Pick your best Aussie test cricket line up

[disco]

Assuming every single player was fit I would love to see a new fresh aussie side for the next ashes series. I know it's early days for some of the young players but I hope they can perform at International level like they have at domestic.

1. Warner
2. Cowan (maybe a bit early but what have we got?)
3. Marsh
4. Clarke
5. Watson
6. Paine (if he ever gets back on the pitch)
7. Mitchell Johnson (Picked more for his batting ATM last chance for mine)
8. Cummins
9. Pattinson or Siddle (Wait & see how Pattinson goes against India 1st)
10. Harris
11.Lyon

 

[qwerty51]

Paine is gone.

Wade or Nevill will be the next keepers

 

[light]

Paine is gone.

How long for? That's a real blow for Australia and the bloke himself. Was hoping he would be around to carry the gloves when Haddin walked away as he is very well liked by the team and public and has been around the team for quite a while. Wade is certainly next best bet but still a long way off international standard IMO.

If that is the case.

1. David Warner - Should be persevered with, future of the top order and international superstar right now. Shorter form of game could kill off his test career though.
2. Ed Cowan - Not a lot of other options but I think he deserves the spot, Khawaja also an option here after recent showings.
3. Shaun Marsh - Our best batsman and the only solid option we have at #3.
4. Michael Clarke - Rock at #4, still the very best player of spin bowling in our team and captain. Will need him to fire against England
5. - * INSERT SPECIALIST BATSMAN HERE* - Khawaja if performing well, alternatively Bailey, Ferguson, Cooper or Lynn
6. Shane Watson - All rounder position where he should be.
7. Matthew Wade - Better known in shorter form of game, right now we just need someone who can catch behind the stumps and score runs. He fits the bill
8. Pat Cummins- Self explanatory
9. James Pattinson - If he continues how he is going there's no reason he can't be here for years to come.
10. Ryan Harris - Self explanatory
11. Nathan Lyon - Our only REAL spinner who has impressed.
12. Peter Siddle - Candidate for the 8/9 spot if injuries occur or form slumps.

 

[disco]

I thought Paine was only out for 4 months.

Light,
If we were to drop Johnson & go a specialist batsmen & have Watson as our all rounder then I'd want Callum Ferguson as he's a good batsmen with the tail & sought of reminds me of Mike Hussey in the early days when he was almost impossible to get out.

I'd prefer Watson @ 5 so he's got batsmen to work with although Cummins & Pattinson aren't exactly batting bunnies.

 

[Cutter]

Callum Ferguson has a first class average of 35 (7 hundreds, 21 fifties). He's obviously not that impossible to get out. By way of comparison:

Ed Cowan av 40, 12 hundreds and 11 fifties
Usman Khajawa av 45, 9 hundreds and 11 fifties
Steven Smith av 41, 5 hundreds and 6 fifties
Philip Hughes av 48, 17 hundreds and 28 fifties
David Hussey av 55, 41 hundreds and 55 fifties
Cameron White av 42, 16 and 32
George Bailey av 40, 13 and 24
Mark Cosgrove av 43, 21 and 41
Chris Lynn av 43, 3 and 2
Peter Neville av 49, 3 and 4 (keeper)
Ben Rohrer av 45, 4 and 9
Adam Voges av 42, 13 and 40

If you think back 10 years, there would have been 6-10 batsmen in first class cricket who averaged around 50 who couldn't make the test side (Hussey, Stuart Law, Michael Bevan, Martin Love, Brad Hodges, Matthew Elliot, Chris Rogers)

 

[gel]

Any team without Michael Clarke...

Hopefully he goes out this way:

 

[Scotty]

1 Warner
2 Cowan
3 marsh
4 Clarke
5 ponting
6 Watson
7 Paine
8 siddle
9 pattinson
10 lyon
11 cummins

 

[cyclopath]

Any team without Michael Clarke...

Hopefully he goes out this way:

Any particular reason for the hate?

 

[gel]

He appears to be overly concerned with his image (or is it "brand" these days?) rather than how he performs.

He also appears to be one of those sorts who rolls over very quickly on others.

