Cricket Season

[citizen_cub]

I thought I'd start the old cricket season thread again now that Summer is approaching :wink:

Firstly, a great series win by the guys in India, to win the series in India's backyard after being 2-1 down, with 9 players missing through injury is a big big achievement!
The bowlers stood up a different times, Watson was great after a bad start with the ball, Hauritz has been economical, and Bollinger was outstanding.
With the bat, Hussey has been a standout (Still not sure if he should be in the Test team), Watson has been aggressive, and Marsh and White have been good too.

Looking forward to the Summer, there's going to be plenty of competition for the Test spots, some wont agree but I would go:

1\. S Katich
2\. P Hughes
3\. R Ponting
4\. M Clarke (If still injured, then M Hussey to bat at number 5 or 6)
5\. M North
6\. S Watson
7\. B Haddin
8\. M Johnson
9\. N Hauritz
10\. P Siddle
11\. D Bollinger

12th man: J Krejza

great analysis mate. agree with everything except i'd just swap hauritz and krezja around

 

[Marshall_magic]

To be frank, i'm pissed that hughes and krezja aren't there. hauritz' bowling has been 'solid' and economical for a spinner but krezja will concede runs but guarantee you wickets. Reading ponting's 2009 captain's diary, he thought hughes had a an issue to address with the short ball. this is correct, but why drop him for a bloke who has barely any test match experience and at such a crucial role like opener?!? now watson did bat well in the ashes and should've been there for all five tests. the bloke who should NOT have been there is mr snicket ( mike hussey ). our insightful selectors will go to all costs to keep our 'experienced' players and won't look to youth. i just wonder how many tests warney would've played if we had the same imposters back in 1993? probably would've made his debut at an old age like hussey, north, bollinger, katich and mcgain. hussey's foot work is nothing short of woeful. it's a pity callum ferguson is injured, because my word he would've put some pressure on mr snicket. ponting is in all soughts at the moment, he has dealed with our transition phase 'woefully'. he is pig-headed who doesn't like criticism and will doe things his own way. does anybody remember the 4th test at nagpur in 2008? we were in a good position to bowl india out and were probably in the best position since the first test at bangalore. we were 9 overs behind the required over rate. the consequence of this is a fine against cricket australia and a one match suspension for him ( the captain ). i know those cry baby indians would've probably complained about us not playing in the 'spirit' of the game but stuff 'em. the next match was only against new zealand which turned out not to suit batting ( which is all ponting is concerned about anyway ). but instead, he brings on part timers who have less chance of getting a wicket than my arse turning blue. eventually, the over rate lifted but this was after that little s*** harbajan and dhoni had put on a stand of 110 and our chance of winning had fallen like sand blowing out of your hands. we could've retained the border gavaskar trophy and missed ponting for one game ( which most would be happy with anyway )

I don't think it's the fact selectors won't look to youth, it's the fact they'll play favourites. Some guys have been ordinary for the best part of 12 months (Hussey) and will still have a mortgage on their spot, while others have 2 good series followed by a poor one, and they're all of a sudden under all sorts of pressure (North).

I am still waiting for someone to tell me what Krezja did to get dumped for Hauritz (who's trick ball is the one that he gets to turn). Hauritz will keep it tight and pick up the odd wicket, but he will never take 12 wickets in a test match. The batsmen can generally milk Hauritz for several runs an over, and will only get out when they throw their wickets away, Krezja will challenge the batsmen, and generally get them out through good bowling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miY4CnYXIaI
Hauritz will never beat a tail ender all ends up like that, let alone a quality batsman like Khawaja.

