Cricket Season Thread

[Jazza]

The pitch looks dead flat at the moment.
Our bowlers are keeping it tight though, the difference between the recent Aus sides and the great one's are even if the pitch was flat, the great sides would keep it tight relentlessly. Thats what this team needs to do, and I must say with Copeland, Watson and Siddle, we are capable of doing that.

 

[citizen_cub]

A pretty decent series overall IMO. We dominated the first test and won, dominated the second test but our cause wasn't helped by constant rain so a draw and despite a huge first innings deficit we bat our way to secure a draw.

Hussey is a guy who has copped alot of criticism over the past 12 months (including me), to come and do what he did in the Ashes and then to back it up with an almost impeccable series in Sri Lanka is a pretty admirable effort. The Ashes defeat was humiliating enough as it was, had it not been for the Hussey-Haddin partnership in Brisbane we probably would have lost and had it not been for Hussey's two contributions in Perth (the game we actually won) I highly doubt we would've won either.

A guy I am really happy to see do well, I'm glad he's given the bird to his doubters (including me) and scoring runs in masses. Seems like an affable, level-headed person off the field as well. Good on him and lets hope he keeps scoring runs.

 

[stryker]

Australia have won the 3 game ODI series in SA with another superb effort from the boys with the bat. My man Huss again stole the show and finished off the game with a powerful pull shot for 6.

The test series starts soon.

 

[happy_tiger]

Not long until the Kiwis come over for the Test series and then the Indians
Should be a pretty good summer of Test Cricket

 

[cunno]

Hopefully things will improve for us now that some changes have been made at the top both on and off the field.

 

[stryker]

Anyone catch that innings from Daniel Smith @ North Sydney Oval yesterday? He went ballistic. 180 odd not out…great stuff.

 

[Jazza]

Anyone catch that innings from Daniel Smith @ North Sydney Oval yesterday? He went ballistic. 180 odd not out…great stuff.

I saw it on Fox Sports. No great surprise really, Smith is a huge hitter of the ball and north Sydney is probably the smallest ground in Aus. He's always had that performance in him so it was great to see!

 

[happy_tiger]

What about the Qld Sheffield Shield side Off to a flyer 3 games 3 wins We are truly the greatest sporting state in Qld

On an angrier note I hope the 3 Pakistani cricketers got a life ban from the game as well Have heard the are getting jail time but have not heard whether they have been banned from the game as well

And if I'm not mistaken the two test series against the South Africans starts this week as well

 

[Jazza]

What about the Qld Sheffield Shield side Off to a flyer 3 games 3 wins We are truly the greatest sporting state in Qld

On an angrier note I hope the 3 Pakistani cricketers got a life ban from the game as well Have heard the are getting jail time but have not heard whether they have been banned from the game as well

And if I'm not mistaken the two test series against the South Africans starts this week as well

Hang on hang on Happy, lets bring back all the players from the national team and then see which state has the better cricket side :wink: NSW virtually play an 'A' team all year. But yeh QLD dominate the A-League, Origin and they won the Super Rugby.

On the Pakistan note, the players from memory have already been banned, Amir for 5 years, Asif for 7 (2 years suspended) and Butt for 10 years (5 years suspended).

 

[Yossarian]

What about the Qld Sheffield Shield side Off to a flyer 3 games 3 wins We are truly the greatest sporting state in Qld

On an angrier note I hope the 3 Pakistani cricketers got a life ban from the game as well Have heard the are getting jail time but have not heard whether they have been banned from the game as well

And if I'm not mistaken the two test series against the South Africans starts this week as well

Hang on hang on Happy, lets bring back all the players from the national team and then see which state has the better cricket side :wink: NSW virtually play an 'A' team all year. But yeh QLD dominate the A-League, Origin and they won the Super Rugby.

On the Pakistan note, the players from memory have already been banned, Amir for 5 years, Asif for 7 (2 years suspended) and Butt for 10 years (5 years suspended).

I think they won the netball too Jazza :unamused:

So what do you boys think about the test team? Johnson and Harris seem certain but who else? Personally I'd rather Copeland over Siddle for a bit of variety. Is it worth including a spinner if they're not going to be effective anyway? Should Watson continue to open or is he better off at number 6?