He is decidedly average and has become an "almost" player as his career has gone on. "Almost" gets Australia out of the crap, or "almost" wins us the match, before losing his wicket or whatever leaving others to finish it - that is not what a captain should be.

He is yet another ordinary player heavily promoted by the NSW press, which just makes me want to hurl. I realize this is not his fault, but it doesn't make me feel good about him either.

*edit* I realize that I am only offered the image that the media give me and don't know him personally, but the image I am presented with is one very similar to Hughes and one who I would not like to captain our national side.

 

[Moses]

I'm not a fan of Clarke either - though to his credit he's a better captain than Ponting, sets smart fields and makes sense in the media.

He seems incapable of batting out a day, always falling a few overs before stumps. Guess he just lacks the mental fortitude of an AB or Steve Waugh. I'd rather a hard nosed SOB like Katich (when he was in form) given the reigns than a tattooed whiteboy with peroxide hair and diamond ear ring.

He's also been involved in pretty much every batting collapse we've had.

 

[qwerty51]

Oh dear another Clarke hater

Already forgotten about that 150 in Cape Town?

He has scored the last 2 centuries

 

[gel]

A match which we lost, when we seemingly had it in the bag... Much the same as forcing the follow on in England years ago under Hughes and then losing embarrassingly. Clark's atomically starched popped collar yesterday really got to me...

I think Scotty's line up looks pretty good tbh just with Clarke replaced with Hussey. I am encouraged by the young fast bowlers, just hope we don't burn them out through over use. A rotation system with hilfenhaus would be good I think.

 

[barbarian]

What a load of shit. Your dislike of Clarke is personal and clearly has nothing to do with cricket. Tactically he is one of our best captains for years. He rotates the bowlers well and sets agressive and intelligent fields. He is probably our best batsman at the moment, and his centuries against SA and NZ were both miles better than anything else produced by our top order this year (except Warner in Hobart and Hussey in SL).

Look I don't think he is one of the greatest cricketers of all time. He has a few technical faults in his batting and I too doubt he has the ticker of a Border or Waugh. But at the moment he is one of the best we have got.

At the moment Clarke is coming across very well in the media and clearly thinks a lot about the game. I think people are judging him based on the 23-year old peroxide blond rather than who he is now, the same way people judged Ponting by the 23-year old punk who got the shit beaten out of him at the Bourbon in the Cross.


.

 

[tigerland12]

I am anti anti-Clarke behaviour.

 

[tigerland12]

1- Watson
2- Warner
3- Marsh
4- Ponting
5- Clarke
6- Hussey
7- Haddin
8- Pattinson
9- Siddle
10- Cummins
11- Lyon

• When Ponting and Hussey retire I believe that Watson moves down to 6 with Cowan coming in at opener, while Usman Khawaja comes back in at 4 or 5.
• When Tim Paine is fit he has to replace Haddin.
• Marsh has to be there long term, as does Warner. Even if they have a bit of a form slump, they are going to be our best top order batsmen for a few years.
• Pattinson is good enough to develop into a Johnson style all-rounder, his batting technique and poise has greatly impressed me.
• Unfourtunatly I think Harris might be left on the outer when Cummins returns, given Siddle's form.
• Bowling stocks looking very healthy for years to come : Harris, Starc, Hilfenhaus, Cutting waiting behind the 3 I named.
• Clarke needs to start bowling himself if young Lyon ever finds himself struggling, he is a quality bowler a few years ago, but for some reason he refuses to bowl himself.
• Lyon is in the same position as Marsh and Warner, I think he needs to be persisted with for a while, he has shown great potential.

 

[disco]

I think bowling hurts Clarke's back as he will always have that bulging disc problem.

 

[MrTimms]

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

That was great.

 

[Scotty]

I'll admit to a bit of Haddin hate. He really seems to lack the concentration in both his batting and keeping. Dropping simple catches late in the day and getting out to stupid shots more often than not. Then he makes it worse for himself by sledging in the media, and not being able to back it up. Would be very hard for Clarke to push for his dropping though, as they have played a lot of cricket together.

 

[barbarian]

He isn't a very warm figure, is he. Very abrasive and the public have never really warmed to him, myself included. That has not helped him in this form slump.