Squad for 5th Test

[JMc#5]

This is getting to be hard work reading all this crap on here...

The selectors pick the best available side, they have no bias towards NSW over Victoria.


The Vicotrians with rose-coloured glasses on here are ruining this board for the rest of us who just want to discuss cricket.

The fact of the matter is White is not a test cricketer, Hussey is too old and Hodge has retired.

Please let that be the end of it...

 

[JMc#5]

Onto topic anyway...

I think the side will obviously be:

1) Hughes
2) Watson
3) My man Khawaja
4) Clarke
5) Hussey
6) Smith
7) Haddin
8) Johnson
9) Siddle
10) Beer
11) Hilfenhaus/Bollinger

As much as i think Beer is far from deserving of a test cap, we have to discover a spinner and for that reason i don't believe we should go back to Hauritz, as noone was happy with him in the side.

I reckon O'Keefe could be a goer though, but i guess he'll be next in line if and when Beer fails.

Also would have liked to see Copeland get a gig on his home wicket...

I would have gone:

1) Hughes
2) Watson
3) Usman
4) Clarke
5) Hussey
6) Haddin
7) Smith
8) O'Keefe
9) Johnson
10) Copeland
11) Bollinger

 

[Partridge]

Because before the Ashes (and he has only played in Adelaide for goodness sakes), he was our best bowler this year, and sits 13th in the Test rankings for the year. That could be the reason, but I'm not totally sure... Some of the posts in this thread have been funny reading, please, continue.

That's true - before this series. The fact is in Adelaide - only three tests ago, he was absolutely pathetic. Looked medium pace at best. Pietersen could have smashed him around with a broom handle.

 

[Partridge]

When a test match is scheduled in the Australian calendar, the players should have a 5 to 7 day preparation period in the city where the test match is held to prepare themselves for a test match. At the minute, the players arrive in Sydney, for example on a Friday for a Sunday test match.

I'm not sure the sides need to spend a week in each city before a test, but I absolutely think they need more adequate preparation for the type of cricket they'll be playing.

Look at England, they specifically requested three first class matches before the First Test. No meaningless one-dayers, with the result that most if not all of their team were in form when the series started. All their batsmen except Collingwood have contributed and so have pretty much all of their bowlers. It isn't a coincidence.

 

[Jimthegreat]

Clarkes record as captain:

36 matches, 25 wins, 9 losses, 1 tie, 1 no result

Pretty handy if you ask me.

Can't argue there.

This time I read the post properly....lol!!!

 

[The Passenger]

As much as i think Beer is far from deserving of a test cap, we have to discover a spinner and for that reason i don't believe we should go back to Hauritz, as noone was happy with him in the side.

I reckon O'Keefe could be a goer though, but i guess he'll be next in line if and when Beer fails.

Hauritz mightn't have been a world beater, but he was relatively reliable. the ashes series wasn't the time to get experimenting with spinners - particularly left arm tweakers one who have a first class average of 48 and one who's played five games.

anyway, i'd say they've probably dropped hauritz and promoted beer above him and o'keefe just to keep the vics happy and not have too many NSW boys in the team

 

[The OBSTacle]

The fact of the matter is White is not a test cricketer, Hussey is too old and Hodge has retired.

Please let that be the end of it...

There was a period when Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting weren't test cricketers either.

White is definitely worthy of a chance.

 

[The_Reaper]

There was a period when Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting weren't test cricketers either.

White is definitely worthy of a chance.

28 shield average says different.

 

[Jimthegreat]

28 shield average says different.

He was out for the first 2 games then made 7 and 1 in his first game back, which doesn't do much for an average. 60 last Shield innings. Not to mention 111 for Australia A against England.

Averaged around 50 the last 3 years. That might be worth more.

Anything else?

 

[The_Reaper]

He was out for the first 2 games then made 7 and 1 in his first game back, which doesn't do much for an average. 60 last Shield innings.

Averaged around 50 the last 3 years. That might be worth more.

Perhaps but I'd be more confident if he were averaging in the high 30s at the very least.

Don't think he has a century in the shield yet this season though obviously he scored one against England.

Unlike Copeland or Hauritz, White is hardly unlucky to not be selected.

 

[Jimthegreat]

Perhaps but I'd be more confident if he were averaging in the high 30s at the very least.

Don't think he has a century in the shield yet this season though obviously he scored one against England.

Unlike Copeland or Hauritz, White is hardly unlucky to not be selected.

Hasn't played for half the season and needed a game to run into form. Can't use averages over 3 games as it can be skewed either way as a total of 8 did. He has a century against the Poms and 60 after that indicates he's come back to form.

I would be more inclined to pick him if they made him skipper though. Wouldn't be too concerned otherwise.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Hasn't played for half the season

Which is reason enough. He's played four games, and averaged in the mid-30s. Whichever way you look at it, that's simply not good enough. Either you accept that he hasn't scored enough runs, or that he hasn't played enough games to really establish his form. And the fact that Smith and Hughes don't deserve to be in the side either doesn't really change things.

