We're a mess; REFRESH THE TEAM!!!

[kingbet22]

Wow hussey averaging 27.6 in his last 34 tests that is so bad

 

[placebo]

Katich
Watson
Ponting
Clarke
Khawaja
North (Im just gonna assume the selectors will have him there first test)
Paine/Haddin
Johnson
Harris
Hilf
Bollinger

 

[amer]

Khawaja needs to be in at the very least. What the **** is the world coming to if a player of his calibre can't get in ahead of a pathetically performing North?

 

[Dr Awkward]

He bowled ok last series in Australia, Who else would bowl spin? Smith is not up to it!

The last series in Australia was rigged!! He supposedly saved his career against Pakistan when they were DELIBERATELY LOSING.

I agree Smith is not up to it. Nobody is. That is why we don't play a spinner. I'm not sure why people have this thing that our line up has to follow some strict formula.

When McGill was playing we should have had 2 spinners in the team now we should have none. Hauritz is a terrible terrible cricketer, probably the worst I have ever seen get a spot in our test side. He is a sh*t fielder as well. His best contribution to the side is his batting lol.

North/Clarke/Katich can bowl part time spin if needed.

Geez Pakistan really screwed us over by deliberately losing that test, all our duds seemed to cement their spot.

 

[Dr Awkward]

My team for the Ashes;

Watson
Hughes
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Khawaja
Smith
Haddin/Paine
Johnson
Hilf
Bollinger

That should be our team, no question in my mind.

Smith is your spinner, but Katich and Clarke are both required to bowl a bit as well.

Clarke should be at #4, but I don't know if he can hack it there.

Any issues with that?

Strong batting there but the bowling line up is too thin. You only have 3 specialist bowlers, at least 4 are needed especially considering the 3 specialists are not exactly Lillee, Thompson, and McGrath

Am I missing something about Siddle, I thought he was available for selection for the Ashes?

 

[RangaInTeal]

Australia's next bread of Ashes stars (2011-2020);

Aaron Finch
Ben Hilfenhaus
Callum Ferguson
Cameron Boyce
Cullen Bailey
Doug Bollinger
Josh Hazelwood
Luke Pomersbatch
Micheal Clarke
Mitchel Johnson
Peter George
Peter Siddle
Philip Hughes
Simon Katich
Ricky Ponting
Shaun Watson
Steven Smith
Tim Paine
Usmin Khawaja

 

[Carbine Chaos]

We have become medicore due to the poor foresight of our selectors.

The test team should look like this (with apologies to Katich, who only misses out due to team balance...M. Clarke fortunate) -

Shane Watson
Phil Hughes
Ricky Ponting (c)
Usman Khawaja
Michael Clarke (vc)
George Bailey
Tim Paine (+)
Steve Smith
Mitchell Johnson
Ben Hilfenhaus
Doug Bollinger
12th - Steve Magoffin

Hauritz has done a great job, but I feel Smith will be a better bowler long term. Offers more with the bat too, could easily be batting in the top 6. Magoffin is very underrated and would perform very well at Test level, more so than the likes of Siddle and George. Overlooked for years, apart from touring South Africa as a squadmember.

 

[tazzietiger]

We have become medicore due to the poor foresight of our selectors.

The test team should look like this (with apologies to Katich, who only misses out due to team balance...M. Clarke fortunate) -

Shane Watson
Phil Hughes
Ricky Ponting (c)
Usman Khawaja
Michael Clarke (vc)
George Bailey
Tim Paine (+)
Steve Smith
Mitchell Johnson
Ben Hilfenhaus
Doug Bollinger
12th - Steve Magoffin

Hauritz has done a great job, but I feel Smith will be a better bowler long term. Offers more with the bat too, could easily be batting in the top 6. Magoffin is very underrated and would perform very well at Test level, more so than the likes of Siddle and George. Overlooked for years, apart from touring South Africa as a squadmember.

good line up cant see it happening any time soon unfortunately

 

[BluesMan]

Smiths bowling is keeping him out of the line-up atm, so if he improves......

 

[Yoda_]

FFS

Smith is a batsmen who can bowl, not the other way around!!

 

[Dr Awkward]

FFS

Smith is a batsmen who can bowl, not the other way around!!

Exactly. He is not a test standard bowler and if he made the team I highly doubt that he could ever become more than a part time bowler.

He needs to make the team on his batting.