 

[Jazza]

To be frank, i'm pissed that hughes and krezja aren't there. hauritz' bowling has been 'solid' and economical for a spinner but krezja will concede runs but guarantee you wickets. Reading ponting's 2009 captain's diary, he thought hughes had a an issue to address with the short ball. this is correct, but why drop him for a bloke who has barely any test match experience and at such a crucial role like opener?!? now watson did bat well in the ashes and should've been there for all five tests. the bloke who should NOT have been there is mr snicket ( mike hussey ). our insightful selectors will go to all costs to keep our 'experienced' players and won't look to youth. i just wonder how many tests warney would've played if we had the same imposters back in 1993? probably would've made his debut at an old age like hussey, north, bollinger, katich and mcgain. hussey's foot work is nothing short of woeful. it's a pity callum ferguson is injured, because my word he would've put some pressure on mr snicket. ponting is in all soughts at the moment, he has dealed with our transition phase 'woefully'. he is pig-headed who doesn't like criticism and will doe things his own way. does anybody remember the 4th test at nagpur in 2008? we were in a good position to bowl india out and were probably in the best position since the first test at bangalore. we were 9 overs behind the required over rate. the consequence of this is a fine against cricket australia and a one match suspension for him ( the captain ). i know those cry baby indians would've probably complained about us not playing in the 'spirit' of the game but stuff 'em. the next match was only against new zealand which turned out not to suit batting ( which is all ponting is concerned about anyway ). but instead, he brings on part timers who have less chance of getting a wicket than my arse turning blue. eventually, the over rate lifted but this was after that little s*** harbajan and dhoni had put on a stand of 110 and our chance of winning had fallen like sand blowing out of your hands. we could've retained the border gavaskar trophy and missed ponting for one game ( which most would be happy with anyway )

I don't think it's the fact selectors won't look to youth, it's the fact they'll play favourites. Some guys have been ordinary for the best part of 12 months (Hussey) and will still have a mortgage on their spot, while others have 2 good series followed by a poor one, and they're all of a sudden under all sorts of pressure (North).

I am still waiting for someone to tell me what Krezja did to get dumped for Hauritz (who's trick ball is the one that he gets to turn). Hauritz will keep it tight and pick up the odd wicket, but he will never take 12 wickets in a test match. The batsmen can generally milk Hauritz for several runs an over, and will only get out when they throw their wickets away, Krezja will challenge the batsmen, and generally get them out through good bowling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miY4CnYXIaI
Hauritz will never beat a tail ender all ends up like that, let alone a quality batsman like Khawaja.

I read about that ball, his new doosra, and it looks lethal.
Another thing about Krezja is that he is bowling tidier this Summer, I noticed in the Ford Ranger Cup and with some of the Shield scores. Ponting even stated that recently even if he isnt taking bags of wickets.
But Hauritz has done ok in his matches so far, he had just taken 5 wickets, he deserves another shot now.

And I agree pretty much with everything you said there Citizen.
I know Watson has done great as an opener, but when Hughes was dropped for having a technical prob against the short ball, no one said anything about Watson's equally bad technical prob with the ball coming back into him and dismissing him LBW.

Hughes stated that he loved the battle and what Flintoff was dishing him and I think what Ponting shouldve done was show some leadership and back his young opener the same way as Steve Waugh did for his players, like he did for Matthew Hayden and Ponting himself when he had a shocker in India.

I still think Mr Cricket is on his last legs. Even if they dont want to drop Watson down the order, they could easily go:

1\. Watson
2\. Hughes
3\. Ponting
4\. Katich

I'd also look at dropping Ponting down the order, he's past his best and its time for Clarke to move to number 3 and give him more responsibilty. There's no shame in dropping down the order towards the end of your career. Border, Viv, Clive Lloyd and Greg Chappell all did it at the end of their careers too.

As for Ponting's captaincy, its improving, but I still dont think he is great tactically. You watch how many 4s go down to the 3rd man region next week. I'd much rather him take a man out of cover, put him at gully/slip if there's some bounce or 3rd man if there isnt and encourage the bowler to pitch it up and make the batsman to drive.

