Summing up the Aussie winter

[cricketnut14]

in regards to test cricket, this has been australia's biggest winter - 10 tests (9 in 1956,1964,1993,1997,2013).

great effort to win the WTC considering the fixture (which included 3 sub continent tours of pakistan, sri lanka and india).

bottom line is australia did end up winning the WTC final and retain the ashes and we'll take that.

5 tests v india which included WTC FINAL (2-2 and a draw)
5 tests v england (2-2 and a draw)

total - 10 tests (4-4 and 2 draws)

24 players were picked on the india and england tours (7 of them didn't get a guernsey - harris, inglis, peirson, agar, swepson, morris & neser).

some mixed results and hoping for some players to cash in back home in the aussie summer.

 

[kickazz]

No (batting) fifties from any of our bowlers.

Not their job but over ten tests you'd hope for two or three I recon. (Then again the India series a 20 was probably the equivalent of a fifty!)

Nobody averaging over 50 is bad too, normally you'd get one above 80.

 

[The King!]

Cummins captaincy is a burden in a sense as he never rests now, affects his output as a bowler at times

 

[Santana]

Cummins captaincy is a burden in a sense as he never rests now, affects his output as a bowler at times

Think his average as captain is over 26 now. Was under 22 before he took the role.

Still lots of factor's to take into account on why that is happening but something to keep an eye on.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Not a bad return.

In both India and England we were unlucky at times, but contributed to our own troubles too.

Time to regenerate.

 

[The King!]

Think his average as captain is over 26 now. Was under 22 before he took the role.

Still lots of factor's to take into account on why that is happening but something to keep an eye on.

Yep and I am not saying he shouldn't be skipper. But if he needs a rest in a long test series/summer, then let Smith fill in

 

[frankrizzo]

We would have taken competitive series in india the test championship win and retaining ashes before it started so its a solid result but at same time we missed big opportunities overseas and feels like those opportunities will get rarer next few years as we are going to lose important players and the quality to replace them doesnt appear to be there, was last hurrah for this group but as is typical for this group it was decent return mixed with plenty of regret about what might have been.

 

[The Passenger]

I agree that if Cummins retains the captaincy there needs to be serious consideration to resting him during longer tours, even for just one test in the middle.

But it's actually all a bit moot now because in the current schedule, we don't have any more than three tests in an away tour until India in 26/27 and it's hard to see him not having passed on the mantle by then.

 

[cricketnut14]

I agree that if Cummins retains the captaincy there needs to be serious consideration to resting him during longer tours, even for just one test in the middle.

But it's actually all a bit moot now because in the current schedule, we don't have any more than three tests in an away tour until India in 26/27 and it's hard to see him not having passed on the mantle by then.

we do have a 7 test summer coming up with the 5 at home followed by 2 in nz before a 9 month layoff from test cricket.
it'll be interesting if cummins can play all 7.

 

[kickazz]

If the next Ashes tour is as compressed as this one then I think we really need to consider rotations more and ensuring all bowlers and keeper get a rest at some point.

 

[kickazz]

Our defensive fields should be used as an occasional tactic and not as a main strategy against aggressive batting.

Aggression should be confronted with aggression, most of the time attacking fields and good bowling will win out. When it doesn't, fair play to the opponent.

 

[cricketnut14]

If the next Ashes tour is as compressed as this one then I think we really need to consider rotations more and ensuring all bowlers and keeper get a rest at some point.

yeah, not so sure about that.

yesteryear they'd play heaps of tour games on an ashes tour.

of the 6 tests, starc sat out 1, hazlewood 2 and boland 3.


neser and inglis sat on the pine all tour.

end of the day they can rest for 4 and a half months before the next test now.

 

[kickazz]

yeah, not so sure about that.

yesteryear they'd play heaps of tour games on an ashes tour.

of the 6 tests, starc sat out 1, hazlewood 2 and boland 3.


neser and inglis sat on the pine all tour.

end of the day they can rest for 4 and a half months before the next test now.

They never put in a full 'A' team for those games though. It was a chance to give everyone a go.

I mean they had backup wicketkeepers bowling legspin (with some success mind you) in some of those games!

 

[to1994]

I would have taken the WTC vctory and a drawn Ashes before we left Australia, being 2-0 up and going on to draw is really the only reason it feels disappointing.