 

[BluesMan]

FFS

Smith is a batsmen who can bowl, not the other way around!!

Agreed, but the aussie selector believe he can be a star at both.

 

[Yoda_]

Exactly. He is not a test standard bowler and if he made the team I highly doubt that he could ever become more than a part time bowler.

He needs to make the team on his batting.

Isn't doing his chances any harm..

 

[Bomber Bears]

Strong batting there but the bowling line up is too thin. You only have 3 specialist bowlers, at least 4 are needed especially considering the 3 specialists are not exactly Lillee, Thompson, and McGrath

Am I missing something about Siddle, I thought he was available for selection for the Ashes?

Siddle is just not very good, At the very least Bollinger, Hilf, Johnson and Harris are ahead of him, he's back in the mix with the likes of George, Mckay etc

 

[Dr Awkward]

Siddle is just not very good, At the very least Bollinger, Hilf, Johnson and Harris are ahead of him, he's back in the mix with the likes of George, Mckay etc

Hmm ok fair enough, I will take any of Siddle, Harris, McKay, George ahead of Hauritz.

Is Harris going to be fit this summer?

 

[Bomber Bears]

Australia's next bread of Ashes stars (2011-2020);

Aaron Finch
Ben Hilfenhaus
Callum Ferguson
Cameron Boyce
Cullen Bailey
Doug Bollinger
Josh Hazelwood
Luke Pomersbatch
Micheal Clarke
Mitchel Johnson
Peter George
Peter Siddle
Philip Hughes
Simon Katich
Ricky Ponting
Shaun Watson
Steven Smith
Tim Paine
Usmin Khawaja

Copeland?

 

[BarneyBent]

FFS

Smith is a batsmen who can bowl, not the other way around!!

At the moment he is. However, watching him bowl, he has all the tools to become a very damaging bowler. He gets good flight, drift, and bounce, and sufficient turn, everything a leggie needs. He just tends to bowl at least one bad ball an over, which releases pressure on the batsman, and in the longest form of the game, that can make all the difference. It's telling that the shorter the format, the better his bowling performances are (he's primarily a bowler in T20, balanced in 50 over), as there is constant onus on the bastman to score runs, and so a bad ball put away is merely a bonus, and not license to shut up shop. Batsmen play, Smith fools them, wickets are taken.

If Smith can work on his consistency, and force batsmen to play more, he will be a very dangerous indeed.

 

[Bomber Bears]

He's only 21, bowlers tend to take a while to mature. He's getting talked up in the wrong places for his bowling too much at present, but there is definately some potential there.

 

[Barwick17]

IMO Australia's main problem is their selectors are all old school. In their era there were no extremely weak teams (Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Windies etc) that inflates averages and makes players out of form look good - only for it to come crashing down when we get back to the good sides. They stick with players believing that they will come good with a bit of confidence - ala Taylor and S Waugh. And they will continue to stick with them until they get a big score. If they dont then they would have to admit they are wrong and risk losing their coveted spot on the committee which is a lucrative position. The problem with this is why should a player get 20 or so innings of mediocrity to make a big score (especially when past 30) when that same crease time could be given to a Finch or Kwajah who is the future of Australian cricket?

The new problem which they are facing is interest in the current team. The attitude towards Test cricket may be sliding due to 20/20 cricket, but when the greatest interest in the Aussie public is about how the same old players get selected, its 'dads army' and that there is no new exciting talent then we have trouble. 20/20 seems to be highlighting the fact that our test team is stagnate - the same - and boring. Yes Warne and McGrath were great to watch as well as SWaugh and so on. But at the moment -
* Opening batsmen are great to watch
*Pontings battle is more with arrogance with continuing to hook
*Clarke is flashy and has many bad patches
*Hussey is past it - worked hard to get to the top but cant do it anymore. Sad to watch bat now
*North is crap. Not up to it. Given so many chances. Finch would have 4 test hundreds in that time
*Haddin's arrogance has cost us when batting in tough times. Tim Paine please
*Hauritz is less than average. Spanked by good players
*Hilfy is a great swing bowler who will get better
*Bollinger is quality and good to watch
*Johnson is up andf down but worth persisting with.