And then of course there's Nagpur, I dont want to get started with that again, I thought the exact same thing Citizen. I remember Allan Border's commentary summed up my thoughts perfectly, "Well I'm glad Ricky cant read my thoughts, cos he's not gonna like them", and Thommo's thoughts "He's a crap captain, always has been, always will be"

 

[NJLM78]

To be frank, i'm pissed that hughes and krezja aren't there. hauritz' bowling has been 'solid' and economical for a spinner but krezja will concede runs but guarantee you wickets. Reading ponting's 2009 captain's diary, he thought hughes had a an issue to address with the short ball. this is correct, but why drop him for a bloke who has barely any test match experience and at such a crucial role like opener?!? now watson did bat well in the ashes and should've been there for all five tests. the bloke who should NOT have been there is mr snicket ( mike hussey ). our insightful selectors will go to all costs to keep our 'experienced' players and won't look to youth. i just wonder how many tests warney would've played if we had the same imposters back in 1993? probably would've made his debut at an old age like hussey, north, bollinger, katich and mcgain. hussey's foot work is nothing short of woeful. it's a pity callum ferguson is injured, because my word he would've put some pressure on mr snicket. ponting is in all soughts at the moment, he has dealed with our transition phase 'woefully'. he is pig-headed who doesn't like criticism and will doe things his own way. does anybody remember the 4th test at nagpur in 2008? we were in a good position to bowl india out and were probably in the best position since the first test at bangalore. we were 9 overs behind the required over rate. the consequence of this is a fine against cricket australia and a one match suspension for him ( the captain ). i know those cry baby indians would've probably complained about us not playing in the 'spirit' of the game but stuff 'em. the next match was only against new zealand which turned out not to suit batting ( which is all ponting is concerned about anyway ). but instead, he brings on part timers who have less chance of getting a wicket than my arse turning blue. eventually, the over rate lifted but this was after that little s*** harbajan and dhoni had put on a stand of 110 and our chance of winning had fallen like sand blowing out of your hands. we could've retained the border gavaskar trophy and missed ponting for one game ( which most would be happy with anyway )

Its an interesting read. Hughes should never have been dropped in the first place. He should have been given every opportunity to continue what he started in South Africa. Australia need some younder players getting a start. Look at what 17 year old Aamir achieved for Pakistan in that last test.

 

[Jazza]

The problem with selecting 30 year olds to debut is that we're going to have a rebuilding phase every 5 years instead of 10 years.

Some people say just pick the best players available, if that were the case then Nannes, Rogers and Hodge would be in the side and we'd be back to dad's army again. Thats why I think we need to keep bringing the youngsters in even if they arent quite at their best yet.

Even in the current side, we've got Katich, Hussey and Ponting who are 34-35 years old, and then straight after that we got North and Haddin who are about 31-32, add to that we had Lee, Clark and Symonds in the side not long ago.

You could even look at the next line after that, Watson, Johnson and Bollinger are all about 28.

It just seems like we're heading in the same direction as 5 years ago when Hayden, Langer, Martyn and Gilly were all around the same age.

 

[Geo]

:laughing: that Dad's army you speak of kept us at the top of World Cricket for the past 20 Years…..........

When are you guys going to get it....it's not the players we have be them experienced or young...Until a change in the selection panel occurs.........the Muppets will still have their favourites.....

The Waugh/Warne/Langer era on the selection panel can't come quick enough for mine.......

 

[citizen_cub]

To be frank, i'm pissed that hughes and krezja aren't there. hauritz' bowling has been 'solid' and economical for a spinner but krezja will concede runs but guarantee you wickets. Reading ponting's 2009 captain's diary, he thought hughes had a an issue to address with the short ball. this is correct, but why drop him for a bloke who has barely any test match experience and at such a crucial role like opener?!? now watson did bat well in the ashes and should've been there for all five tests. the bloke who should NOT have been there is mr snicket ( mike hussey ). our insightful selectors will go to all costs to keep our 'experienced' players and won't look to youth. i just wonder how many tests warney would've played if we had the same imposters back in 1993? probably would've made his debut at an old age like hussey, north, bollinger, katich and mcgain. hussey's foot work is nothing short of woeful. it's a pity callum ferguson is injured, because my word he would've put some pressure on mr snicket. ponting is in all soughts at the moment, he has dealed with our transition phase 'woefully'. he is pig-headed who doesn't like criticism and will doe things his own way. does anybody remember the 4th test at nagpur in 2008? we were in a good position to bowl india out and were probably in the best position since the first test at bangalore. we were 9 overs behind the required over rate. the consequence of this is a fine against cricket australia and a one match suspension for him ( the captain ). i know those cry baby indians would've probably complained about us not playing in the 'spirit' of the game but stuff 'em. the next match was only against new zealand which turned out not to suit batting ( which is all ponting is concerned about anyway ). but instead, he brings on part timers who have less chance of getting a wicket than my arse turning blue. eventually, the over rate lifted but this was after that little s*** harbajan and dhoni had put on a stand of 110 and our chance of winning had fallen like sand blowing out of your hands. we could've retained the border gavaskar trophy and missed ponting for one game ( which most would be happy with anyway )

