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Cricket Summer of 2014/15

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Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Henriques is a straight swap for Watson so Doherty misses out.

White, Finch, Marsh, Smith, Maxwell, Haddin, Henriques, Faulkner, Starc, Cummins, Sandhu
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
Odd decision to bowl first on this pitch. Pretty slow wicket that will quicken up and we haven't selected our specialist spinner either.

Reckon the Poms might be a good bet for this one.
 

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Well, Pfitzy is here to tell you that, looking at the last couple of weeks, this World Cup isn't going to be a fucking walk through the daisies.

Looking at our squad, there are some glaring weaknesses; mostly mental from the likes of Doherty, Bailey and Maxwell, but the physical risk with guys like Clarke and Watson is fucking massive.

Thank fuck for Smith, but lets get him practising his leggies because I have precisely zero faith in XavDo turning in anything that looks like a performance.

Maxwell and Bailey are like Dumb and Dumber - the idiot savants of short form batting who made their name pulling off stuff you could barely conceive, but then doing the most stupid shit as a follow-up. Really what the fuck?

Finch
Warner
Watson
Smith
Maxwell
Marsh
Faulkner
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Hazlewood

12th man - someone who can field. Bailey I guess.

New Zealand will be licking their lips.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Maxwell played a shot that is all too depressingly common for him -- a stupid one when it mattered. He is sometimes the dumbest cricketer I've seen in a good long while. Other times he's a genius, but for the moment the dumb moments seem more common.
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
Finch
Warner
Watson
Smith
Maxwell
Marsh
Faulkner
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Hazlewood

12th man - someone who can field. Bailey I guess.

New Zealand will be licking their lips.



I assume you mean Marsh of the M variety.

I reckon that team is abit short on batsmen, a few early wickets and we are relying on guys like Maxwell, Marsh and Faulkner to bat time.

Our rivals would love to see that side on paper. 3 genuine specialist batsmen, 4 all-rounders, and 3 front line bowlers without a genuine spin option. We would struggle big time to restrict teams in the middle overs, particularly if the ball isn't doing much like last night.

Provided we have a fully fit XI, I think this team has a better balance.

Finch
Warner
Watson
Clarke (C)
Smith
Maxwell
Faulkner
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Hazlewood
12: M.Marsh/Doherty

Clarke is easily in our best XI when fit and a fantastic leader. Depending on the game situation we could rotate Clarke and Smith relatively easily. Obviously not going to select Clarke unless he is 100%.

Maxwell's position depends entirely on if he scores runs in the remaining games before the cup. Given he is the only spin option in that side (and a world class fielder) I reckon if he is dropped then there's not other option but to select Doherty.

M.Marsh unlucky to miss out but he's the back up to injury prone Watson. Bailey/White as back up for Clarke.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Our best team in my opinion is:

Finch
Warner
Watson
Smith
Clarke/Bailey (hopefully Clarke)
Maxwell/Marsh (Maxwell needs to improve his batting form but I think his bowling is more useful than Marsh considering we have Watson)
Haddin
Faulkner
Johnson
Starc
Hazlewood

Hazlewood needs to return from injury but I think he gets in ahead of Cummins. Cummins just goes for too many runs at this stage and Starc and Johnson provide enough firepower.

If Watson gets injured it probably puts Mitch Marsh in the team for another medium pacer but at this point I'd probably have Maxwell ahead of Marsh. Maxwell needs to improve his consistency.

Clarke should be fit and will play ahead of Bailey. If Clarke isn't there though, Bailey will be in the team and we need his batting to improve. He was tremendous a year or two ago but 2014 was poor for him.

I can't find a place for Doherty. I'd prefer Hazlewood almost every day of the week. Doherty may get a go on a couple of slower pitches but he wouldn't be in my first choice team.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
And so says our resident Scottish cricket expert. I'm with you, Bh, good looking team.











Apart from F U Watson, that is.
 

Strewthcobber

Mark Ella (57)
If we are going to play 4 pacemen (and we probably will and should) then Maxwell almost certainly has to play if only to try and manage the slow over rates.

We could easily lose the captain to another suspension
 

No4918

John Hipwell (52)
Not a Finch fan, don't think he has the big game temperament. Maxwell only retains his spot for his bowling.

