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Cricket: Australia v. India v. Sri Lanka 2011/12

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Knuckles

Ted Thorn (20)
Yes some of our guys don't have great records in England, but until 2010/11 most of the English had positively shithouse records in Australia. Classy players in form will perform under any conditions.

Agree, but my biggest concern is that whilst Ponting in particular and Hussey in Sydney were 2 of the 3 mainstays in the batting line up v India, they have ordinary records in England. And we know they have been there more than once. I think it would be (and should be) very hard to drop Ponting now, but keeping someone like Hussey in the team just coz he's a good bloke will inevitably hurt us. The issue is that these days, because of the money in the game, players no longer retire in this country. They wait around for too long before the selectors drop them and then write a book about how the selectors showed a lack of loyalty for the years of sacrifice etc.

Tough decision have to be made. Whilst its always great to win series, the pinnacle of Australian Cricket is always to win the Ashes. We play a lot of Test cricket between now and the next Ashes series with matches against West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Get an old bloke out and give a promising youngster a go...and say to him, righto champ, we have 4 series for you to get used to test cricket, if you wanna go to england, stand up. We'll give you 2 full test series of opportunity, its up to you if you'll be in the last 2!
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
A few issues with that post Knuckles:

Agree, but my biggest concern is that whilst Ponting in particular and Hussey in Sydney were 2 of the 3 mainstays in the batting line up v India, they have ordinary records in England. And we know they have been there more than once.

Well according to your own stats Hussey avarages 59 in England and Ponting 44. That is not too shabby at all.

I think it would be (and should be) very hard to drop Ponting now, but keeping someone like Hussey in the team just coz he's a good bloke will inevitably hurt us. The issue is that these days, because of the money in the game, players no longer retire in this country. They wait around for too long before the selectors drop them and then write a book about how the selectors showed a lack of loyalty for the years of sacrifice etc.

Well on top of being a good bloke Hussey has clearly been our best batsman over the past twelve months. He continued this form against India.

And what reason do you have to suggest Ponting and Hussey are only staying for the money? Maybe they just fucking love cricket.

And who has ever written a book after they were dropped about the selectors and loyalty? What a load of bollocks.


Get an old bloke out and give a promising youngster a go...and say to him, righto champ, we have 4 series for you to get used to test cricket, if you wanna go to england, stand up. We'll give you 2 full test series of opportunity, its up to you if you'll be in the last 2!

But this is the fundamental problem. Which promising youngster?

It's all well and good just to say 'throw a talented young bloke in there', but who? Because the truth is we just don't have any at the moment.

On top of that the whole idea of 'throw a bloke in to the test team and give him a year to find his feet' is flawed. Historically the best way to make an Aussie test batsman is get him making 1000s of runs at domestic level, then put him in there. If he is good enough he will perform immediately. Look at Clarke, Hussey, Marsh (pre-injury), etc.

We gave Phil Hughes plenty of fucking time to find his feet in 2010 and 2011, and where did that get us? Time does not necessarily mean a player will find form.

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mark_s

Chilla Wilson (44)
Hussey has a good county cricket record as well, although I can't google it quickly. They are giving M Marsh, Forrest, Wade and in the ODI's, plus the second half of the SSheild will give the youngesters (including those tried over the last two years) an opportunity to push for selection. The selectors will be in a much better position to replace Ponting or Hussey if either have another extended form slump going forward than we have been in the recent past.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
He's fit, just not in great form. I thought he was the next big thing, but he just fell away a bit in Shield cricket.
 

Badger

Bill McLean (32)
His record is far from what I would expect to see from a test aspirant. He averages in the mid 30s.

Agree on this. I would say the same for Shaun Marsh... didn't realise Marsh had a FC average of around 37.50 until I had a dig around the stats. Not what you expect to see for a first drop in the Test team.
 

Knuckles

Ted Thorn (20)
you're missing my point which I have harped on about in more than just my last post.

the issue with the selection policy now is that they pick blokes in test cricket based on T20 form. Barbarian, I disagree with your statement that Hussey has been the best batsman for the past 12 months. In my opinion Clarke would win that fight hands down.

To address your statements of who, let's go back to what made australian cricket so strong for so long......picking blokes on form out of shield cricket. No-one is standing up in shield cricket for a reason mate, it aint being fucking played. Get the shield on, have the states play against the touring international teams as well and then whoever tops the batting stats get a gig in the aussie touring squad. My point is regeneration is healthy. Dont take it so personal that I think Hussey should go mate............unless of course if actually are the man himself.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Maybe Clarke does get ahead of Hussey, but not by that much. People have very short memories- Hussey carried us through the last Ashes, then scored two tons and two 90s in Sri Lanka. A couple of lean spells against SA and NZ (like everyone except Clarke) and then came good against the Indians.