Its an interesting read. Hughes should never have been dropped in the first place. He should have been given every opportunity to continue what he started in South Africa. Australia need some younder players getting a start. Look at what 17 year old Aamir achieved for Pakistan in that last test.

exactly, imagine what we'd do if we had aamer? ponting would probably recommend he be dropped! and then claim he isn't ready for test cricket. look, hughes got 2 centuries and a fifty in south africa. we then arrive in england and play a warm-up against the england lions. he had great difficulty with harmison's bounce. they worked out a big weakness in hughes' game. he made a decent 36 at cardiff and fails both times at lord's ( one off a no-ball which should've be referred ). There's only one way he's gonna be more suited to test match cricket and that is to play and get experience. watson will move back to the middle order eventually. katich is going to retire within the next 2-3 years, which will inevitably open the door for hughes. but will he be prepared? he would've missed alot of test cricket. i'm stunned krezja isn't good enough to play ahead of hauritz. hauritz could'nt even turn a door know or a tennis ball on sandpaper!in india krezja was the only bowler who looked like taking a wicket and played only one test on a deteriorating wicket. then on a seamers deck at the WACA he bowls a beautiful delivery which goes through amla's bat and pad. krezja was then dropped ( being the only bowler in the game to be dropped ). that was one of the most appalling bowling performances I've seen from any team let alone the world no.1 team at the time. but we persist with old plonkers like lee who are past it. he shouldn't have even been considered for the ashes after the way siddle, johnson and hilfenhaus bowled in south africa. however, i think stuey clark has been unfairly treated. he consistently hits the top of off and even at 34 is a bowler who should still be considered.

 

[citizen_cub]

ponting is an insignificant little weed who should shove his 'beloved' captaincy up his rectum. he's SUCH a little hypocrite who probably sucks up to the selectors. reading his captains diary he the first to assess others' bad performances but never seems to talk about his failures. he doesn't even look like scoring runs at the moment. i bet you it was his idea to keep mike hussey and matt hayden in the team for 10 more tests than they deserved. just great dickhead!! and apparently sources say he wants to captain us up until the 2013 ashes! mate how much shots at ashes glory in England do you want? he's been there 4 times, twice under a great captains ( mark taylor and steve waugh respectively ) and twice our fate has been in his greedy, dirty hands. michael clarke is primed for captaincy at 28 and would be spewing if he got it at 32\. you can just tell he's ready, his fielding is first class, he's got great leadership skills and he's a prominent international batsmen. ponting is a confrontational little shit as well, remember when england's 12th man came out to give one of the tail-enders a drink or something at cardiff? he didn't say anything, but you could tell his fat little taswegian mouth was tempted to say something. mate he can [This word has been automatically removed]in' do what he likes without you making face gestures at him.

 

[Jazza]

:laughing: that Dad's army you speak of kept us at the top of World Cricket for the past 20 Years…..........

When are you guys going to get it....it's not the players we have be them experienced or young...Until a change in the selection panel occurs.........the Muppets will still have their favourites.....

The Waugh/Warne/Langer era on the selection panel can't come quick enough for mine.......

I think the reason why we were on top for 20 years is because we didnt go through a massive rebuilding phase in that period. The only significant retirements I can think of in the 90s was Border, Taylor, Boon and McDermott (Who was always injured anyway). Most of the other seasoned internationals in that period were dropped before they retired (Merv, Jones, Lawson, Marsh, Rackemann, Matthews, and Aldermann).