After our loss to Sri Lanka in the second Test last year I had genuine fears of a disaster away from home so it's nice that it didn't turn out that way. It seemed like it might when we went down 2-0 in India but we came back pretty well to win and draw a number of games in a row from there.

Winning away was always going to be tough once it was evident Smith had come back down to earth. Khawaja has made up for that little bit but the old Australian way of simply struggling in foreign conditions has reared it's head again, I think this got lost a little bit because of the flat pitches in Pakistan that not only flattered us but also England when they toured.

From here, whether Warner goes now or after 3 Tests time, expectations around a Test opener will probably need to be tempered. Unless Pucovski somehow strings together a full season we're likely left with Renshaw, Harris & Bancroft none of which have near the talent of Khawaja and Warner at their peak. Only left field suggestion would be to cut our losses and try someone like M Marsh or Green as an opener if we feel getting both in the team is a better punt then some of the tried and failed options.

One of our weaknesses in England was that we simply didn't have the fast bowling stocks to rotate our quicks effectively. Our plan in 2019 seemed more thoughtout with James Pattinson contributing, this time we had Boland who quickly got found out. If we didn't have faith in Neser when the going got tough, I think the door has to be closed on both of those two bowlers as we need to start thinking about the next generation.

I'm not sure I want to see an attack of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc again, we need at least one of those three spots to be a younger quick while we're playing the likes of Pakistan and the Windies at home. Murphy should also play in Sydney regardless of conditions as well as the Sri Lanka and Windies tours over the next year or two, important he stays around the group and gets game time as we saw how big of a loss no Lyon was.

I think we'll see Green back in the team, M Marsh is one of the first picked now in White Ball so I can only see resurrecting his Test career really being worth it if they find a way to get one of them in the top order, otherwise we probably need to continue with our only great looking young prospect (outside Murphy).

Head, Lab, Green & possibly Murphy will hopefully be the center of the team post India next year. I think by that stage Cummins will go back to being a bowler in his twilight years and one or both of Smith/Khawaja will have moved on.

 

[kickazz]

I would have taken the WTC vctory and a drawn Ashes before we left Australia, being 2-0 up and going on to draw is really the only reason it feels disappointing.

Yeah the order has made a difference for sure!

Just imagine the first test was last, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon partnership to secure the Ashes: would be legendary.

 

[The Passenger]

I would have taken the WTC vctory and a drawn Ashes before we left Australia, being 2-0 up and going on to draw is really the only reason it feels disappointing.

Also if we hadn't butchered the 2019 series, ending the English drought then and there, I think we would have been pretty blasé about how this one finished.

I think all sets of supporters know these two teams are very evenly matched in England.

We really did * up in 2019. That was a clear case of celebrating too early. You can understand why the players did - you've got the full redemption arc from The South African debacle, a drought breaker of sorts in terms of retaining the Ashes in England for the first time in 2019 and also winning that Manchester test meant burying the ghosts of what happened in Headingley a couple of weeks prior. But that English team was pretty weak and we really blew a golden chance.

 

[The 747]

Beat Pakistan - great (although England came along and made that less shiny)

Drew with Sri Lanka - one good Test one bad Test meh.

Lost to India - but for going sweep crazy we were pretty competitive and could have drawn that series with better prep.

WTC final - smashed India, good.

Retained the Ashes - lucky.

Could have been better but not bad to get those results from four away tours.

 

[DaRick]

A qualified success.

We won the WTC and retained The Ashes, while sweeping our way out of contention in India.

This side is akin to 1990s South Africa - very good, but not quite rising up when greatness beckons.

 

[Truckosaurus]

 

[Cainozz]

A qualified success.

We won the WTC and retained The Ashes, while sweeping our way out of contention in India.

This side is akin to 1990s South Africa - very good, but not quite rising up when greatness beckons.

Yep that’s how I’d probably remember this group. A pretty solid all-round team and definitely high achievers but we probably just are that tier below the dominant teams this century such as South Africa (2008-2014) and England (2010-2013) where they won series in all conditions.

It’s a shame as it might be a while til we have a once in a generation batter like Smith with solid contributors like Ussie, Warner, Starc and Hazlewood.