with the second new ball today was a disgrace.

The guy is at least bowling a straight scrambled seam ball these days which is great because he used to have no variation at all. He bowls like a 150km/h seamer with his back of a length short shit.

Pitch it up, get the batsmen driving on the front foot, bowl straight and give it a chance to swing.

Also ponting MUST set fields that allow the bowler to bowl full and straight.

Siddle - The first innings he bowled full and straight and got 6 wickets and a hatrick. The second innings he bowled short shit that got smashed. I rest my case. Dumb.

Bollinger - Should be more accurate and needs to bowl fuller and straighter. He bowls back of a lenght and too far outside off stump like most of our bowlers. Full straight, stump to stump trying to hit the top of off should be his game.

Watson - Our best bowler by a long long way. Bowls full and straight and swings the ball. Would be nearly worth giving the new ball. Thank god we have him, he's the only bowler we have who does the simple stuff right and bowls well.

Doherty - Bowles too fast. Has a good stock delivery. Doesn't get enought over spin and drop on his balls though. Needs to use his arm/straight ball more. Needs to vary his flight and pace more.

Hauritz - Not a big spinner so needs to be really accurate. Has lost that accuracy of late. Doesn't use enough variation.

Conclusion
Our bowling plan is up shit creek. We don't bowl full, we hardly bowl any balls at stump height or fuller. Our swing bowler bowls short and often wide. We bowl that short that when the ball does move the batsman can play it easily. We don't set fields that force bowlers to pitch it up. Our bowlers lack accuracy. Johnson can't get the seam up and move the ball. Our spinners don't have any tricks up their sleeves. Our bowlers and captain don't have the guts to bowl full and invite the drive. They'd rather get spanked off the back foot.

What to do
Drop Johnson until he can get it right. Have the finger spinners vary their speed and bowl more straight balls. Get Doherty bowling with more over spin. Set fields that protect the bowlers more against straight shots and bowl full and straight. More yorkers with the new ball.
Basically bowl the areas Siddle bowled in the 1st innings instead of a foot shorter to get the batsmen on the front foot.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Bowling attack is popgun, and you can't set a field to poor bowling.

 

[gbatman]

Bowling attack is popgun, and you can't set a field to poor bowling.

Set a field, tell them where to bowl, if they can't do it f### em off. It's test cricket, not amature stuff.

 

[mattymac]

its a worry when watto's the smartest bowler in yer attack...

 

[sherb]

This business of captaincy, selection and planning of tactics is just so straightforward, isn't it?

 

[Gazza_11]

I thought Ponting has been having quite a good test match actually.

 

[gbatman]

I thought Ponting was having a good match as well. First innings his field placements were good and the bowlers were bowling full and straight. Siddle bowled brilliantly.

Now we come out, bowl short, waste the two new balls. The batsmen hardly had to get on the front foot. The Australia of the 2nd innings is the one we have been seeing too much lately and not enough of the Australia of the 1st innings.

Why would we bowl England out for nothing in the 1st innings with good field placements, good bowling and good tactics. Then throw that out the window for the next innings and do things completely different? Is ponting an idiot and asking our bowlers to bowl short of a good length? Is Ponting setting good fields and asking them to bowl full and straight and are they not able to do it this innings? What's gone wrong here?

 

[Doodlesweaver]

I thought Ponting was having a good match as well. First innings his field placements were good and the bowlers were bowling full and straight. Siddle bowled brilliantly.

Now we come out, bowl short, waste the two new balls. The batsmen hardly had to get on the front foot. The Australia of the 2nd innings is the one we have been seeing too much lately and not enough of the Australia of the 1st innings.

Why would we bowl England out for nothing in the 1st innings with good field placements, good bowling and good tactics. Then throw that out the window for the next innings and do things completely different? Is ponting an idiot and asking our bowlers to bowl short of a good length? Is Ponting setting good fields and asking them to bowl full and straight and are they not able to do it this innings? What's gone wrong here?

