Selectors Are Completely Clueless

[Badesumofu]

I'd like to see one of the state captains come in to be captain. North is obviously not a candidate at this point, Katich is injured and might not play Tests again. White is a really good captain for mine. His batting has been pretty good the last few years, too. It's not as if Ponting has been pilling on mountains of runs lately, he's having nearly as lean a patch as anyone.

 

[nick1408]

You have pretty much summed up my reasoning for White. I think it is only him and Bailey who are genuine contenders

 

[Phone]

uh. haddin has very often captained NSW. Probably more than Bailey has for Tasmania.

 

[mattymac]

greg chappell has made it pretty clear clarke will be captain. noone else is even in the running.

pretty interesting actually he said clarke had said he didn't feel comfortable giving ponting advice as his vc and therefore hadn't done it as often as he should. make of that what you will. maybe he doesn't want to be implicated in failure. maybe its more proof of "team ricky" and he thinks punter won't take too kindly to being given advice from an underling. whatever the case its pretty poor when the vc reckons he's better off keeping his mouth shut than strategising with his captain. bodes poorly again for our current set up.

it sh1ts me that cameron white isn't good enough to hold down a test spot on the back of his talent and temperament. he'd make a good captain. but people thinking he'll get called up specifically to captain are dreaming

 

[Rookie]

What I'd do:

If we lose in Perth, Ponting should be given the chance to retire and prepare for a swan song at the World Cup. Hussey should be offered the captaincy for one year, he could retire from ODI's at the World Cup to allow him to focus solely on test matches. Pup should remain test VC with an eye to promoting him after Hussey retires and either Clarke should be given the ODI captaincy to see how it goes, or White should get the chance with Clarke as VC, as a form of hedging our bets.

Haddin should be retired from all forms after the World Cup, as should Katich.

Khawaja should replace Ponting for Melbourne, or Ferguson. Next test series, our top seven should be:

Hughes
Watson
Khawaja (could also bat at 5)
Clarke
Hussey (either as captain or VC, his form so far this summer warrants a place)
Smith
Paine

There are three candidates for the spinners role. Hauritz will do better under a non-Ponting captaincy, O'Keefe is the other good option. Krezja is the one with the most potential and should be close on hand as well. If we lose in Perth, they're the steps I'd take.

 

[The Fonz]

Its interesting to go back to look at the last lot of contract changes:
Out: David Hussey, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Graham Manou, Brad Hodge
In: Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Adam Voges.

 

[Phone]

oh man adam voges

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

He's sort of like the Western Australian version of Grant Lambert

 

[Doodlesweaver]

oh man adam voges

You might as well stick with Marcus North as select Adam Voges. Even more inconsistent AND more talented.

Horribly frustrating player, just the sort of player the Aussies need to be shot of rather than encouraging.

 

[courtjester]

This is our best combination at the moment, don't you reckon?

Watson
Khawaja (I reckon he could cut it as an opener like Langer and Katich)
Ponting (probably retire after World Cup)
Clarke
Hussey
McDonald/Christian (in great form with bat and adds to the bowling attack)
Haddin
O'Keefe
Johnson
Copeland
Hilfenhaus

Why aren't we playing our best team? What the hell is going on with Beer?

 

[Ant_]

No surprises Brad Hodge has given his 2c on the selectors

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cric...-over-missed-test-chances-20101214-18w0o.html

 

[Jimthegreat]

No surprises Brad Hodge has given his 2c on the selectors

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cric...-over-missed-test-chances-20101214-18w0o.html

Fair enough too. If we were in his position we'd all be p1ssed off too. Selectors have done him no favors so let him just speak his mind and tell it as we all feel about them.

What he says certainly isn't wrong.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

What I'd do:

If we lose in Perth, Ponting should be given the chance to retire and prepare for a swan song at the World Cup. Hussey should be offered the captaincy for one year, he could retire from ODI's at the World Cup to allow him to focus solely on test matches. Pup should remain test VC with an eye to promoting him after Hussey retires and either Clarke should be given the ODI captaincy to see how it goes, or White should get the chance with Clarke as VC, as a form of hedging our bets.

Haddin should be retired from all forms after the World Cup, as should Katich.