In the the late 80s and early 90s young guys were given a go early, in 85, instead of going for a Dirk Welham, they went with a 20 year old Steve Waugh who didnt have a great record at the time. In 95, instead of going for a Jaimie Siddons, they went with Greg Blewett, instead of going with Stuart Law in the Test side, they went with Ricky Ponting. Jason Gillespie was preferred to Paul Reiffel despite Reiffel having a very good Test record (Avg: 26 with bat and ball). The selectors dropped Geoff Marsh when he was about 32 (Against Border's will), and eventually gambled on Michael Slater for the 93 Ashes.

They gambled on Shane Warne after he had played only 7 first class matches. If he didnt face such a tough intro against the Indians, or gained the confidence from doing well in England, then he may of been stuck in Shield cricket for years.

Langer and Hayden have been saying what's happened to Hughes is part of the Australian cricketers journey by getting dropped early in their career. But those guys werent dropped with an average of 52 from 5 Tests. I just think over the years the selectors have been a bit to cautious and shortsighted about the future and playing young guys.

By the way, I just read on Cricinfo that Ameer has been ruled out with a groin injury, so Umar Gul will probably come in.

 

[citizen_cub]

danish kaneria in for saeed ajmal

umar gul in for abdur rauf

i still think on a spinner's deck kaneria could rip through us. if suliemann benn can, kaneria could take some wickets. i really rate him, he's got a good action and can turn the ball. we're really missing a genuine leggy at the moment. steve smith is not ready for test cricket and if he plays will get wacked all over the place. krezja should be in i don't care what any [This word has been automatically removed]er says

 

[Marshall_magic]

Anybody catch Dwayne Smith's catch in the Twenty20 big bash? absolute screamer

 

[Marshall_magic]

Steve Smith also took a ripper

 

[Geo]

Anybody who in their right mind thinks Siddle and Hilfenhaus are better options than Lee and Clark needs to lay off the meth.

And Bollinger is 28….same as Johnson.

Hate to break it to you but Brett is seriously considering retirement from test Cricket and the recurrence of Clark's injury looks like he will go down that road as well…......

So Yeah...Siddle and Hilfy are better options.....

 

[Yossarian]

Steve Smith also took a ripper

If Aaron Bird has any brains NSW would have won it. You'd think after the first 2 half-volleys went for six he'd know not to bowl a third. And he followed up both times with half trackers a metre outside off.

 

[Jazza]

Steve Smith also took a ripper

If Aaron Bird has any brains NSW would have won it. You'd think after the first 2 half-volleys went for six he'd know not to bowl a third. And he followed up both times with half trackers a metre outside off.

I was thinking that too, with midwicket back he wouldve been better off bowling a low fulltoss on middle and leg, even a boundary past fine leg you could say is better then gettin wacked for 6 a couple of times.

And if Henriques had some brains he wouldnt of bowled Bird's last over out, as it turned out Bird went for 53 off 4 overs i think.

 

[TheSunTanSuperman]

Anybody who in their right mind thinks Siddle and Hilfenhaus are better options than Lee and Clark needs to lay off the meth.

And Bollinger is 28….same as Johnson.

Hate to break it to you but Brett is seriously considering retirement from test Cricket and the recurrence of Clark's injury looks like he will go down that road as well…......

So Yeah...Siddle and Hilfy are better options.....

Well when Lee stops "considering" retirement, and when Clark doesn't heal, so be it.

But while those two are running around and are fit, they are a better option than Siddle and Hilfenhaus….so yeah...

 

[Jazza]

I dont know if they mentioned it on ch 9, but Katich is out after failing a fitness test.

Hughes to open.

 

[Jazza]

3/13

The question is why didnt Ponting send them in?
The pitch is green, its been under the covers for a long time, its overcast.
Plenty of swing, pace, and bounce in the pitch, imagine Dougie, Mitch, Siddle and Watto bowling out there, I know Pakistan have 3 seamers but we have 4!

 

[citizen_cub]

4/41

soft dismissals really. hughes batted like crap, ponting played a ridiculous pull straight to the fieldsman, watson and clarke both got out to beauties.

you've really got to question some of the shot selection of these batsmen. people are first to criticise our bowling, but our batting has been the problem in the test series we've lost over the past couple of years.

OH suprise, suprise!! another batsmen out!!

 

[Jazza]

7/62\. Ridiculous decision to bat first.