The reason why I disagree with you dropping Hussey is because he is clearly one of the best three batsmen in the country, and dropping him simply for the sake of 'regeneration' is stupid. You don't drop your best batsmen, no matter how old they are.

As for picking blokes on T20 form, I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't recall Ed Cowan's T20 form being that good, or Khawaja or Hughes or anyone really.

Yes they aren't playing Shield cricket now but that isn't the reason there are no obvious choices for batting replacements. Because when they WERE playing Shield hardly anyone was making consistent runs. That might change when they start playing again, but as it stands there is no clear replacement for the top order guys.

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Aussie D

Dick Tooth (41)
The only player in real danger of being dropped would have to be Haddin, his form with both the bat and the gloves has been well below what should be expected of a keeper batsman (if he were only a keeper I could accept his batting stats - though definitely not his sloppy keeping). The bowlers have been excellent and if the stars aligned and they were all fit at the same time we'd have some great depth.
 

light

Peter Fenwicke (45)
Wade has really taken his chances so far, to begin with I was skeptical but he's proven himself every opportunity so far. Agree with Scotty regarding Marsh, the guy needs to go back to grade cricket and get some confidence back, the technique and the talent are there.
 

Aussie D

Dick Tooth (41)
Would personally like to see Hartley given a look in at A-level by the selectors to see how he goes at an international level compared to Wade as the latters wicket-keeping leaves me a little nervous (not sure why - probably the 4 runs scored and his lack of reaction behind the stumps to an edge behind in one of the games I saw).
 

Swat

Chilla Wilson (44)
So channel nine just fucked up my day by showing repeats of golden girls rather than the cricket on gem. Why can't they figure out they're fucking pissing people off? If anyone see's Packer can they please punch him in the balls for me.
 

mark_s

Chilla Wilson (44)
I think packer is a part owner in 10 now but I think he still has a small share of 9.

Back to cricket. Ponting has been eased out of the 50:50 team with little fanfare. Good decision by the selectors, but should have been made at the start of the series ala Haddin. Thanks for the ODI memories, best Aus batter I have every seen in the ODI games (and tests for that matter but I'll say it again when he gets dropped form the test team).

Finally, how crap are india?
 

light

Peter Fenwicke (45)
Finally, how crap are india?

Very. Over the years we have often thought the guys running Cricket Australia are idiots but they have nothing on the Indian selectors. They need to learn how to let players go and bring in youth. Words cannot express how disappointing they have been this summer, in fact I would not rate them in the top 5 test nations in the world. Hell, even New Zealand challenged us more than India did.

I have a feeling I will be eating my words in a few years time. They do have some quality coming through in the form of Raina, Patel, Shreesanth and Kohli so it will be good to see their current squad fixed.
 

Aussie D

Dick Tooth (41)
Has anyone else felt a loss of respect for India over the past couple of matches in regards to some of their appeals, most notable the 'mankad' (think I have the correct term where the non-striker batsman gets runout by the bowler in his delivery stride) on Friday night and then the 'handled ball against Dave Hussey today? Both decisions whilst most likely technically out kind of go against the spirit of the game.
 

Cutter

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
The Mankad is a legitimate tactic in indoor cricket if the non-striker is backing up too aggressively. In this case, provided Ashwin warned him, I'd not have argued against it because it is entirely within the non-striker's competence to remedy the situation. Contrast with the bowler getting a touch on a straight drive which hits the stumps - pure luck and yet a legitimate dismissal.
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
Has anyone else felt a loss of respect for India over the past couple of matches in regards to some of their appeals, most notable the 'mankad' (think I have the correct term where the non-striker batsman gets runout by the bowler in his delivery stride) on Friday night and then the 'handled ball against Dave Hussey today? Both decisions whilst most likely technically out kind of go against the spirit of the game.
By the same token, you could argue that Hussey acted against the spirit of fair play by sticking his hand out. I have no problem with a batsman putting his body between the fielder and the stumps as he runs, that's gone on for ages, but then sticking your hand out to stop the ball is not on. I accept it could be somewhat of a reflex at times though. I'd have no problem with someone being out to a "Mankad" if they'd been given a warning. Stealing 2-3m on a run is, and should be, a high-risk thing.
 
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