Khawaja should replace Ponting for Melbourne, or Ferguson. Next test series, our top seven should be:

Hughes
Watson
Khawaja (could also bat at 5)
Clarke
Hussey (either as captain or VC, his form so far this summer warrants a place)
Smith
Paine

There are three candidates for the spinners role. Hauritz will do better under a non-Ponting captaincy, O'Keefe is the other good option. Krezja is the one with the most potential and should be close on hand as well. If we lose in Perth, they're the steps I'd take.

Why would you want our best ODI player to retire from that format? Retire him from tests by all means but Huss could probably play ODI's successfully for another 2 years, can't say that about test cricket.

 

[The Passenger]

the selection of michael beer is strange to say the least... especially when Hauritz went back to shield and got the job done, and O'Keefe has been very good when playing for NSW.

if beer comes out gets 2/300 or over the test then surely selectors heads have gotta roll??

people talking about dan christian but he's gotta do more at first class level before playing test cricket. could probably step into the 50 over team however.

there are a few options with the bat - ferguson, marsh, khawaja the obvious ones whilst can't discount white. i'd like to think mcdonald and d hussey are still on the radar but age is not on their side and a guy like chris lynn would surely be starting his move up the ranks after an exciting start.

but the big problem is the bowling and you can't win test consistently without bowlers. as i said in another thread we have an army of stock standard mid 130 kp/h bowlers who are pretty up and down and just try to hit the deck hard....

 

[Sman-21]

The thing is over the years alot of players have been selected for australia based on talent, not performance.
These are just some off the top of my head im sure theres more but i dont know enough about them before playing for Aus.

Shane Watson - pretty avg stats at state level got given an opportunity an been suprisingly 1 of our best most consistant performers

Mitch Johnson - had done nothing in state cricket but was given a decent opportunity playing for aus based on talent alone, actually has decent stats too despite being unpredictable an the odd shocking games in a row.

Shane Warne - had done nothing at state level picked on talent, became a legend and is increasing that status even in retirement by banging this

Mike Hussey,Simon Katich, Langer an Hayden are the only guys i know who demanded a spot back in the Aus side through performance at state level.
Not sure if they 1st got picked on talent not stats an were then dropped but there some of the few in recent years who u could say earnt there spot in the team through state cricket.

 

[Slax]

Although I am not the a big fan of Siddle's I'd love for someone to tell me what he has done wrong to be put below Hilf & Johnson?

If a 100 can keep a batsman in for 5 tests surely a bag of 6 in an innings should get the same respect.

Time for Hilditch, Cox, Boon & Chappell to go, none of them have a clue and are losing the respect of the paying public. Can't wait to see all the empty seats in Melbourne & Sydney, maybe when CA realise they've just blown over $10M they might change their tune.

 

[nick1408]

...

Shane Watson - pretty avg stats at state level got given an opportunity an been suprisingly 1 of our best most consistant performers

...

Um, Watson averaged 46.32 with the bat and 28.49 with the ball before test selection. For "average stats" they seem pretty good to me and more than deserving of test selection on either front alone.

http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/10/10016/f_Batting_by_Season.html
http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/10/10016/f_Bowling_by_Season.html

 

[Tom12]

Bringing Watson in has been the best move made in years.
Now Hughes gets his chance.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

IIRC Watson had a dominant season with the ball, but got injured - then when he returned he was spudlike with the ball, but averaged 40 with the bat.

Problem was he was now in the ODI team, batting at 8-9 and bowling 10-0-58-1 more often than not.

Once he got dropped and could put together a proper season he averaged 50+ with the bat (and <35 with the ball as a bonus).

Worst thing they could have done batting him down the order.

 

[nick1408]

....

Worst thing they could have done batting him down the order.

I agree. He rarely batted lower than three for Tasmania when he started out so why bat him low when he gets into the Australian squad (I do know why, incumbants)?

In my opinion, when selecting players, batsman should be selected from the following groups:

1-2 for openers,
1-4 for a number three
4-7 for middle order
and the rest.

Batsman get used to an comfortable with their positions. There are exceptions to the rule (Katich, Langer and Watson) but generally, that's how I select a side