Remember when each member of the team were generally exciting to watch?
*Border valuing his wicket
*SWaughs elegant drives
*Boonie - need anymore be said?
*Slater exciting
*MWaugh on driving
*Gilchrist
*Hayden
*etc etc

In conclusion, I am sick of watching mediocrity over and over and over. Hussy, North especially, even Clarke and Ponting are not at their best and WILL NOT BE AGAIN (Clarke stiff but my belief). The Aussie public do not want to continue to watch a side with all this mediocrity. We want fresh blood. If they fail or struggle then at least we are watching fresh players grow and try and make it in the side instead of old blokes thinking they are better than they are or collecting pension. Fix it Australia!

END RANT

 

[King Elvis]

Strong batting there but the bowling line up is too thin. You only have 3 specialist bowlers, at least 4 are needed especially considering the 3 specialists are not exactly Lillee, Thompson, and McGrath

Am I missing something about Siddle, I thought he was available for selection for the Ashes?

Three quicks, plus Watson, Smith as your spinner, plus Katich/Clarke when required.

Siddle, I like him a lot, he's got a huge heart, but I don't believe he's earnt automatic selection as yet - before he went out, he was nowhere near as dangerous as he started out.

Needs to develop more consistency and bowl to a plan instead of trying to take a wicket every ball, in my opinion at least.

Until then, I'd be hesitant to have Siddle and Johnson in the same team.

 

[STC]

We have become medicore due to the poor foresight of our selectors.

The test team should look like this (with apologies to Katich, who only misses out due to team balance...M. Clarke fortunate) -

Shane Watson
Phil Hughes
Ricky Ponting (c)
Usman Khawaja
Michael Clarke (vc)
George Bailey
Tim Paine (+)
Steve Smith
Mitchell Johnson
Ben Hilfenhaus
Doug Bollinger
12th - Steve Magoffin

Hauritz has done a great job, but I feel Smith will be a better bowler long term. Offers more with the bat too, could easily be batting in the top 6. Magoffin is very underrated and would perform very well at Test level, more so than the likes of Siddle and George. Overlooked for years, apart from touring South Africa as a squadmember.

You cannot possibly justify dropping Katich for any reason whatsoever.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

You cannot possibly justify dropping Katich for any reason whatsoever.

I can see Phil Hughes forcing Katich out by pure weight of runs when he returns for NSW. Katich would want to convert some of his starts and 50s into 100s before push comes to shove and the younger man forces him into an earlier retirement than he wants.

Ideally Katich would displace Clarke in the middle order (with Khawaja and Bailey for North and Hussey) but we know 'Pup' won't be dropped.

 

[SouthSwans]

You cannot possibly justify dropping Katich for any reason whatsoever.

+1

I simply cannot understand anyone's thinking to drop Katich, he's the only one of the old guys pulling his weight. Absolutely ludicrous.

 

[unstable punt]

Urgent changes are needed; our batting line-up is an absolute mess. How many batting collapses do we have to endure for our selectors to wake up and realise that changes MUST be made.

The only constants are Watson and Katich. Love your work fellas. Can you swap Watson to 3 if you bring in Hughes? Probably, they’re pretty similar positions, and as long as Watto comes in with the newish ball, he'll be fine.

Ponting's form is a major concern, if he can’t make runs at home during this Ashes series, the curtains may be called on his career. Pains me to say that as he's been my favourite cricketer ever. Personally I'd love to see him pushed lower down the order, back to #6 even, I think it'll do him the world of good, however I can’t see it happening, he has too much pride to take himself away from the vital #3 position.

Marcus North needs to go, NOW. Will he? Probably not, given that only a few months ago Hilditch came out and said that he's a part of our future. A 31 y/o averaging 35 is apparently part of our future, figures... Will he make a hundred during the Ashes? Probably, but you persist with anyone long enough and they'll occasionally make you look good, but with 16 scores of 10 or below from his 30 test innings, he just doesn't have what it takes. Was he worth the look? Probably, but we've got the evidence, and with a host of talented youngsters waiting to take his place, why prolong the agony?

As far as I’m concerned, Michael Hussey is done too. Too unreliable these days, and he’s always adding to our middle order collapse. Probably wouldn’t even be in the side if Akmal hadn’t deliberately dropped him during the Sydney test.

We need Phillip Hughes; I’d pick him before any other candidate. He’s still a bit raw, and he’ll have his fair share of failures, but he’s got that X-Factor quality, a guy who can legitimately tear a game apart. I love it how a guy averaging 51, and having played matches against South Africa and England, can be dropped and treated so harshly when North continues to get a free pass. You only need to look at Hughes’ last test innings to get an idea of what he can bring to the table; he scored an unbeaten 86 off 75 balls. I understand that he can be frustrating, and he’s hardly textbook, but with our side looking so run of the mill, we need his exuberance. GET HUGHES IN THE SIDE!!