 

[GNR4LIFE]

What about the Qld Sheffield Shield side Off to a flyer 3 games 3 wins We are truly the greatest sporting state in Qld

On an angrier note I hope the 3 Pakistani cricketers got a life ban from the game as well Have heard the are getting jail time but have not heard whether they have been banned from the game as well

And if I'm not mistaken the two test series against the South Africans starts this week as well

Have to disagree on one point Happy. I don't think Muhammad Amir deserves a life ban, he was a 17 yr old kid when this happened, and while he no doubt deserves a suspension, he doesn't deserve his career taken away. But the other two throw the book at. Its a shame because as a Batsman Salmon Butt is all class, and was a shining light for Pakistan

 

[happy_tiger]

Yoss I need you to sit down for a second
I totally agree if we are going to be bowling Watson for 15-20 plus overs an innings I think he should be batting at six If he is expected to bowl less than 15 overs let him open
The only spin bowlers in the country worth feeding are Hauritz or possibly Krezja There is no use bringing in a new spinner as the Indians will eat him alive
I'd like to see Copeland get a run against the Proteas and the Kiwis and make a decision then if you want to use him against the Indians Harris should be the first quickie picked lets just hope his body holds together

I think the most contreversial position in the Australian side is the opener The be perfectly honest I would prefer to see Mike Hussey and young Marsh opening the batting and bat Watson at six Clarke at 4 Ponting at 5 Khawarja at 3

 

[Jazza]

It's very difficult to know who should be where, the team looks a bit unsettled to me.
My absolute, ideal team would be:

1\. Hughes
2\. Marsh
3\. Clarke
4\. Hussey
5\. Watson
6\. Ponting/Khawaja - If Khawaja plays then he bats at number 3, Clarke to number 5 and Watson to number 6.
7\. Wade - I rate him better then Haddin and Paine, plus he is in form.
8\. Johnson
9\. Harris
10\. Cummins - Don't care about age, if he's good enough, he's old enough.
11\. Lyon

 

[happy_tiger]

It's very difficult to know who should be where, the team looks a bit unsettled to me.
My absolute, ideal team would be:

1\. Hughes
2\. Marsh
3\. Clarke
4\. Hussey
5\. Watson
6\. Ponting/Khawaja - If Khawaja plays then he bats at number 3, Clarke to number 5 and Watson to number 6.
7\. Wade - I rate him better then Haddin and Paine, plus he is in form.
8\. Johnson
9\. Harris
10\. Cummins - Don't care about age, if he's good enough, he's old enough.
11\. Lyon

Hughes isn't up to Test Cricket sorry He gets found out with shocking footwork

Ishant Sharma will wreck him once and for all this summer if Hughes gets picked

 

[Yossarian]

Hughes would certainly want to make some runs in the upcoming series. He can't just make a century buried in a series of failures.

 

[happy_tiger]

Yoss what would be your 11 for the opening Test against India

 

[Yossarian]

India? Well it will depend on what happens in South Africa! Personally I'd go for

Hughes (assuming he doesn't fail in Sth Af - he needs runs consistently)
S Marsh (I think he's up to opening. Still not totally sold on him at test level but while he's making runs he has to get picked)
Clarke (Needs to really start performing)
Ponting (Must be getting close to his final series. Just not the consistent scorer he was)
M Hussey (Getting on but still a class act)
Watson (Needs a rest from opening. A game changer at number 6 and I think he could start scoring 100s down the order)
Haddin (Agree with Jazza somewhat. He seems out of form both with the gloves and the bat)
O'Keefe (See below)
Johnson (I still don't think he's consistent enough. He's a match winner on his day but it only happens once every few years. Cummins is his natutal replacement so I'd strongly consider throwing him in)
Harris (Best bowler in the attack but he's injury prone)
Copeland (Has the control and accuracy to keep things tight)

Lyon doesn't convince me yet but I'll be watching how he goes in S Af. If he fails I'd pick O'Keefe. Has the lowest average of a spin bowler in the country and a good economy rate. Well the form spinner at the moment is probably Katich but that ain't happening!

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I'd take Yoss' XI with the only change being Khawaja for Hughes.
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[Yossarian]

You'd think Hughes is running out of chances CB. The way he's going Dave Warner could be opening the innings at test level before the summer is out. Could be our Sehwag. I like Khawaja though. I think he's a key part of our future top order.

 

[happy_tiger]

Happy 11

1 Marsh
2 M Hussey
3 Khawaja
4 Clarke
5 Ponting
6 Watson
7 Haddin (only just Paine isn't too far away)
8 Johnson
9 Hauritz
10 Harris
11 Copeland
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12th Man Siddle
I don't think this side will be picked but Hussey in my opinion is a natural opening batsman and would of been there if not for Hayden and Langer in the past
Ponting will get far more runs batting at 5
Khawaja at 3 we must perservere with Personally I think your No 3 is the key position in the line up