Cricket is all about timing. The opportunity for Cam White to get a game was there for him to take. If he'd smashed down the door with buckets of runs, he'd be in the team.

He didn't.

 

[The_Reaper]

Hasn't played for half the season and needed a game to run into form. Can't use averages over 3 games as it can be skewed either way as a total of 8 did. He has a century against the Poms and 60 after that indicates he's come back to form.

I would be more inclined to pick him if they made him skipper though. Wouldn't be too concerned otherwise.

Yeah

The only reason White would be selected would be for leadership.

Otherwise he isn't good enough as a bat.

 

[mediumsizered]

Cricket is all about timing. The opportunity for Cam White to get a game was there for him to take. If he'd smashed down the door with buckets of runs, he'd be in the team.

He didn't.

Is that what Smith & Hughes did this season to get into the Australian side? No, they didn't. Yet White made a century against the English (including Tremlett & Bresnan). One would suggest other factors came into play & at the end of this season many will look back & see we failed to win back the Ashes because we chose a team based on something other than form.

Seriously if Smith is the best #6 batsman in the country, I want some of what Hilditch & Co are smoking.

 

[The_Reaper]

Is that what Smith & Hughes did this season to get into the Australian side? No, they didn't. Yet White made a century against the English (including Tremlett & Bresnan). One would suggest other factors came into play & at the end of this season many will look back & see we failed to win back the Ashes because we chose a team based on something other than form.

Seriously if Smith is the best #6 batsman in the country, I want some of what Hilditch & Co are smoking.

Yes the selectors were incorrect in picking two out of form players to come in.

We all acknowledge that.

Selecting another out of form player is not the answer.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

Is that what Smith & Hughes did this season to get into the Australian side? No, they didn't.

Wow... talk about selective quoting.

I've acknowledged that Smith and Hughes don't deserve to be in the side at the moment. I think MOST people with half a brain agree that they don't deserve to be in the side. Both of them seem technically deficient. But Hughes, at least, has shown he is capable of scoring runs at the highest level when he's in form. Smith, on the other hand, has got a good eye and not much else.

But I just don't see how making TWO bad selections is somehow improved by adding a THIRD bad selection.

Yet White made a century against the English (including Tremlett & Bresnan). One would suggest other factors came into play & at the end of this season many will look back & see we failed to win back the Ashes because we chose a team based on something other than form.

Please don't tell me you seriously believe that Cam White would have, somehow, been "the difference".

 

[matty p]

This is getting to be hard work reading all this crap on here...

The selectors pick the best available side, they have no bias towards NSW over Victoria.


The Vicotrians with rose-coloured glasses on here are ruining this board for the rest of us who just want to discuss cricket.

The fact of the matter is White is not a test cricketer, Hussey is too old and Hodge has retired.

Please let that be the end of it...

Whilst I agree with you that the whole "NSW bias, hatred of Victoria" thing is taken far too seriously on this board, I have to strongly disagree with your other comment.

"The selectors pick the best available side" is as far from the truth as you could possibly get. If the selectors had been picking our best available side, we might have actually had a shot in this series.

 

[eddiesmith]

Cameron White would be picked not only on his leadership and fielding abilities and his average of 50 in recent years but the fact his lack of big Shield runs is because he has been away witht he Australian team and doing succesfully. His last couple of years of Shield cricket have been better and his international performances improved dramatically when given chances higher up the order

He wouldnt be the first bloke picked from limited overs performances, or do you just decide someone entrenched in the limited overs sides can never play test cricket because in seasons like this they only get 3 Shield matches so how can they dominate?

White has made centuries against the English attack for the A team and the ODI team, it would be a crazy selection to pick a guy who has shown in the past he likes playing the current opposition, much better to pick blokes who make runs against the worst shield sides

Plus Whites international records in 50 over and 20 over cricket are both superior by a few runs to his overall record, that would indicate with that sort of improvement he would likely average 47 or so at Test level...

 

[The Passenger]

it's shit for white because the next shield game starts after the world cup starts.

i was saying the selectors should have him sit out the one day series and just play shield cricket until the world cup (because he's an automatic selection in our day team and he's got nothing to prove in those seven games against england).... but vic's next shield game is feb 18 so that's pretty useless for him.

i've been watching a fair few videos of him batting lattely and although he's technique isn't the greatest... i reckon he could stand up to test cricket as a number 6.

 

[eddiesmith]

He has changed alot in recent years and he seems to be able to tough it out a bit more. He would offer more consistency than North and more runs than Smith, may not get the big scores reguarly but you shouldnt be relying on no6 for big 100's.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

He has changed alot in recent years and he seems to be able to tough it out a bit more. He would offer more consistency than North and more runs than Smith, may not get the big scores reguarly but you shouldnt be relying on no6 for big 100's.

He hits the ball much more down the ground than he used to, it's noticeable in ODI cricket how much he has worked on straight bat shots in the v.