I’d also be perfectly happy with either Khawaja or Ferguson. Both ooze class, both have great techniques that will stand up to test cricket, and both are young. I love both these blokes, great to watch and should be getting maximum exposure to the international scene. Steven Smith, has that similar quality to Hughes, but for mine one more FC season and then he's good to go.

My XI for the Brisbane test:

1. Katich
2. Hughes
3. Watson
4. Clarke
5. Khawaja
6. Ponting
7. Paine
8. Hauritz
9. Johnson
10. Hilfenhaus
11. Bollinger

you've still got Haurrible Hauritz in your team, he needs out, North out, Johnson out, Clarke out and IMO Katich can go as well

 

[Damon_3388]

+1

I simply cannot understand anyone's thinking to drop Katich, he's the only one of the old guys pulling his weight. Absolutely ludicrous.

Simon Katich's averages in the last three years, since his return to the test side:
2008 - 56.72 (20 innings, 4 100s, 4 50s)
2009 - 48.30 (23 innings, 2 100s, 8 50s)
2010 - 53.76 (14 innings, 2 100s, 4 50s)

Our other batsmen, by comparison:

Shane Watson
2008 - 19.55 (9 innings, 0 100s, 1 50)
2009 - 65.09 (12 innings, 1 100, 6 50s)
2010 - 38.92 (14 innings, 1 100, 4 50s)

Ricky Ponting
2008 - 47.28 (25 innings, 4 100s, 5 50s)
2009 - 38.77 (23 innings, 1 100, 7 50s)
2010 - 46.66 (15 innings, 1 100, 5 50s)

Michael Clarke
2008 - 50.61 (23 innings, 4 100s, 5 50s)
2009 - 54.84 (23 innings, 3 100s, 5 50s)
2010 - 44.50 (14 innings, 2 100s, 2 50s)

Michael Hussey
2008 - 37.50 (25 innings, 2 100s, 5 50s)
2009 - 36.54 (23 innings, 1 100, 6 50s)
2010 - 36.83 (15 innings, 1 100, 2 50s)

Marcus North
2008 - DNP
2009 - 41.23 (18 innings, 3 100s, 3 50s)
2010 - 32.38 (14 innings, 2 100s, 1 50)

There's absolutely no reason at all to drop Katich IMO. Based on the numbers above, he's been our best batsman over the last three years. To me, people just see that he's 35 and lump him into the "too old" category, without actually looking at his consistently good record over the last three years. If he was three-four years younger, dropping him wouldn't even be thought of.

Just out of interest, here's how other batsmen/wicketkeepers/all-rounders in 2008-2010 period:

Mitchell Johnson
2008 - 22.50 (21 innings, 0 100s, 1 50)
2009 - 33.33 (17 innings, 1 100s, 3 50s)
2010 - 11.07 (14 innings, 0 100s, 0 50s)

Chris Rogers
2008 - 9.50 (2 innings, 0 100s, 1 50s)
2009 - DNP
2010 - DNP

Brad Haddin
2008 - 38.77 (20 innings, 1 100, 1 50)
2009 - 44.12 (18 innings, 1 100, 4 50s)
2010 - 23.50 (7 innings, 0 100s, 0 50s)

Cameron White
2008 - 29.20 (7 innings, 0 100s, 0 50s)
2009 - DNP
2010 - DNP

Jason Krezja
2008 - 23.66 (4 innings, 0 100s, 0 50s)
2009 - DNP
2010 - DNP

Andrew McDonald
2008 - DNP
2009 - 21.40 (6 innings, 0 100s, 1 50)
2010 - DNP

Phillip Hughes
2008 - DNP
2009 - 52.44 (9 innings, 2 100s, 1 50)
2010 - 47.66 (4 innings, 0 100s, 1 50)

Graham Manou
2008 - DNP
2009 - 21.00 (2 innings, 0 100s, 0 50s)
2010 - DNP

Tim Paine
2008 - DNP
2009 - DNP
2010 - 35.87 (8 innings, 0 100s, 2 50s)

Steven Smith
2008 - DNP
2009 - DNP
2010 - 25.00 (4 innings, 0 100s, 1 50)