The bowlers bowl too short regularly in every match. All of them, including Bolly when he is in the team, have a default of bowling short regardless of the conditions. It's really quite mad.

But completely normal.

Even Hilfy who should be looking for swing bowls regularly too short and too wide. Against Pakistan in England, it was bordered on bizarre watching Bolly and MJ bowl short and wide for entire sessions.

 

[gbatman]

My thought's exactly Doodles.

Where does the finger get pointed. The Bowlers? Ponting? Troy Cooley?

 

[Doodlesweaver]

My thought's exactly Doodles.

Where does the finger get pointed. The Bowlers? Ponting? Troy Cooley?

Oh, I think the brainlessness is collective. I'd include Nielsen in that, not just Cooley.

What I find really strange is that the attack watch the opposition or even one of their teammates on occasion do the right thing for conditions, but it seems to not affect them at all. 'Bang it in, bang it in' is the mantra.

It was the same at the SCG last season, got cleaned up by proper use of the swinging conditions and accurate bowling by the Pakistan players, next day the Bolly, MJ and to some extent Siddle came out and bowled short and wide for all of the first session even though the weather was still overcast and humid.

Seriously, no brains at all.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

Agree entirely. Why do we have 4 or more guys protecting from bad balls?

Why a point (or even worse DEEP point)?
Why a deep-backward square?
Why 3rd man (and no 3rd slip)? **unless Sehwag**

Why no square leg? Anything at the body is just flicked to the leg side for easy singles without risk.

You've got 9 blokes in the field. Where do you want them? Where is the ball going to go?

3 slips and a gully almost by default - especially for Johnson (wides) and Hilfenhous (away swing) to right handers - or at least rearrange the slips like you would for a leg-spinner.

Cover, Mid-Off, Mid-On, Square-Leg all saving one. If a batsman is good enough to hit you through point, fantastic. You shouldn't be bowling short, well outside-off anyway.

Finally a Fine-Leg/Deep backward square/etc - some protection for the mis-timed hook shot.

The only places a ball should go must either be:

a) hitting the stumps.
b) hitting the batsman's chin-chest.
c) making the batsman unsure whether to play front or back foot.

The English are camping on the back foot - none of our guys are in the 150 mark where they get caught out by the fast yorker.

It's a simple game but we (and most sides for that matter) are terrible tactically.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I thought Ponting has been having quite a good test match actually.

Really???

Mid off and Mid on seems to be always to deep, easy singles don't help. Bowlers not bowling to plans due to them being $hit and probable fact that they didn't have a plan to begin with.

 

[gbatman]

It's simple, pitch it up, bowl straight, put fielders in place for the edges and fielders to stop runs from safer shots like straight drives. Force the batsmen to play accross the line like through mid wicket or covers to full straight balls and bowl there trying to hit off stump with the odd short ball and odd bouncer.

If the bowlers can't do it, take them off or drop them from the side. Being wayward is only ok when you are bowling consistantly over 150km/h.

What we do is bowl balls that are coming waste height or above that the batsmen can camp on the back foot and cut and pull comfortably and ajust to any movement. Not sure what we are trying to achieve. Do our bowlers thing they are 150km/h speedsters? Their not.

A swing bowler who won't allow it to swing and won't allow the swing to take wickets by bowling short and wide. A seamer who bowls excellently the first innings and takes a bag then comes out in the second innings and bowls completly different and gets spanked. An all rounder who bowls really well in Watson but he can't do it all.

 

[OzBomber]

As they say you're meant to bowl to your field not set a field to your bowling.

 

[OnceWeWereKings]

Our best chance of winning this match is now doing TV interviews.....

Would have had it wrapped up by tea. Oh how we miss him.

His sh&t could bowl better spin than what we have at the moment.

Our best spinner is in the team as a batsman......

 

[aflcliche]

Watson underbowled I feel. Trott is a bit of a shuffler and should be targeted for a dismissal where he has to come forward, like first innings. Cook is comfortable with short stuff too, but won't always play full face or will hit around the ball when pitched up.