Watson
Warner
Smith
Clarke
Bailey
Maxwell
Haddin
Faulkner
Johnson
Starc
Hazlewood
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
That's abit harsh on Finchy, from memory he scored a ton when the series against South Africa was on the line just two months ago.

We won that game to go 2-1 up and then cruised to a 4-1 series victory.

I like the left-right combination at the top of the order, it really challenges the bowlers line early on. They are also both pretty handy at setting a nice tempo to the innings.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Anyone read this article on the SMH about Clarke and his battles against the CA officials and, it would seem, the team's eagerness to move on from him?

Interesting stuff. He has a bit of the Bradman in him, and I don't mean his batting.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
That was an interesting read and touched on a few things that I have thought all summer that are going to be tricky for CA to deal with, like Clarke's fitness, who captains, whether Clarke comes straight back into the team and this business of him commentating. Reg I agree about the Bradman comment, the parallels are striking. People forget about his strained relationship with the ACB and the fact that he wasn't universally loved by the other players.

I think we'd be taking a massive gamble on Pup at the CWC. The only reason he's even in the frame for any kind of international cricket this summer is that he's so bloody good with the wand. Anybody else would have been dismissed from contention by now.

I will temper what I said slightly though, because Webster was one of the Fairfax writers who fanned the flames of Link/Beale/Patston saga and wrote a really shitty article in the middle of that whole affair.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
I agree with the Bradman reference. Clarke has never been universally liked in the dressing room although I feel like in the last year or two that had changed significantly. His Summer against India a couple of years ago and then consistently excellent form since seemed to really steel the side and I thought he'd finally won the hearts and minds.

The one thing that is interesting is that Clarke has had all these requirements placed on his recovery and comeback yet the fragility of many of our other players has been largely ignored.

Mitchell Johnson still hasn't returned from injury, Mitch Marsh just returned to grade cricket after being out for a month. Shane Watson has been remarkably injury free until his very recent hamstring strain. You can never be sure when he will be struck down for a long period though.

Personally I think Clarke is crucial to our CWC campaign and I'd be giving him a substantial amount of time to make his comeback. To me, he becomes one of our key three batsmen with Warner and Smith and could be critical to winning the CWC. I'd definitely have him in the side instead of Bailey whose form has been mediocre in the last 12 months.

I see little point in withdrawing Clarke from the squad at this stage to bring in a new batsman who isn't going to get a game.
 

Aussie D

Dick Tooth (41)
Seems like the Australian cricket selectors have learnt nothing from the last world cup when we took too many injured or underdone players and were bundled out early.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Seems like the Australian cricket selectors have learnt nothing from the last world cup when we took too many injured or underdone players and were bundled out early.

Did we?

We had a fairly settled team and our lineup pretty much stayed the same. We got undone because our bowling lineup relied heavily on pace bowling (Lee, Tait, Johnson) which didn't suit the conditions and our one spinner, Krezja wasn't very good.

We lost one pool game when we collapsed to Pakistan which meant we played the eventual winner India in the quarter finals.

It seemed very much to me that our best team didn't suit the conditions and we generally batted poorly against spin.
 

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
Personally I think Clarke is crucial to our CWC campaign and I'd be giving him a substantial amount of time to make his comeback. To me, he becomes one of our key three batsmen with Warner and Smith and could be critical to winning the CWC.


Well, we're going to disagree on that. One wrong twist with bat or in the field, and he's fucked. What if we need a crucial catch and he holds back because he's worried about injuring himself?

Should never have been in the squad.

I'd still take him over Bailey, but only because Bailey's form would make shit look good.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Well, we're going to disagree on that. One wrong twist with bat or in the field, and he's fucked. What if we need a crucial catch and he holds back because he's worried about injuring himself?

Should never have been in the squad.

I'd still take him over Bailey, but only because Bailey's form would make shit look good.

When has he not shown complete commitment?

If he gets properly injured again you can withdraw him and replace him.

I just don't see why you'd leave him out of the squad at this point to pick a guy who isn't going to get a game. Seemingly that would be Cameron White.

At least if Clarke is healthy he is our best XI.

The way I see it we've got nothing to lose by keeping Clarke in the squad of 15.
 
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