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Summer of 16/17

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No4918

John Hipwell (52)
Big shame the batsmen fell in a heap. Hard to be too critical considering how the series has played out though.

Going to be very interesting to see if GOAT or SOK gets the first start when we return to playing one spinner.
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
I don't think there's any doubt Lyon will be first and only choice when they're back playing in Australia


I'd counter that by asking how do you drop a bloke who averages sub-26 with the ball in both test and FC?

I admit that Lyon has been superb so far this test but he was poor last test and went missing when we needed him in the second innings in Bengaluru.

Given that SO'K was the favourite to play the home series v RSA before his injury and has taken wickets consistently this series I think the selectors will go with SO'K.

That said, a lot will hinge on the second innings of this test. We need both to stand up or we have no chance.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Australia quickly sliding out of contention here.

I reckon we'll really struggle if we're more than 50 runs behind on first innings.

Wickets needed ASAP!
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Finally! Jadeja is gone.

Hopefully we can wrap this up quickly now. He was doing the bulk of the scoring so hopefully the run out drops now regardless.
 

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Australia should lose both their reviews for that, so clearly out it's an abuse of DRS to review it. Not to mention then having a go at the umpire 'cos it's not been shown on the big screen. I get that he's disappointed at his team's implosion but, still.......
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Can we please now rule a line through Smarsh for all time. And while we're at it, can we finally dispense with this sub-continental specialist myth. This was the guys who was allegedly going to save us from these collapses.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Bit harsh to pile on to him now QH after he and Handscomb saved the match in game 3.

He hasn't had the best series, but he's got past 50 twice - more than what Warner and Handscomb have achieved.

I'm no huge fan but I don't think he deserves the barrage of abuse that will be directed at him. He should take his share of blame for our batting failures, but not all of it.
.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Shaun Marsh has finished with the worst return of our top 7 batsmen. The two fifties including the great knock to help save the third test don't excuse him for that.

We can't really go past the fact that outside of Steve Smith, our batsmen were largely hopeless.

Tour averages as follows;
Renshaw 29.00 (solid but still not good)
Wade 32.66 (generally good series)
Handscomb 28.28 (not good enough)
Warner 24.12 (awful series)
Maxwell 39.75 (good series and should get an extended run at 6 now)
S Marsh 18.87 (awful, at age 33 he shouldn't be picked again)
M Marsh 12.00 (awful, shouldn't be picked again)

Steve Smith scored 499 runs in 4 tests and averaged 71.28. He scored 3 centuries whereas no one else in the series got more than 1. Without his performance we probably would have lost 4-nil.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Bh has summed this tour up rather well. The bowlers have performed better than expected but the batsmen, especially the openers, have been disappointing. I feared the selectors were going to do a Watson* and retain SMarsh for this test, and they did. And the results were about what I expected. Would Khawaja have been any worse? Probably not, but as he's got more talent and an immeasurably better future than SMarsh this would've been an invaluable learning experience for Uzzie. The batting performances this tour must bring Hick's appointment into question, a flat track bully if ever there was one.

*doing a Watson: selection panel continues to pick a favourite player after an isolated decent performance in the vain hope that that performance will be repeated. It rarely is, until the axe is hovering when an out-of-character score saves the player and another lean trot follows. Rinse and repeat.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
I hope and pray there isn't one more arrow left to wound us in this test: Cummins bowling so many overs is extremely dangerous and tempting fate. For Pat to now break down would be the ultimate indignity.
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
Yikes.. those Renshaw drops cost us. First Rahul went on to score 60 and then Saha and Jadeja had a 95 run partnership.

The old saying that catches win matches could not be truer.

Quick mention to the Indian pace bowlers. They've been pretty quiet all series but they were possessed yesterday. First time in a long time that I have been genuinely impressed with their quicks.
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Bit harsh to pile on to him now QH after he and Handscomb saved the match in game 3.

He hasn't had the best series, but he's got past 50 twice - more than what Warner and Handscomb have achieved.

I'm no huge fan but I don't think he deserves the barrage of abuse that will be directed at him. He should take his share of blame for our batting failures, but not all of it.
.

The whole reason for picking him ahead of Khwaja was because SMarsh was deemed to be a specialist in subcontinental conditions. (Based on one tour of Sri Lanka). This reason was alway a myth and the myth has been exposed - he's no better on the subcontinent than he is anywhere else.
 

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Peter Fenwicke (45)
I think there must have been some pretty strong evidence that Khawaja wasn't up to it in those conditions for him to be overlooked after such a strong summer.

While I agree it's a shame that the Marsh experiment (perhaps predictably) failed, I think it should speak volumes that Maxwell came in at 6 before Khawaja had a chance. The very few overs Maxwell bowled should suggest that on batting alone they still saw Maxwell as the stronger option.

Khawaja will be straight back in for the Ashes and hopefully we look to young guys like Lehmann and Cartwright before we consider SMarsh again.

It's a while away but the 15 man squad for the Ashes I'd like to see:
Warner (on thin ice), Renshaw, Smith, Khawaja, Handscomb, Maxwell, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, SO'K, Lyon, Sayers, Nevill, Cartwright, and one of Lehmann or Pattinson.

No doubt Wade will be there which I think is a shame.
 
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