Worst Australian Cricketers...Ever!

deanc

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we've all said stupid things in the past.

i said phil jaques would be an A grade test player. kinda fell short there :)

You weren't far away with Jaques, 11 tests, 3 tons, Av. 47.5., the bloke could bat.
Unlike Alex Doolan who I thought could be our next Matthew Hayden! - but unlike Warne and Beer neither of us are one of the best cricketers of our generation predicting one the worst would be a superstar...
 
May 5, 2016
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Can’t believe Whitney is getting mentioned here. If you’re gonna mention a left aren’t with a media career it’s surely Julian, hack and a half who somehow found himself on some iconic tours.

Simon Cook and Nicholson are probably fair enough mentions. Particularly Cook, he REALLY sucked.

His career ended unfortunately but I don’t know what the selectors ever saw in Casson. Chinaman is a pretty useless art in long form cricket, particularly when you’ve got zero tricks a la this bloke.

A battle between him, frothies Beer, Krejza and Doherty for the worst spinner we picked in that period.

Krejza’s 8 fa a million doesn’t count, I mean really. Beer plain stunk, might as well have picked Aaron O’Brien. Doherty just Beer but with less bounce.

It’s easy to rag on McGain but he was a better bowler than this lot, just bowled horribly in his one shot in the worst conditions for a spinner imaginable. He was a better bowler than Hauritz for sure, who was somehow better than the majority of the guys I mentioned.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness, that period of time just really still messes with me.

Didn’t cook take a five wicket haul in one of his two tests?
 

Pippen94

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Can’t believe Whitney is getting mentioned here. If you’re gonna mention a left aren’t with a media career it’s surely Julian, hack and a half who somehow found himself on some iconic tours.

Simon Cook and Nicholson are probably fair enough mentions. Particularly Cook, he REALLY sucked.

His career ended unfortunately but I don’t know what the selectors ever saw in Casson. Chinaman is a pretty useless art in long form cricket, particularly when you’ve got zero tricks a la this bloke.

A battle between him, frothies Beer, Krejza and Doherty for the worst spinner we picked in that period.

Krejza’s 8 fa a million doesn’t count, I mean really. Beer plain stunk, might as well have picked Aaron O’Brien. Doherty just Beer but with less bounce.

It’s easy to rag on McGain but he was a better bowler than this lot, just bowled horribly in his one shot in the worst conditions for a spinner imaginable. He was a better bowler than Hauritz for sure, who was somehow better than the majority of the guys I mentioned.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness, that period of time just really still messes with me.
Hauritz was a pretty cagey bowler who was hard to get after. Looking at his record should have played more tests & odi's than he did. McGain played one test too many.
 

The Passenger

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we've all said stupid things in the past.

i said phil jaques would be an A grade test player. kinda fell short there :)
Jaques was a real good batsmen. Had a good test career. It was just short and was initially stuck behind Hayden and Langer. Was probably unlucky not to get another crack when Katich, Hughes and Watson were opening (maybe not, see edit: form and fitness deserted him through this stage).

There was that period around 2010-11-12 when Watson's form with the bat started deteriorating and Hughes was struggling to hold down a spot, and there was an opening position up for grabs but IIRC Jaques form in shield cricket through that period was not good and eventually the opening roles shifted to Warner and Cowan before Rogers replaced the latter. Jaques had a bad back as well didn't he? Which would explain why he didn't play Shield cricket after 2011 (aged 32).

If Jaques was born probably 5 years later he would've played 50 or 60 tests. Maybe more. But I guess there's a lot of Australian batsmen born in the 1970's you can say that about.

EDIT:

Yep, bad back. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22341015/got-my-life-back-cricket-bonus-phil-jaques

Phil Jaques has said he has no regrets over his decision to have surgery on his back in 2008, a move that effectively ended his international career. However, Jaques said it was "very disappointing" that his injury prevented him from playing any more than 11 matches in a Test career that brought him three centuries, including one in his final innings.

And his two full final seasons in Shield saw him average 39 (2009/10) and 33 (2010/11) and just the 2 games (4 innings, 95 runs) in 2011/12 before calling time on his career in Australia.

An unlucky guy it must be said.
 
May 2, 2007
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It’s easy to rag on McGain but he was a better bowler than this lot, just bowled horribly in his one shot in the worst conditions for a spinner imaginable. He was a better bowler than Hauritz for sure, who was somehow better than the majority of the guys I mentioned.
It's easy to rag on McGain because despite all the excuses he was s**t.

It's funny because at the time when he was yet to debut, there were a couple of posters on here that were abused by the McGain BF fanclub when they 'dared' to suggest he wasn't really much of a bowler and would get hammered at the highest level.

As for Hauritz, please.. at Test level despite being a limited bowler he actually performed reasonably well, and certainly didn't get completely exposed like McGain that simply shat himself.
 
May 30, 2006
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It's easy to rag on McGain because despite all the excuses he was s**t.

It's funny because at the time when he was yet to debut, there were a couple of posters on here that were abused by the McGain BF fanclub when they 'dared' to suggest he wasn't really much of a bowler and would get hammered at the highest level.

As for Hauritz, please.. at Test level despite being a limited bowler he actually performed reasonably well, and certainly didn't get completely exposed like McGain that simply shat himself.
McGain, much like Chris Matthews, was a decent enough bowler who deserved the call-up at the time. But had a horrendous game when the chance came (two in Matthews case). He was a far batter bowler than his Test suggested. No Warne or MacGill, obviously; quite probably would not have made Hohns or Sleep standards; but had that game not been so horrible maybe could have been a decent fill-in.
 

Pippen94

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McGain, much like Chris Matthews, was a decent enough bowler who deserved the call-up at the time. But had a horrendous game when the chance came (two in Matthews case). He was a far batter bowler than his Test suggested. No Warne or MacGill, obviously; quite probably would not have made Hohns or Sleep standards; but had that game not been so horrible maybe could have been a decent fill-in.
McGain was talked up by Victorians, but I never thought much of him. Slow through the air & no drift.
 

PT Bar None

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I wanted Michael Beer to dominate a Boxing Day Test sooooo much.

Just so we could get the HUN headline: "Beer is the answer!"
 

DaRick

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McGain, much like Chris Matthews, was a decent enough bowler who deserved the call-up at the time. But had a horrendous game when the chance came (two in Matthews case). He was a far batter bowler than his Test suggested. No Warne or MacGill, obviously; quite probably would not have made Hohns or Sleep standards; but had that game not been so horrible maybe could have been a decent fill-in.

I never really got the McGain hype TBH. All I saw was a late 30's spinner with a mediocre FC record, and implying that he was probably worse than Hohns/Sleep isn't very complimentary.
 
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